The day the news broke Margaret Collins had lost her position on the Otago Museum Trust Board, a small group of former Otago Museum staff gathered at the museum cafe to celebrate.
Mrs Collins, of Balclutha, told the Otago Daily Times this week she was elsewhere in the building at the time but believed some of the group were wearing "deadwood" T-shirts.
Someone, she says, suggested to her that security staff could remove the group from the cafe.
But anyone who has met Mrs Collins can tell you she has a fine sense of humour, and the group was left to finish their cup of museum tea in peace.
Mrs Collins says when she retired from the Clutha District Council a little more than three years ago, councillors gave her a "lovely party".
She still remembers the tribute paid her then by the chief executive who said "she was always fun to work with and she never held a grudge".
"I cherish that. I like to think that sums it up.
"And, I think, I've been very, very fortunate.
"I've got the affection and the respect of the community.
"It doesn't get better than that, does it?"
But, it was that decision to step down from the Clutha council that also brought about the end to her time on the museum trust board.
Although her position as trust chairwoman relied on the votes of her fellow board members, her position on the board itself required the votes of members of the Clutha District Council.
And, last month, the Clutha council decided to replace her with councillor Gaynor Finch.
Mrs Collins had been the council's representative on the trust board for more than 20 years and was "shocked and disappointed".
This week, as she chaired her final board meeting, Mrs Collins took her changed circumstances with her usual good humour, noting that the Clutha council's decision was "no criticism" of her performance.
"That's just local body politics. I've had a very good run."
Mrs Collins was born in Harrow - part of greater London - but immigrated to New Zealand with her family as a schoolgirl.
During World War 2, her father was captured by the Germans and spent four years in prison camp.
There, Mrs Collins says he met several New Zealanders, "liked their style" and heard "all about godzone".
After the war, he kept in touch and eventually the Collins family moved to Gore - "sponsored out" by the New Zealanders from the prison camp.
"Dad was so much impressed with the lifestyle that was offered and he just liked the manner of the Kiwis.
"So I came out with my parents and my two brothers and a sister and never regretted it."
Mrs Collins trained in Dunedin as a radiographer and still works part-time in the field, in Balclutha.
"Fortunately, my husband Jim's a GP so I didn't have to go out to work to make money which, when it came to being on a local body, it was just marvellous because I had the time."
She was first elected to the Balclutha Borough Council in 1974 - "a real boom time" in Balclutha.
"We developed a huge new subdivision. We were going to have this wonderful industry based on timber."
But then the "wretched" Clutha County Council - "the country boys" - decided "they didn't want trees all over their patch".
"So they blocked it.
"Other circumstances changed as well but it was the death knell of the huge boom we were expecting to have."
Mrs Collins was the only woman on the council and recalls her first mayor, Bob Pearson, as "a bit of a chauvinist".
"My first job was to choose the colour for the new curtains in the Somerville Lounge [in the memorial hall].
"I chose a very bright colour and they weren't quite sure if they were suitable but they said I could so ... and they lasted a long time."
Mrs Collins found being the only woman on the council a "huge advantage".
"All issues are people issues and I do believe a feminine viewpoint can be modifying or a little different to the male in lots of areas.
"I've worked with men. I don't think you are going to get anywhere by working against them."
Although quite softly spoken, Mrs Collins never felt she had problems being heard.
"I shouldn't be saying this, but that's the advantage of being a woman with men. Men are courteous and you get the chance to speak first."
Mrs Collins first represented the Clutha council on the museum trust board in 1987 or '88 when "a dear old chap" called Mr Familton retired.
With local government amalgamation, she became the representative for all the regions - Waitaki, Central Otago and Clutha.
A quirk of the Act that governs the museum has meant the Clutha district, because it is closer to the museum, has always paid more of the museum's running costs than the other regions.
Mrs Collins says she has "every sympathy" with the Clutha district's situation and describes the ratio as "totally unfair".
A proposal to change the funding basis seems to be "in limbo", she says, but it is not up to the trust board to find a solution.
"It's for the local authorities to do it and to get Waitaki and Central to pay more. Nobody likes paying more."
