Our Town – The Changing Face of Masterton
Our Town – The Changing Face of Masterton
Pete Nikolaison and George (Ted) Nikolaison
Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History
12 Bruce St., Masterton
12 October 2019 - 1 March 2020
Exhibition Opening: Friday, 11 October, 5:30pm
Over the last six decades, Pete and his late father George (Ted) Nikolaison have been capturing the history of Masterton on film.
Supported by Borman Family Trust, the exhibition is accompanied by a publication with text provided by Gareth Winter, Wairarapa Archive.
George Nikolaison Gay Phelps (Williams), 1968
Gay Williams, nee Phelps, is a Wairarapa-born beauty queen, who left the district to study in Auckland. While there in 1965 she became Miss New Zealand, her winning dress being a stunning red gown and cape, now in the New Zealand Museum of Fashion.
She spent the next year wearing a woollen wardrobe, helping promote the Woolmark brand. She returned to Wairarapa to marry Tom Williams of ‘Te Parae’ in 1968, and together they raised three children, and countless sheep, cattle, horses and deer.
George Nikolaison The Queen and Allan Williamson, Lower Hutt 1963
Allan Williamson won the Royal Invitational Golden Shears in Lower Hutt in 1963. Unfortunately, he was drying himself off when he was called to receive his trophy from the Queen and did not hear his name being called. When he rushed to the stage to be presented with his trophy the Queen said: “Mr Williamson, you are the first man in the world to keep me waiting”.
Pete Nikolaison Aaron Slight
Aaron Slight, who was born in Masterton in 1966, became a top flight motorcycle racer, amassing 87 podium finishes and 13 wins in the World Superbike Championship through the 1990s. He is the only rider to have won three consecutive Suzuka 8-hour races.