Mamiyaflex C2 Camera - a group of searchers find one of the four hidden rabbits.
By Jacob Brookie
Across Foxton are volunteers from every walk of life helping the community in almost every way you can think of. In this occasional series of photo-articles, the MAVtech Museum’s photographer Jacob Brookie is using vintage cameras from the museum’s collection to show you a day in the life of our town’s volunteers.
Foxton’s Save Our River Trust (Sort) has been promoting and protecting Piriharakeke (the Manawatū River Loop at Foxton) for 20 years.
Trust members are known for their community-led efforts with riverside planting events, establishing the Piriharakeke Walkway and their contribution to the upgrade of the River Loop Reserve.
Recently, Sort had a very special project - helping the Easter Bunny at the Riverside Cultural Park. MAVtech’s photographs captured the action, but you had to be there to enjoy the chocolate!
On March 28 hundreds of people were at Te Awahou Riverside Cultural Park for the Easter edition of Horowhenua Pop Up Eats. Among the food carts were four hidden rabbits, and searchers followed the clues to find the names to them all.
Fittingly, the bunnies were named: Save, Foxton, River and Loop. Once each group found all four, Sort volunteers helped the Easter Bunny give out some very delicious prizes!
Over 300 children took home a treat- but 15 keen-eyed searchers each went away with a massive chocolate rabbit. They had found a painted rock skilfully hidden to claim the biggest reward.
Over 500 people were at the park to enjoy the Easter Hunt, the food and the live music from Clint Taylor and Anthony Butterfield - making it the busiest Pop Up Eats ever.
The Easter Hunt was organised by a new generation of Save Our River Trust volunteers to help connect the community with Piriharakeke.
“While our primary focus remains on reopening the loop, we know that many of our peers don’t have memories of swimming or fishing in the awa.
Events like this create pathways for positive experiences for our community to reconnect with the precious taonga that is Piriharakeke,” says Irene Wakefield.
Visitors shared memories of when Pirkiharakeke flowed with clean water and fish, and they went away with new memories and hope for its future.
Sort hosted the Easter Hunt alongside Horowhenua Pop-Up Eats with the support of Jason Davy at New World Foxton, as well as Keshnee and Rakeeb of Foxton Barber and Beauty.
The staff from Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom jumped into action when high winds forced the riverside event to be moved inside.
Save Our River Trust is always looking for volunteers to help sponsor and support events. Contact admin@sort.nz for more details or visit www.sort.nz. To find more photographs of the event visit www.mavtech.org.nz
Many of the photos in this article were taken with a Mamiyaflex C2. First released in 1958, the C2 had a range of interchangeable lenses and viewfinder screens, which made it well suited for professionals.
It found uses in photojournalism and scientific photography, but it was most famous for being used by wedding photographers.
Versions of the camera stayed in production until 1994! Other photographs in this story were taken with a 1990s Seagull 4A camera.