St George’s Restoration

 The Celebration to mark the completion of the first two stages of restoration at St George’s Church was well attended. About 120 people enjoyed the singing of the Hawera Women’s Club Choir, the history of the building and the work of the restoration committee. A generous afternoon tea, cake cutting and bell ringing concluded the ceremony. Our donation bottle collected $251.50. The St George’s celebration raffle, drawn on the 24th of October, was won by Lynette Sargent.

Application for the 2nd stage of recladding, piles and windows work has been made to the Heritage & Environment Lotteries Commission, along with other applications to various trusts for our $110,000 that we need to raise as our contribution towards the $300,000 project. Any donations that you, our local folk, can make can be sent directly to David Honeyfield, 1 Taranaki Rd, Patea.

Alton scouts and cubs group need new leaders

The Alton scouts and cubs need new leaders or they will have to be put into recess. This is a situation that we do not want to have happen as scouts and cubs have a lot to offer the youth of today. Se we need your help! This year the Alton Scouts lost their leader with him moving to a new area. Without a leader the group has had to stop meeting.

If you feel that you can get this group back up and running we would love to hear from you. The only qualification you need is enthusiasm and the Taranaki Scouting movement supplies the rest. The group is well resourced; all it needs is you to bring it truly back to life. The New Zealand Scouting Movement provides planned resource material for your sessions but they can’t be run without you.

Also, we are interested to hear about the children, boys and girls, who are interested in joining cubs and scouts. Cubs need to be aged between 6 to 10 and scouts 10 to 16 years old. If we can get these two groups together the Alton Scout Hall will once again be full of happy noise. If any of this sounds like you please ring David Gwynn 273 4108, even if you want more information, we would be happy to help.

 

Sporting success

SPORTING SUCCESS
Shane Dobson: Congratulations to Shane Dobson for his Bowhunting achievements to date. Shane took out the New Zealand Bowhunting Record – Fellow Stag with a 211 3/4’s Douglas Score, beating the previous recond of 205. This was judged in Whangarei at the Annual Bowhunting Tournament Queen’s Birthday Weekend. Shane also won the Bowhunting Section at the Wanganui Hunting & Fishing Tournament held over Labour Weekend. Shane as been involved in hunting for many years but 3 years ago took up bowhunting and has done extremely well in this growing sport. Bowhunting is become more and more popular due to the added difficulty in the hunt.

Raymond Dobson: A big congratulations to Raymond for being selected in the New Zealand Under 20s Training Squad. Raymond will be attending special training sessions at the Rugby Institute in Palmerston North. He is one of 45 players selected throughout New Zealand. The New Zealand team will be annouced early next year, so good luck to Raymond on making the team.
Ray has also gained selection into the Taranaki Rugby Accademy. This is the 1st step on the ladder to becoming a professional rugby player. Thanks to Taranaki Rugby, Raymond will be under the guidance of a professional trainer for weights, fitness and mental training, in hope that he will become an Air New Zealand Cup player.
Thoughout his rugby career Raymond has played seasonal rugby for the local Border team and has been a Taranaki Representive for many years. His selection has been a result of his game play in the Taranaki Under 20’s Representitive Team.
Raymond believes that none of these opportunities would have been possible without the support of his parents, Keith, Hirangi Dobson. They feel that Raymond’s achievements to date have been a combination of hard work, committment and determin-ation from their whole family.
Kia Kaha Ray. Wishing you every success.

Great New Zealand Bean Hunt

 

Do you have a climber or a runner hanging around your garden shed? A Wanganui-based charitable trust wants them all!

The Central Tree Crops Research Trust is launching what it calls “The Great New Zealand Bean Hunt” for old and rare New Zealand bean varieties.

Director of the trust, Mark Christensen says the Trust’s vision is not just to save heirloom bean varieties but to improve the health of New Zealanders.

