One who really does her bit

If those who are honoured for the contributions they make to their community have one thing in common it is that they are quick to share the credit. Eleanor Goble followed that pattern after she was inducted as a Member of the Order of St John.

Mrs Goble, now in retirement (of sorts) at Pukenui, was supported by three of her fellow Far North St John area committee colleagues when she travelled to Palmerston North to receive the decoration, saying later that she was just one of a number of people who did their bit, and that many others were equally if not more deserving.

She has been the committee treasurer since 2002, an important role in an organisation that has done a great deal of fundraising over that time, with sufficient success to enable the committee to extend the ambulance station at Pukenui. The Sunday markets have been the fundraising mainstay, drawing support from as far afield as Kaitaia, Whatuwhiwhi and Doubtless Bay.

Mrs Goble has done more than give her time to a worthy cause though. It's also been a learning curve - despite working all her life, administrative functions, particularly bookkeeping, were largely a mystery to her when she began, and in more recent times the whole process has been computerised.

"I've picked it up as I've gone along, with a little help from other people," she said.

She spent 29 years of her working life in Kaitaia's main street, starting in the sewing factory in what was then the Vegar Building (currently a gymnasium), followed by stints at Claire's Fabrics and Allied Farmers. After three weeks off she was the first person to be interviewed for a position at Kaitaia's brand new Farmers' store, on the corner of Commerce and Taaffe streets.

She and her late husband Bill finally moved into what had been their holiday home at Pukenui, with a view to slowing down a little, but Mrs Goble soon found herself at work at the Wharf Store, where she was part of the fixtures and fittings for more than a decade. She finally retired properly about three years ago, but is still hardly idle, her time being shared between the local gardening club, the quilting and patchwork club, St John and the local ratepayers' association, where she is also the treasurer.