"It was great to see him," Mrs Wadsworth said.
And Bill Gunderson, of the Dannevirke Scandinavian Society, shared an insight into how our early Scandinavian settlers got on with the Maori of Tamaki Nui A Rua.
"The early Scandi settlers to Dannevirke had an advantage over the settlers to Norsewood, because they could access this area by canoe and boat up the Manawatu River and by following the Maori tracks," he said. "The Maori commitment to Christianity was enthusiastic, but not always easy because one of the requirements was that they had to read and speak English."
However, Mr Gunderson's research shows early Maori had an abundance of food, with eels, whitebait, freshwater crayfish and pipi a staple.
"They also made the most of the forests, with kaka, tui, kereru and morepork taken for food, along with ducks and weka," Mr Gunderson said. "Tipapakuku was known for the numerous flocks of kereru and special areas were set aside for food gathering, with some trees marked for gathering tawa and matai berries. Pigs and rats provided protein. Potatoes were planted in the bush and melon and pumpkin, but these were often ravaged by the frosts.
"By the time Scandinavian settlers arrived in Dannevirke, this was a reasonably peaceful area, with Maori living on flat areas of land and at Tahoriti. They traded their food and worked in shearing gangs when the big sheep runs arrived, travelling around the district on horseback. Maori and the early settlers here got on well and learned a lot from one another."
In 1873, the early settlers enjoyed their first Christmas in Dannevirke and it was vastly different from the first Christmas at Norsewood where the death of a young child marked the day.
"In Dannevirke, people gathered at Mr Nielson's whare which stood where the Post Office was before it closed," Mr Gunderson said.
"There was a big Christmas dinner of roast mutton and pudding, followed by dancing. Everyone danced on a clay floor wearing hobnail boots accompanied by violin music. Even a wild pig, ready for the pot, arrived outside Mr Nielson's whare. However, come Boxing Day, a number of families had bare cupboards."
Dannevirke's early settlers were 13 Danes, two Swedish people and one Norwegian, Mr Gunderson said.
On Sunday, among the Gallery of History displays celebrating the good relationship between the Scandinavian settlers and Maori were two moa bones, unearthed in a cave at Conoor on May 8, 1914.
Records suggest a complete moa skeleton was discovered and the leg bones on display in our museum had two big feet, five inches long and six inches round at the smallest place. Also found in the cave were eight skulls and numerous body bones and wing bones. "We're still learning a lot about our forebears and their culture," Mr Gunderson said.
