Take a second look at the person putting away the chairs at Thames Museum; it could very well be the society’s new patron.
Thames resident Sereena Burton said it was an honour to be asked to be the museum’s patron, and said she saw the position as an advocate rather than a mere figurehead.
“Any museum is important to a town. Because, stating the obvious, it’s the town’s history. If we forget things, then we’re doomed to repeat them,” she said.
“It’s getting out there, it’s promoting the town. I mean, looking at a number of empty shops at the moment, Thames is looking a bit sad. We’re trying to encourage people to come in and celebrate the town.”
Sereena has been involved with the museum since 1999 – the turn of the century, she said; an appropriate turn of phrase for a museum.
Along with spending periods on the committee, she’s also helped to photograph some of Thames’ history. Most recently, the museum invited her to make a photographic record of the former Butts Hotel, above the old Fresho shop, ahead of its upcoming demolition.
History has always been a large part of Sereena’s life. With an uncle who was a historian in Taranaki and her late mother involved in a number of Thames societies, Sereena soon found she also had a place there.
“We were foundation members of the Small Gauge Railway, my mother and myself,” she said.
“We had similar interests, so we tended to replicate the same things.
“And one of the wives there said to my mother, who I call DC, ‘how would you like to be a volunteer at the museum? You only have to be down there once a month just on the door, you know.’
“And then, of course, what she did, I did. I mean, people who know us will know that we were interchangeable, pretty much.”
From there, Sereena was involved in plenty. She joined Forest and Bird, the John William Hall Arboretum, and took occasional photos for the School of Mines.
She’s also the official photographer for the Historic Kōpū Bridge group.
Sereena said volunteers were invaluable, not just for the museum but for the whole town.
“If it wasn’t for them, so many establishments in Thames wouldn’t be operational – sporting groups and community groups and heritage groups. If we all just did a little bit, then it would be so much easier.”
And for Sereena, “doing her bit” now includes promoting the museum.
“I’ve been known as eccentric… I’m quite happy to get dressed up in Victoriana or anything to promote the museum,” she said.
“The thing is, I’m not great at talking to people, so it’s something to work on.”
Meanwhile, she’s found other ways to help out, like packing up after the museum’s monthly history talks.
“I’ve decided ‘patron’ means ‘putting away temporary resting-on necessities’,” she laughed.