“The work we’ve been involved in so far with apples and tomatoes, has shown the nutritional properties of heirloom varieties tend to be greater than modern varieties which are bred for commercial production,” he says. “This programme will endeavour to get these wonderful old varieties out into the community so people can enjoy the wonderful diversity of this heirloom material, as well as their superior nutritional value. The Trust aims to find out just what varieties of beans we have in New Zealand, and which beans grow best for our particular climate and conditions. Many beans are also known under more than one name, which can cause confusion. It is hoped to be able to match varieties so that correct names can be determined.”

No bean is a has-been as the Trust is interested in the whole range of varieties including climbing and dwarf beans, runner beans and dry beans as well as Broad beans.

“We are looking for old varieties that people may be saving, or may be sitting in jars in garden sheds, or in old seed packets, never planted. Also if anyone has a special variety of bean that they would like to share, this would be very much appreciated,” says Mark Christensen.

Once gathered, the seed will be grown into plants, new seed saved and named before being given away, initially to residents of Wanganui through the “Grab a Bite That’s Right” programme, run by the Whanganui Regional Primary Health Organisation.

“Due to this country’s phytosanitary requirements it is extremely difficult to import beans from overseas,” says Mark Christensen. “Hence the Trust would appreciate receiving seeds or hearing from anyone who may be able to assist with information on old varieties – no bean is too old for this project.”

If anyone would like beans in exchange, the Trust is happy to return beans later in the autumn.

Apart from researching heirloom beans, the Trust is the coordinator for the research on the high-health Monty’s Surprise apple. This apple is currently undergoing animal trials in Strasbourg, France, to test its effectiveness against colon cancer. Other projects in progress involve the research into heirloom tomato varieties and their superior medicinal qualities over hybrid varieties, as well as research on a desert plant from Texas that contains high levels of a natural Trehalose sugar that is being studied for its ability to treat the symptoms of Huntington’s disease.

Beans can be sent to the Central Tree Crops Research Trust, PO Box 4088, Wanganui 4541 (phone 06 347 7734), email beanlovers@xtra.co.nz, or visit the website at www.treecropsresearch.orgBut if you live in the Patea area you could leave your beans with Margaret or Don Marshall at 195 Egmont Street. Please put them in an envelope with your name and address. Mark, the director of the Trust is their son-in-law and was the instigator of the Monty’s Surprise apple tree project that we had last year. Your apple tree should be in leaf now.

Raumano Youth Development

Kia ora koutou, here is an update of what we have been up to the last couple of months. The most recent event that we have been part of was PowerJam 3 which was held in Hawera on 4 October at the AOG. This event was organized by an awesome group of South Taranaki Rangatahi who have representation from Patea through to Rahotu. They organised this event along with Jo Wanahi and Milton Whareaitu and the youth development workers from STDC and Raumano Trust. It was a “top town” night, filled with all sorts of competitions, and the overall winning town of the night was Opunake. Rangatahi from all over South Taranaki really enjoyed the night and the group is hoping to run more of these events, so keep an eye out for them. This rangatahi group would really like to have Waverley represented within it, so if you know anyone or are interested yourself, let us know.

Patea & Waverley Gardening Club

Last month’s meeting was a great success with over 40 members present. It was great to see some new faces among the crowd also enjoying the evening. Margaret Prince’s town garden was interesting to visit and her new ideas will be worth having another look at a later date, particularly the Dublin Bay on the gate. Deiny and Carl Gedye’s country garden was full of landscaping ideas for all of us. Carl’s curvy paths are beautifully made.

This months meeting will be on November 19. We will first visit Jacq and Michelle Dwyer’s garden “Te Rata” at 611 Hursthouse Road, Kakaramea at 6.15pm then moving on to Linda and Danny Dwyer’s garden “Highfield” 416 Kakaramea Road, Kakaramea at 7pm. From there we will come back into town for supper at Ruth Mackay’s.

Remember subs of $10 are due. Receipts for those who paid at the last meeting will be handed out. Plates will be needed for supper. Members please extend an invitation to people in your community who may also enjoy joining our group.

If you would like to join the Patea and Waverley Gardening Club and be included on the telephone list please telephone Margaret Marshall 06 273 8792, Karen Phillips 06 273 8397 both in the Patea area or Margaret Prince 06 346 6008 or Cheryl Rook 06 346 6366 from the Waverley area.