Sicilian night wine & food

At the 13 October meeting of the Martinborough Wine & Food Society, 34 members and guests were treated to a tasting of Sicilian wines, accompanied appropriately by pizzas supplied by Colombo Winery pizzeria.

Our host, committee member John Penney, had visited Sicily a few years ago with his wife to attend a wedding and to do some touring. His scholarly presentation of 8 typical wines from the region (3 red, 3 white, and 2 dessert wines) was accompanied by a visual presentation of some of his favourite pictures of the villages and mountains of Sicily, and of hospitable Sicilian friends.

The Society’s next event, planned for 10 November, will take place at Luna Estate. A Christmas lunch is being planned at a local venue in mid-December.

The Society always welcomes new members. If you are interested in learning more about us, please contact President, Philippa Pointon, on 021434163, or Treasurer, Dave Stewart, on 0274530475.

Lions: Fresh Approach to Community Support

Martinborough Lions club is wanting to increase its efforts with helping the Martinborough Community.

The club is on a mission to deepen its impact on the local community. 

In a recent interview with our president, Belinda, she shared some of the club’s initiatives, including predator control, charity fundraisers like the Skyline Challenge, the senior’s Christmas Party, and participation in events like Toast Martinborough. 

In addition to these, the Lions are active in supporting the Martinborough Fair, generously contributing to the Pump Track, and making vital donations to various causes, such as Camp Quality, Wellington Free Ambulance, and the Men’s Shed defibrillator project.

While these are worthwhile investments, we wish to do more and are looking to focus on a select number of impactful activities each year where we can make an appreciable difference to how people live, interact or engage. The sorts of things we are wanting to get involved in include:

_fostering a sense of community;

_extending support for individuals or groups in need;

_enhancing the safety, security, wellbeing and resilience of the Martinborough community;;

_enriching the recreational, social, health and other opportunities for the local community

_enhancing the visitor experience.

We’ve already begun talking with people in our community to gather suggestions, but we’re open to more ideas. So if you’ve got thoughts about things that would make a difference, we’d love to hear them. 

Please put your thoughts and contact details into an email to: martinboroughlions@gmail.com so we can consider them. We’ll then get in contact to explore further.

Star Book Review

‘Vincent and Sien’ by Silvia Kwon  

Reviewer: Brenda Gale

Silvia Kwon is a Korean born Australian writer with a background in art history and publishing which makes her rather uniquely suited to the subject matter she has chosen in her new book.

1882 in The Hague, and Vincent van Gogh had committed himself to becoming an artist, spending years drawing in charcoal and pencil to ‘perfect the line’ before even picking up a paintbrush. 

He subsisted on an allowance from his younger brother and in today’s parlance would probably be described as neurodivergent. 

It was during these years that he met Sien, a pregnant, illiterate working girl. Their relationship lasted approximately 18 months and was largely based on each fulfilling the base needs of the other. Vincent’s for a model, sex and the fantasy of the perfect family and Sien’s for food and shelter.

These are the known facts about this pairing but Kwon has taken these bare bones and imagined their meeting, their time together, the family dynamics to which they were both beholden and the society in which they were embedded.

All of these things worked together to doom this pair and although they both knew it to some degree, they plunged into an intense relationship anyway. 

The book becomes a little repetitive in the middle as the author strives to have the reader understand just how different their worlds were. However, it makes for a rich tale of longing, hope and ultimately, tragedy. 

‘Vincent and Sien’ is for fans of historical fiction and those for whom Vincent van Gogh remains a troubled enigma all these years after his untimely and tragic death.

Available at your local bookshop.

Freedom camping bylaw feedback

A new bylaw to place some control on where freedom camping can occur is out for community input/consultation.

At times the bane of the tourism sector, freedom camping has become increasingly controlled after enraaged locals in many parts of New Zealand have spoken out at the mess, filth and despoilation so-called freedom campers have bequeathed to many high-interest tourism areas.

Only a small contingent has visited South Wairarapa recently, in part controlled by Covid-19 lockdown requirements. But the space is now again wide open for an influx.

New Zealand’s freedom camping laws allow camping on all council land unless it is prohibited through other methods – like a bylaw. 

The council said it proposes to pass a new bylaw that strikes a balance between attracting and supporting tourism in its area and protecting special places in the district. 

The proposed Freedom Camping Bylaw updates the approach to freedom camping taken in the Coastal Camping Bylaw and gives council a tool to respond to issues related to freedom camping.

“The proposed Freedom Camping Bylaw identifies those areas where freedom camping is appropriate and those areas which may need protection for reasons including environmental and cultural significance, risks to health and safety and other practical considerations,” it said in a statement. 

“We want to ensure we meet the needs of our communities, our visitors, and all those who choose to freedom camp,” it added. … Continue Reading