Ella Parker gives instruction to young teens as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme Sail Inc business. Photo/Supplied
Ella Parker gives instruction to young teens as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme Sail Inc business. Photo/Supplied
Plain sailing for Young Enterprise Scheme
A local Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) business has been started that will teach teenagers sailing skills as they learn alongside friends.
Kerikeri High School students Ella Parker, 16, and Thomas Fewtrell, 18, initiated Sail Inc. They took the teens sailing in Northland so theycould gain life skills coupled to a positive experience.
Both are keen sailors and YNZ-qualified Junior Learn to Sail coaches.
"Our teachers suggested we started a business that related to something we are passionate about, so naturally we wanted to teach fellow teenagers how amazing sailing can be," said Ella.
The young sailors participated in a variety of activities over two days, including learning to rig a sailing dinghy and steering it as well as knot tying, team building and how to sail by themselves in a small dinghy.
Out on the water and learning new skills. Participants in the Sail Inc business sailing an Optimist to the Paihia Pontoon. Photo/Supplied
The first day was spent sailing three up in sailing dinghies to gain confidence. On the second day, they had a go sailing by themselves in an Optimist on a voyage to the Paihia Pontoon. After two days they were rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and the thrill of controlling a vessel powered only by wind.
"In the future, we also want to be able to offer subsidised sessions for teenagers from families who might struggle to afford something like this, as we want to be able to make the sport accessible to everyone here in Northland," said Ella. For more information email sailincnz@gmail.com
Megan Read from Kerikeri has designed the Basicb maternity and nursing bra.
New breastfeeding bra designed in Kerikeri
An overall decline in breastfeeding rates by 5.5 per cent since 2012 has prompted Kerikeri woman Megan Read to design an effective and efficient breastfeeding bra.
She has spent several years designing and developing the nursing bra for Kiwi women while breastfeeding her own two children. She said she hopes it will eliminate one of the biggest complaints women have during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
"Most Kiwi women find that a nursing bra is much harder to manage than you'd think and most own at least one uncomfortable or ill-fitting maternity bra that interferes in the process of breastfeeding their child."
She considers the most popular maternity and nursing bras were designed more for aesthetics than functionality and full of fiddly clips, padding, cups and wires.
The Basicb collection has been designed with the concept that a nursing bra is not just an item of clothing but a key part of a lifestyle choice.
"There were no real alternatives for busy mothers who want simplicity and to remain practical while sticking to their daily routines."
It became the driving force to start her own business with a new approach and way of thinking about maternity wear. The Basicb maternity and nursing bras will be ready for sale online in mid-August. The Basicb exclusively online from www.thebasicb.co.nz
Bocuse d'Or Team New Zealand - commis chef Szren Hamberger, candidate chef William Mordido and team coach Ken O'Connell. Photo / Supplied
Bocuse d'Or team earns a spot in gastronomy competition
A New Zealand team has made it to the final of what is recognised as the gastronomic equivalent of the Olympic Games.
Bocuse d'Or Team New Zealand earned the spot with their top-five ranking in the Bocuse d'Or Asia Pacific 2022 selection. There is a Kerikeri connection.
Team Aotearoa consists of commis chef, the appropriately named Szren Hamberger, from the Park Hyatt Auckland. Her father is well-known Kerikeri volunteer firefighter Andy Hamberger. The other team member is candidate chef William Mordido , the founder of BUKO Restaurant. The team coach is Ken O'Connell from Copia Restaurant.
They will be judged by some of the best chefs in the world. John Kelleher from AUT will be New Zealand's member on the tasting jury over the two-day competition.
Covid affected the regional event, which is usually held in a live competition setting. It was moved to online and involved creating a vegetarian recipe highlighting tofu as the key ingredient.
The submission had to include a curated video paying homage to the team, and showing the dish created which was A Taste of Tofu. The team wove traditional Māori food into their entry and the video was produced by The Breakout Room and Brewery Studios.
"It has been a challenging competition. Our team has never worked with the highlighted ingredient at competition level before but it has been rewarding to see Will and Szren progress ideas into reality," said coach Ken O'Connell.
"We are excited to show the rest of the world the concepts we have been working on."
The culinary athletes will be training and fundraising until the international finals take place in Lyon, France, on January 22-23.
Sahhara Mcloone, winner of the Build a Teeny House competition. Her school received a $500 donation as prize.
Teeny Homes competition
A competition initiated by Harcourts Bay of Islands had a brief to build a teeny home and by the deadline there were over 20 of the little homes delivered to their offices.
The homes were created by local school and early childhood education students over the school holidays. Harcourts intends to keep the competition running next school holiday with different themes and challenges.
The winning student was Sahhara Unity Mcloone from Kerikeri Primary School. Runner-up was Poppy O'Brien from Oromahoe School with Danielle McCloy from Kerikeri Primary School in third place. The winning student's school was awarded $500.
Poppy O'Brien from Oromahoe School with the Teeny House she built and entered in the local competition.
Judges were Tom Rutherford from Harcourts BOI, Trent Simpkin from Arcline Architecture, Gina Browning from Law North and Peter Dobson from Bay of Islands ITM. The judges decided the top 10, then the public voted for their favourite via Facebook.
Tegan Weber from Harcourts said the goal was to bring together the community, through schools, entrants, public voting and the judges and to give local children the opportunity to win a donation for their school.
Hayden Clarke masquerades as, possibly, Elton John while Dan Simmonds gives a good Elvis impression at the Kerikeri Primary School PTA Trivia Night. Photo/Supplied
Trivia Night a success for school
Last Saturday night over 200 people made their way to the Turner Centre for the Kerikeri Primary School fundraising trivia night.
Kate Simmonds, chairwoman of the school's PTA, said there had been "amazing" sponsorship from the community that has produced some "fantastic" prizes.
Auction items included a Lester Hall art print, a Trek bike, a 50-inch Panasonic Smart TV and lunch for two at The Landing Cellar Door. The more curious auction item was a vasectomy that was donated along with a dozen McLeods beer and a bag of frozen peas.
There was a variety of silent auction items including a family weekend away, McDonald's vouchers and stay accommodation, a soda press, mini golf, Makana chocolates, bottles of bubbles, cinema vouchers and a trip to Urupukapuka Island among others.
Laurel Simm (left) and Buck Jones ham it up for the Kerikeri Primary School PTA Trivia Night. Photo/Supplied
There were prizes for the winning team, the best dressed, best decorated table and spot prizes.
About $10,000 was raised and Kate Simmonds said a "huge thank you" goes to the generous sponsors who helped make the night possible.
