November 13, 2025 • 11 mins
This weekend marks an incredible milestone for the Mataura Volunteer Fire Brigade – 100 years of service to the community! Joining us are King’s Service Medal recipient, Life Member & President Neville Phillips, along with Life Member Robin South, to share what this centenary means to the brigade and the wider community.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Metoda Volunteer Fibrigade are celebrating our one hundred years
of service to our communities this weekend. King Service Metal recipient,
current President and life member Nevill Phillips, alongside his offsider
fellow Life member Robin South, tell us all about the
celebrations planned and why they are really special. Good morning, gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Good morning Toddy. How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Good? Thank you? One hundred years. What a massive achievement, nivelle.
What does this milestone mean to not only the brigade
but also the wider community.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's exciting. Yeah, like it's taken well, i'd say, quite
a few numbers of years in the painting, and now
it's finally coming, and it's two days away and we're
a day away, and yeah, we're really looking forward to it.
Celebrating with old friends, catching up, telling old stories about
what we used to do and what we shouldn't have done,
and yeah, no, it's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
How many years have you been a part of the
Volunteer Fibrigade?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Fifty two years, basically in December of this year. But
I spent ten years in Gore for startoffs before I
went to Matara so yeah, so I've spent half of
the century.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I was gonna do that maths and then I thought, oh,
I might not point that out, But have you taken
a moment or will you take a moment to actually
just sit in that for a couple of seconds or
moments to reflect on what that means, what you've given
to our community.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Absolutely? Absolutely, And look it's about it's about everybody. It's
not just about one single present.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
So yeah, and that's why you do the things you do,
because you have that mindset. Robin your involvement. You know,
you've been a part of the crew for a number
of years, your South a life member. How do you
feel about all of these celebrations.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, Kirsten, it's been a long time coming actually, and
I'm not like Niwl. He's done quite a few years there,
which is very very good for the Matara the Gate.
I basically was just under their years and then then
I moved to Gore and I chose not to carry on.
But in that thirty years, Look, it's a big family.
(02:09):
It's a huge family, and you meet people all over
the place, whether it's we have attended Neville and I
have attended a lot of competitions over those years. Nevill
actually run right up to this year, so that's a
pretty big effort from him. But we do we have
met heaps and heaps of people and great memories, great memories.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
A couple of humble heroes. I don't think thirty years
is anything to sniff you know, zat either, But tell
us about the celebrations. Water is planned across the weekly Neville.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
So starting from Friday night, it's get together at the
forestation in Materia on Friday night and a bit of
a just a reflection registration. Saturday is going to be
accumulated with photographs in the afternoon, followed them by a
formal dinner and then followed on there by the honors
(03:02):
night at the after the celebrations of the centennial. Sunday,
of course, is to get together on the Sunday and
a bit of a wash up and tell a few
more stories that you've forgot about on the Friday night
and probably something you should forget about that you've done
on Saturday night. But also on Sunday of course is
the motoring mad in Mata, so we've decided to have
(03:25):
a little bit of an exhibition there ourselves and showing
off original Matawa's original fire engine, which is of course
one hundred years old.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
And this is a great opportunity. Whilst the rest of
the celebrations are very much brigade coded and you know
only will be a certain type of human there, the
Motoring Mad is open to the public, so this is
a great chance to come and see what we wasn't
say firsthand, but maybe second hand what it's all about
and what you guys do and their incredible machinery.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Absolutely absolutely looking forward to seeing some people dare helping
out with not only an event with that we've enjoyed
over the years ourselves, you know, because Materi Fobia has
been involved with the Moony Mad for with helping up
with the Scouts for in it consistence as well.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
So it all just comes back to community, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, this book that is sitting in front of me
go to Blazers one hundred years and blazing on, Robin South.
I know what you've been doing for your retirement. This
looks incredible. It's going to be on offer at the
library potentially coming to purchase all the market for the
(04:39):
rest of the public. But talk me through this. What
who's yeah, how did it all come about? And how much?
