The Weekend Sun - 3 February 2023

“ e game has been described as a cross between war and chess!” says tournament manager Grahame Benvie, pictured. at’s why he’s inviting everyone along to watch next week’s World Under 21 Golf Croquet Championship being held in New Zealand – actually right here in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui – for the rst time ever.

Grahame says while no local players are competing from February 8-12 – don’t write it o ! Seventeen of the 32 players this year are Kiwis – and Grahame has noticed that younger croquet players compete with more gusto.

“ ey play their shots with more force and a lot harder.

“ ey take risks that perhaps an older person wouldn’t

when trying to make a hoop because the objective is to score more hoops than your opposition does.”

So get along to enjoy all the action at the two host venues: Croquet Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Croquet Club. Read more on page 12.

Photo: John Borren.

An opinion can be bad for your health

On one hand I was slammed as “crass, disgraceful and disrespectful”. On another, thanked and applauded for my “positive”, “uplifting” and “long overdue’ proposition.

It was last week’s page 2 column headed ‘Striking a blow for what’s right’ – a conscience piece on changing some of Tauranga’s colonial English street and place names to more relevant Maori names. ey were shallow thoughts according to one punter, a little ray of sunshine to another.

However, I willingly su er the slings and arrows at the same time I clutch the acclaim. at’s the beast. Anyway, the column was polarising and it ended with an invitation for you to have your say. So this week we give over page 2 for reader opinion. e contributions are abridged to accommodate more of them.

Right behind Hunter!

I’m in full agreement with your latest column regarding the total irrelevance of European place/street names which have usurped our beautiful and meaningful Maori nomenclature. No doubt you’ll have to put up with the usual dinosaurial abuse and garbage from rednecked ..... but there will be many more like me from the silent majority who will wholeheartedly be right behind you and your sensible push for relevance and plain common sense which arises out of respect for our rst peoples.

Keep up and on with your good work, Dave Hancox.

Stop whining

“...people should get over themselves and stop whining about things that happened nearly two centuries ago and concentrate on building a united future for our beautiful country.”

Romy Morgenrood.

ank you

Hey mate – I want to thank you for this article…rarely is it put under the spotlight.

e long-term e ects of the colonial militia era and the biased establishment are showing. e gradual erosion of culture, customs and language has caused inequality for many indigenous groups around the world. I hope articles like this will pave the way for broader understanding of our country’s fascinating history.

Daniel Kereikeepa Martin.

rilled

“I’d be thrilled if Cameron Rd, Greerton and Pilot Bay had Maori names. I am Pakeha but am constantly upset by oneeyed, historically ignorant New Zealanders. I don’t understand why embracing te reo Maori and Maori culture is seen as a threat. anks for your article. Robyn-Elizabeth Whalley. Just leave it alone

“We don’t need every place in New Zealand to be given Maori names, nor do we all need to speak the Maori language…do not change the ag, or the name of New Zealand, or its street names. Just leave it alone.” John Pottinger.

Struggling enough

e best way to undermine a sense of belonging and community spirit is to undermine what is familiar to the citizenry. Tauranga people have lived with the familiar names of streets and parks for at least ve generations. New Zealand is struggling enough with separatism today…I do not see any good coming from renaming everything for political reasons. Graeme Faulkner.

A bit peculiar

Hi Hunter – thanks for the wellwritten, well-reasoned editorial – a keeper. Pete,Tauranga resident.

Column is ‘rubbish’

Hunter – your comments unfortunately re ect you are a very bitter person. Your comments wishing others in the community to die are quite bizarre. Your column smacks of creating a provocative racial undertone that has no place in e Sun. David Bainbridge.

Out of the gloom…

anks for that little ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy week. It’s not often such positive and uplifting sentiments are heard here in NZ’s stale male and pale capital. Well done. Andrew orpe.

More Asian street names

Tauranga is a European-style city, not a Maori village…to say Maori heritage is more important because they were here rst is to ignore that Tauranga is what it is today largely because of its European history. Maybe we should have some more Asian street names. Kevin Port.

Pronunciation problem

Although I might agree with some name changes, the problem for the majority of Pakeha is the sheer ability to pronounce these new names will be a nightmare. We already have the weather forecasters using Maori names for many of our towns and cities... I have no idea what they are talking about. Regards, J.Hesse.

Some thanks?

Hi Hunter – I would venture to say if the British forces had not won the military operation in this area, neither you or your business would be alive and operating in this region. You owe them some thanks. Cheers, John Christianson.

