Personal memories of city sought

Alison Brown is calling on Rotorua residents to send her their early memories of the city. Photo / Ben Fraser

A Rotorua woman is calling on people to write about their memories of the city for an ongoing social history project.

Lynmore resident Alison Brown has begun gathering stories for the follow-up edition to Rotorua RETROone, published last August.

That book included early memories of Rotorua written by 42 of the district's residents, and Ms Brown said she was looking forward to reading the latest contributions.

"Everybody in Rotorua has a story to tell and everyone is unique, and I think that is just so exciting."

The Rotorua RETRO project has been co-ordinated by Ms Brown and 97-year-old Ynes Fraser, who have worked together in the past on another book of personal stories, Rotorua: A Mosaic of Memories.

The remit for contributions to the latest edition is simple: early memories of the city told from a personal perspective, written up in 500-2500 words, ideally including any relevant family photographs.

Ms Brown said people shouldn't be put off contributing just because they were unable to remember small details.

"I don't want the facts, I want how you felt. Anyone can check up the facts on Google.

"These are memories, not a history book. We have got marvellous historians in Rotorua - but this is a social history. I envisage schools using it ... it's making Rotorua's social history available to everyone," she said.

"It was pointed out at the launch of Rotorua RETROone that the collection was mainly non-Maori. It would be really neat to have more recollections from Maori."

In a previous job working at a newspaper in Franklin District, her Just Folk column was dedicated to telling the stories of ordinary readers.

Although she hoped to have the latest edition ready for an August launch, she did not want to rush those thinking of contributing. "It will drive as fast as the people in Rotorua want it to drive."

- Send your memories to alib@memoriesmatter.co.nz.