Who's yeah? Yeah? Yeah? How are you thrown under the bus?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Well, I'll tell you what. I never attended a meeting
and chair and Neville Phillips arrived at my house one
day and he said to me, Robin, would you do
a little job for me? And then he says, could
you think you could write the book? I said, never
a little job. That's a mammoth job. And I can
assure you it was like we started roughly two years
(05:11):
ago and we had to try and collaborate all the
information bits and pieces and put it into a book.
We already had a book of the seventy five years
done Charlie Mirror, who's passed away now but he's a
local knowledge guy and he'd done the first seventy five
years and Flapperscovi, who was the chief of MCTERA and
(05:33):
MIS South and Charlie. We spent many hours at night
up here, and that was twenty five years ago. And
basically a big difference is when we did it twenty
five years ago, Charlie sat there and a little typewriter
and type that as we talked. So now that I
got involved in this the computer is so much easier
because you can add bits in and change bits and
(05:55):
move it around. But still it was getting information and
it was a week bit slow at the start, you know,
and it did take two years just of getting bits
and pieces and writing a few stories of what I knew.
We did ask the brigade members for stories, and some
of them did give us some great stories and it's
great reading there. It's just yeah, it's just as it's happened. Really,
(06:18):
there's nothing special. So we've incorporated that first seventy five years.
It's incorporated into this book. So now we've got one
that's done one hundred years.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
So oh, it's incredible, and I can imagine we'll only
imagine that ours was and the blood and the sweat
and the tears that went into putting it together and
you know, helping prolong that piece of history because it's
a massive piece of history.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, Kirsten, it wasn't just me, like it just doesn't
happen by myself.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Never here.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
He was probably at my house in Gore, probably once
a week, you know, for sometimes it was two airs,
sometimes at four hours. A couple of days it was
all day. So and then we had all these photos
that we had to trying. Of course, you can't put
every photo in, so what we basically tried to do
was put a lot of the old members in and
a lot of the current members. So we wanted heaps
(07:08):
of different faces in the book. And I think Neville
and I we got that pretty right. We sat down
and and of course I have my daughter Trudy. She's
she's very very good on organizing keyboard. She helped us
sort of it out. And of course my good wife Cheryl,
she was well we call her final eyes. She went
through and proofread, and every time that we went to
(07:29):
the printers and we changed a couple of things, you
had to proofread the whole thing again because you know,
with computers sometimes it puts it out of whack. So
there was many, many, many hours so mess howth I
was over five hundred and fifty hours. So it's a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Oh again, comes back to that community and everybody that
wraps around you like you guys have been wrapping around it.
And I was wondering if there was any words from
your wife to describe the moment she found out how
she was going to help that would be fit for radio,
But we'll leave it with a big fare Q and
a nice note, right yep. Yeah, Now just before I
let you, gentlemen go, because it's going to be a
(08:06):
massive weekend of celebrations, of reflection of all of those things,
as it should be, especially for one hundred years. Is
there a moment across or never your fifty plus years
and Robin your thirty plus years of involvement that really
solidifies the wife for each of you, or you know,
(08:26):
or maybe a moment you know that has just stuck
with you for the good or the bad, or for
whatever reasons.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
For me, it is watching the young firefighter grow. And
I take an example for the current chief five vers.
When I first met Brenda Murray or Mode to most people,
he was a young little child that used to crawl
(08:55):
along under the full table, and now he's the chief
under me, so you know, above me. So I've seen
them grow and like a lot of the members of
the Gate grow to young men and young young women,
and that's exciting for me, you know, seeing the progression
that they've come through and seeing what they can do
for the.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Community, and we need that to keep happening.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Absolutely, Yes, you did, true and We're lucky. We're lucky
because Manteria is a community and it stands up for itself.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
If you don't keep watering that grass, the flowers aren't
going to continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Correct, Correct, you did right.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I don't know what happened there?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Sound a great comment comment?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Do you know what's happen with someone? Robin and I
need to make it to ed it to your book?
