Waihinga Centre

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Park and Playground project to start

It will be full speed ahead now that Council has given permission to start work on the Park and Playground project.  The majority of the funding is in place but we still need your help to raise another $10,000 to complete the water play area. Keep an eye out for our upcoming fundraising events and you can donate directly to our give-a-little page: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/waihingacentre. 

The approved project has a target completion date of November to allow the landscaping and grass areas to bed in before summer. The upgraded playground will include a range of equipment and natural opportunities for imaginative play, suitable for all ages and abilities. The plans include new planting, paths, seating and tables, a water play area, a new tower (pictured) and new and improved green areas. … Continue Reading

Subterranean life discovered

Until a few years ago scientists assumed that no life existed below bedrock. Researches have now discovered bizarre forms of life three kilometres below the surface. 

The organisms are bacteria  which in some case are embedded in rock eking out an existence scrounging for water, energy and nutrition. Some are thought to divide only once in every thousand years!

When these organisms are bought to the service their DNA is unlike anything we have known about bacteria above ground. Biologists have had to invent whole new phyla to describe them.

The layer of life on the earth’s surface is very thin , but these single cell organisms go down miles. We have no idea how important these are to the sub surface web of life. Do they play a role in movement of water and nutrients, of energy from the  Magma? We have no idea. 

From  Canadian scientist David Suzuki’s latest climate book ‘ Just cool it! ‘ (Available at the Library)

Soprano Has Wairarapa Connection

Martinborough Musical Festival 28-30 September,www.martinboroughmusicfestival.co.nz

The Martinborough Music Festival team are pleased to announce that this year’s Festival programme will feature a broadening of the traditional chamber music musical landscape with the inclusion of Wellington soprano, Jenny Wollerman, accompanied by Michael Houstoun.

Jenny is delighted to be part of the Festival having links to the Wairarapa through the law firm WCM Legal, originally known as Wollerman, Cooke and McClure. Visits to her Wairarapa relatives were a regular feature of her childhood. So it is particularly special for her to return and perform in Martinborough. … Continue Reading

TOY LIBRARY

Celebrating Volunteers.

We have just seen Volunteer Week a great incentive to celebrate the hundreds of volunteers who make a he difference to so many organisations. Toy Library being one of them, The whole team making this possible volunteers their time to make sure we can provide this great service in our community. As we all know time is precious we are all juggling lots of balls and so deciding to volunteer for a group is making that decision to give back, to create some time to benefit the bigger picture. 

We are always looking for new volunteers so we can spread the amount of time people have to give so its also a chance to shed light on what it involves to be a Toy Librarian. In our new space the dynamic of how we run has changed so we have a team of two on duty on a Saturday.  … Continue Reading