New leasee for Commercial Hotel, Whanganui's last old-style pub

Averyl Kahukaka pulls a drink for Commercial Hotel regulars Mike Cunningham (left) and Mike Russell. Photo / Bevan Conley

A new leasee is to run Whanganui's "lovely little pub with salt of the earth people" but it will continue to be the last old-style drinking establishment in the town centre.

Averyl Kahukaka has leased the Commercial Hotel for just over nine years. It's her third pub and she's retiring. Her last day is October 5 and Willie Matthews will play music from 2pm to mark the occasion.

The hotel is owned by Auckland man Malcolm Hubbert. The new leasee will be Steve Lawson, an Affco freezing worker who wants a change of pace, Kahukaka said.

He's planning to live upstairs, but not to make major changes.

"He just wants to get in and get cracking, and maybe throw a lick of paint around."

Regulars at the Commercial have been going there for years. Kahukaka knows what everyone likes to drink - quart bottles of Tui and DB Export are the most popular.

It's not really a late pub, she said.

"All the boozers are in through the day."

It's not a young pub either. On Mondays and Tuesdays it's usually shut by 7pm.

"It's an easy pub to run. There's never any trouble or, if there is, we handle it ourselves. The police are just up the road, but they never come in."

Some people love an old-style pub.

"You don't have to take off your boots when you come in. You can just be yourself."

Kahukaka has four long-term tenants who live upstairs and make their own meals in a kitchenette. She got rid of the gaming machines because they were a hassle and didn't make much money.

One feature of the pub is its exchange table, where people bring food they have grown or cooked. Mike Cunningham had his first drink at the Commercial on January 21, 1956, when he arrived back in Whanganui from Korea. He has kilos of pickled onions to bring when they're ready.

"If you don't belong here and drink here, you aren't allowed to touch it," he said.

Another contributor to the table is Pumpkin Pat, who grows "millions of pumpkins".

Newbie Mike Russell has only been drinking at the Commercial for two-and-a-half years, and especially likes the pool table.

"It's the highest earning pool table in the central lower North Island. The owner comes in and empties it quite regularly," he said.

Craig "Frog" Falconer is the hotel's unofficial caretaker. Photo / Bevan Conley

Another hotel character is self-proclaimed "caretaker from Hell" Craig "Frog" Falconer, who built the smoking area.

Kahukaka's first pub was the Langholm in Mangaweka in 1990. Her husband died there and the property is now a shearers' quarters.

After that she was at the Waverley Hotel for 10 years, paid it off and owned it. It's being changed into a bar/restaurant.

From there Kahukaka bought a house in Whanganui, and bought the Commercial lease from Peter Olding.

After deciding to retire she joined the St John's Club, but says she will remain loyal to the Commercial as well.

"I will drink here as a regular, when the urge takes me."