All right, you just put that at the back, No,
for you.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I've got a few memories. Probably the latest one was
Never got his King Service Medal and he invited Cheryl
and myself to go to Wellington to Government House and
I tear what that was pretty special. It felt like
I was getting the medal because we were there and
we really really enjoyed it. I've got a few memories.
We've attended competitions in Australia. Nineteen ninety two we went
(10:05):
over first time to Wollongong, and then we repeated it
in two thousand and two and it Neville came along
with us. So I've probably been over there seven or
eight times running the competitions over there, and once again
this is this big family again. You see, we get
over there and we meet the runners that we run
with last time, as I say, ten years between it,
and we knew a lot of the people over there,
(10:26):
so that family just got so big.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's just not New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
But probably one of my strangest memories is you don't
know when that forest one's going to go. Any time.
It can be. You can do anything. You could be
in the shower, you could be sleeping. And I remember
one time a good maid of mine, Trevor Wilson or
we Willie they call them, he cleaned the windows around here.
We'd been at home and having a cup of drinks
(10:52):
and we just cooked up oysters and chips and we
had this magnificent feed of oysters and chips, and I've
put two eggs on the plate and I gave Trevor
his and I was putting two eggs on my cake,
and the forest sign went. Well, we looked at each
other and oysters and chips and the eggs we thought
we can have them any days. So way we went
(11:13):
to the forest. And that's the dedication you've got. It
doesn't matter what you're doing, or what you're going to spoil,
or if your families miss out sometimes, but you catch
up so it's a big family. It really is.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
I think that's one thing that has definitely become crystal
clear to me this morning talking with you both, is
it's not just a brigade, it's a community. But on
top of that, your brothers and sisters in arms, really
and true. Yeah, I think. Yeah, Jes, thank you so
much for joining us and sharing a little bit of
that history with us this morning. And congratulations to the
(11:45):
me Toda Volunteer Fibrigade on one hundred years of incredible service.
And if you are in the area, make sure you
get along and check out the Motoring Mad Car Show
as well touch Base. I'm sure these two would love
to have ay on with anyone, but all the best
for a successful, fun weekend celebrating.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Thank Jitny, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yeah, very good. Thank you,
The Metoda Volunteer Fibrigade are celebrating our one hundred years
of service to our communities this weekend. King Service Metal recipient,
current President and life member Nevill Phillips, alongside his offsider
fellow Life member Robin South, tell us all about the
celebrations planned and why they are really special. Good morning, gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Good morning Toddy. How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Good? Thank you? One hundred years. What a massive achievement, nivelle.
What does this milestone mean to not only the brigade
but also the wider community.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's exciting. Yeah, like it's taken well, i'd say, quite
a few numbers of years in the painting, and now
it's finally coming, and it's two days away and we're
a day away, and yeah, we're really looking forward to it.
Celebrating with old friends, catching up, telling old stories about
what we used to do and what we shouldn't have done,
and yeah, no, it's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
How many years have you been a part of the
Volunteer Fibrigade?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Fifty two years, basically in December of this year. But
I spent ten years in Gore for startoffs before I
went to Matara so yeah, so I've spent half of
the century.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I was gonna do that maths and then I thought, oh,
I might not point that out, But have you taken
a moment or will you take a moment to actually
just sit in that for a couple of seconds or
moments to reflect on what that means, what you've given
to our community.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Absolutely? Absolutely, And look it's about it's about everybody. It's
not just about one single present.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
So yeah, and that's why you do the things you do,
because you have that mindset. Robin your involvement. You know,
you've been a part of the crew for a number
of years, your South a life member. How do you
feel about all of these celebrations.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, Kirsten, it's been a long time coming actually, and
I'm not like Niwl. He's done quite a few years there,
which is very very good for the Matara the Gate.
I basically was just under their years and then then
I moved to Gore and I chose not to carry on.
But in that thirty years, Look, it's a big family.
