"Gosh, it brings back memories. I didn't think it would do that to me."
Photos of Kaitangata's old buildings on the museum walls were of particular interest to Mrs Karauria.
She found pictures of the house she and husband Joseph first lived in as a married couple, and of shops she used to visit.
"To actually see the photos ... I can remember these shops from when I was a child," she said.
"I used to go there and get a bag of broken biscuits coming back from the swimming pool. And they cost you nothing."
The official opening was attended by about 60 people.
After speeches from the Heritage Museum Centre committee chairwoman Joyce Beck, treasurer and artefact curator Irene Sutton, former Kaitangata-Matau ward councillor Ted Gallagher and Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan, the cake and ribbon were cut and the building declared open.
