Makeover for Maurice’s chair

American Sam Broaddus is more in the know than most locals when it comes to a macrocarpa chair honouring Nelson author Maurice Gee.

A whirlwhind trip of the south in 1983 gave the retired urologist and his wife an instant love for Nelson, and since 2017, the couple have spent extended periods in Nelson through the summer.

Sam linked up with Nelson Whakatū Menzshed on one of his earlier trips and has spent every Tuesday and Thursday since in the workshop helping out.

“We rent a place in Tasman St so we’ve always walked the [Maitai] river path, I saw the chair and it was looking in pretty rough shape.”

Sam organised to reburbish the chair in 2020 after nine summers had weathered it.

“My wife and I came in January this year, it was the first time back for us since Covid, my landlord sent me a video of the August 2022 flood and the chair is completely under water.”

So he has again been fixing it up, replacing an arm and filling a split in the wood.

“It’s what he’s been doing his whole life, fixing body parts, it’s probably not a massive leap to do it to wood,” Menzshed member Denis Moriarty says.

“If I make a mistake I can always get a new leg,” Sam quips.

“I thought it was a little ironic that even his [Maurice’s] chair can tell a good story. It’s durable, a bit like Maurice and it tells a good story,” Denis adds.