From the Editor's Desk: Pageant plan queries linger

Yogi Berra earned fame for his exploits on the baseball field, but perhaps the American's legacy is more about the great quotes he offered.
Here was a man who offered up a quote to suit almost any occasion; simple words to make you stop and go "huh?"
One of his more memorable one-liners sprang to mind this week when we published the latest in the saga of Miss Wanganui: "It's like deja-vu, all over again."
Yes Yogi, it so very much is like that.
Fresh from the farcical situation last year in which a winning contestant was dethroned after she coloured her hair, the event became embroiled in controversy amid allegations of intimidating behaviour, among other things.
Some questioned our need to report on the matter, while others saw the issues as important and needing to be made public. And so it begins again, only with a twist.
Thursday's paper revealed that there would be no pageant; that organisers of last year's event had fallen out and attempts by local man Daniel Harding to resurrect the event had failed to come to fruition. The abundance of personality clashes and confusion does little to improve the already tarnished reputation of the pageant locally.
Adding to the confusion and further muddying the waters, Mr Harding sent a press release yesterday indicating he was intending to hold a show sometime this year.
His intentions may be honourable with funds raised going towards rebuilding Christchurch, a cause he has already held a successful fundraising concert for, but what chance is there for this latest incarnation, renamed Miss Royal Wanganui?
Without a set date, clear regulations and no clear allegiance or approval from national bodies such as Miss World New Zealand, there are too many questions that remain; we can only hope Mr Harding has the answers.
The last thing we want or need, in the spirit of Yogi, is more deja vu, just like before.
Say Why mah ree
Thanks to those who offered suggestions on the origins and correct pronunciation of the name of this city's iconic paddle steamer, Waimarie.
Readers may recall my confusion over the correct way to pronounce the vessel's name. Of course, I should have simply gone to the man who knows the steamer as no one else does, but thankfully he responded of his own accord. So, I am indebted to David McDermid, who offered the following by way of explanation:
Waimarie is a Maori word meaning good fortune or peaceful waters.
The Waimarie was originally built in 1900 for an opposition company to Alexander Hatrick, founder of the River Service, and was originally named Aotea.
The Wanganui Settlers River Steamship Co Ltd, as they were called, traded most unsuccessfully against Hatrick and in September 1902, the company went into liquidation. Hatrick purchased the vessel for a third of its new price in October 1902 and renamed it Waimarie. He would now certainly have good fortune as he had eliminated the opposition.
In 1990 when Mark Campbell, Manu Mete-Kingi and myself founded Project Waimarie, Manu was insistent that we endeavour to pronounce the name correctly. The correct Maori pronunciation is Why mah ree e(gg).
It is not an easy one for the old European tongue to get itself around, so it has become "Why marie" for many. There is also another twist to this. Some say that the vessel was named after a daughter of Hatrick's named Marie. All research to date has indicated that Alexander Hatrick did not have a daughter named Marie.
Thanks also to Lynn, and A Slade, whose own points been covered off by Mr McDermid.
Mr McDermid is a life member of the Whanganui Riverboat Restoration & Navigation Trust.