CAMBRIDGE NEWS | 1
THURSDAY AUGUST 5, 2021
Honouring your loved ones wishes with sincerity and dignity
Jim Goddin
Grinter’s Funeral Home proudly serving the people of Cambridge, Hamilton, and the surrounding areas.
3 Hallys Lane, Cambridge 07 827 6037 office@grinters.co.nz www.grinters.co.nz
It’s a real newspaper
FREE
FDANZ
AUGUST 5, 2021
Waipā votes to go smoke, vape free By Blair Voorend
Vaping has become an epidemic among Waipā youth, Cambridge High School deputy principal John McDonnell told district councillors this week. And his call for them to be leaders and limit the supply to young people was heeded. They voted this week to extend a proposed Smokefree and Vaping policy ban to take in streets adjoining schools. Vaping has had a massive negative impact on attendance numbers among students,
McDonnell told the Strategic Planning and Policy committee this week. Students who had been vaping showed a lacklustre attitude in class and the habit led into nicotine and drug addictions, he said. McDonnell produced a shopping bag filled with $4000 worth of vape products he had confiscated. He explained that as the products were for people 18 years and over, he could not return them to under-age students. He said he feared some parents had picked up their children’s confiscated property and returned it to the students.
“Many of them (the products) are small and easy to conceal at school and make it hard to spot them,” he said. But he said that while vaping is dangerous for students, other issues are making problems as well. With expensive canisters McDonnell said that many children are sharing them, which he believes is a health hazard. Four or five years ago he said that it was amongst senior students, year 12-13 students, but now he sees it amongst year nine students, those who are just starting high school. Many of them use high graded
Ollie will wing it...
By Steph Bell-Jenkins
Ollie the Cockatiel
A “plucky little bird with a mangled leg and twisted body” from Cambridge is set to become the first cockatiel to attempt to traverse the length of New Zealand on Te Araroa, a continuous 3000km walking trail stretching from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Ollie was hand raised by Robyn Chappell from Bird Rescue Cambridge after his father attacked him in the nest as a young chick. “He was in very poor shape, bloodied, missing bits of his head, his eyes were black and bruised, and his leg had been dislocated and twisted backwards,” Robyn said. “We were going euthanise him as he was so mangled but decided to let him die in his sleep in the comfort of a warm bed. But he didn’t die and grew stronger each day.” Now 18 months old and resolutely refusing to let his disability clip his wings, Ollie is “cheeky, clever and determined”. His leg still faces the wrong way, but he can hop around on his good leg, fly short distances and
talk. Having overcome the many challenges life has already thrown at him, he is now preparing to leave the nest in September and head to Cape Reinga to begin walking Te Araroa. Robyn, aka “Hooman Number 1”, who has never hiked or tramped in her life, will be helping him go the distance, transporting him in a special backpack and a shoulder harness. The pair will sleep in a small tent and DOC huts along the way. “I’m unfit, overweight and inexperienced, but still have my health, faculties, and teeth – so that’s a good start,” said Robyn, who describes herself as “no spring chicken” and “geographically challenged” and finds the idea of navigating 3000km rather daunting. But it’s all about Ollie, she says, who will be raising awareness of the trail and its value to New Zealand, while raising money for the Te Araroa Trust. She says while Ollie is not asking anyone to swan dive into their nest eggs, he is hoping a few good eggs will donate a few dollars through his
Stay connected with Waipā Install Antenno from the App Store or Google Play today!
OPEN 7 DAYS Located at 41 Empire Street 07 827 7099 www.cambridgevets.co.nz
nicotine canisters. “I call for our councillors to be leaders and limit the supply to our youth.” Deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk said she was interested in making a bylaw around sales of the products and limiting the number of outlets able to sell them. But mayor Jim Mylchreest said the current laws would not allow that and Waipā would need to lobby central government for stricter laws like those for alcohol and cigarettes. Council approved the amended smokefree and vapefree policy which will prohibit smoking and vaping in public places.
Givealittle page, https://givealittle. co.nz/cause/ollie-the-cockatielsjourney-from-cape-reinga. He’s already begun strutting his stuff through his own Facebook and Instagram pages, where he will be sharing a bird’s eye view of his adventure. Already proving his social media savviness, on July 28 the sassy cockatiel appeared in an original fashion creation by “Cambridge’s crochet queen” Jill Smith – a stylish pink hiking vest designed to keep his chest warm during wild, windy days out on the trail. A few days later he was captured sporting a new superbird vest and cape, describing himself as “a vision of unbridled avian masculinity”. And this week he was shaking his tail feathers in a gorgeous black number embellished with a silver fern in support of our Olympic Kiwis, who were “really something to crow about”. Ollie hopes his mammoth hike will inspire all birds, “hooman and feathered” to “get off the couch and go for a walk”.
Love your smile.
Book today!
Visit your friendly community dentist at Leamington Dental. Open 5 days a week. • Exam and X-rays • Hygiene Services • General Dentistry • Cosmetic Dentistry
• QCard and Afterpay • ACC Registered • CSC Registered and DHB Relief
Book today on 07 823 4665 or online lumino.co.nz
leamington dental