***More of your comments on page 17.

Call to support families after floods

Outlets for the community to support two ood-a ected Tauranga families have been set up in the aftermath of last weekend’s storm.

Givealittle pages are now set up for Tauriko resident Linda Candy, whose “lost everything” while being away in Starship; while another page is running for the Maungatapu family after their house was crushed so badly it was shunted into the middle of their street.

Tough run

According to her cousin Katrina Daniela, Tauriko resident Linda Candy is an amazing mum-of-four children who has had a “very tough run” the past month.

Linda and her son Seth are currently in Starship hospital as he prepares to undergo a kidney transplant. Katrina says he is “seriously unwell” and Linda is donating her kidney for his surgery. e father of two of Linda’s children has also been seriously unwell with an aneurysm and stroke. Linda’s mother also recently passed away, and the family has only “just had her funeral”. Linda’s home in Tauriko ooded last weekend. “Unfortunately, they did not have insurance as things have been tight with additional costs of travel to hospital and not being able to work for the duration of the treatment and surgery,” says Katrina. e Givealittle page for Linda is to “help

replace her car, household and clothing, as well as to help ease the nancial burden of not being able to work while Seth and Linda undergo the kidney transplant”. “It’s been a very stressful period and losing everything they own on top of this has been a huge blow to the family.”

Renovated home ruined

e Maungatapu family whose house was crushed, have lost their home, cars and possessions. ey’d spent the past two years renovating it, completing the work the day before the landslide. Both family vehicles were destroyed – one was crushed and one was launched through the wall of the house by the force of the slip.

Home owners Luke Hanan and partner Teresa Hodgson and their youngest child Bailee, 9, were asleep in their rooms when the landslide happened. e couple’s four older children – Mason, Morgan, Blake and Natalie – were still awake “doing their thing” around the house, gaming, playing on their phones and watching movies. Luckily, the whole family survived the ordeal.

Teresa’s sister, Larissa Hodgson, has set up a Givealittle page to support the family with the trauma of the event and in the weeks that follow as they start to rebuild their lives. e donation pages can be found through putting ‘Larissa Hodgson’ and ‘Linda Candy’ into the search bar on Givealittle.co.nz -Additional reporting by Annemarie Quill/Stu . Taylor Rice

Floodwaters have since receded from Linda Candy’s Tauriko home. Photos: John Borren.

e Maungatapu family home destroyed by a landslide.

How’s Tauranga ticking after two years of the Commission?

It’s been nearly two years since four commissioners replaced Tauranga City’s elected mayor and councillors. So how has our city fared during this time?

Commissioners Anne Tolley, Bill Wasley, Stephen Selwood, Shadrach Rolleston took the city’s reins on February 9, 2021, following former Mayor Tenby Powell’s resignation.

In a previous comment Tenby stated he felt that the city was in good hands. “Tauranga is 20 years behind in infrastructure, housing and social amenity and, with our newly-appointed commissioners, I feel assured we are in strategic and pragmatic hands.”

To mark the Commissioners’ twoyear milestone in charge of our city, e Sun reporter Georgia Minkhorst hit Tauranga Crossing to ask locals whether they think Tauranga has progressed under their leadership.

A good job

“I think they’ve done a good job,” says Brian Gore, who has lived here for two-and-a-half years. “From what I hear there was a group of councillors before whose focus was on selling themselves on not increasing the rates. What they didn’t say was: ‘We won’t increase progress,’, so the commissioners have had the opportunity to change that.”

More angst

“I think it’s caused more angst than anything else,” says Pyes Pa

local Kristina Semple. “I mean we’re paying for a bus service that nobody goes on.” Kristina adds: “I’m a bit sick of the bike lanes, bus lanes. We need to concentrate on people. You go to town and there’s nowhere to park now and you pay through the nose for it.”

A shambles

CBD worker Rachael

Grimstrup believes the city has progressed in ways but thinks there’s room for signi cant growth. “It’s felt like a bit of a shambles for the last couple of years to be honest,” says Rachael.

“ ere’s a lot of development and infrastructure that could be dealt with a lot better. I feel like all our roads and that type of thing is horrendous.”

Doing alright

Fred Dickison, who was shopping with his wife, says: “I mean we’ve been in Tauranga for a long time but I think she’s [Anne Tolley] doing all right for what they’re doing. Everything takes such a long time to do, like the roadworks.”

e commissioner’s appointment was initially meant to conclude in October 2022. However, the commissioners’ job tenure was extended until July 2024 by former Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who set that timeframe for Tauranga City Council’s

next Local Body Election.

