Little things – with big impact

February is here and 2024 is in full swing. It has been a festive and bustling wine village over the summer holidays!

Thanks to all those who commented or reached out to comment on a solution that has had a big impact during the holiday period. The coffee fix chalkboard was a simple solution to an ongoing conversation to support our visitors in knowing where to get their coffee and we seemed to hit a winner!

No fancy app or online requirement just a simple chalkboard sign. It proved that sometimes simple is best. This a message we often come back to time and time again here at Martinborough Business Association _ along with stick to your knitting. 

We know what we do well, Martinborough is a tourist destination built around its world-class wine which is accompanied by great food, award-winning olive oil, gin, chocolate _  the list goes on and on.

The Martinborough Business Association is excited about the potential that 2024 holds for local businesses through tourism, both domestically and internationally. With its unique charm, exceptional producers, accredited dark sky and a passionate community driving it all Martinborough is set to shine on the global tourism stage.

The association encourages businesses to embrace this opportunity, collaborate, and collectively work towards making Martinborough a premier destination.

Here’s to an exciting year ahead.

First church News

So, another ecclesiastical year has bitten the dust with the new one well under way. 2023 at First Church was deemed to be a success – whether judged by the performance of the dedicated team responsible for church admin, the credit balance from fundraising activities or even the quality and venue of each Sunday’s choral cacophony. 

The efforts and delivery of our pianist/organist Bob Bargh deserves special note (literally and figuratively!)

Firstly, on account of the continuing dexterity of his venerable playing fingers given their (and his) age of 94, and then for his willingness to turn up rain or shine and deliver every week at the keyboards. We the congregation respond by singing or shouting as lustily as we dare, even if the psalmic melody we hear is a complete mystery.

Church attendance without music would be a drab affair and as rank amateurs we don’t do too badly. Due to their familiarity the organ – assisted Christmas carols verged on the professional (not confessional!).

As you know Sunday services are normally conducted in the community hall adjacent to the church. This is in keeping with the relative informality of these occasions (minus any clapping or shouting) because lively conversations both before and after the service are the First Church way and are evidence of its tight communal spirit.

It is a well-known fact of contemporary church life that congregations are dwindling in size and tending towards the geriatric. You could say that this just confirms that age and wisdom go together!  … Continue Reading

Greytown Music Group diary dates

The Greytown Music Group Concert Series 2024 is ready to roll.

Ed and Juliet Cooke, organisers of the annual Greytown Music Group concert series, are pleased and excited to have this year’s concerts settled, and brochures sent to the printer. 

Juliet says “it is wonderful to have old favourites back, especially Donald Armstrong’s Amici Ensemble, this year a string quintet, and to finish with, the Kugels Klezmer Group.” 

Ed adds “As a violinist myself, my favourite for the year will be Andrew Beer, down from Auckland with harpist Ingrid Bauer.” 

Concert dates are as follows: 

Sunday 7 April: Karen Batten’s Amiki Trio – Karen on flute, soprano Barbara Paterson, and pianist Rachel Thomson. Their programme will include works by Delibes, Corigliano,Ravel, Reinecke and Schubert. 

Sunday 28 April: Amici Ensemble – this time made up of violinists Donald Armstrong and Malavika Gopal, Andrew Thomson, and Alexander McFarlane on viola, and cellist Andrew Joyce, playing Mozart and Brahms string quintets. 

Sunday 26 May: Duo Enharmonics – Beth Chen and Nicole Chao – a piano duo combination. playing Bach, Schubert, Ravel, John Psathas, Rachmaninov and Strauss. Look them up on YouTube if you haven’t heard them play. 

Saturday 22 June: Andrew Beer and Ingrid Bauer, violin and harp – programme includes works by Piazzolla, Debussy, Saint-Saens, and Kenneth Young. 

Sunday 22 September: NZTrio: “Triptych 2, Untrodden Ways” – Mendelssohn, Jelleyman/Bach, Higdon and Babadjanian. 

Sunday 13 October: The Kugels Klezmer group, led by Debbie Rawson and Ross Harris – they were very popular here two years ago, with wild and haunting tunes of traditional Klezmer combined with original works by composer Ross Harris. 

All concerts are at 57 Wood St, Greytown, at 4.00 p.m. 

Note that the June concert is on a Saturday, but the rest are on Sundays. 

Contact the Cookes if you would like a concert brochure emailed to you:  efjacooke@gmail.com

or phone 06 304 9497.

Muddling in a pool of (govt.) uncetainty

By Adrienne Staples, Greater Wellington Regional Council

Sadly, the festive season is well and truly behind us and the wheels of local government are turning again, albeit slowly, as we navigate the bumpy roads in front of us this year.

The change of central government has produced wailing and hand wringing from some and jubilation from others. The altered direction in many policies and priorities is vast, provoking letters to the paper and meetings organised to fight back some government proposals.

Local government though must work with whatever central government is delivered by the voters but has been muddling around in a pool of uncertainty since the election last year, as it comes to

grips with what the changes mean for councils.

Two previous government proposals, regionalisation of both water infrastructure delivery and planning management have both been canned and we are again looking to more localised models.

This has drawn a sigh of relief from some councils. But the problem is that the current ways of delivery for both were no longer fit for purpose and it is far from clear how this matter will be addressed.

The shift in focus from cycleways and road safety to fixing potholes will also be welcomed by many in Wairarapa given the distances many of us must drive to carry out our daily lives. Environmentally though, we cannot bury our heads in the sand and ignore the need to reduce our carbon emissions.

Finally, the elephant in the room remains the reorganisation of local government. The discussions are back on the agenda on both sides of the Remutakas and so they should be. The problem is though, without good leadership around the matter, the conversations always fall to who would be mayor and where should the council offices reside? 

Both are actually irrelevant and we should be discussing what is the best model of local government for Wairarapa to function as a strong, cohesive region in its own right.

So back to our bumpy roads. Classic cars are beautiful. They’re lovely to own, bring out on a fine day and give a good polish before you put them away. 

To navigate modern-day Wairarapa, however, we need power steering, anti-skid braking, side intrusion bars, air bags and hands-free – none of which are available on the model we run.