Autumn at the Bookshop

This is a reproduction of our subscribers newsletter. You can get this sent directly to your inbox by joining our mailing list. We send emails about once a quarter.

May 13, 2022

Hello there reader,

While you probably don’t think of winter as a time rich in opportunity for your events calendar, well, here in Wairarapa you’d be wrong.

We have two highlights that are sure to warm even the coldest of winter days, and nights!

The Greytown Festival of Christmas is back. It’s bigger and more ginger-focused than ever before. Among our month-long series of events, author Ruth Shaw will join Susan Jane Ryan for a discussion about her popular new book, The Bookseller at the End of the World. More details can be found below.

Featherston Booktown was rescheduled and will now brighten the month of June with events running 8th - 12th. See below for details of our almost sold out High Tea event with the one and only Lynda Hallinan - a must see for all gardeners.

Whatever brings you to Wairarapa this winter we hope you’ll call in and see us at 93 Main Street, Greytown. Our fireplace will be roaring and we have an in-store promotion on Popular Penguin titles. Until June 30th:

• Buy 2 and get 10% off

• Buy 3 for 15% off

• Buy 4 or more and receive 20% off

Mrs Blackwell’s High Tea

We are very lucky to be the sponsor for Featherston Booktown’s old-fashioned High Tea. It will feature queen of the garden Lynda Hallinan, writer and traditional Rongoā Māori health practitioner Arihia Latham, and poet Jenny Bornholdt - they’ll discuss their love for gardens and nature with Radio NZ presenter Rob Kelly.

While they do the hard work, you’ll devour a generous serving of sweet and savoury treats lovingly prepared and accompanied by tea and JOIY mimosas.

Books will be available for purchase and there will be a signing opportunity too. Tickets available here (only 22 tickets left at time of writing).

We also have eight very special fundraising tickets available. These $60 tickets are raising money for Greytown Heritage Trust and include a Mrs Blackwell’s Greytown Goodie Bag!

Ginger and Proud!

Meet Gingey, the newest resident of Greytown Village.

Gingey will be joining us in July for the Festival of Christmas, a month-long celebration packed with events, workshops and night markets.

One of my favourite things to do during the Festival is wander the market stalls after dark and admire the spectacular light show. Every night, our most iconic buildings are lit up with colourful displays and — because it gets dark at 5pm in winter — it’s easy to enjoy the show at an appropriate hour.

Here are a few of our favourite events in the July program:

• Bookseller at the End of the World - Ruth Shaw author event

• Blackwell & Sons Cocktails and Comedy Series

• Walnut Shell Pincushion Workshop at Hall

• Martin Bosley’s Oyster Saloon

Market Carts for Hire

As part of the Festival of Christmas we have our Village Market Carts for hire in the daytime as well as the evening.

Approximately 40,000 people came to our village during the month of July so it’s a great chance to showcase your creations.

For the very reasonable sum of $55+ gst you can set up for a daytime session 9:30 - 2:30pm or our evening session 3pm - 7:50pm and build your profile with our visitors. If you’re an artist, maker, grower, or baker and would like to sell your wares outside the bookshop in July, just reply to this message.

📸 Photo by Wairarapa NZ.

Our Doggy in the Window

Last month, our friends at Te Papa Press ran a photo competition to find the best bookshop dog. Our winning post was captioned:

Beagle-eyed viewers will already know that Mr Matthews, Superior Book Clerk is a loving caregiver of Mary, his cute canine companion. Mary regularly pops into the bookshop to assist in a range of specialty roles, including customer greeting executive, scratch and sniff specialist, stamp licker and cat security officer.

Recently, Mary was brought in as a marketing consultant to help us come up with concepts to promote Te Papa Press’s book 'Dogs in Early New Zealand Photographs'. Mary’s best idea was for the main display window to feature copies of the book while she sat around pointing at them, Beagle style, wagging her tail at buyers and accepting bone-ations for being cute. At the end of her presentation, Mary jumped into the window to demonstrate. The bookshop was immediately flooded with customers, so the human management team nodded and got onboard with Mary’s idea.

Our win was bittersweet however as Mary, our doggy in the window had an untimely passing just before the announcement. We think she’d be very pleased with her win though. 🦴

The Bookshop Journal

In recent weeks I’ve discovered The History of the Reporters Notebook, and considered our nation’s recent revelation about the reading gap among genders.

Happy reading until next time,
Mrs Millie Blackwell

📷 Follow us on Instagram
📚 Shop online