So, with under 18 months to go until Tauranga City residents return to the polls to vote in new representatives, e Sun also asked locals what type of leader they want going ahead?

“Someone with a bit of gumption, a go-getter who wants to do something for Tauranga – not just to make themselves look good,’ says Kristina. Rachael is looking for a leader with drive and tenacity. “It’s about having a really clear vision and purpose, and listening to what the majority of your region is saying.”

Brian adds: “Somebody who can correlate with Māori as well and take everybody on board with them”.

Kristina Semple.

Fred Dickison. Georgia Minkhorst

Brian Gore.

Rachael Grimstrup.

From Tauranga to Ukraine

A Tauranga woman who went by herself to a war-ridden country to help in the ght against one of the most despised men in Europe is sharing her experience with e Sun’s readers.

Harriet Campbell set foot on Ukrainian soil on October 6, 2022. With her she brought cooking experience from Tauranga’s Falls Café, along with a heart for animals lled with compassion.

Why?

Prior to touching down in the war-torn country, the 30-year-old was confronted by her most dreaded question. “‘Why would you go to Ukraine?’ People would ask me. “It’s so hard to answer in a few short words. I think one of the biggest things which pushed me to go was watching how the people of Ukraine reacted to the invasion in the rst few hours and days of the war,” says Harriet. “No one expected their de ance and it was awe-inspiring.”

Harriet rst began lending her skills at a dog shelter in Lviv, then to Kyiv, and then to Kharkiv to volunteer at a kitchen. “No matter where I went, I was blown away by how kind, generous and unbreakable the people were.”

e unbreakable spirit in Ukraine wasn’t limited to humans either. During her work at the dog shelter in Lviv, Harriet met Skye, a dog which survived a nine- oor jump from a nearlydestroyed apartment building. “Amazingly, Skye made a full recovery. She was a sweetheart.

“Always ready for attention and love. Even after what she had been through, she was still so trusting and inquisitive.”

Closest call

In the Kharkiv kitchen, Harriet had to adapt to cooking foreign food for the locals. “I was mainly helping to prepare vegetables for things like soup and borscht [beet soup], plus making bread. I’d describe Ukrainian food as pure comfort food.

“It’s everything you’d want on a cold day, topped o with lots of sour cream and bacon pieces.”

Harriet’s closest call with the war was after Lviv was hit by missiles during her stay. “For quite a few months prior to my arrival the city hadn’t been attacked and was considered to be quite safe.” However, shortly after her arrival, Harriet says the power station was hit, which was about 2km away from her location. “It was quite intense to hear and feel them hit.”

A connection

During her stay, Harriet says she developed a connection with the Ukrainian people. “ eir generosity was one thing which really drew me to them. ey had lost so much but would still do anything to make me feel comfortable. Before I left to Ukraine, I really knew nothing about the people or their culture, but seeing their reaction to the invasion is what really resonated with me.”

Harriet also raised money through Falls Café and handed over tourniquets to the Ukranian army. Since returning to New Zealand, Harriet is “still missing Ukraine”.

Taylor Rice

Tauranga’s Harriet Campbell at a dog shelter in Ukraine. Photo: supplied.

A growing ritual

e Tauranga Farmers Market is also a special place for Alistair and Diana Melvin too. ey live next door to a supermarket but on Saturday morning the farmers market summons them, and they answer. “Every weekend since it started,” says Alistair. at’s 20 years. “It’s a ritual, part of our lives, our biggest social event of the week.”

Like Wyn, who spends all week under his macadamia trees near Katikati. “We don’t have people like this strolling through the orchard, so this is our big social day out.”

Lyn knows her onions. Well, tomatoes actually. She’s been growing them for 32 years and selling them at the market for 15. “We all like the familiarity. It’s a very social occasion, people

meeting, eating and chatting – makes shopping so much more enjoyable.” en there’s the information exchange – the tomato plants at home are manky or aren’t fruiting so they ask the tomato lady, the chooks in the backyard aren’t laying so they ask the egg lady. at’s all okay because part of the farmer’s market ethos is to educate people about food. And that’s what probably sets the farmers market and supermarket apart.

