Rotary News

The South Wairarapa Rotary Club has a strong focus on giving back to the community and supporting young people. Recently we heard from three young people whom we helped to further their achievement in education, sport and the arts. Caelum Greaves from Kuranui College went to the National Science Forum in Auckland and Oscar Whibley-Smith participated in a baseball tournament in Australia with the Under 12 New Zealand team. Charlie and Maddie Kerrison-Jones were in a team competing in the World Hip Hop Championship in Phoenix, Arizona. All four were so enthusiastic about their experiences and grateful for the opportunities that they had. We specially enjoyed the video of the hip hop routine.

They say many hands make light work. Recently a hardy group of Rotarians  helped a team of students from Kahutara School to plant a large number of trees and grasses on the Mangatete Wetland, despite the impending rain.  Under the supervision of the Vice Principal Hamish McRae we got them all planted before the weather turned really bad. Rotary also helped funds the purchase of the plants.

This month we say good bye to a very special young person, our Rotary Exchange Student Theresa Schwärzler from Austria. As well as attending many of our meetings, Theresa went with other Rotary exchange students on a three week trip round the South Island, during which she made many friends. She also visited the New Zealand girl who had been an exchange student with her family. Theresa has also been skiing, surfing, tramping and dolphin watching during her stay with us. We wish her all the best for her future.

New Villas for Wharekaka

This drawing is from one of our Villa residents who drew Board member Andy Sutherland wielding his (large) digger to start off the new villa sites!

Martinborough residents will have been following with interest the new buildings going up on Suez St behind the Wharekaka Residential Home. These are two new villas which will be available to occupy later this year. They have been specially designed by Vicky Read of Aspect Architecture in Martinborough to suit older people and are being built by A1 Homes.

The villas form part of the Wharekaka Village which includes the existing 10 villas on Sackville and Suez St and the rest home itself. The villas are very comfortable – some of the residents are original owners. 

Wharekaka belongs to the whole Martinborough Community through its Trust. The rest home was set up in the early 1970s by the then Mayor of Martinborough, Sid Ussher, his wife Joyce who inaugurated the Wharekaka Auxiliary, and Dr Graham Milne, then local doctor. Recently with the help of the Auxiliary and strong local support, Wharekaka moved into hospital level and end of life care. It is a very special part of the Martinborough community.

If anyone is interested in one of the villas, please contact the Home who will send out a pack. … Continue Reading

New “PLB” outdoor safety initiative

The Wairarapa Rescue Trust recently purchased three personal locator beacons (PLB) to add to three already owned, to be hired by members of the public for a heavily subsidised rate. In other regions, PBL’s can be hired for up to $15 per day, however the Wairarapa Rescue Trust is making its PLB’s available to hire for only $5 per day or $30 per week.

Wairarapa Rescue Trust trustee Sam Milligan says the subsidised hire fee is to ensure cost is not a hindrance to one’s personal safety when venturing into the great outdoors.

“We purchased the personal locator beacons with the view to hire them out to the public at a subsidised rate to enable more people in our community to stay safe when they are walking, tramping, hunting or out fishing,” he says. “The Wairarapa offers such a diverse outdoor playground with easy access points into the Tararua Ranges, the hill country and along our rugged, and at times isolated, coastline. By encouraging people to take a simple device like a PLB out with them, ensures they can be found in the event of an emergency.”

A PLB is a small electronic device that, on activation in an emergency, alerts search and rescue services to one’s location on land or sea. It works by broadcasting a signal to a satellite, which in turn alerts the New Zealand Rescue Co-Ordination Centre that the person is in distress. Because the satellite offers true global coverage, it means the PLB can summon help wherever someone is, no matter how remote. 

“Once activated, these devices can locate someone to within 62m of their location so are vital in an emergency – they can save lives,” says Sam.

Those wanting to book a personal locater beacon can call 06-370 0155.

The beacon can be collected from the Masterton Trust Lands Trust building at 189 Queen Street in Masterton between 8:00am and 4:30pm, Monday through Friday (other times by arrangement). 

Inner Wheel Club of South Wairarapa

At the launch, from the left, Helen Grey, Graham Evans, Kathleen Rushworth, Councillor Colin Wright, Ali Rankin, David Halford, Debrah Johns, Liz Poynter, Anne Hayden, Peter Bennett.

The Greytown Shared Pantry is now up and running thanks to a joint effort by the following South Wairarapa organisations: Rotary, Inner Wheel, MensShed, Lionesses, Greytown Medical Centre, Lamb Peters Publishing and Fresh Choice. Finally we are up there with Carterton, Featherston and Masterton where these ‘give and take’ food facilities have been helping their communities for quite a while.  It is on the veranda of the Greytown Medical Centre, 186 East Street, Greytown, and is open 24/7. It was great to have one of our South Wair

arapa District Council Councillors, Colin Wright, to untie the ribbon and officially declare it open on behalf of the Mayor, Viv Napier on 21 June. 

In order to manage it a small group has been formed. It intends to follow a Wairarapa food bank’s example of adding simple recipes to help inspire people to prepare and enjoy their food even more. Inner Wheel and Lionesses will be tasked with the job of sharing some of their family favourites that do not take too much preparation. 

To the cooks out there, any gems you might have in your recipe books, please email to Kay Gates at: kay.gates@icloud.com. … Continue Reading