The Central Otago Heritage Trust has a new leader and the group will soon release its first oral history podcast.

Jenny Nixon was elected chair at the AGM in late November, joining trustees Marco Creemers, Russell Garbutt, Kate Goodfellow, Warwick Hawker, David Hurd, Pene Morris & Ross Naylor, along with Ann Rodgers (CODC liaison) and Ann Cowie (heritage co-ordinator).

COHT is the founding organisation of Heritage Central Otago and all community-focused initiatives of the trust are represented under the Heritage Central Otago identity. 

The trust was established in 2008 and trustees elected by Central Otago’s major heritage organisations to represent their collective interests for the identification, preservation, and protection of Central Otago’s heritage. 

Jenny said this month they will be celebrating the milestone of 100 oral history interviews published on its website

“This is a fantastic achievement which is made possible by our wonderful group of volunteers.”

She said the new podcast initiative came about through the desire to find another way to use the oral history recordings, “but also to tap into the huge array of resources and interesting exhibits held by the five local museums of Central Otago.”

“There are so many fascinating stories to be told and we look forward to bringing some of these to life in a new format.”

Guest speaker Quinn Berentson will lead a talk about the Haast Eagle later this week. supplied

Jenny and her husband relocated from Auckland to Cromwell a few years ago, after a career as an academic teaching environmental planning.

Born in Timaru and raised in Invercargill, she has fond memories of coming to Central Otago every year as a child for apricots.

She used the Clyde Dam as a case study to illustrate the changes in New Zealand’s approach to environmental policies and management. 

“Central Otago has a rich and varied history of resource development over many decades, along with its iconic landscapes, which makes it a very special place for residents and tourists alike. 

“With my career in international higher education coming to a close, I decided to put my name forward for the trust and, in a sense, having moved to live here a couple of years ago, I have now come full circle. I am very committed to working with our trust members to protect and preserve local heritage and document our history.”

The next heritage talk in Central Otago will be about the Haast Eagle and led by guest speaker Quinn Berentson at the Clyde Museum on Thursday and Friday January 22 and 23.

More information here

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