A community remembrance project is looking for new caretakers in Waihī.
The “Cross of Crosses”, a semi-annual display, has been managed by Waihī Heritage Vision since 2019.
Every two years in the lead-up to Anzac Day, the group has marshalled local schools and community volunteers to arrange nearly 2000 white crosses in a precise grid on the hill beside Waihī’s Cornish Pumphouse.
The crosses were originally part of a 15,200-cross display laid in the Auckland Domain in 2018 to mark the passing of 100 years since Armistice Day, the day World War I officially came to an end. Afterwards, the crosses were distributed to RSAs and other memorial groups across the country, including Waihī Heritage Vision.
Since then, Waihī Heritage Vision has turned its crosses into a dramatic display which intimately involves the children of Waihī in the nation’s wartime history.
“As the World War I thing gets further and further into history, these things do tend to fade, and the idea is to get it there in front of our children here in Waihī,” committee member Peter Beveridge said.
Each cross bears the name of a serviceman or nurse who lost their lives in the war, and the heritage group has researched a handful of names. When the display goes up, local schools are invited to help put up the crosses and learn about the people they represent.
“The schools actually put the crosses out,” Vicki Beveridge said.
“They all get worksheets, and they get taught how to put a poppy on the cenotaph to really own Anzac Day as part of our heritage.”
However, it’s time for younger blood to take on organising the project, Peter and Vicki said.
“It’s not a hard job. We mark the grid out so the kids just have to put [the crosses] in. And that’s where we can’t do it,” Vicki said.
“That’s actually quite a hill to walk up. And we can’t do the bending down as much as we used to.”
Organisation of the project is minimal, Vicki said – with grids, worksheets and other paperwork already sorted, the new volunteers would only need to organise the construction and removal of the display.
“The whole thing is very well organised for people to take over. We need someone to do the emailing, organise the schools, come and collect the crosses and actually be there, putting them up,” Vicki said.
“We have got Oceana on board, they do the GPS points [for the grid].
“We have got the paperwork done, so they don’t have to create the wheel, but they can fine-tune it to their heart’s content.”
Vicki said for the right person, it would be simple to make it a yearly display.
“It’s such a great place to take your kids for a walk through that time,” she said.
“Ideally, it’d be a lovely project that could go up yearly, but we’re old, so we were being kind to ourselves.”
Details: To find out more email nztunnelingcompany@gmail.com or call Vicki on 027 372 9189.
