Hokianga's Alan Gale stole the show at Kaikohe's last wearable arts showcase with his Weta Man costume hand-crafted from recycled leather. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
Hokianga's Alan Gale stole the show at Kaikohe's last wearable arts showcase with his Weta Man costume hand-crafted from recycled leather. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
A weekly round-up of news snippets, events and oddities from the Bay of Islands and around the Mid North. This week's edition features a night out for Far North fashionistas, Cook's voyages, a charity boxing event, an award for netball vollies and a young man's dream job.
Wearable arts fest
Creative types and fashionistas around the Mid North are getting ready for Kaikohe's Winter Fest of Walking Art on August 23.
Organised every two years by the Kaikohe Community Arts Council, the event is touted as a chance for artists and budding to fashion designers to bring their visions to life.
Arts council member Kelly van Gaalen expected a spectacular night given the success of the 2012 show.
"The creations that emerged were absolutely amazing," she said.
Entries included costumes made from winter storm debris and coffee bags, a giant weta made from old leather suitcases, and a living dress sprouting live grass.
"Designers are artists and storytellers, so let's see what stories, creations and talents emerge from our community this year," she said.
"This is not a competition and there is no prize, only the opportunity for designers, from first-timers to artists and creators, to be innovative, original, not bound by constraints of commercialism, only limited by their imagination."
Categories this year include masks (adult and child sections), Beauty and the Beast (store-bought or self-made ball gowns, open to all senior students), the ever popular Bizarre Bra, Street Wear (for youth), Man Up (for men) and winter-themed Wearable Art.
Call Jill Reilly on (09) 405 7816 to enter or for more information. Tickets cost $10 at Broadway shops Passion8, Hidden Treasures and Mr Bo Jumbles. The show starts at 7pm, August 23, in the Kaikohe Memorial Hall.
Netball volunteers recognised
Kerikeri Netball Centre's executive committee has been recognised for its success in the recent TrustPower Far North Community Awards, where it won the top honour in the sports and leisure category.
Kerikeri Netball Centre's executive committee has been recognised for its success at the recent Far North Community Awards.
Committee members were unable to attend the prize-giving night at Kaitaia's Te Ahu Centre so received their award from Mayor John Carter at last week's council meeting instead. Pictured, from left, are Mr Carter with Susan Pieterse (umpire coordinator), Wendy Cribb (vice-president) and Karyn McCondach (coaching coordinator).
The Kerikeri Netball Centre has 49 junior and 27 senior teams who travel from as far away as Moerewa to play.
Cook's voyages
The three voyages of Captain Cook - and his contribution to knowledge of navigation, mapping, astronomy, flora and fauna, and indigenous peoples - will be the subject of an upcoming talk at U3A (University of the Third Age) Bay of Islands.
The speaker will be Tony Norman, chairman of the Northland District Health Board and former chair of Far North Holdings. It starts at 10.30am on Monday, August 18, at the St John hall on Kerikeri Rd.
An annual charity boxing match at Kerikeri's Turner Centre has become so popular that this year's event sold out long before the doors are due to open at 6pm this Saturday, August 16.
The boxers taking part in the Bay of Islands Certified Builders Association fundraiser are all Northland business and sports people keen to make a difference for a deserving charity.
Contestants will be carefully matched in physique and experience with each bout consisting of three two-minute rounds and top judges from the NZ Boxing Association. This year's proceeds go to Coastguard.
Free jazz
Kerikeri artist/jazz pianist Mike Nettmann is holding a free concert at Russell's Duke of Marlborough Hotel as a prelude to a solo exhibition at South Sea Art gallery.
The concert starts at 3.30pm on August 16. The exhibition, on Russell's York St, opens at 11am on August 17. Art lovers who attend the concert but can't make it back on Sunday for the opening can get a sneak preview after the performance, about 5pm.
Long-time readers of the Advocate may recall the story of Matangi Te Wake, the Panguru teenager who was not expected to live after suffering a severe brain injury in a 2006 rugby match.
Matangi Te Wake
After a long and determined recovery he set himself a goal of a career in ICT (information and communications technology). Two years ago he earned a place with the Far North District Council as an ICT cadet; last month the 23-year-old, now living in Kaikohe, was offered a permanent job at the council as an ICT support technician. Well done Matangi.
Conservatives meet
The Conservative Party is holding a public meeting downstairs at the Turner Centre from 7pm tonight. Leader Colin Craig and the party's Northland candidate Mel Taylor will outline key policies followed by a question and answer session and a light supper.
Want to achieve a dream? AMP Dynamics Financial Services is sponsoring a Do Your Thing scholarship for the third year running.
It's open to anyone with a business idea, education aspirations or a community project and there's no age limit. A maximum of $5000 is available for residents of the upper North Island.
Applications are open online through www.doyourthing.co.nz. Conditions apply. The closing date is September 16.
* Do you have news or an upcoming event you'd like to see in this column? Send it to us, including your full contact details, to baynews@northernadvocate.co.nz.