Turning 20

“I am standing and staring at the items on a supermarket shelf and saying: ‘Well you aren’t talking to me, you aren’t telling me where you came from, who made you and the passion with which you were produced’,” says Trixie. But at the market you are talking to the

Alistair and Diana Melvin have attended Tauranga Farmers Market every weekend since it began. Photos: John Borren.

In this second instalment, e Sun reporter Hunter Wells carries on exploring the appeal of Tauranga Farmers Market, which is celebrating 20 years of existence in 2023.

producer, they will discuss every skerrick of their produce, and what a wonderful or lousy week it has been.

It’s a special place enjoying a special occasion, because the Tauranga Farmers Market is turning 20. It started at e Historic Village where Mary can remember selling red rascal spuds out of the boot of her car.

“ e market was set up to provide local producers with an outlet,” says Trixie. “In those days there were also crafts.” Nowadays they stick to their knitting, they’re an authentic, dyed in the wool farmers market.

“One foundation member still has a little bit of craft – history dictates that’s okay.”

en one Wednesday, down at the Village, we’re told there was a big ood. e market went scuttling for higher ground and in just three days found a new, long-term home in the schoolyard at Tauranga Primary. Pitter patter during the weekdays, shu ing and shopping Saturdays. “We are intrinsically tied to the school – we pay a lease and make an annual payment to the school so children, whose families can’t a ord school camp, can actually attend.” at makes the price of a dozen of Nicki’s eggs an attractive deal.

Did you know they used to put an apple in

one end of a Cornish pastie so the miners would get both savoury and sweet in one buttery short crusted treat when they went down the pit? And that the Welsh oggie is a Cornish pastie except the oggie is lamb and the pastie is beef with swede and potatoes and onions and seasoning?

e pastie man should know – he’ll sell perhaps 250 pasties from his truck at TFM this weekend.

“Been here 12 years – wouldn’t have invested all that time if I didn’t enjoy it. Vendors are the salt of the earth – people making a bit of extra coin and having great fun doing it.”

See, taste, like, buy

e guitarist is picking his way through a Gershwin standard and the woman at the mic is crooning: “Summertime and the livin’ is easy...”.

It’s also sweet, and juicy. Because Billy, a wee dude, has half his face consumed by an outsized slice of watermelon.

A vendor had just whacked o a sampler for Billy: the theory being see, taste, like, buy. Now that doesn’t happen in a supermarket!

“You can’t beat the smile on a kid’s face when you give them a slice of watermelon,” says the vendor. It’s one of nature’s truly great delights. en you get to spit the pips. e Tauranga Farmers Market is open from 7.45am to midday Saturdays.

Stallholders and their di erent varieties of fruit and vegetables come and go with the change of growing seasons.

Hunter Wells

Park to sport new basketball court

e upgrade of Waipuna Park will be complete this month when the fence around the new basketball court is removed, according to Tauranga City Council.

e new playground at Waipuna Park in Welcome Bay is open, however the new 3x3 basketball court will be closed until Wednesday,

February 1, while the lines are being painted.

Other improvements include installation of new seats near the basketball court and a barbecue. TCC expects all work, which is weatherdependent, to be completed by Friday, February 17. For more information, visit: www.tauranga.govt.nz

Don’t break a leg!

After breaking or damaging nearly every part of her body except her for elbows, gymnast Cara Forster’s main hope for the NZ Masters Games 2023 is to avoid injury. e games – held from February 3-12 – is the largest multisport competition in the country. Whanaganui is the host this year, with thousands of participants competing in more than 60 codes. Among them will be gymnast Cara Forster, who is head coach at Argos Gymnastics Club. e 24-year-old last competed three years ago. Getting back into the wild world of competition, Cara says: “It’s mixed emotions. I’m excited for it but also after the competition I’m always so sore and tired but I’m looking forward to getting back into it and seeing everyone again”.

Taking up gymnastics at the age of ve, today Cara’s main hope for Masters is to return unscathed. “I have way too many injuries,” says Cara. “ e only body part I haven’t injured doing

gymnastics is my elbows, otherwise everything else has been injured.”

She will compete in the women’s intermediate artistic category, showing her skills in beam, vault and oor. Cara says that ‘ oor’ is her top pick for competing in. “You just get to dance around on the oor and do ips. It’s so much fun.”

Cara will head to Masters with three fellow Argos gymnasts – NaNyce Johnson, Brad Foster and Katharina Kersten.

“We’ve been training gymnastics but we haven’t had something to work towards in a while so we just kind of want to go out, have fun and enjoy competing again.”

