A total of seven Waipā locals will be inducted into the Te Awamutu Walk of Fame and the Cambridge Sports Walk of Fame. Photo / Supplied
A total of seven Waipā locals will be inducted into the Te Awamutu Walk of Fame and the Cambridge Sports Walk of Fame. Photo / Supplied
Waipā has acknowledged seven local legends with a plaque on the Te Awamutu Walk of Fame and the Cambridge Sports Walk of Fame.
The new Te Awamutu inductees are father and son wrestling experts Brian Stannett and Shane Stannett, equestrian cross-country course designer John Nicholson, woodchopping world record holder Jason Wynyard, internationally-acclaimed composer Dr Michael Williams and best-selling author Heather Morris.
Sporting stalwart Gaye Bezzant will be the first inductee to the Cambridge Sports Walk of Fame in four years and receives the honour for her services to softball, netball, basketball and golf.
The Cambridge Sports Walk of Fame opened on Duke Street in 2003 with 24 sporting achievers. Bezzant's will now be the 41st plaque to be unveiled, later in the year.
Bezzant, who has lived in the Cambridge area her whole life, was an international softball representative from 1955 to 1965, including a stint as vice-captain in the 1964-65 season. She also represented Waikato in softball, netball, basketball and golf and was a well-respected coach across a number of codes.
Waipā mayor Jim Mylchreest says he was delighted to see Bezzant honoured.
Sporting stalwart Gaye Bezzant from Cambridge will be inducted into Cambridge's Sports Walk of Fame for her services to softball, netball, basketball and golf. Photo / Supplied
"She was the ultimate all-rounder, talented across a range of codes. This recognition has been a long time coming but Gaye will now rightly take her place alongside other Cambridge sporting giants. She has earned her place and I'm thrilled that her achievements will be publicly celebrated and honoured in this way."
Te Awamutu's Walk of Fame, located in Selwyn Park, was opened by Kingi Tūheitia in 2009 to recognise and celebrate local identities who achieve world recognition in their fields.
Including the six new inductees, the local Walk of Fame honours 34 prominent individuals.
International wrestler Shane Stannett began his career at Te Awamutu College, before winning junior and senior national championship titles. Between 1982 and 1994, Stannett was an Olympic freestyle wrestling competitor in Commonwealth Games, Oceania and World Championships as well as the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
Equestrian cross-country course designer John Nicholson from Kihikihi. Photo / Warren Buckland
Kihikihi's John Nicholson is well-known in the equestrian world as a cross-country course designer. Nicholson designed the course for the Kihikihi International Horse Trials and also designed courses overseas, including for the prestigious Asian Games in South Korea and Indonesia.
Te Awamutu-born Jason Wynyard (Ngati Maniapoto, Ngapuhi) has won more than 200 world woodchopping titles, including the Lumberjack world championships 16 times consecutively. He currently holds five world wood-chopping records. In 2017, he was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the sport of woodchopping.
International composer Dr Michael Williams, known for his opera The Juniper Passion, grew up in Te Awamutu before settling in Melbourne to attend the Conservatorium of Music. After his return to New Zealand, he was appointed lecturer at the University of Waikato in 2000. Williams' work has also been commissioned by the NZ Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Opera and Chamber Music New Zealand.
International author, Pirongia-born Heather Morris. Photo / Supplied
Brian Stannett has more than half a century's involvement in Olympic freestyle wrestling. He joined the Te Awamutu YMI Wrestling Club in 1955 and went on to compete internationally. He was also involved in a number of senior world championships as a coach and referee. He became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018.
Pirongia-born author Heather Morris is best known for her best-selling novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. She also wrote a book about growing up in Pirongia, Stories of Hope, and attended Te Awamutu College before moving to Melbourne. She was planned to be inducted in 2019.
The Walk of Fame is currently being refurbished. An official event to honour the new inductees will be held later in the year.
