A farewell evening was held for Alf and Esther Knight from Maharahara West at the Papatawa Hall on Saturday September 29.
Mr Knight came to Papatawa from Feilding in 1936 and started at Papatawa school as a five year old in 1937. He went away to board at Wairarapa College then returned to the family farm and can remember working on hay presses using wire.
The Knights met in Dannevirke when Alf was in the Dannevirke & Districts Highland Pipe Band and Esther was a Highland dancer. They had great times in competitions and Inglesides.
"I always wanted to live on a farm as a young girl having lived in Dannevirke, and I ended up marrying a farmer," said Esther. They bought land in Leith Road, Papatawa, where they raised three children for 10 years.
Then they moved to Maharahara West in partnership with Alf's father running sheep and cattle. They milked 26 cows with the milk being transported in cream cans by truck to the United factory in Pinfold road. When milk tankers were introduced it was going to be too costly to put in a race for the tanker to turn around.