Storyteller has Parau history on file

Ask Don Rogerson a question about Parau and there's almost zero doubt he can answer it, writes Kylie Munro.
If you want to delve into the history of Parau, don't trawl the internet, visit Don Rogerson, instead.
He's a humble chap, unassuming - but he'll offer you a cup of strong coffee and fill your head with tales from days of old.
Yes, Don can talk, profusely, but there's not much he doesn't know about Parau, Huia, Cornwallis and Laingholm.
A walking encyclopaedia, the spry Parau stalwart, 75, has been scribbling the region's history in tattered notebooks and bundles of folders since 1957. That's when he and his wife, Valerie, moved into their quaint Huia Rd cottage.
``It started off as one folder and now it's just gone Topsy,'' says Don, surrounded by stacks of the dusty binders. ``Don't ask me why I started doing it. A lot of it is because I'd ask questions and then I'd write down the answers.''
Don knows that Parau used to be called Brooklyn, the Woodlands Park School grounds were once a strawberry field and some of the first landowners in the area around Titirangi were fellows by the name of John Ghee and James Moore.
The Parau shop used to be the post office and the house opposite that was once a butcher's.
Don even remembers he paid 950 pounds for the Parau house where his four children were raised and that his first rates bill was 2 pounds.
``I've still got the rates notice,'' he chuckles.
Schoolchildren come to him for help with projects and it's easy to see why.
Don's a storyteller, one of those rare gems who drags you in with layers of enthusiasm in his voice and a twinkle in his eye. He recalls the gentleman who used to ride the launch from Huia to Manukau every day sitting in his long johns.
``He didn't want to dirty his suit pants.''
His latest collection of facts and figures details the car crashes in the area. Everything from fender-benders to serious smashes, Don jots down and sends in to the council.
There are about 60 crashes every year, he says, and he has scouts all over town watching out for them, so he can note the date, time and any injuries.
``I've had three cars crash on my front lawn. And that's on sealed road, not back when it was loose metal. We need speed humps ... no one pays any notice to the speed limit.''
But people pay Don a lot of attention, because when he's not writing down the history of the area he and Valerie are helping out in the community and delivering meals on wheels.
Don says only one family's been in town longer than he has. But with his carefully chronicled history of the area, Don's legacy will be around for generations to come.