Road trip to Hastings

This week our friends, Lindsay and Tina Dil, joined us for a road trip from Hamilton, down the center of the North Island to Hastings on the east coast. It is a four-hour drive on mostly two-lane road over a range of mountains.

We stayed in Havelock North in one of the most beautiful agricultural areas I have ever seen. The orchards and vineyards were groomed, the village was clean and fresh. It was like Napa Valley in England.

President and Sister Dil are on a three-week leave from their responsibilities at the Missionary Training Center in Auckland while the carpets are being replaced and other minor refurbishing is done. It seems odd but there are no missionaries at that MTC at the present time. Before their call to preside over the MTC they served as the Pacific Area Church History Advisors. Not only are they our close friends but they have also been a great resource to us in our present assignment.

We have been working on a project that they were previously involved with which was the reason for our trip.

In 1913 the church opened the Maori Agricultural College at Bridge Pa near Hastings in the Hawke's Bay district. The school was intended to teach young Maori men agricultural skills and academic subjects as well as give them religious instruction. The teachers were missionaries from the United States. It operated for 18 years.

After it closed the church sold some of the land and a small primary school now stands on one section. The local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints community and the M.A.C. Old Boys' association has been interested in placing a historical marker there for some time. We have been working on the approval of the text by the Church History Department, the local church leaders, and the local school authorities. We secured a picture of the opening day and organized a meeting at the local school to get the final approval and choose the spot for the marker.

Here is the text for the marker and the photo from 1913 that will be on the marker: (The photo will need a little Photoshop edit)

This place was home to the Māori Agricultural College (M.A.C.) from 1913 to 1931. The Bridge Pa School now stands on the old M.A.C. football field.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operated the M.A.C. as a boarding school for young men. On its 266-acre campus, the school offered training in agriculture, construction, and academic subjects.
The school opened on April 14, 1913, with 35 students taught by 4 missionaries. Students worked on the school farm and shared housework and kitchen duties. They followed the school’s values, which encouraged joyful, upright living and forbade smoking, drinking alcohol, and swearing. To relax, they played sports and made music. The school’s brass band performed at community events.
Alumni of the M.A.C. formed an old boys’ association to honour their school and its impact in their lives. Members included top rugby players, such as George Nepia and Lui Paewai of the 1924–25 All-Black “Invincibles” and Puti Tipene (Steve) Watene, captain of the 1936–37 New Zealand Rugby League team. Watene was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1963 until his death in 1967.
On February 3, 1931, a major earthquake damaged buildings at the M.A.C. Faced with low enrolment and financial struggles, the school closed. But the M.A.C. legacy continues. It lives on in the families and communities who have been influenced by those who worked, served, and learned here.

The marker will be manufactured from adonized aluminum and will be similar to this one from Samoa.

Our meeting with the school principal, the board of trustees representative and the Old Boys' Association president was a great experience. It is such a privilege to represent the church and meet with people like the principle of Bridge Pa School, Bex Skerman. She is doing an amazing work!

She had no knowledge of the history of the M.A.C. and immediately saw that this was an opportunity to teach her students the history of the area and underscore the message that they can succeed just as those students succeeded. My job in the next week or two will be to provide her with the historical narrative and photos of the school. I sent the first installment the afternoon we returned.

Notice the leaves. Remember it is fall here!!! April 24.

This is the playground for the 85 students - 1st grade through 8th grade.

Elder Garlick is standing in the spot where the marker will be placed.

Our group - L to R - Vanessa Sadler - board of trustees representative, Babara and Ross Cuff - New Zealand Church History Representatives, Sister and Elder Garlick, Bex Skerman - Bridge Pa Principal, Anthony Morley - President of the M.A.C. Old Boys' Association and former Stake President. President Dil was taking the picture and Sister Dil was standing out of the camera range.

If you read nothing else I urge to read this article about Bex Skerman and the Bridge Pa School entitled, "The Kids Will Be Alright." (click on the title)

Is there a school or group out there that is looking for a worthy cause? This may be it. I can supply contact info.

We love our work. We are in Heaven!