Library News

Rejoice, rejoice we now have our overnight drop box for books.  You have all been so patient continuing to drop books off at the old library but now you no longer need to do that.  Situated to the rear of the building is a little slot in the back door with a cunningly crafted locked box to capture your book.

 Of course and as usual, my thanks to the Martinborough Mens Shed for their willingness to help us and for making and fitting the box into place.  I do not know where we would be without them.  Unfortunately they can’t help with copper cabling which we are still waiting for Chorus to fit into the building.  Without that we cannot run our free access computers and robust Wifi through Aotearoa People’s Network.   … Continue Reading

Life-Enriching Experiences in Martinborough

In just over three decades, Martinborough has gone from sleepy rural outpost to bustling tourist town. Grateful to the wine industry for Martinborough’s resurrection, local businesses and other enterprises are buoyant, particularly during the summer months. From artisan producers and creatives to world-class hospitality, Martinborough is indeed a desirable place to visit. Now a new tourism product places focus on keeping visitors visiting – and staying – during the mid-winter period.

Life Enriched Holidays launched earlier this year, are designed to grow mid-week, mid-winter tourism for the benefit of Martinborough’s local providers and authentic producers. Combining short, 16-20-hour learning programmes over 3 days, with select meals, additional activities and heritage accommodation included, Life Enriched Holidays are the first, curated, edu-holiday packages of their kind in New Zealand. … Continue Reading

Like to join our team?

There are two groups who are crucial to the Star’s publication; our advertisers who make the production and printing of the paper possible and the  delivery team who ensure that the papers arrive in your mail box.

The latter are nineteen volunteers who in most cases each cover a block or street, on average around fifty papers. Some of  these good people have been doing it since the Star’s inception twelve years ago and are now approaching a well earned retirement. So it is expected that there will be some gaps to fill in the  team in the nearing future.

We also now require a person who can fill in on a round when a regular is unable to do it due to sickness or being away on holiday. This occurs two or three times a year.

If you can help in either of these positions we would love to hear from you. Please contact: Mike Beckett beckett36@gmail.com or phone 3089 978

Longwood Life Lessons

Woefully unprepared when she left the bright lights of Featherston for the land of Bier and Bratwurst, soprano Georgia Jamieson Emms landed on her feet (or was it roller-blades) in Hamburg, Germany. With a similar population size to Auckland, Hamburg has four professional opera houses with performances almost every night of the week during the season. It was at one of these houses, the Junges Musiktheater that Georgia made a living as a professional singer, racking up close to 60 performances alone as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

On returning home to raise a family she realised there was no sustainable career to be had as an opera singer in New Zealand. Furthermore her particular (peculiar?) set of skills ensured she could never get a “real job.” But inspired by what she’d seen on her German stint, where an enormous educational focus and significant government funding is dedicated to opera, she knew that there was a need in New Zealand for the creation, development and production of affordable, accessible shows if opera is to survive. On the smell of an oily rag she launched a theatre company, Wanderlust Opera. … Continue Reading