Denise Ellis took first prize in the rose section with a collection called Midnight Blue, Thomas A Beckett and Wonderland. Photo/Sandy Myhre
The Russell Garden Show took place in early November. It achieved year No 76 and it has remained practically unaltered in all that time.
It could easily be called the Russell Garden, Craft, Carving, Cake and Art Show since there are so many entry categories (109). Roses, flowering plants, flowering climbers, pot plants, vegetables, crafts, carvings, bread, pickles – you name it there was a classification for it.
It is well-supported by the local community. There were some who came from Rawhiti (a 25-minute drive away) and from Paihia (a ferry ride across the bay).
Denise Ellis took first prize in the rose section. She chose to group together a collection of roses called Midnight Blue, Thomas A Beckett and Wonderland.
Russell’s school children did posters that adorned the walls but there was a section of vegetables where they could enter. That was won by Remy Saunders Smeath.
There was a section for the crafty which was won by Val Marshall Smith with her collection of three woven flax baskets.
In the art category, there were a number of entries and the carving category was won by Gary Wilson with his depiction of a waka which he called Waka Huia.
On the cake table, Trish MacIntosh won the garden-to-table section. That was complemented by a newly-introduced bread baking section but breads deemed to be made in a bread maker were discounted.
The bread had to be “genuine” with no aids whatsoever and judges even carved a small section out of each loaf to make sure the loaf was kosher.
Eddy Kaeo from Paihia entered bread, cakes and biscuits which he balanced on his knee on the passenger ferry to Russell. His grandmother taught him to bake, he said, and he was highly commended for the biscuits.
Another year but many more categories than in 1948 and a great deal more entries.
Pompallier Mission and Te Waimate Mission will host a number of photographic sessions with a difference over the next few weeks.
They are two historic Tohu Whenua in the Bay of Islands cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Tintype Central is a portrait studio specialising in the wet plate collodion process that pioneered photography in the 1850s. They will hold portrait sessions at Te Waimate Mission in Waimate North on November 16-17 and at Pompallier Mission in Kororāreka-Russell the following weekend on November 24 and 25.
Specialist photographer Adrian Cook will bring his mobile darkroom, which is a genuine 1950s Bond-wood caravan, to both historic venues to craft timeless portraits.
Each image will be hand-developed, producing an original direct-positive image on a sheet of glass or aluminium plate. It is a process that generates unique images with timeless beauty.
The photographic plates are individually coated and sensitised in the darkroom before being exposed and developed while wet. Once fixed, washed and dried they are then coated in a gum sandarac varnish that preserves and protects them for generations.
Plates will be posted to clients once they are varnished and cured which is a week or so after their session.
To book a session at Te Waimate Mission: https://www.facebook.com/tewaimatemissionhouse/events
For more information on the Pompallier Mission photography sessions and to book: https://www.visitheritage.co.nz/whats-on/northland-events
Northland Regional Council’s safe boating programme “Nobody’s stronger than Tangaroa” has received $80,000 from Maritime New Zealand’s (MNZ) annual Community Grant funding.
The programmes aim to reduce fatalities and injuries to people out on the water in recreational craft.
The funding will allow the council, which has been running the programme for several years, to once again hire ambassadors to support the delivery of the programme.
“We will continue to leverage relationships formed by our ambassadors to deliver life jacket hubs as well as a training programme geared towards priority groups,” says chair Geoff Crawford.
These priority groups include males over 45 and Māori, who have been identified by MNZ as being overrepresented in recreational boating fatalities nationwide.
The ambassadors deliver key safety messages including the importance of wearing a life jacket, carrying two waterproof forms of communication, checking the weather forecast before heading out and knowing the rules.
They will also set up life jacket hubs in remote areas across the region. Since the programme began in 2017, 22 life jacket hubs have been established across schools, marae and clubs with more than 470 life jackets provided by MNZ and council.
The hubs are run by the communities that lend the life jackets out as they see fit, the rationale being the recipients know how to maximise the benefits of the scheme, whether lending the life jackets out for just a few hours or longer term.
The funding also allows for social media and traditional advertising. The programme is supported by council’s Maritime Officers and Harbour Wardens who will be conducting on-water patrols throughout the peak summer period to enforce and educate to achieve better compliance with safe boating rules and bylaws.
Springbank School in Waimate North Rd is holding its annual market day on Sunday, November 17 and the whole school is involved from pre-school classes to Year 13.
All student businesses donate 25% of their profit to a charity of choice. This year’s charities include Hospice, Donna Doolittle’s Animal Rescue, Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Society, Sea Cleaners, Bald Angels and SPCA as examples.
It’s compulsory for all students to contribute something and some of the contributions include Christmas decorations, coasters, string wood art, branded clothing called Street Royalty and even something called boredom buster bags.
Holly McIntyre (Year 7) is making cheese boards and chopping boards. She lives on the family farm and sourced the wood from there which was already stored in a shed.
“We cut the wood and rubbed it with some food-safe beeswax. We are making around 20 of the boards for sale at the market day,” she said.
Fay Stirling went into partnership with another Year 7 student, Addison Warren. They also sourced some wood, this time from Fay’s grandfather’s farm in Waimate North Rd, and they are making coat and wall hooks from rimu wood.
“We sanded the pieces with a belt sander and then oiled them with olive oil. We then screwed in the hooks which we got from The Emporium Whangarei.”
The 25% profit they will make will go to the Starship Foundation.
Year 13 students are exempt from having to contribute goods because they are currently sitting exams. They, however, donate in other ways, whether that’s helping the DJ to set up, or assisting with the running of the bouncy castle or even directing traffic to the car park.
The latest news bites from around the region.