Museum book designed to have broad appeal

GREAT IDEA: Kauri Museum CEO Bet Nelley (left) with book reviewer Rae Roadley.

By Rae Roadley

The Kauri Museum has produced a spectacular perpetual diary to celebrate its 50th birthday “because no-one came up with a better idea”.

But when you see Pioneering Life & the Kauri Tree: The Kauri Museum – Celebrating the first fifty years, you may well conclude the concept couldn’t have been improved upon.

Remarkably, the perpetual calendar, cookbook, photo album and history, all rolled into one publication, rolled off the printing press a mere six months after inception. Planning was delayed after a fire at the museum earlier this year. 

When Kauri Museum CEO Bet Nelley asked me to review the book and speak about it at a media launch, I imagined it would make a useful diary. However, it’s much more than that.

A quick read, it offers a once-over light history of the museum, the area, the kauri and the Smith family who established the museum, plus a raft of other subjects: hunting, fishing, shellfish gathering, flax cultivation and export, medicine, nursing, photographer Tudor Collins and on and on.

As well as countless photos, there are 50 indexed recipes. Each month begins with a photograph that’s relevant to the time of year: March preserves, December Christmas.

Many pages feature a touch of everything – photos, history, past, present, a recipe, and several dates with space for notes.

It has wide appeal. Men and women will appreciate the history, facts and photos (past and present) and recipes, whether to cook or eat. I made date and fig slice and can confirm it’s delicious.

Bet Nelley contracted Ant Creative to manage the project as the company’s creative director Sarah Charles earned accolades after being tasked with giving the museum’s shop some ‘oomph’.

Sarah turned her ability and keen eye for detail to the task and, along with museum staff and volunteers, has created a masterpiece.

An unexpected bonus for me was finding a photo of my great-great uncle Wesley Switzer who had a sawmill south of Kaitaia. Many families are represented in the photographs and it’s thrilling to know I’m among the readers with personal connection.

The book, also designed to appeal to the museum’s many international visitors, is available from the Kauri Museum shop and website.