Some of the nation's top ramp skateboarders will converge on Kerikeri this Saturday to compete in the third Vert Jam competition. The event, founded in 2018 by former professional skateboarder Dave Crabb, will include divisions for under-16s, girls, open and masters for the over 40s. The action starts at noon at the skate park in Kerikeri Domain. It's a great spectator sport with riders spending as much time in the air as they do on the ramp.
Water dam session
Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust is holding an information session at Kaikohe Memorial Hall from 11am to 2pm on Friday, November 27. The trust plans to build a series of water reservoirs across the Mid North. One dam, near Ngāwhā, has already been consented, while others may follow near Ōhaeawai and Waimate North.
New role for Stolwerk
Northland Regional Council member Rick Stolwerk has been appointed interim chairman of the Northland Regional Transport Committee. Stolwerk, a second-term councillor who represents the NRC's Whangārei South constituency, temporarily replaces former long-time committee chairman John Bain, who resigned from the council recently because it voted to introduce Māori constituencies. Bain also held several other governance roles and while a byelection process for his vacant Whangārei Urban constituency seat is under way, it will be late February or early March next year before a new councillor is sworn in.
Book launch
A book called The Light Is Inconsolable - a collaboration between Whangārei lawyer and poet Arthur Fairley and photographer Dianne Stoppard is being launched in the city next week. The book will be launched at the Hanger Gallery, in Cross St, Regent, at 5.30pm on November 17. Images from the book will also be exhibited at Hanger Gallery from then until December 17. The book will be available from the gallery or Intec Interiors, in Rathbone St.
Telling of 'True Tales'
Another book launch, for MoreTrueTales of Whangārei Heads, including Tamaterau and Pataua, will be held at McLeod Bay on November 29. The book - the latest in a series of "True Tales" of Northland communities - is a compilation of about 100 stories written by or about Whangārei Heads and its people. It will be launched at 2.30pm at McLeod Bay Hall, Stuart Rd, McLeod Bay.