(02:09):
It's a huge family, and you meet people all over
the place, whether it's we have attended Neville and I
have attended a lot of competitions over those years. Nevill
actually run right up to this year, so that's a
pretty big effort from him. But we do we have
met heaps and heaps of people and great memories, great memories.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
A couple of humble heroes. I don't think thirty years
is anything to sniff you know, zat either, But tell
us about the celebrations. Water is planned across the weekly Neville.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
So starting from Friday night, it's get together at the
forestation in Materia on Friday night and a bit of
a just a reflection registration. Saturday is going to be
accumulated with photographs in the afternoon, followed them by a
formal dinner and then followed on there by the honors
(03:02):
night at the after the celebrations of the centennial. Sunday,
of course, is to get together on the Sunday and
a bit of a wash up and tell a few
more stories that you've forgot about on the Friday night
and probably something you should forget about that you've done
on Saturday night. But also on Sunday of course is
the motoring mad in Mata, so we've decided to have
(03:25):
a little bit of an exhibition there ourselves and showing
off original Matawa's original fire engine, which is of course
one hundred years old.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
And this is a great opportunity. Whilst the rest of
the celebrations are very much brigade coded and you know
only will be a certain type of human there, the
Motoring Mad is open to the public, so this is
a great chance to come and see what we wasn't
say firsthand, but maybe second hand what it's all about
and what you guys do and their incredible machinery.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Absolutely absolutely looking forward to seeing some people dare helping
out with not only an event with that we've enjoyed
over the years ourselves, you know, because Materi Fobia has
been involved with the Moony Mad for with helping up
with the Scouts for in it consistence as well.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
So it all just comes back to community, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, this book that is sitting in front of me
go to Blazers one hundred years and blazing on, Robin South.
I know what you've been doing for your retirement. This
looks incredible. It's going to be on offer at the
library potentially coming to purchase all the market for the
(04:39):
rest of the public. But talk me through this. What
who's yeah, how did it all come about? And how much?
Who's yeah? Yeah? Yeah? How are you thrown under the bus?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Well, I'll tell you what. I never attended a meeting
and chair and Neville Phillips arrived at my house one
day and he said to me, Robin, would you do
a little job for me? And then he says, could
you think you could write the book? I said, never
a little job. That's a mammoth job. And I can
assure you it was like we started roughly two years
(05:11):
ago and we had to try and collaborate all the
information bits and pieces and put it into a book.
We already had a book of the seventy five years
done Charlie Mirror, who's passed away now but he's a
local knowledge guy and he'd done the first seventy five
years and Flapperscovi, who was the chief of MCTERA and
(05:33):
MIS South and Charlie. We spent many hours at night
up here, and that was twenty five years ago. And
basically a big difference is when we did it twenty
five years ago, Charlie sat there and a little typewriter
and type that as we talked. So now that I
got involved in this the computer is so much easier
because you can add bits in and change bits and
(05:55):
move it around. But still it was getting information and
it was a week bit slow at the start, you know,
and it did take two years just of getting bits
and pieces and writing a few stories of what I knew.
We did ask the brigade members for stories, and some
of them did give us some great stories and it's
great reading there. It's just yeah, it's just as it's happened. Really,
(06:18):
there's nothing special. So we've incorporated that first seventy five years.
It's incorporated into this book. So now we've got one
that's done one hundred years.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
So oh, it's incredible, and I can imagine we'll only
imagine that ours was and the blood and the sweat
and the tears that went into putting it together and
you know, helping prolong that piece of history because it's
a massive piece of history.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Well, Kirsten, it wasn't just me, like it just doesn't
happen by myself.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Never here.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
He was probably at my house in Gore, probably once
a week, you know, for sometimes it was two airs,
sometimes at four hours. A couple of days it was
all day. So and then we had all these photos
that we had to trying. Of course, you can't put
every photo in, so what we basically tried to do
was put a lot of the old members in and
a lot of the current members. So we wanted heaps
(07:08):
of different faces in the book. And I think Neville
and I we got that pretty right. We sat down
and and of course I have my daughter Trudy. She's
she's very very good on organizing keyboard. She helped us
sort of it out. And of course my good wife Cheryl,
she was well we call her final eyes. She went
through and proofread, and every time that we went to
(07:29):
the printers and we changed a couple of things, you
had to proofread the whole thing again because you know,
with computers sometimes it puts it out of whack. So
there was many, many, many hours so mess howth I
was over five hundred and fifty hours. So it's a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Oh again, comes back to that community and everybody that
wraps around you like you guys have been wrapping around it.
