Treasured gum collection handed over

A gum collection once described as a Northland treasure has been gifted to the Kauri Museum by descendants of a pioneering Whangaroa family.
The 200-piece gift comprises half the original gum collection of one-time Totara North general store owner and gum merchant William Saies.
The collection was mentioned in the late E V Sale's book Whangaroa, in which the author described it as a "unique treasure of Northland ... gleaned from a thousand sacks of gum".
The collection was bequeathed to the Kauri Museum in 1998 by Mr Saies' daughter Nettie Fell.
The gift had been subject to Mrs Fell's daughter Marie Ferko retaining possession of it as long as she wanted. Mrs Ferko took the opportunity to hand the collection over because she and her husband George are moving house.
Her sister Pauline Fell also attended the collection's official dedication and opening at the Kauri Museum on Friday.
"We are absolutely delighted to have this here at the Kauri Museum," collections manager Betty Nelley said.
There had already been a lot of interest in the collection, which will be displayed in the Volunteers Hall until lighting improvements and other changes enable it to be in the museum's gum hall, she said.
The Nettie Fell kauri gum collection is housed in the Saies family's original kauri cabinet.
Even the teal-coloured fabric lining the cabinet is original, found underneath other material when museum staff took over the collection, Ms Nelley said.