To many New Zealanders, Eketahuna is the archetypal small town. It was a frontier township carved out of the bush that became a closely knit community servicing the surrounding farming district. In this book, Peter Best delves into some of the intriguing byways of Eketahuna?s early history that give the town and district their special character and interest. There were the struggles of the first Scandinavian settlers...the Eketahuna Mounted Rifles eager to fight in the Boer War...the price war between rival coach companies...hopes of an oil strike in the nearby Mangaone Valley...the royal visit that nearly was in 1920...Mr Copper?s famous topiary garden...the town's very own radio station.