Marking 150 years of Polish culture, people

Members of the local Polish community gathered recently at Port Chalmers for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque highlighting the arrival of the first Polish settlers to the region on the SS Palmerston on December 6, 1872.

Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust secretary Anna McCreath Munro said Honorary Polish Consul to the South Island Winsome Dormer unveiled the plaque.

Several dignitaries attended including deputy Mayor Cherry Lucas, the board of the trust along with its chairwoman Ewa Rozecka-Pollard, Tūhura Otago Museum curator Sean Brosnahan as well as descendants of the original Polish families which came on the ship.