Humbled by her own community

Learning about history has always been a passion of Rosemary Ensor’s.

So it’s probably little surprise for the Hanmer Springs community that its resident of six decades has recently been awarded a Queen’s Service Medal in the New Year’s Honours for Services To The Community.

“I received a phone call last year, I had to sit down quite promptly,” said Rosemary, recalling the receipt of the good news and how it took her by surprise.

Feeling “astonished and humbled,” she speaks with fondness and gratitude about the vast number of projects, people, groups and committees she has worked with over the years.

“I’ve always been so lucky with the people who have been part of the team, it’s never one person doing all the work.”

Rosemary has been instrumental in the saving of the Queen Mary Hospital, and gathering precious information, stories and photos about the Hospital’s past.

She has been chairperson of the Forest Camp Trust for more than thirty years and feels much pride in the great facility available now.

“What we have there is amazing.”

As the inaugural Chair of the Hanmer Springs Community Trust (and still a Trustee) Rosemary was very involved in the building and opening of the new medical centre.

Over the years she has also been a familiar face for The Hanmer Spring Community Board, Plunket, the School Board of Trustees, the Education Board, the NZ Pony Club Executive, and the Hurunui Health Committee.

Her keenness for history was realised when the School centennial was approaching in the early 1980’s, and she was reading letters from some of the oldest pupils alongside the principal at the time, Don McLay.

Rosemary used to request information and photos from the community about the Queen Mary Hospital, and still receives gems today. This makes her well suited for the role of maintaining the archives at the Hanmer Springs Library where she is a volunteer.

Her involvement with the Library over the years has created great memories. From the time Rosemary and her late husband Peter got married, the books from the mobile libraries around the area were dropped to their house, so there was always plenty to read.

Rosemary’s love for writing is evident in her published book ‘Much Ado - Hanmer Springs 1883 to 1983.’

Although Rosemary has no plans to write another book as such, she still has a busy year ahead tidying up a few of her own projects and maintaining a scrapbook of Hanmer Springs’ history when she receives information from keen community members.

“I really encourage people to join in with their community, because the friendships you make along the way are so important. If people are happy working in a group, it’s amazing what can be achieved.”