Fireworks light up the school field at last year's Springbank School show. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Fireworks light up the school field at last year's Springbank School show. Photo / Peter de Graaf
A weekly round-up of news snippets, events and oddities from the Bay of Islands and around the Mid North
Fireworks show at Springbank
Kerikeri's Springbank School is holding its annual fireworks show this Saturday. The evening of fun, food and entertainment promises to end with a bang — many large bangs, in fact.
The gates on Waimate North Rd will open at 6.30pm and the fireworks display is due to start at 9pm. Entry is $5, under-5s are free.
Eftpos will be available this year and show-goers will need to exchange their ordinary money for ''fireworks cash'' to buy the range of food and drinks on offer. Any leftover fireworks cash can be changed back into dollars at the end of the night.
Fireworks light up the school field at last year's Springbank School show. Photo / Peter de Graaf
You might also want some cash to enter the raffle which has $5000 worth of prizes including a parasailing trip, golf at Kauri Cliffs, a scenic flight, golf lessons and Hunting & Fishing prize packs.
Free parking will be available in the paddocks opposite the school.
If you don't have wheels or want to avoid parking hassles, free buses will leave at 6.15pm from Kerikeri Subway, Kaikohe depot on Mangakahia Rd (opposite Bunnings), Paihia's Maritime Building, the carpark behind the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa, and outside the Four Square in Kaeo. All buses will leave Springbank for the return trip at 9.45pm.
The event is alcohol, drug and smoke-free. Bags will be searched on entry.
The school started putting on fireworks shows as a fundraiser because one of the parents was a qualified pyrotechnic. Since then, the principal has also obtained a fireworks licence.
Teen takes anti-litter message to Inlet Rd
A Kerikeri 14-year-old is hoping littering locals will pay more attention to her hand-painted sign than to official warnings against trashing the environment.
Ella Davis won a competition to design a sign for a litter-prone stretch of Inlet Rd near Kerikeri which some drivers treat as a rubbish disposal zone.
Fourteen-year-old Ella Davis' sign urging people not to litter has been installed on Kerikeri's Inlet Rd. Photo / Peter de Graaf
''There's a lot of trash being thrown down this road. I don't like it. A lot of kiwi and other native species live down here, and it's really bad for the environment,'' Ella said.
''It's such a beautiful place to live. People are just disrespecting the land.''
Ella chose moreporks, or ruru, for her sign because the owls were common in the area, were associated with wisdom, and were visually cute and funny.
''They also have big eyes that look at you saying 'don't litter','' she said.
The Kerikeri High School student painted the sign with help from her mum, Sarah Davis.
Philip Jenkins, who collects rubbish on Kerikeri's Inlet Rd once a week, organised a competition to design a sign urging people not to litter. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Competition organiser Philip Jenkins, who has picked up rubbish from the second bridge on Inlet Rd to Edmonds Rd once a week for the past three years, said he originally approached primary schools around the Mid North but the entries just weren't bold enough to grab drivers' attention.
He then asked youth living in the Inlet Rd area and Ella's design came out tops. He had approached the Far North District Council suggesting the signs be installed around the district.
Ella plans to save her $50 prize for an upcoming trip to the UK.
Monster Mash tonight
Do you want your kids to experience the fun of dressing-up for Halloween but you don't want them knocking on random doors or pestering the neighbours for candy?
Then you could take then along to tonight's Kerikeri Primary School PTA Monster Mash, an evening of food, frights, bouncy castles, face painting and a treasure hunt.
Grim reaper Kymani Exshaw with, from left, Keanu Exshaw, Victoria Harema, Dominique Zivkovich-Brady, Mariana Lindesay and Arihia Ruwhiu at last year's Kerikeri Primary School Monster Mash.
Entertainment will include Kerikeri Primary School's Got Talent and hiphop dance by the kids of DDF Dance Studios. Police, Kerikeri Fire Brigade and St John Ambulance will take part.
The fun starts at 5pm at the school grounds on Hone Heke Rd and runs until 7.30pm. Dress to scare.
The other highlight of Halloween in the Mid North, Kawakawa's trick or treat trail, isn't happening this year after long-time organisers Chevy and Daniel Taylor sold their business and moved out of town. The Taylors put in a great effort over the years to create a fun, safe alternative to trick-or-treating for Kawakawa kids.