Mrs Collins laments the loss of the service Otago Museum once offered to Otago's 40 regional museums - with a dedicated museum person travelling the province offering advice on such things as funding and conservation.
The $40,000 provided to Otago Museum by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board to help fund the service ended when Wellington's Museum of New Zealand Te Papa was established.
The service operated by Te Papa is not as "hands on", Mrs Collins says.
"This is one of the constant battles that we have."
Otago Museum has been in several disputes with Te Papa in recent years but Mrs Collins says the relationship is now "very much better".
"We used to find them very arrogant and so did Auckland and Canterbury as well."
Asked if the death last year of Te Papa chief executive Dr Seddon Bennington had brought about change, Mrs Collins says: "Well, we didn't get on very well with Dr Bennington".
Mrs Collins believes Otago Museum is unfairly treated by the Government, which makes no direct financial contribution.
She points out it has a collection as big as that of Te Papa but instead of Te Papa's 400 staff it has 60.
"Our collection is of national importance and we've spent a lot of money on taking care of our collection.
"We are constantly saying, 'come on' but it falls on deaf ears."
Te Papa receives $230 million annually from the Government and "self-funds" the other half of its budget through sponsorship and retail.
The Otago Museum obtains half its funding from Otago local authorities, mostly the Dunedin City Council ($3.694m), and self-funds the rest.
Mrs Collins has been a strong advocate of finding new ways to generate revenue.
Twenty years ago she was on the selection panel that employed museum director Shimrath Paul - a man with a business rather than a museum background - and she remains perhaps his staunchest supporter.
"He's been just fantastic. He's got great people skills. He's got wonderful management skills. He's attracted a group of very enthusiastic people to the staff.
"And that's our key success, and the fact that I believe the board and the management work together as a team, which is very powerful as well."
In 2009, the museum's management came in for criticism from former staff who claimed staff were intimidated by senior managers and were expected to work evenings and some weekends for no extra pay.
Mrs Collins stood by management practices then and has not changed her view.
"It's a very vibrant, very demanding workplace.
"It doesn't suit everybody.
"But, fortunately, we've got this wonderful staff who it does suit.
"They put so much passion and commitment in.
"I think you can feel that when you walk in the door."
Mrs Collins says she preferred to put her energies into looking at "all the clever things that we do and not to be distracted by criticisms".
"Most criticisms, if they are thoughtful, we will take them on board.
"But, it's been disappointing that just a small handful of people who couldn't cope with working at the museum didn't perform.
"I don't know quite why they are carrying all this baggage about still.
"I guess they miss being at the Otago Museum at heart and they wish they were still there.
"But, they're not competent to be there because it's demanding."
Mrs Collins says the museum is lucky to have a lot of "very young staff".
"A lot of them are over-qualified. They've got degrees and maybe working for us is their first job.
"They're full of enthusiasm. We train them and away they go. bBut a significant number come back.
"I think it's a win-win for the community and for the young people themselves."
She considers part of the proof of the museum's success is having 300,000 visitors each year in a province of 190,000 people.
Mrs Collins compares Otago Museum visitor numbers with the much lower number for Otago Settlers Museum and notes funding is similar. [see fact box]"We just work a lot harder and more enthusiastically because of the culture of the place.
"The settlers has got its own culture which they are happy with."
She believes Otago people, who make up 70% of visitor numbers, are proud of the museum.
"As well they might be."
She describes the collection as "astonishing".
"It was so well endowed in the early days from those Jewish merchants - the de Beers, Hallensteins and others.
They brought all the treasures of the world.
"You [might think] you were at the end of the world. It doesn't mean to say you can't be part of the world and I think that's so powerful."
Asked what part of the museum she likes best, Mrs Collins says she loves the atmosphere when she steps inside the front door ["Shim was able to get a good price on the granite"] and the sound of children's voices.
"I love to hear the kids rushing in ... running up the stairs; making lots and lots of noise and enjoying themselves.
"It's such a difference to the early museums which were places you tiptoed around.
"Now it's a place to be fun and be stimulated in and I find that atmosphere great.
"If I go in early in the morning, I love to see the kids come out with their sleeping bags tucked under their arms because they've had a sleep-over.
"They're still buzzing ... and they're still enjoying their adventure."
