My Local: Karaka War Memorial Hall

The Karaka War Memorial Hall is in first-class condition, committee chairman Ian Harvey says.

Opened in 1955, Karaka War Memorial Hall has its original wooden flooring in the main hall and a stage, making it a great venue for local events. Harvey said the hall is used every day by a range of groups and individuals.

The hall houses the Roll of Honour commemorating local servicemen and women of World War I and World War II, as well as a plaque commemorating the US forces whose camp was in North Karaka during World War II.

Retired farmer Fraser Mansell has been involved with the hall for his entire life and said the building of the hall was a true community effort with farmers, builders, and other locals volunteering their time.

“We’re very lucky they built a reasonably sized hall that was very solidly built.”

In the first few years that the hall opened, it hosted ballet performances of Swan Lake, alongside regular social dances, ballroom dancing lessons, and annual dinners for the local Young Farmers club.

Mansell remembers the roving quiz show, It’s in the Bag, featuring Selwyn Toogood being filmed at the hall back in the 1970s (although he’s not completely sure of the date).

Competitors answered three questions before picking a bag, hoping it contained treasure. Several of Toogood’s catchphrases won enduring fame, including “by hokey!” and “what’ll it be customers, the money or the bag?”

Now the hall is used regularly for meetings, events, and sports like badminton and indoor bowls. The hall also hosts large company Christmas parties each year, Harvey said.