Next year Cara plans to compete in the advanced category, saying she thrives o the way you have to push yourself in gymnastics. “It’s just the challenge, and coming across a skill or technique that you don’t get quite straight away and just working hard and then nally overcoming it.”

SamUffindell MPforTauranga

Cara Forster has been a gymnast for nearly 20 years and is head coach at Argos Gymnastics Club. Photo: John Borren.

Georgia Minkhorst

Giving people more choice Forms on the way for Census 2023

Bay of Plenty residents can expect forms to turn up in the mail – or be delivered by hand to your doorstep – this month as Statistics NZ gets ready to undertake the 2023 Census Te whakaoti i te Tatauranga.

e Census happens every six years – and, due to results being used by government to ascertain where to allocate funding, the law requires us all to do it. Every person who is in Aotearoa

New Zealand on the night of Tuesday, March 7, 2023 must take part in the 2023 Census. is year Kiwis will be able to do the census online or on paper, in English or te reo Māori. Stats NZ will start delivering census forms and instructions this month.

If you do not receive paper forms, or you need more, you can ask us for them.

For more information, visit: www.census.govt.nz

e Tauranga Community Foodbank has gone one step further to support clients who may need more regular food assistance by opening a grocery store in their warehouse.

e move comes as the foodbank tries to give people the tools, resources and support to not need their services anymore. “ e goal of the store is that the money the person has saved towards groceries is instead able to go towards another purpose,” says Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin.

“So, it might be rental fees, car repairs etc. And then they’re managed by the nancial mentor to make sure that is being achieved.

“A lot of people are in situations beyond their control. ey haven’t mismanaged anything; it’s just the di erence between income and expenditure. ere’s no fat left in the budget.”

e foodbank has been supporting local families and with emergency food assistance for 31 years. Carefully considered grocery parcels provide four days’ worth of meals.

Points system

e charity collaborates with social service organisations to ensure wrap-around support is provided to people in need of wider assistance.

“Our goal is to be in every corner,” says Nicki. “We connect with more than 90 referral agents in the area, so if someone pops up and needs some help, we’re just a phone call away.”

Clients will be referred by nancial mentors via Bay Financial Mentors, a budget advisory service.

Nicki says the store works on a points system, with each grocery item given a point value. A client is allocated a certain number of points to spend per shop depending on how many people are living in their household. Nicki says most people working with a nancial mentor choose to use the store rather than receive foodbank’s pre-

packed grocery parcel. “In the store, people spend their points on what they need, so that they can cook meals they know and like. ey can use their own abilities and autonomy.

“What we’re nding is, in the rst instance people might use all their points because they’re restocking. ey’re often in a situation where they have got down to nothing. en, on their future visits, they’re actually taking less and less because they’ve already topped up the pantry and household staples.”

People can receive this support as often as their situation requires, but each referral must come from an approved nancial mentor.

Like many, Tauranga’s foodbank is facing increasing costs. “Our lease has increased, and food costs are soaring. If we provide the same level of support this year as we did in 2022, our meat bill will be $67,000. And that’s just sausages and chicken. Even at a discounted rate, we spend about $26,000 on eggs.”

Grants

e foodbank relies on grants and donations to be able to operate, says Nicki. “ e funding we receive from grants is used for operational costs, whereas money donated by members of the community is used to purchase food – we are able to do this because amazing organisations like TECT help us with our operating costs.”

e foodbank received a TECT grant of $40,000 last October. TECT trustee Peter Farmer says Tauranga Community Foodbank plays an essential role in our community by distributing immediate, emergency grocery assistance to families and individuals experiencing food insecurity. “Its new service, the store, is an exciting concept because it not only o ers more regular support, but it also empowers clients as they are able to use their autonomy to select their own food parcel items while receiving wider support from a nancial mentor. We’re pleased to see it is progressing well.”

Delight in an awesome 30-minute scenic experience and spectacular views over the Bay of Plenty. Learn about the history of our unique aircraft and take a very special trip with our dedicated crew.

Taking off from Tauranga in association with Classic Flyers on Saturday the 4th, 11th, 18th & 25th of March 2023 .

Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin in the new ‘grocery store’. Photo: John Borren.

Katikati A&P Show cancelled

Western Bay of Plenty folk alike will be saddened to hear there’s not going to be a Katikati A&P Show this Sunday, February 5, at Uretara Domain.

Katikati A&P Association president Louellen Davies advised e Sun on Wednesday night that this year’s show – set for this Sunday, February 5 – has been cancelled due to forecasted wet weather.

