Woodville charter parade significant link with Tararua District

On the eve of the 30th anniversary celebrations for the Tararua District, all five district mayors came together at last Saturday's spectacular charter parade by the 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in Woodville.

Last Saturday's spectacular charter parade in Woodville was also the ideal opportunity for all the former Tararua District mayors to come together on the eve of our district's 30th anniversary.

The first amalgamation meeting of the Tararua District took place at 7pm on Wednesday, November 1, 1989, with Ron Trotter our first mayor.

"Having every mayor of the Tararua District here today signifies the very special relationship we have with the 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. We have moved from friends to family," Mayor Tracey Collis said on Saturday.

It was Roly Ellis, our district mayor from 2010 to 2016, who worked for four years, discussing the possibility of a charter with the 1st Battalion after he was surprised no other town had bestowed the honour.

"I was amazed and it was a proud moment when it came together," he said.

The first charter parade held in Dannevirke on October 7, 2016 was the culmination of Ellis' hard work to bring the association between our district and the 1st Battalion together. It was also his last day as Tararua District mayor. Ellis had been pivotal in the 2013 exercise Alam Halfa which was conducted in Tararua, Wairarapa and Waiouru, with a month of pre-deployment training, live firing exercises and field exercises involving more than 1000 personnel from four countries.

The New Zealand Army and Royal New Zealand Air Force were joined by the Canadian, US and British armies and the US Marine Corps to enact a common conflict scenario of insurgents trying to overthrow a government.

Ellis' input was to highlight areas of concern for the troops.

"I told them what I thought they should guard and investigate, including local bomb-makers and threats to the water-supply systems in Pahiatua, Woodville and Pongaroa,'' he said at the time.

All the troops were welcomed by people throughout the district and they saw plenty of the Tararua, patrolling in their LAVs (light armoured vehicles) at Pongaroa and as far out as Herbertville and Akitio and dealing with rebels holed up in the Pongaroa Hotel.

"The troops engaged with children and older people and it was a great exercise in making friends," Collis said at Saturday's parade.

Now, as part of the 30th anniversary of the district, Joy Kopa, a district council staff member, is co-ordinating the recording of our oral history, including our first female mayor Maureen Reynolds. And Collis said Trotter also has some great memories and stories to tell from those early days.

As well as interviewing people of interest for the oral history project, Kopa hopes to video them and share snippets on council's facebook site as part of the 30th celebrations next year.