Inner Wheel South Wairarapa

At Our August dinner meeting at the Offering our guest speaker was

My husband Brent, who spoke about his two trips to Vietnam. The first trip, all expenses paid by the NZ Government, was in December 1968 as part of a reinforcement group to 161 battery. Brent pointed out that all NZ soldiers who fought in Vietnam were volunteers, we did not have conscription like Australia or America.

He spoke about a soldiers life in Vietnam, such things as cigarettes being issued in the rations, and how cheap beer was when they were back in base. He identified that our relationship with the Australians varied but they got on very well with the Americans.

In April 2019 Brent returned to Vietnam. On the way he spent two nights in Singapore. He stayed in a very luxurious establishment, the “Hotel Fort Canning” which it transpired was on the same location as the former British Army HQ where Brent spent ten days on leave before returning home from Vietnam in 1969.

He arrived in Hanoi where the locals were found to be very friendly. They seemed to have a great love of small dogs, which some might have been Corgi’s way back. … Continue Reading

From the CEO

Are you rushing towards the end of the year as fast as we are? 

It always feels like we at Council are always talking about how busy we are. Everybody is. However, there is a rhythm to Council’s year and one of our fixtures is the Annual Report. This swiftly follows our Annual Plan but unlike the plan  – which lays out our spending priorities and aspirations for the year – the report closes the loop on the year that has been. 

We pour a lot into this document – many of our officers are busily comparing our significant activities from Year One of the 2021-31 Long Term Plan against performance. We are sure that when the report is finished, many of you will want to take a look for yourself, only after it is audited, and the new Council approves it. 

Heavy rains since February this year have continued to make life difficult for our rural roads, and Council’s roading team have been very busy repairing roads as quickly as they can. The roads at Cape Palliser and Tuturumuri were quickly fixed, enabling residents to continue to go about their normal business. … Continue Reading

First Church News

It is so hard to believe that another year has gone by in our Church calendar, and we are coming up to our Annual General Meeting.  This is being held after our regular church service on Sunday the 30^th of October 2022 at 11am in First Church Hall, Weld Street, Martinborough.  All are very welcome to attend both the service and/or the AGM.

First Church Annual Fair day is being held on Saturday 29^th October – this is being held in the Martinborough Town Hall/ Waihinga Centre from 10am till 3pm.

There will be a huge range of both Women’s and Men’s Clothing and Accessories, as well as our regular and very popular, Cakes, Plants, Books, Collectables, etc – everything must go!! Open from 10am till 3pm this will be one of our last fundraising events for the year.  Cash or Eftpos sales – come along and get yourselves a bargain – something for everyone. For any inquiries or to arrange to have donations of goods collected please phone Graham Howie on 0274474082.

Quote for the month: “Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day” – Dalai Lama

FIRE BRIGADE REPORT

Well Daylight savings has arrived – Did you remember to check your smoke alarm is working? Do it now if you forgot, those few minutes may save you and your loved ones.

We welcome 2 new recruit firefighters to the fold, John Crighton and Corina Lawson, who are settling in the recruit training schedule with recruits Jason Clements and Tamara Hudepohl. The First Response team is joined by Ian Kebbel who brings a valuable background as a former Paramedic.

You probably saw the reports of our recent busy day in the Times Age, as we continue to respond to Fire and Medical calls in our community.

Occasionally struggle with crewing our fire appliance during the day and are still looking for people who may be available daytimes to join the brigade, keep an eye out for our Open Day happening in the next couple of months, even if you can do it just while the kids are at school, you don’t have to be available all the time, you will be fully equipped with really cool gear, fully trained and get to work in a fantastic team. 

If you are interested please contact our Chief Jake Hawkins directly by emailing – Jacob.hawkins@fireandemergency.nz. or better still pop on down and have a chat on Tuesday Training.