Sunday’s show was supposed to be

the town’s 99th A&P show – and a big event, leading into next year’s centenary event in 2024.

Louellen says her committee had worked very hard to get this weekend’s show put together – after two years of cancelled shows due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “ e show is more than ‘just an event’. “It is, and has always been, a celebration of our community – and we were so grateful to be able to hold it again.”

Waitangi Day Festival for Tauranga Moana

Western Bay of Plenty is in for a treat on Waitangi Day this year, with the opportunity to come together and celebrate unity at the Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival.

Celebrated on February 6, Waitangi Day is the national day of New Zealand, marking the anniversary of the initial signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on the same date in 1840.

e Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival –being held at the Historic Village – will be a day of reverence, ceremony, and fun.

Entertainment and food

Entertainment and performances will abound, while visitors will also nd plenty of food, Māori art and craft workshops, koru sand art, and the newly-introduced Treaty Storyboard Trail – the perfect way for family and whānau to learn about and celebrate the history of Aotearoa.

Showcasing the importance of ethnicity, community, and connectedness, the event begins 10am with a welcome from actress and community leader Mabel Wharekawa-Burt, who will share the MC duties for the day.

Senior Ngai Tamarawaho kaumātua Tamati Tata will lead with a karakia before the Royal NZ Navy raises the New Zealand ag and Kathy Philips leads the national anthem. Arataki Primary School will perform kapa haka before an action-packed day of performances unfolds.

Free buses

For the rst time, there will be free buses to and from the festival. Organising the event is He Iwi Kotahi Tauranga Moana Charitable Trust, with

chair Cynthia Hamel advising families to take advantage of the free transport options. “ is is an especially generous gift, which provides the ability for people across the entire Bay of Plenty to travel on Baybus for free on the day – even from as far as Whakatane and Waihi. All they need to do is hop on a scheduled Baybus and connect with a service to the Historic Village on 17th Ave in Tauranga.”

Treaty Storyboard Trail

“As part of the activity programme children and adults will be invited to take part in the newlydeveloped Treaty Storyboard Trail and learn fascinating facts about the history of Tauranga, Treaty of Waitangi, the era of battles in Tauranga, as well as how the guiding principles of the Treaty are central to the bicultural future of NZ.

“It’s perfect for whānau, friends and individuals who want to learn, commemorate, come together and enjoy a day of celebration and fun within their local community.”

He Iwi Kotahi trustee Buddy Mikaere says the festival is for everyone. “It’s a time for us to commemorate the signing of the Treaty and to acknowledge and embrace Tauranga’s growing multicultural, multi-ethnic makeup. It is why we named our organising Trust ‘He Iwi Kotahi – Together As One’ because in a real sense; in a community sense, we sincerely want to promote unity across all our cultures and ethnicities.

“What we are saying is that everyone’s views and beliefs deserve respect, and our festival provides that opportunity. We want to create a sense of belonging and wellbeing for all.”

Entry is free but Tauranga Sunrise Rotary will ask for a gold coin koha to help with their charitable work on behalf of disadvantaged youth.

Leigh and Monique Edlinger with some of the Treaty Storyboards that will be at the festival on Waitangi Day, February 5, at e Historic Village.

Photo: John Borren.

We’re here to help.

On your side

On your side

We’re on hand to help and are working as fast as we can for the many customers that need our support. We’re prioritising our vulnerable customers and those in urgent need of help. In the meantime, please stay safe, visit our website for guidance, and lodge your claim when you can. We’ll get you back on your feet as soon as possible.

Lodge your claim online at ami.co.nz or call 0800 100 200.

The greatest in golf croquet

It’s the rst time ever that the World Under 21 Golf Croquet Championship will be held in New Zealand – and our local croquet clubs here in the Bay of Plenty are the lucky hosts!

e championships will run from February 8-12 and will be co-hosted by Tauranga Croquet Club and Croquet Mount Maunganui. Top players from Egypt, Australia, USA, Spain, England and New Zealand will compete in this world class event. “We are very excited to be part of it,” says tournament manager Grahame Benvie.

Although the Bay of Plenty has none of its own youth champions in the sport, New Zealand has a very strong youth squad in golf croquet.

More gusto

Grahame says 17 of the 32 players taking part in the championships this year are Kiwis. And he has noticed that these younger croquet players compete with more gusto. “ ey play their shots with a lot more force and a lot harder. ey take risks that perhaps an older person wouldn’t when trying to make a hoop because the objective is to score more hoops than your opposition does.”