Storylines festival comes north
A festival which aims to connect children's writers, illustrators, poets and storytellers with their readers – and to share the enjoyment of books and reading – is coming to the Far North this week.
Taking part in this year's Storylines National Festival Story Tour are authors Melanie Drewery, Heather Haylock, Kyle Mewburn and Fraser Smith, who also happens to be the principal of Oturu School near Kaitaia.
They will meet young readers in schools, early childhood centres and libraries in Opononi, Kaikohe, Kaiangaroa, Oruaiti, Okaihau, Kaitaia, Kerikeri and Opua; all four will appear at a Meet the Authors event at 4pm tomorrow, November 1, at Kerikeri High School Library on Hone Heke Rd.
The inaugural tour in 2017 reached close to 20,000 young people around the country. All events on the tour are free.
Children's writer visits preschool
As part of the Storylines Festival Tour, children's author Heather Haylock will also visit Kerikeri Preschool at 11am this Friday.
Haylock, whose characters include champion knitter Granny McFlitter, will read one of her books to the tamariki, followed by a special morning tea. Everyone welcome – you don't have to have a child at the preschool to come along. Kerikeri Preschool is at 35 Hobson Ave near the town centre.
Historic garden opens
One of Northland's most historic gardens will be open to the public this Sunday.
After falling out with the Church Missionary Society in 1850, pioneering missionary Henry Williams and his wife Marianne moved to Pakaraka, where they built a home they called The Retreat. Their house still stands and their garden has been kept much as it was in the 1850s.
The heritage garden, at 6882 State Highway 1, opposite Holy Trinity Church, will be open to the public from 10am-4pm on November 4. Admission $5; children free. Visitors should to park by the church and cross the highway with care.
Classical guitar recital
Aroha Music Society's final concert for 2018 will feature classical guitarist Cheryl Grice performing a mostly Spanish repertoire.
Grice has worked with two of the great masters of the instrument, studying privately with John Williams in London and performing with Julian Bream on the BBC's Masterclass series.
Tickets for this Friday's concert are available from the Turner Centre box office. The show starts at 7.30pm sharp so music lovers from Russell can catch the last ferry home.
This year's Massive (Men Against Sexual Violence) event is a public meeting at 6pm this Friday at Kaikohe Christian School, at 52 Mangakahia Rd.
The topic is "How to deal with disclosures" – in other words, what should you do when you hear about or suspect sexual violence? And when someone does speak out, what happens next?
Accordion players of the world unite
An accordion revivalist group is meeting once a fortnight at the Kaeo Union Church Hall for fun and learning. The group meets from 1-2.30pm every second Monday with the next session on November 5. Beginners are welcome to come along and learn from group members.
Waitangi Mountain Bike Park now has a shuttle service to bring riders and bikes back to the top of the tracks after a downhill run.
The shuttle is aimed at those who enjoy exploring the tracks but find the uphills a challenge, as much as those who want to hone their downhills without losing time riding back to the top.
Waitangi Mountain Bike Park now has a dedicated shuttle van so riders can get a lift back to the top of the park after each downhill run. Photo / Jeff Carter
From the top, the park offers a range of tracks from easy and beginner grades (grade 2 or green) to intermediate and advanced tracks (grades 3, 4, and 5 or blue and black). Each shuttle loop takes 15-20 minutes.
The committee assesses applications and distributes Creative New Zealand funding for local arts projects.
Chairman Wally Hicks said the funding committee served an important role for the Far North arts community and wider public.
"Because we're involved in the arts and we live here, we have a greater understanding of the needs, aspirations and values of artists and arts in our district and the contribution they make to the local cultural landscape.
"Creative New Zealand recognises this by having the Creative Communities Scheme which devolves the funding of smaller but all-important local arts projects to local people."
Hicks said the nine people on the assessment panel were doing "an excellent job".
"However, to better represent our community we would like the make-up of the committee to reflect the demographic and cultural diversity of the community. That means especially getting more young people involved – Māori and Pākehā – plus people from diverse ethnicities and minorities."
Serving on the committee was unpaid but immensely rewarding, Hicks said.
The committee met four times a year in Kaikohe and received an average of 10 applications per funding round. Grants awarded varied but most were under $2000.
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