31 October - 2 November 2008 M J Ireland Signs Oamaru New Zealand

For most Letterheads 08 started on the Thursday afternoon with the trip to Oamaru with most of those flying to the South Island making it to Christchurch by early afternoon. The road trip down to Oamaru from Christchurch, sponsored and organised by Total Supply, was quite eventful with a stop off at Jeff Harvey's in Ashburton for a 'leg stretch' and to pick up another vehicle.

It was then on down to Oamaru, a trip of another two hours. First stop in Oamaru was to sort out accommodation and unload unnecessary items and then it was onto Maurice's sign shop. After catching up with a few others and helping out where we could it was time to consider the 'inner man' and seek a meal and something to wash the dust out of the system - we ended up at Fat Sally's, a local bar and bistro only to discover that's where everyone else went too. So some thirty people sat down to a good meal, lots of tall stories and much catching up.

Friday dawned chilly but with a blue sky, which was a good sign. By the time we got to Maurice's others were starting to arrive and the place was starting to hum. After a few words from Maurice, everyone was into their projects or gathering around the Oamaru stone carving area to hear Darynie Jones take people through the basics and introduce them to the various tools and shaping implements used by stone carvers.

A trip out to the only working Oamaru stone quarry was a real education. There's still 1,000 years worth of quarrying available at current rates of extraction which means that the distinctive stone will be available to us for many years to come.

Most attendees worked well into the night with there being an impromptu entertainment break when the crew who are "always on tour" hit the stage (and the lights, sound system, the bottle, and a few other things) and entertained the hardy ones who remained well into the small hours.

Saturday wasn't quite as nice, weatherwise, as Friday. Friday say Sheriff Wes taking those interested out to the Hall of Memories at Waitaki Boys High School where he was able to share many memories with us. If you want to learn more, click here. What an amazing building!

Saturday evening saw us leaving Maurice's workshop early to clean up for the evening's activities which started at the small railway station in the historic area of Oamaru. A sort train trip in the antique carriages saw us taken along the waterfront to the North Otago Yacht & Power Boat Club for pre-dinner drinks and canapes where it was announced that a Letterheads Legends memorial would be instigated by the next Letterheads Meet in NZ. It was fitting that John Jordan be the first recipient of recognition and that Gus Nisbet, who passed away earlier in the year, be duly recognised also. After this we all reboarded the train and headed back to the heritage area and the Whisky Bar & Restaurant for an evening meal and prize giving.

After a great meal was consumed, most walked down to the Penguin Club to listen to some local bands before heading off back to the sign shop to continue working into the small hours again. Sunday dawned another really nice day and virtually everyone finished their projects. Maurice thanked all that attended, making special mention of the crew from Jordan Signs, Paul, Brian, Scott and Jake. Sponsors for the whole event included Total Supplies, who among other things provided much of the transport - a truly sterling effort from Mark - well done, I hope you caught up with some sleep as you had well and truly earnt it! 3M NZ Ltd, Sign Supplies, Computaleta Services, Roland DG, AFM Ltd, Signage Systems, Resene, Blue Print, Plywood City, Harvey Signs, PSP, and Placemakers all helped enourmously to make the event possible and thanks are due to Maurice and his family and Dana from M J Ireland Signs for making us all welcome and putting on a brilliant event.

OK folks, put October 16 to 18, 2009 in the diary as that's when the next NZ Letterheads Meet will be held at Jeff Harvey's sign shop in Ashburton - See you all again then.