Editorial: Loved cacti a worthy legacy

Sasso Miehe with his flowering Puya Alpestris Cactus Plant in 2010.

Cacti may will be one of the more quirky items ever to be bequeathed to a charity. One can only imagine the initial reaction from the recipient - "you're leaving us what?"

Cash, property or jewellery may be more commonly included in wills but for Sasso Miehe, it was his cacti that were his passion.

So his decision to leave them to the Salvation Army was a truly generous deed, ensuring the Rotorua community will benefit from a collection he had been growing since the 1990s.

Some of the cacti from his Sala St gardens, which was well known to locals, are worth hundreds of dollars.

Of course, the Sallies now need to sell them, with bargain hunters set to snap up a great deal on Saturday.

Mr Miehe's legacy to his city - his beloved cacti - may not be huge in monetary terms. But he, and the many other locals who remember charities in their wills - leave a legacy their families should be proud of.

Let's hope there's a big turnout of cacti-shoppers on Saturday.

It's an unimaginable nightmare for any family, the sudden and violent loss of a child.

First Alex Fisher in Waitarere and yesterday came the news the person killed in a hunting incident in Kaingaroa Forest was a child, not a man as initially reported.

Connor Phillips was just 11 and should have been back at Reporoa Primary with his mates yesterday.

His family, like the Fishers, will be grappling with Connor's loss and the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding it.

In due course, the police will conclude how the tragic incident happened, and whether there are lessons to be learnt for the future. But for now it's a time for the tight-knit community to grieve and support his family.

Our thoughts are with them.