News in brief
Community Hero Award
Over the last few months, the Nelson Building Society (NBS), has been seeking nominations for their Community Hero Awards. And, much to her surprise, Carol Baker from Takaka was one of the latest award recipients.
Carol works very closely with the youth as a Christian Church youth pastor and a director of the Impact Youth Trust. Her home is always open as a safe place for young people to just hang out or to get advice and guidance.
Jessica Steer nominated Carol and described how Carol makes a huge personal sacrifice by having her home available for any youth in need in Golden Bay. “She never turns anyone away”, said Jess.
“The concept behind the campaign is to recognise and reward volunteers who really make a difference in their community,” said Howie Timms, NBS Motueka branch manager. “We aim to put a large percentage of our profits back into the communities where we do business, so this promotion was an excellent fit for that goal.”
“All winners, and others nominated, have made huge personal and financial sacrifices to better their community.”
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Mardi Gras line-up set to please
Golden Bay’s Mardi Gras will offer an afternoon and evening of family friendly entertainment again on Waitangi Day.
Community recreation co-ordinator Dave Myall said that there will be a real focus on young people this year.
“The afternoon is devoted to children’s entertainment. The actual performers up until 3.30pm are all children’s entertainers and they are all great. There’s Levity Beet, the 2009 APRA Children’s Silver Scroll winner, and Cath B and a group called Granddad’s Wedding, who do original punk for 12-year-olds.”
At 3.30, a mask-making workshop will again take place, and Dave is hoping the usually plentiful mask-makers will then join the Taniwha Parade.
Dave is also enthusiastic about welcoming Charlotte Squire, aka Mohua Sun, back to Mardi Gras.
Another attraction will be the second Mardi Bras competition. Dave said that he was expecting even more entries this year, now that everyone had seen what was possible.
The band known as Catholic Schoolboys are sure to be a highlight, too. Sam Stretch (drums) Ngawai Campbell-Joyce (guitar), Josef Benge (vocals) and Fionn Murphy (bass) played in last year’s Mardi Gras, but without a great deal of preparation time. Even their name was dreamed up and negotiated as the programme was going to print.
“We play the Red Hot Chilli Pepppers song called Catholic Schoolgirls Rule, so we played around with that idea for a name. Now we have to do that song all the time,” said Fionn, adding that the extra time for rehearsal and organisation had made things “much easier” this time around.
Catholic Schoolboys play “anything we like and we think we can do - from Primus to Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Black Sabbath,” said Fionn.
Also on the bill for this year’s Mardi Gras are Holy Finger, Faster Pussy Cat Kill Kill and a new local band, The Black Spots.
Dave said that the focus of Mardi Gras would once again be on enjoyment.
“We hope that there won’t be any silliness around alcohol. The street and the skate park are alcohol-free area anyway, but we’ll have security on hand to make sure everyone can enjoy themselves.”
Neil Wilson
Fierce winds in the Bay drop trees, cause damage
High winds in Golden Bay last Sunday and Monday uprooted trees, lifted shed roofs and contributed to stock-losses and plenty of fence damage on farms. It also led to damaged power lines in the Upper Takaka, Takaka, Puramahoi, Rangihaeata, Collingwood and Puponga-Wharariki areas.
At Waingaro Dairies in Hamama a poplar tree was blown down among a herd of cows, killing five of them.
At Puramahoi, Grant Knowles lost about 40 per cent of the trees on his property.
“It was pretty heart-breaking, I planted some of the trees 23 years ago so they were really big. Now we’ve got some serious chainsaw work to do.”
Further along at Puramahoi Graham and Margie Little lost a lot of trees too, about ten of them coming down across fences. They were waiting for the insurance assessor to visit, and clearing what they could from their fences so they could keep stock enclosed.
At the Takaka Aerodrome the back of a nearly-completed shed was blown about 20 metres. Takaka Volunteer Fire Brigade’s station officer George Duff estimated that the wind was blowing at about 120kmph at its fiercest.
“You could hardly stand up in it at that stage. Later, when we went back to sawmill, I took my wind metre and measured 68kmph. It had dropped away a lot by then.”
Save the McKenzie Country presentation
Nicola Vallance, the conservationist and television personality, will give a McKenzie Country presentation at the Community Centre on Tuesday February 8 at 7.30pm.
Nicola grew up on a farm in the McKenzie Country and knows it well. She is employed by Forest and Bird as a South Island conservation advocate. The Mackenzie Basin, with its outstanding landscapes, golden tussock grasslands, high ecological values and surrounding mountains, is of national importance, yet it is under threat from large-scale dairy factory farming and irrigation. Nicola will show photographs of what is already happening and will offer Forest and Bird’s suggestions for compromise.
The area currently supports dry sheep farming, which has found a balance with the natural environment. The area supports 68 rare and threatened plant species. Kettle hole tarns support hundreds of species, and the braided rivers of the region also have their special fauna. All this could change in the near future unless New Zealanders express their opposition and prevent it, as they did with mining on Schedule 4 Conservation land.
Forest and Bird says that the iconic landscape of the McKenzie Country already pays its way by producing hydro power, supporting sheep farming and providing a magnificent landscape that attracts tourist dollars.
“Forest and Bird’s compromise solutions for McKenzie Country issues need New Zealanders to get behind them to make them happen,” said spokesperson Jo-Anne Vaughan. “We invite everyone to come and hear from Nicola what these compromise solutions could look like, and more importantly to lend their support to an iconic landscape which is in imminent danger of being lost forever, totally and irreparably.”
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Bike Wise
Get on your bike this February!
Bike Wise is back again this February and it’s a great excuse to get on your bike and give cycling a go. You don’t have to wear lycra and you don’t have to cycle endless kilometres to take part in one of the many free and fun activities happening in the Tasman District.
Go by Bike Day
The first Bike Wise activity to take place is the Go by Bike Day breakfast. Anyone out and about on their bike that morning will receive a free breakfast snack. The breakfast in Takaka will be held outside the Quiet Revolution on Tuesday 15 February. The breakfast will run from 7.30am – 9.30am.
Family Fun Rides
There will be a Family Fun Ride similar to previous years. These rides are open to all cyclists and have different length routes to suit all abilities.
The Takaka ride will be held on Sunday 20 February. It will start from Central Takaka School at 1pm. Cyclists will ride together to East Takaka Domain, take part in one of the activities at the Domain and then cycle back at their own pace to the school. Families are encouraged to make the most of the afternoon and bring a picnic to enjoy at the Domain.
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