Nelson Weekly
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Tuesday 25 March 2014 NeWrs e W o N
Page 6
Firemen burn house
NelsoN Pages 16 & 17
Page 26
Club rugby kicks off
Still a volunteer at 94 years old
When Arthritis New Zealand needed a local volunteer to help promote its cause and raise some money, the man to put his hand up was a 94 year old World War 2 veteran. Maurice Abrahams is a legend in Nelson. He still plays in the Nelson Brass Band, has served as a Freemason for more than 70 years and volunteers for Arthritis NZ after developing two forms of arthritis. Along with his partner Sue, Maurice leads an active life and part of it is volunteering at the Ngawhatu swimming pool, where he is a trained lifeguard. “But I only save the ladies,” he joked. Last week he and Sue spent two hours at Z petrol station in Halifax St, where he worked as a “community concierge” washing windows and greeting customers. He handed out orange tokens which his customers could use to vote for Arthritis NZ and help the charity receive cash from Z, through its Good in the Hood promotion. Maurice says he got relief from his treatment so wanted to give back, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be offered a job after his efforts. “Sue’s right into it and I just follow along, but when people respond you feel good.”
Maurice Abrahams, 94, washes a car window at Z Halifax last Friday as part of a fundraising push by Arthritis New Zealand. Photo: Andrew Board.
Noisy plane’s 6am landing A noisy New Zealand Post aeroplane is expected to land in Nelson at 6am every day for at least three weeks, which could wake people from their sleep, admits Nelson Airport Ltd. NZ Post will bring its mail from the North Island to Nelson for three to four weeks in April, as an upgrade of navigation equipment is carried out at Blenheim Airport,
where it usually goes. The work in Blenheim means the plane – a Fokker 27 Friendship – will arrive in Nelson each day at 6am and its noise will have a “noticeable” impact. But the 6am landing is much better than 3am, which is when NZ Post usually flys in and the time they had proposed to land in Nelson. Nelson Airport Ltd chief execu-
tive Kaye McNabb says the delay to 6am will have a big impact on NZ Post, but they weren’t willing to have such an impact on locals during the middle of the night. “If the aircraft arrived at 3am I am sure we would be inundated with calls wondering what was going on,” says Kaye. “After discussions with the operator it was agreed the aircraft would delay its ar-
rival until 6am, to minimise the effect. The changed schedule will have a significant impact on NZ Post with the inevitable flow on effect through the distribution and delivery chain, so we’re pleased that the operator has been so willing to co-operate for the benefit of local residents.” The first early morning landing is expected to be on April 7.
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