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An Invitation
2007-2009 Community Campaign
Radio is part of our everyday lives. It's almost become audio wallpaper - we take its existence for granted. Yet there are people alive today who grew up without radio as a constant companion. With ipods and new digital technology, radio is reaching even further into the daily routine of a new generation. At the same time, 'babyboomers' celebrate the 40th anniversary of pirate Radio Hauraki, a Kiwi icon, and their parents celebrate 70 years of 1ZB, another Kiwi icon.
During 2007-2009, more celebrations will take place throughout New Zealand as local communities and people with memories remember other great moments in radio history that impacted on their lives. There's the 70th anniversary of 2ZB, 3ZB and 4ZB and the old radio serials, songs, and media personalities of days gone past. There are anniversaries related to all kinds of radio, all over the country. Stories fading fast, old documents being lost and destroyed.
At the same time, there's a strong growth in discovering more about our social heritage. It's not just nostalgia. There's great artwork to be rediscovered, great recordings waiting to be found again, old photographs to be protected from destruction. And, there are many ordinary Kiwis with personal stories to tell about moments in their life that are forever connected to the radio.
Celebrating Over 85 Years of Popular Kiwi Radio is a three year nationwide campaign that will rescue old memorabilia of radio broadcasting, collect and protect oral histories and memories and bring all these items into a safe home. It will make them freely available and accessible to the whole Kiwi community through an online project that you can already see many examples of at www.radioheritage.net and that grows in popularity every day since its creation two years ago. It will bring exhibitions and radio documentaries back to every community.
The campaign will visit small towns, rural New Zealand and the cities. It will touch young and old alike, and literally save many important items from neglect and destruction. All these jigsaw pieces help tell part of New Zealand's heritage, and no-one has ever made any attempt to recognise their value or do anything about them – until now.
Your participation in this campaign is critical to its success. A group of committed partners is invited to make a measurable difference to how Kiwis can understand their past and prepare for their future. In financial terms the cost is not great. The social cost of the continued loss and neglect of New Zealand's radio broadcasting heritage is, however, very great.
The fact that Radio Hauraki staff and thousands of listeners made a place for a radio station in their hearts, as part of the rites of growing up in the late 1960's – and kept recordings, old photos, scrapbooks, and souvenirs of those times – is a key reason why the station has successfully celebrated 40 years of being a Kiwi icon. They filled out concert halls and purchased anniversary memorabilia by the thousands. Nostalgia and heritage can have a commercial value too.
There are hundreds of other stations, personalities, characters, events and contributions to New Zealand's heritage that deserve to be remembered. Please accept this invitation to make sure many more such celebrations follow in the future. With your involvement and support, there's a lot to celebrate about popular Kiwi radio!
David Ricquish
Chairman
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