What the factory looked like in the early 90s, around the time when the factory closed. Photo / Supplied
In a matter of moments it was over.
More than a century (114 years) of history at a standstill, the curtains drawn before people even knew the show was over.
That's the tale of Tomoana Freezing Works, the one that most of us always think of.
For Allan Jack he lost his job, his livelihood, and a part of himself on that Friday in August 1994.
"I had just come off working some overtime and was probably one of the last to leave the factory and nothing seemed different or out of place at the time," he said.
"It wasn't till I got home and saw my wife standing in the living room just staring at me that I knew something wasn't right.
"She just looked at me and said 'is there something you want to tell me?'
"I didn't know what she was talking about, but she asked me again and I was getting a little annoyed with it, then she pointed to the TV."
After 16 years and half his life of service having worked in nearly every sector of the factory it was a report on the 6pm news that told Jack he didn't have a job to go to come Monday morning.
"The thing that sticks with me looking back at it in my mind is seeing the gates close on the TV, I was just there having a normal day at work and then next thing, biff, gone."
Twenty-five years on from that day Jack has organised an exhibition to help celebrate the history and memories that the factory has and still creates for many who worked or were involved with the works.
He has been building up photos and stories around the history of the works from when it opened in 1880 till when it closed in 1994.
"I have spent the last few years building up information of photos and stories from Napier Museum, historians and past employees to paint a picture and timeline of what it was like to work at the factory right from 1880 till 1994."
The factory, which was built back in 1880 by local brothers William and Fred Nelson, has employed thousands of workers over the years.
One of them was Allan Edwards, who started working at the factory as an office boy in 1953 and managed to work his way up through the wider company to be works manager at Tomoana from 1972 to 1982.
But Edwards wasn't the only member of his family to work at the factory, with his grandfather working there in the early days of operations. His grandfather was even presented with a clock in 1906 from the workers.
"My grandfather worked there back in the 1890s and early 1900s as the cook in the cook house at the factory and my dad even worked at the plant a few years later, he was even at the factory when the 1931 earthquake struck," he said.
"Tomoana has always been a big part of life growing up maybe that's why my mum made me get a job there."
Edwards was only 16 when he joined the business and stayed part of the company until he retired in 1992.
He worked at head office in Wellington and several managerial roles at different plants across the country, but Tomoana always seemed like home.
Having been a piece of the company furniture for over 40 years there is not much Edwards doesn't know about the place.
But although Edwards can tell you much about the factory and the wider company from if you want to learn more about the people who ran and operated the works over the years, Bruce Stobie will be the man to talk to.
Stobie first started at the factory back in the late 1960s but worked most of his time as the union secretary from 1970 till the works closed.
"In my role I dealt with a lot of the workers and they seemed to like me because my role was decided by an annual vote and I kept on being picked."
He said even considering how things ended he didn't regret a single moment of being part of Tomoana Freezing Works.
"It literally got better and better year after year when I worked there and most of my friends are people that I worked alongside with day in and day out at the factory."
For many Tomoana meant a lot more than a job and helped them become more. For Hastings Councillor Henare O'Keefe it was what turned him from a boy into a man.
"Tomoana was a university for life, whenever I'm in a bind I would always think 'when in doubt pull Tomoana out' because it taught me so much in my life."
O'Keefe had worked at the factory from 1971 till it closed in 1994 and he said his time there was some of the best moments of his life.
"We were all a family there and to be honest I don't think any business of that size now would come anywhere near as close of a group then what we were," he said.
The closure of the factory had a rippling effect on the surrounding community that is still felt today.
But O'Keefe said that the social impact could have been so much worse if it wasn't for the immediate response from the community.
"Nobody saw it coming, not even the factory manager because that morning we were in his office sorting out the roster for the rest of the month," he said.
"It was tough at the time because there were more than 1500 people without a job so the community banded together and started the Tomoana Resource Centre within days of the factory closing."
The Centre was used as a way to help support those that had been displaced by the factory and supported them by getting them involved in the community and helping them into new jobs.
"I was a kind of social worker and was heading round to people's places that didn't come to the centre and brought food and any other necessities," O'Keefe said.
"It was tough because these people had families and you were all in the same boat because just a matter of days ago you were working side by side, it was an emotional time even now I still well up about it."
Although the closure brought a lot of pain in the community O'Keefe said he thought is some it was blessing in disguise.
"I think in a way the closure, although tough at the time, gave people an opportunity to really push forward and use the skills they gathered and show their potential," he said.
"Most of the guys have gone on to things like teachers, police, politicians, business owners and various other things which wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for Tomoana."
The display will be held at the National Service Club in Hastings on Saturday 17 August from 10am to 4pm.
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