From Dot McCulloch, "This was a large number of unveilings. Families and friends gathered and Charlie Pera and Moerehu Pewhairangi conducted the unveilings. The ceremony started at 1p.m with waiata and speeches then proceeded to a blessing of each of the headstones that were uplifted three years ago."
Each of the recovered headstones was draped in black plastic which, although rather unattractive, served the purpose of temporarily hiding the headstone, and these were removed one by one, as the blessings progressed around the cemetery. Many families who had not already noted the reinstatement of their ancestral headstones appreciated this event, which Dot said had been an honour and a privilege to organise.
The Gisborne Herald published a story about the completion of the headstone reinstatement project on 20th December 2021:
