Sack them
While the masthead from the Forrest Hall, recovered from 90 Mile Beach several years ago, may not be seen by the present chair and his self-appointed trustees at the Far North Regional Museum as a significant item in the history of the Far North, it is indeed of great significance to the people of Parengarenga, who greatly assisted the sailors who managed to get safely to shore on that day in 1909.
Much effort was put into recovering the masthead from 90 Mile Beach and transporting
it to the old museum in Kaitaia, where a team of volunteers worked many hours cleaning and water-blasting the mast for preservation, with the intention of displaying it at the new museum in the Te Ahu Centre.
So much for all this effort. My understanding is that the masthead is now in pieces after its fate was decided by the chairman and trustees of the FNRM to cut it up and turn it into trinkets. What sort of message does this send to our community, that expects better things from people charged with protecting local history?
My gut feeling is that the current chair and trustees of the Far North Regional Museum
should be sacked and removed from the office. The same chairman supported the spending of a million dollars of ratepayer money that was a complete and utter loss during the process of creating what is now the Te Ahu Centre.