Spectators welcome!

ese promising young players will be sure to put on an exciting tournament, says Grahame. “ e game has been described as a cross

between war and chess!” Spectators are welcome and entry is free. e tournament starts play 8.30am daily from February 8-12 at two venues: Croquet Mount Maunganui on Kawaka St and at Tauranga Corquet Club, Tauranga Domain, Cameron Rd. For more information on event and venue details, visit: www.sporty.co.nz/ u21gcworlds2023/Home-1 Georgia Minkhorst

Tournament manager Grahame Benvie can’t wait to host the World Under 21 Golf Croquet Championship. Photo: John Borren.

Tinetti takes over Education

Tauranga Labour list

MP Jan Tinetti has been appointed as the country’s new Education Minister by the Prime Minister.

In the new PM’s Cabinet reshu e, announced Tuesday, Jan Tinetti becomes Education Minister, taking the portfolio o Chris Hipkins’ hands. She was already Associate Education Minister; and also

picks up the Child Poverty Reduction portfolio and moves to number six on the party list,

up from number 14. e former Tauranga primary school principal is also Minister for Women.

Another big winner is Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, who rises from being an unranked minister outside Cabinet to 18th on the list. McAnulty picks up Local Government, Minister Responsible for Rural Communities and becomes Deputy Leader of the House.

Starting 2023 focused on the big issues

As we get stuck into another busy year, I’m focused on supporting the Waiariki electorate.

So far 2023 has kicked o with signi cant changes.

We’ve welcomed Chris Hipkins into the role of Prime Minister and Labour Leader, and thanked Jacinda Ardern for her ve years of leadership.

Chris has said that our Government’s number one priority is the cost of living and ensuring hard-working New Zealanders can live and thrive.

Along with Chris, the whole team of Labour MPs and I are all

absolutely committed to tackling the cost of living.

We know things are hard for a lot of Kiwis – global in ation is high, and that’s hitting New Zealand too. However, our economic management means we have record low unemployment, government debt levels are low, and our in ation rate remains below the OECD average. While that’s important, we hear loud and clear that many New Zealanders are struggling.

We know people are worried about paying their grocery bills and paying their mortgages. We know there’s a lot of work to do and our government focus will shift to bread-and-butter issues. In 2023, we want to grow a strong economy and we’ll keep working hard to strengthen the core public services like health and education.

ere’s also a lot to be positive about. For example, we’ve seen huge numbers of international tourists return, which has been great for local businesses. e challenges facing our country won’t go away overnight but the Labour team is ready to kick on!

Five years of non-delivery on promises

Firstly, I want to reach out to all those impacted by the terrible recent weather events across the North Island.

My deep condolences are with the families who lost loved ones. ese are challenging times for our community and if you need any further information or assistance, please reach out to my o ce.

Secondly, while Labour may have switched leader, the storm clouds still linger over this government. Five years of nondelivery on election promises

Volcanix’s new coach

Bay of Plenty Rugby has appointed Kyle McLean as head coach of the 2023 Volcanix to compete in this years’ Bunnings Farah Palmer Cup. “We are excited to welcome Kyle come on board to lead the Volcanix team for the 2023 campaign,” says BOPR general manager performance Rodney Gibbs. “He brings a skill set to the table that we feel will have massive bene t to the team along with assisting in developing our coaches who are involved in the female game.”

e 2023 Bunnings

Farah Palmer Cup begins July 15.

and, by any objective measure, regression in outcomes across almost all sectors of society.

I’ve heard some very sad stories of families unable to pay the mortgage or their rent, of people unable to access medical specialists, of adolescents who cannot read or write, of people going out of business and unable to sleep due to endless crime.

New Zealanders deserve so much better than this.

My sole purpose in putting my hand up for political o ce is to improve NZ. I want the best for everyone here and I will be laser focussed on ensuring that we measure success by the outcomes we achieve. Under a National-led government, we will get the cost of living crisis under control, we will lift incomes for all, we will build infrastructure for the future, we will restore law and order and we will deliver better health and education for all New Zealanders. I’m very excited to be a part of team that is dedicated to getting things done for all Kiwis!

Banana cake with no eggs required!

Staying connected and catching up

Connection. It’s something we’ve all missed and craved in recent times: being able to see friends and whānau, and attending special occasions and social events.

I’m sure many are with me when I say there’s only so much digital connection one can take.

