{"id":90005,"date":"2025-10-20T12:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/90005\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T12:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:41:15","slug":"ongaonga-150th-jubilee-celebrated-in-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/90005\/","title":{"rendered":"Ongaonga 150th jubilee celebrated in style"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most iconic buildings on its main street is the Coles factory, which opened in 1878. It operated for 86 years, and did everything from building and joinery, to cabinet and coffin making.<\/p>\n

Beverley Richardson, 81, has lived in the village since the age of 2, and told RNZ it was a special place to grow up.<\/p>\n

\"AA traction engine from the 1800s rolls through the Ongaonga 150th Jubilee parade. Photo \/ RNZ, Alexa Cook<\/p>\n

\u201cOh it was free, the spaces – you didn\u2019t have to worry about this, you didn\u2019t have to worry about that – you could be all over the town when we were kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody knew everybody, and everyone went and helped everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her friend, Margaret Fletcher, was also a local and had many fond memories of the village.<\/p>\n

\"AA 1949 Humber Pullman ambulance from the Waipawa Hospital Board, thought to be one of just two left worldwide. Photo \/ RNZ, Alexa Cook<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been to the pictures in Onga when they used to bring the projector around and they used to show it through a little square glass from outside. We\u2019d sit down and watch the screen when I was about nine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The 150th celebration was also a chance for many to dust off their finest Victorian-era clothing. Green MP Celia Wade-Brown embraced the opportunity to dress up.<\/p>\n

\"AA historic photograph taken in the Central Hawke\u2019s Bay village of Ongaonga. Photo \/ RNZ, Alexa Cook<\/p>\n

Tucked into her hat was a sprig of the Ongaonga tree nettle, and in her hand was the Kahukura\/NZ Red Admiral butterfly that eats the nettle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just excited to come to the Ongaonga 150th and I bought a little 150th birthday present \u2013 a Kahukura Red Admiral \u2013 it is a little bit endangered and they feed on the Ongaonga tree nettle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to be careful no one touches my hat, it\u2019s got a nasty sting,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n

\"ThomasThomas the Tank Engine led the jubilee parade through Bridge Street. Photo \/ RNZ, Alexa Cook<\/p>\n

Walking in the parade were brothers Theo and Alex Gordon, who grew up in Ongaonga and had travelled from Wellington for the jubilee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI quite like doing a little bit of historical sewing so I made our trousers and shirts, then we\u2019ve hired the rest,\u201d said Theo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re aiming for 1870s, but the outfits are a bit of a composite to be as close as possible. It\u2019s a vibe more than an accuracy.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"OngaongaOngaonga celebrated 150 years with a lively parade, markets and music. Photo \/ RNZ, Alexa Cook<\/p>\n

The jubilee is part of the Central Hawke\u2019s Bay Spring Fling, which runs for another two weeks and is a series of events throughout the district showcasing historic homesteads, coastal walks, boutique markets and fine dining.<\/p>\n

-RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most iconic buildings on its main street is the Coles factory, which opened in 1878.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[64787,4193,7573,4194,78,16673,111,43,139,69,67852,2791],"class_list":["post-90005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-150th","tag-alexa","tag-celebrated","tag-cook","tag-in","tag-jubilee","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ongaonga","tag-style"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}