ALAN CARLEY - KEEPER OF TREASURES Whaling pot next museum exhibit
In our ‘‘Secret lives of Kapiti’’ series, Virginia Fallon finds a man who cherishes local history. ‘‘When you hear someone say ‘I had one of those’ or ‘I remember that’, it gets you everytime.’’
Alan Carley spends a good part of his retirement in the past - and that’s just the way he likes it.
Retiring from an IT career over five years ago, the chairman of the Kapiti Coast Museum committee helps take care of what he describes as a ’’Waikanae secret’’.
It’s not a secret Carley wants kept, however. He wants to share the gems inside the 1907 building with as many people as possible.
‘‘A lot of people don’t know we’re here and that’s a shame.’’
Next month’s exhibition of a Kapiti Island whaling pot - complete with huge bones - is hoped to draw visitors to the little museum over the railway line.
It was a love of history that first got Carley interested in the museum about 17 years ago.
‘‘A friend who was on the committee then told me to come and join in and I’ve been here ever since. The rest was history.’’
A genealogy fan, Carley felt local history was something to be cherished.
‘‘It’s just so important to remember how things used to be and too easy to forget.’’
Surrounded by artifacts from yesteryear, it’s the visitors that make the biggest impression on the man who greets them.
One woman visited for five minutes before dashing home to bring a treasured childhood toy to entrust to the museum.
‘‘She knew we would take care of it and that meant a lot.’’
Listening to visitors explore the building and its exhibits was always a highlight.
‘‘When you hear someone say ‘I had one of those’ or ‘I remember that’ it gets you everytime.’’
The history of the museum goes back a long way. Built in 1907 as a post office it began its second life in 1984.
Manned by volunteers and free to visit, a new exhibition features three or four times a year.
An 1896 sewing machine, a working telephone exchange, Nazi radios and a 1908 type writer are all displayed among the treasures.
A 1940 map of Waikanae has no street names but instead lists the names of the people who live at every marked house.