Graham Latta remembers his days in Orepuki 1950-1953....

Great to get your reply. Sorry to take so long coming back
but eyesight slows me down.

Orepuki: I lived there and went to school there 1950 to 1953
- a bit over three years from age 9 until we came back to
town. I remember Digger well with his horse and dray doing
deliveries around the place. Picking up goods from the
railway station and cans from the dairy factory. He was
Orepuki's best-known rugby player of the era and heavily
involved in all ways until they moved to Ingill when he
worked at Min of Works with quite a few of younger friends
of mine who I knew thru softball and rugby.

My mother was a lifelong friend of Phyllis Popham and her
friend George Telfer. I remember her shop well and had many
ice creams and other goodies from there.  I first came
across the old Pink Sports the "News Sports Special"
published by the Southland Daily News where I later worked
when Phyllis started selling it about 1952. Got me really
interested in all sports, something which obviously stayed
with me.

I thought all Pophams played their rugby at Waikiwi. I
published the "Southland Club Rugby Scene" for four years
2008-2011 in Friday's Southland Times and really enjoyed
covering all types of Southland rugby in stories and
pictures until the Times started to downsize about 2012-13
and it was never the same. Remember following a young team
of Waikiwi juniors coached by a Popham which eventually most
went on to SBHS. A lot of people looked forward to the
FRiday paper and especially Podge McPherson's hilarious
column.

How did I get onto website: Think I Googled something,
possibly softball when I was doing a piece about a marathon
game for Lloyd Esler's "About the South" column in the
Times. Your website popped up but I didn't know initially
you had included rugby as well.

Knew quite a few of the PIrates players of Ted's era - Robin
Welsh, Graham Bone, Barry Dawson etc - and many others of
later times - Noel Eade, John Purdue, Jamie Campbell, Colin
Telfer, Ken Dixon, the Blacks etc.

Anyway Karen, need to call it a day for now. I'll endeavour
to keep up with your website and see what you have added.
Any other info you might need only to willing to help if I
can.

Cheers

Graham
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