The Otago Vintage Machinery Club will be sounding its foghorn come November 2 and it wants all and sundry to know about it.
The club will hold an open day at its Outram museum to show off what members have been been up to, and hopefully attract some new recruits.
Club news editor Neville Colley (66), of Pine Hill, said the club was a ''whole different thing'' to the Taieri Historical Museum, which was based at the same site, though sometimes people thought they were ''the same outfit''.
He said club members met once a month at Fairfield and were able to use its fully-equipped workshop each week.
People were invited to come along and see in action the wide variety of vintage items housed at the museum.
They including a working Ruston-Hornsby engine, a hat block making machine from a former factory in North East Valley, a Merrilees engine from the Sawyers Bay tannery, a full telephone exchange and the foghorn from the Taiaroa Head lighthouse, which would be sounded at the open day.
''It's very loud. It's not recommended to stand underneath it. I think three blasts will probably be enough. We've got to consider the Outram community. ''
He said the club, which had been around since 1981, had about 32 active members, but was keen to get some younger folk involved, especially now it was taking on more of a teaching role, with school and other groups visiting the museum.
''They [the children] don't realise what people had to work with in the pioneering days.''
The details
WHAT: The Otago Vintage Machinery Club's open day.
WHERE: The club's museum at 15 George King Memorial Dr, Outram.
WHEN: Sunday, November 2, 10am-3pm.
