Mutton chains, boning rooms and butcher shops will be back on the agenda in Masterton next year when the mother of all parties gets under way at Labour Weekend.
The Waingawa workers will be back in town 20 seasons after the shock closure of the freezing works that threw hundreds of
breadwinners out of work.
Tere (Raro) Torea who used to be in charge of the slaughterboard and his reunion committee are organising a three-day celebration beginning with a "meat 'n' greet" at Copthorne Resort Solway Park.
They expect to cater for up to 400 workers, wives and families from the thousands of meatworkers now scattered throughout the world but who, in the eyes, of the committee still belong to the "Waingawa family" a diverse group of men and women who worked, lived, loved, played, occasionally fought, gambled and laughed together over many decades until AFFCO slammed the doors shut on the works in early December 1989.
On the Friday night after registration they will get together for a catered meal, to sup a few ales, and dance the night away to a live band. Saturday will be "clear the head day" with a round of golf and with the Marist Clubrooms being thrown open for a day of socialising.
The spiritual part of the celebrations will be held on Sunday morning when the former workmates will congregate on the now barren land where the works once stood in Norman Avenue for a special church service and to remember those who had gone before them. The reunion will finish with a barbecue.
Mr Torea said over the long weekend one thing is certain, many yarns will be told. There will be talk of the camaraderie and constant leg-pulling that was life on the chain, of the two-up schools, the bookies and raffle sellers, the fake bomb scares designed to stop work for the day and of the amount of meat that "managed to walk out the door even though it was killed".
Among the expected guests will be rugby icons from each of the towns. Mr Torea said these would include former All Blacks Kingi Matthews (Greytown) and Kiwi Blake (Carterton) and former test referee Bob Francis ( Masterton).
Among Mr Torea's favourite stories from his days at Waingawa was fielding a phone call from a worker's wife who, in the course of conversation, said her husband was "not like you guys, he brings his unopened pay packet home every fortnight".
"The trouble with that story was we were paid every week."
Mutton chains, boning rooms and butcher shops will be back on the agenda in Masterton next year when the mother of all parties gets under way at Labour Weekend.
The Waingawa workers will be back in town 20 seasons after the shock closure of the freezing works that threw hundreds of
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