LYNNMALL SHOPPING CENTRE’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY
Karla Robertson will be sharing images & stories from 1963 - 2023 celebrating Lynnmall Shopping Centre’s 60th Anniversary
Newsletter October 2023 Issue 115
- Sneak peek at a tiny part of what’s in store for you at the Heritage Festival 2023: Wedding & the Ever After’s photo exhibition at Armanasco House.
- WWII Wedding in the Bay article by Mavis Jones
- Marriage a little give and take - Central Leader article Jun 2008
- Patience key to long union - Western Leader article Jun 2012
- Wedding of Victor Armanasco & Edith O’Brien
Weddings and the Ever Afters
In collaboration with the Blockhouse Bay Library, the Blockhouse Bay Historical Society presents a dual exhibition of wedding images, stories and memorabilia through time. Both venues are located in the Gittos Domain and we encourage everyone to view these complimentary exhibitions in tandem. There will be a wide variety of images across differing era’s, many sourced from the community as well as our extensive archives. Together, we celebrate the history of love in the Bay. Society members will be on hand to answer questions, expand on stories of local families and guide you through our permanent displays in the oldest surviving settlers cottage in Blockhouse Bay.
Newsletter August 2023 Issue 114
- AGM nomination of two new committee members Alan Cole & Ian Printy
- Hopkins Triple Wedding 1914 photo
- The legacy of Roy (Tarby) Thompson - then and now
- Newspaper article 1973 entitled Darby does his ‘something good’.
- Fast forward 50 years
- Family Statement 19 June 2023 Roy ‘Tarby’ Thompson
Newsletter June 2023 Issue 113
- 100th birthdays for members Nancy Howlett and Sheila Sekula
- WAAF On Charge - from video interview with Sheila Sekula
- The Herald Aucklander article Nov 2006 - An Unsung Wartime Hero: Theresia Newmann
Growing up in the Bay - through the decades...
1930/1940’s memories - Eileen Rusden (nee Eades)
I started school the year WW2 was declared, 1939. Joyce Davis (nee Heron) was in my class right through school. Then the Bay was a fairly isolated country village. We lived by the corner of Bolton Street and our nearest neighbour was on the corner of Puketea Street, so there were plenty of empty sections on which to play our favourite game of “rounders”.
Blockhouse Bay Surf Lifesaving Club
In the late 1930s, a group of young Blockhouse Bay men formed the Blockhouse Bay Surf Lifesaving Club.
They took their training very seriously and were coached by Barney Clews. During the week the club members would train at Blockhouse Bay beach doing exercises on the shore, and swimming across from Te Whau Point to the sandbank and back again. On Friday nights they caught a bus to Karekare, where they stayed in the clubhouse over the weekend and did their surf training, before travelling back to town on Sunday night.
Armanasco House and family history
One part of our heritage which has been saved is the historic Armanasco homestead, across the other side of the Green. It was built in 1890 by Stefano Armanasco, an Italian who came to New Zealand in 1885 and bought several parcels of land in Blockhouse Bay.
The site he chose for his home was on six acres bounded by Heaphy Street and Blockhouse Bay Road. When building was completed, Stefano sent back to his home village of St Agata for a bride, Maria, and she came out to join him in 1890. They were married in St Patrick’s Cathedral in the same year and settled to life in the new home at Blockhouse Bay.