It's 10 years ago today that Otago won the national rugby championship at Carisbrook and the streets of Dunedin were packed with revellers as the province celebrated.
The mood was buoyant. The enduring memory of that sunny afternoon and evening was the festive atmosphere as the people of Otago celebrated a special achievement.
It wasn't just rugby fans. The feel-good factor spread to every nook and cranny of the province. Otago people walked just a little taller because of the deeds of their rugby team.
There were 10 All Blacks in the Otago team that day while another two, John Leslie and Brendan Laney, played for Scotland. The vanquished Waikato side included seven All Blacks.
If anyone had suggested in the packed bars around the Octagon that evening that, in a few years, the national championship would be reduced to a feeder competition, he would have been taken away by men in white coats.
But, a decade on, that is precisely what is happening. Those scenes of October 25, 1998 in Dunedin won't be repeated - not for an Otago match, anyway.
The rugby landscape has changed. Super rugby is regarded as the financial future of the game and the provinces will get the left-overs.
The chief executive of the Otago Rugby Football Union, Richard Reid, this week articulated the future direction of the game in a wide-ranging interview with the website, Rugby Heaven.
"People have got to get used to the fact provincial rugby is going to change from when we were kids," he said.
"The Highlanders will, in a short period of time, be the only show in town, and Otago will be a feeder for that."
Chilling words, but true.
Now, I'm sure that Reid did not mean the Highlanders would be the ONLY show in town - there will always be a place for Otago - but that the future of the region would be based around the success of the Highlanders.
There is nothing radical about Reid's comments - the NZRU has made it clear it relies on the revenue generated by the Super 14 - but it brings the issue closer to home.
A decade ago, from memory, the Otago jersey was second behind the All Blacks as the most popular-selling New Zealand rugby jersey. I doubt it is now.
The New Zealand Rugby Union has undermined its own competition by not insisting Dan Carter play for Canterbury in the NPC final tonight.
The Canterbury coach, Rob Penney, this week slammed the decision. He said the issue had been poorly handled and, that if any All Black needed a rest, it was Richie McCaw.
It's a bit like Wayne Rooney not playing for Manchester United in an FA Cup final because the England football bosses considered it was not sufficiently important.
Rugby is evolving and we will not know the future shape of the NPC until the Super competition is sorted. What we do know is that its prestige will be a shadow of that of a decade ago.
The NZRU has to be careful in plotting the direction of the game and to respect the provincial fan base which has long been the backbone of New Zealand rugby.
Hawkes Bay people are more passionate about their provincial team than they are about the Hurricanes; Northlanders are more passionate about Northland than they are about the Blues.
We know that Super rugby makes the money go round but, if the NZRU further alienates the fans from the provinces, it does so at its peril.
