Pop in to Tairua Information Centre and you are likely to hear the cheerful Pommie voice of the manager, Eve Roper. After six years on the job, Eve has decided to step down and is looking for someone else to train for her role.
When she started the job she did not anticipate the challenge of Covid restrictions, which led her to creating a temporary office at her Tairua home.
“I was just finding my feet at the centre and I popped into 4 Square and it was packed with everyone stocking up with things like toilet rolls. I’d been so busy and not noticed that we were going into lockdown. I thought to myself “Well, I’ve just got a job in a tourist town and now there won’t be any tourists. So – do I still have a job?
“Then I took my work laptop home, transferred office phone calls, organised courier parcels to be dropped off at my place, and worked from home. I remember that there was a lots of wine and cheese dropped off for residents who were stuck in their homes.”
Fortunately Covid restrictions eased in May and Eve returned to work at the centre.
Other challenges have included extreme weather events and road closures.
“Tairua’s had two stints of isolation over the past six years and during those times we got lots of phone calls from people worried about family remembers living in Tairua.”
Tairua’s information centre was set up 40 years ago. It has moved a number of times over the years, including both sides of the main street and twice being based in a caravan.
“The current site, within the district council’s library complex, is earmarked for library expansion.
So we’re now focused on getting a relocatable building on the Pepe Reserve beside the public toilets.”
During Eve’s time at the centre she has organised Music on the Pepe, the Tairua Calendar and a reprint of Father Bennett’s book of Tairua history. She also instigated clearer signage for the centre and Ocean Beach. The Pepe Bridge rebuild prompted her to organise tea towels commemorating the one-lane bridge.
Eve has helped thousands of people and says it can be very gratifying knowing that you’ve helped someone.
“There was the woman who phoned the centre and asked our volunteer where her husband had stayed the last weekend. It felt like she was accusing the volunteer of something! But it turned out the woman wanted to surprise her husband by booking it for them to stay because she knew he liked the place.
“Sometimes it feels like we should have a crystal ball as our logo,” laughs Eve. “But thank goodness we have Google to help us.”
Eve is a well-known face on stage at Tairua Troubadours shows, with a penchant for comedy and a lovely voice. She enjoys organising town markets and will continue with this as well as being on the information centre’s committee.
Eve plans to work on self-sufficiency in her garden and also spend time sewing and painting. “My name is Eve, so I’m a creator,” she adds, with the smile that has welcomed many visitors to the information centre.
Eve says the new manager needs to be organised, a multitasker, resourceful, creative and customer focused. Computer and administration skills are also required. Eve reckons it helps to be happy and calm in all situations. “The job is like a diamond – it has many facets and I know the new manager will find our volunteers very welcoming will help her/him settle in.”
◾️For more information on the manager’s role at Tairua Information and Community Services Society, an information pack is available from the centre or phone 078647575.
