‘Wild’ Bill Dysart
WAIPUKURAU, HAWKE’S BAY
Bill Dysart grew up playing cowboys and you could say, he never stopped. As a boy he loved watching films and television shows about the American Wild West. “I like those stories where it’s the good versus the bad. The sheriff versus the robbers.” As an adult, he built his own cowboy saloon – his then-wife had managed to find a perfect set of swing doors “and it steamrolled from there really”. When his marriage ended, Bill packed all the saloon into a container, determined to rebuild it when he had a chance.
After the 2020 lockdowns he ended up buying a threebedroom home in Waipukurau with his daughter Morgan (who nominated her “incredibly creative and talented” dad in Resene Shed of the Year). There was a large shed on the property already which Bill and Morgan were able to refit into an even bigger and better ‘Wild’ Bill’s Saloon.
The space is now absolutely packed with Wild West paraphenalia. “People describe it as being better than a museum,” Morgan says. She admits that both she and Bill love visiting markets and second-hand shops to find suitable treasures. A mini saloon coaster set was picked up in an op shop for just $4 and modified by Bill to say Bill’s Saloon and it’s proudly displayed between a carved Native American head and a carved cowboy boot; also both op shop finds. And as more people visit, the collection grows; Bill has been gifted cowboy boots, pictures, knives, bottles and more. He also makes a lot of pieces for the saloon himself, like a wooden replica Winchester rifle, a wooden wagon, and the carved image of Clint Eastwood that hangs on the wall, as well as building the wooden bar himself and upcycling an old wooden cable spool into a table. “It is a creative space,” he says. “I display things that remind me of my history or show my passions. It’s where I can be creative, build, and use my mind and hands.”
That creativity has been passed down to Morgan and her brother (who both work in film) and have also made items for their dad’s collection. Morgan photoshopped a pic of a young Bill into a wanted sign, while her brother made him personalised labels for his whiskey bottle, among other things. “Sorting gifts for Father’s Day has become easier,” Morgan admits.
Bill’s passion for the Wild West has spilled beyond the swing doors of the saloon. He works as a caretaker at the Waipukurau School and has shown the kids photos that Morgan, a photographer, took of him riding horses and wearing cowboy gear. That – plus the cowboy tattoos on his arms – means some of the young kids think he really is a cowboy. “And I always wear a cowboy hat around school,” he says. “I mean we’re a sunsmart school anyway.”
His dream, he says, is to build a whole Wild West town. “Like a theme park with a steam train going around and an old gold mine and maybe a native American village.” It’s also on his bucket list to travel to the US and visit some of the historic sites that relate to the American Frontier.
Over the years, the saloon has hosted work dos, birthday parties and All Blacks’ games: so many people have visited that there’s now a visitor’s book. More recently it’s provided a space for locals affected by the destruction caused by cyclone Gabrielle in the region. When the cyclone hit, Bill and Morgan were evacuated out of fear that the river would rise. While they returned home to find they had not been flooded, “helping people who have been flooded and seeing the damage, it’s emotional and stressful,” Bill says. He posted on the school Facebook page saying anyone was welcome to the saloon if they wanted to talk, and a crowd of people gathered there. “It was healing,” he says. “You can escape reality for a while here.”
That’s the magic of his shed for him, and he hopes for others, Bill says. He saw something on TV once where a man had been through some difficultes, and had gone and lived in the wild by himself. And when he was asked why, he said he wanted to go back to when he was happiest and his happy place was out in the bush. “And I think for me my happy place was playing cowboys in the backyard with my mates. And that’s a place I can still go to now and be happy, and share that with all my family and friends.”
“My Dad’s funeral ended up in his shed with us all singing songs and sharing memories. If my kids follow that example I’ll be smiling down from heaven.”