The 1962 Ball held in the Community Hall in honour of Miss Australia Tania Verstak's visit to Poatina yielded a strange keepsake for Haydn Staggard, a bottle of crème de menthe in the shape of a man playing bongo drums, won in the raffle that night. Having been relegated to the back of the cupboard, it was finally dragged out 30 years later, but not game to drink its aged contents, Haydn tipped it out, returning the bottle to the cupboard with the view of maybe one day turning it into a lamp.

It never did receive his creative touch, but Haydn remembers the occasion well. Poatina resident Angela Pulsoni, who received a huge amount of support from Tasmania's Italian community in particular, was crowned Miss Australia Charity Queen in 1961, the same year Tania Verstak was crowned Miss Australia.

Following her victory in the Miss International Quest in 1962, Tania Verstak returned to Australia, making appearances in many small towns around the country to promote awareness of the role of the Spastic Centres of Australia in supporting children and adults with cerebral palsy, and in Poatina's case, catching up with others who had raised money for these Centres through the Miss Australia Quest. As a 15 year old Haydn's sister Elaine was too young to attend the Ball, but she remembers the great excitement around the village leading up to the event, her Mum cooking for hours to contribute to the catering, and the great effort put into the preparations to make it a success.

After living and working in Bronte Park since 1951, Geoff and Nancy Staggard and their children Haydn, Elaine and Vincent were among the last to leave there in January 1960 to join Poatina's workforce. Haydn began his apprenticeship as a plumber with the Hydro at Poatina, working under foreman Frank Bonner on the water pipes for the power station during its construction, as well as at Arthurs Lake and the Great Lake.

The achievements of the men working on the tunnel through the mountain are self evident, and it sounds almost laughable by today's standards, but the men were offered a threepence a foot bonus if they exceeded the expectation of drilling and cleaning out 18 foot of tunnel during their shift. The incentive, as meagre as it was, was like throwing down a gauntlet, with every gang on every shift trying to outdo each other in order to increase their pay packet. Their good natured competition and sheer determination had an unexpected result, in that as far as it is known the tunneling record of the Mole during that time has never been broken.

Haydn's memories of the family's four years in Poatina include many humorous incidents, such as when Algie Young drove his D9 bulldozer up the mountain road as part of the road construction crew. Seems that Algie was a bit deaf, and between the noise of the dozer and the size of the blade on the front of the D9 all but obscuring his view, he was oblivious to the yells and screams of the men trying to attract his attention to the Landrover parked in the middle of the road right in his path. Suffice to say, the Landrover ended up being pushed up the road before he realised what was happening.

Other funny moments come to mind, like his Mum Nancy's constant battle with their neighbour's pigeons, which would descend on their garden and innocently go about having a good feed while destroying all her hard work. One of the tasks she also took on to support the football club was a carry over from their Bronte Park days. Having washed the football jumpers for the team in Bronte Park for nine years, she continued in that role for both the 1sts and 2nds at Poatina. Instead of receiving payment, Haydn remembers the presentation gifts she received at the end of each season at the Footballer's Ball.

Like many others, the Staggard family moved on from Poatina in early 1964 and spent the next ten years at Gowrie Park. For Haydn, the Hydro has been a big part of his life, and he recognises the huge contribution the company has made to employment within the State over the years.