Caretakers of memorabilia removed from the North Otago RSA when it closed are looking to rehome it.
Jacquie Webby and Janette McKenzie are ‘‘volunteer custodians’’ of boxes of trophies and photos that have been in storage since the local Returned and Services’ Association went into liquidation in 2014, and ownership of the Itchen St building was transferred to the Waitaki District Council.
Ms McKenzie had catalogued four boxes of trophies, from sports clubs such as snooker, golf and bowls, on to a spreadsheet with the name of what the trophy was for, and who the last recipient was, which was mostly engraved on it.
‘‘Jacquie has some social photos, and a lot of them relate to those functions, and we’d just like an opportunity to reunite some of those items with family members,’’ she said.
Miss Webby had five photo albums dating back to 1989, as well as a collection of loose photographs.
‘‘There was a digger day, a darts club, a reunion dinner, and then they had a protest march in one of the albums, because they were going to try and cut their payments down, and then there’s VJ Day celebrations in 1995,’’ she said.
It was unlikely the people in the photographs were still alive, but it was an opportunity for remaining family members to collect mementos of their loved ones.
‘‘If someone had a grandparent that served, there is a chance there’ll be something in there. One would hope they would say, ‘Gosh yes’,’’ Miss Webby said.
‘‘That’s the purpose of what we’re doing, to just clear those items and give those families an opportunity to reclaim them or not.’’
Some items in the collection might also be of interest to those who were not family members, Miss Webby said.
People had until Sunday, August 29 to make contact with the women, via email, at [email protected]. Photos and the spreadsheet of the trophies would be available for viewing on the Oamaru RSA Facebook page.