And I was wondering if there was any words from
your wife to describe the moment she found out how
she was going to help that would be fit for radio,
But we'll leave it with a big fare Q and
a nice note, right yep. Yeah, Now just before I
let you, gentlemen go, because it's going to be a
(08:06):
massive weekend of celebrations, of reflection of all of those things,
as it should be, especially for one hundred years. Is
there a moment across or never your fifty plus years
and Robin your thirty plus years of involvement that really
solidifies the wife for each of you, or you know,
(08:26):
or maybe a moment you know that has just stuck
with you for the good or the bad, or for
whatever reasons.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
For me, it is watching the young firefighter grow. And
I take an example for the current chief five vers.
When I first met Brenda Murray or Mode to most people,
he was a young little child that used to crawl
(08:55):
along under the full table, and now he's the chief
under me, so you know, above me. So I've seen
them grow and like a lot of the members of
the Gate grow to young men and young young women,
and that's exciting for me, you know, seeing the progression
that they've come through and seeing what they can do
for the.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Community, and we need that to keep happening.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Absolutely, Yes, you did, true and We're lucky. We're lucky
because Manteria is a community and it stands up for itself.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
If you don't keep watering that grass, the flowers aren't
going to continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Correct, Correct, you did right.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I don't know what happened there?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Sound a great comment comment?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Do you know what's happen with someone? Robin and I
need to make it to ed it to your book?
All right, you just put that at the back, No,
for you.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I've got a few memories. Probably the latest one was
Never got his King Service Medal and he invited Cheryl
and myself to go to Wellington to Government House and
I tear what that was pretty special. It felt like
I was getting the medal because we were there and
we really really enjoyed it. I've got a few memories.
We've attended competitions in Australia. Nineteen ninety two we went
(10:05):
over first time to Wollongong, and then we repeated it
in two thousand and two and it Neville came along
with us. So I've probably been over there seven or
eight times running the competitions over there, and once again
this is this big family again. You see, we get
over there and we meet the runners that we run
with last time, as I say, ten years between it,
and we knew a lot of the people over there,
(10:26):
so that family just got so big.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's just not New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
But probably one of my strangest memories is you don't
know when that forest one's going to go. Any time.
It can be. You can do anything. You could be
in the shower, you could be sleeping. And I remember
one time a good maid of mine, Trevor Wilson or
we Willie they call them, he cleaned the windows around here.
We'd been at home and having a cup of drinks
(10:52):
and we just cooked up oysters and chips and we
had this magnificent feed of oysters and chips, and I've
put two eggs on the plate and I gave Trevor
his and I was putting two eggs on my cake,
and the forest sign went. Well, we looked at each
other and oysters and chips and the eggs we thought
we can have them any days. So way we went
(11:13):
to the forest. And that's the dedication you've got. It
doesn't matter what you're doing, or what you're going to spoil,
or if your families miss out sometimes, but you catch
up so it's a big family. It really is.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
I think that's one thing that has definitely become crystal
clear to me this morning talking with you both, is
it's not just a brigade, it's a community. But on
top of that, your brothers and sisters in arms, really
and true. Yeah, I think. Yeah, Jes, thank you so
much for joining us and sharing a little bit of
that history with us this morning. And congratulations to the
(11:45):
me Toda Volunteer Fibrigade on one hundred years of incredible service.
And if you are in the area, make sure you
get along and check out the Motoring Mad Car Show
as well touch Base. I'm sure these two would love
to have ay on with anyone, but all the best
for a successful, fun weekend celebrating.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Thank Jitny, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yeah, very good. Thank you,
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