Halls inspire new book

Wharehine Hall will feature in a book on community halls in New Zealand, due for publication next year.

Around 30 Wharehine residents turned out to meet the book’s author Michele Frey and photographer John Maillard recently.

Hall secretary Barbara Lane has submitted a chapter on the hall for inclusion in the book, which will focus on the role of community halls in small settlements throughout the country. Barbara says that both Michele and John were thrilled with the turnout of locals for the photo shoot.

“They said ours was the biggest attendance so far of the halls that they had visited,” she said.

The author and photographer have collaborated before on the book Living with Natives, which they describe as a collection of personal narratives from people around New Zealand with a native plant restoration story to tell.

While travelling the country gathering narrative for this book, they were inspired by the evident history of halls in the communities they visited.