Christmas Parade

The countdown to Christmas has begun.   Santa’s sleigh is under construction at the Mens Shed. Santa himself is eating a high energy diet so he can fill out his XXXL costume.  He’s also putting in the hard yards at the gym so he can get up and down all those chimneys without putting his back out.  After all, he’s not such a young fella’.  Aging’s not helping his beard either.  It’s getting a bit wispy and starting to look like someone’s glued a chunk of cottonwool to his chin.

“Heat pumps and wood burners have made my life hell” he says but he knows he has to  keep up with the times. Besides, he can’t disappoint those children who have been good all year, just because they  don’t have a chimney.

The Elves at the North Pole are bracing for the Xmas orders. It used to easy; bikes and dolls.  The oldest Elves have given up trying to work out what will be on trend and spend a lot of time grumbling about the “good old days”. The young ones spend their time browsing social media looking for ideas.  They are trying to get Santa to set up an Amazon-style warehouse, so they can handle all the requests that are flooding Santa’s inbox,

It’s getting harder for the reindeer too.  There are so many more kids around today which means more gifts and a heavier load.  They’re muttering about developing a battery powered sleigh – “A sort of e-bike of the skies”, Rudolph called it but Dancer, who was always a bit of a Greenie, said that wouldn’t be environmentally friendly.

Dasher said morosely it didn’t really matter as they were facing extinction anyway, what with the loss of habitat and climate change.

It fell to Mrs Claus to get the show back on the road.   “It’s not all about you” , she said sternly to the team.  “It’s about all those children who trust you to make their Christmas happy.  Pull yourselves together and get on with the job.”    There was a bit of muttering about bullying, but they also liked the idea of making children happy and that won the day.

Mrs Claus wasn’t finished with Mr Claus though.   “I hope you are going to be in top form on Saturday December 9”.  Santa frantically racked his brains and came up empty handed.  His attempt to conceal this did not deceive his wife.   “It’s the Martinborough Christmas Parade”, she said through gritted teeth.   “Aahh” said Santa.  “My very favourite place.  I wouldn’t miss that for anything”.

First Church fashion fandango wins

We report with pride that Martinborough’s annual First Church Fashion Show fund-raiser, titled “Spring Fling,” has been a huge success. 

The event was a fabulous fashion fandango, headlining a wide range of pre-loved, high-end clothing, jewellery, hats and shoes – not to mention a clutch of Gucci bags.

This time the event was held in the Waihinga Centre which comfortably accommodated a record 126 attendees from the wider Wairarapa and Wellington areas.

The fund-raiser was not just a fashion parade but a “Fashion Show” that included scrumptious finger food delivered throughout the evening along with local entertainment, an informative demonstration and address by a local guest speaker, interspersed with the Mystery Auctioning of quality sponsored gifts, culminating in all attendees being invited to peruse and purchase from the many well-presented racks of stunning garments and accompanying accessories.

Throughout the evening a series of Runway segments were held where handpicked clothing combinations were superbly modelled by a number of brave local personalities. They tantalized the guests with their enthusiasm and skilful modelling, showcasing a variety of clothing ensembles like professionals, and the audience responded to each with much appreciation and applause. … Continue Reading

Featherston Wrestling Club

New Zealand Team at the Oceania Championships.

For the first time in over 15 years Featherston Wrestlers represented New Zealand recently with Nate George and Angus Read taking part in the Oceania Championship and pre-tournament Training Camp over early August. Both boys enjoyed the time at the Australian Institute of Sport focused on wrestling and return with new skills to share with their club mates.

Nate & Angus follow in the footsteps of their Coach Jeremy Sargent and his forebears such as Robert Algie, Nigel Sargent and many others who all performed with distinction for New Zealand wrestling teams in the past.  The club has a long history of producing wrestlers of excellent quality and with the right mix of technical skill, strength, and guile required to excel in the sport.  Pop down to 52 Fitzherbert Street on a Wednesday evening to see the honours board and recognise those legends that have laid the foundations for today.

Coming up are the National Secondary Schools tournament with Club wrestlers representing Kuranui, Rathkeale and Palmerston North Boys High School, the Wellington Regional Championships and the National Championships in Tauranga in early October.  We wish our competitors all the best.

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