So, as we begin 2023, I look forward positively and expectantly to the year ahead buoyed by what I experienced over the summer break.

Despite the mixed bag of weather, my family and I loved the freedom to be able to ll our holidays with all our favourite things to do.

will unlock critical housing supply for the region by solving the existing safety and capacity issues at the intersection. Once completed, more than 900 new homes will be built by 2029 – including a mix of standalone homes, a ordable homes and medium density housing.

With the egg shortage expected to continue as farmers get their laying hen numbers up after January 1’s new rules came into force banning egg production facilities using conventional cages, known as battery cages, e Sun thought it may be helpful to publish some no-egg baking recipes.

If you’d like to contribute a no-egg, familyor-self-created recipe to this segment, please email: merle@sunmedia.co.nz with the recipe, your name and contacts details – and if possible, photos of the baked item. We will endeavour to print them if copyright allows.

Recipe: Banana cake with no eggs!

Ingredients

2 ¼ cup our - normal

3 Tbsp white vinegar

2 ripe bananas (mashed)

1 ½ tsp baking soda

150g butter (melted)

1 ½ cup sugar

1 ½ cup warm milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

Whether visiting treasured or new places, cooling o at the beach or nearest swimming hole or soaking up the good vibes of concerts, markets and fairs, our district really is awesome at this time of year.

And everywhere we went there was a real buzz in our community. A renewed con dence and energy to make up for lost time.

People are living in the moment, and enjoying what’s in front of them and around them. Friends and whānau are reconnecting, and much-loved summer concerts and A&P shows are back on the summer programme.

Council is similarly catching up with mahi (work) that’s been put on hold either directly due to Covid-19 restrictions, or the resulting supply chain issues.

Ōmokoroa intersection

I look forward to seeing the following.

Preliminary works getting started on the Ōmokoroa intersection. is intersection

Waitekohekohe Reserve

e opening of the 89-hectare Waitekohekohe Reserve near Katikati.

Dedicated to horse riding, mountain biking and walking, the development of the reserve is the result of council and community working together following our Long Term Plan 2021-2031. Ticking o some long-awaited road rehabs to help keep our local roads safe for everyone who uses them.

Star gazing platforms

e completion of our three star gazing platforms at Waihī Beach along the trig trails in time for Matariki – strengthening our relationships with tangata whenua and helping our communities celebrate the importance of Matariki for years to come. Which is why I want to build on this momentum by connecting, and staying in touch, with you, our communities. Because often it is the casual

conversations, on the street or at such events I’ve mentioned above, that are just as important – if not more bene cial than council’s traditional methods.

So, in 2023 I want to be, and will be, connected with our district more.

We’ve got a big year ahead of us with some big conversations to be had. is includes continuing our Your Place Tō wāhi (District Plan Review) kōrero –working with you to prioritise what’s important as we embark on a new journey to plan for change and growth.

And beginning to develop a plan for where and how Te Puke should grow and develop in the future. And exploring what the next chapter in our waste minimisation story looks like.

And so, whether a current or future resident, a business operator, community group or mana whenua, your aspirations are important and we want to hear from you at certain times along the way. Only by staying connected and working collaboratively – council and community together – can we deliver real bene ts for the Western Bay now and into the future.

So, I encourage you to take part. May 2023 be fantastic for you and let’s see what great outcomes we can achieve together.

Method

Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a tin with baking paper.

Sift our and baking soda into a large bowl, and add sugar. Mix vinegar and warm milk with melted butter and mix into dry ingredients (this will curdle). Add vanilla essence. Fold mixture – don’t stir! en add mashed bananas and fold in. Bake mixture for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool, then add icing of your desire. Kerri says: “It’s really good, I’ve made it a few times, very moist! Got it from my niece”. anks Kerri!

Preliminary works will begin on the Ōmokoroa/State highway 2 intersection this year.

We’ll get yousorted.

Our experts are working as quickly as they can to support the many customers in need. We’re prioritising our vulnerable customers and those in urgent need of help. In the meantime, please stay safe, visit our website for guidance, and lodge your claim when you can. Rest assured, we’ll get everyone sorted.

state.co.nz

‘Striking a blow...’ - reprise

You either loved it or hated it - last week’s page 2 column by Jim Bunny (aka Hunter Wells). He put a case for changing some of Tauranga’s colonial English street and place names to more relevant Maori names. e

column red up lots of opinion – not all of it kindly disposed to the writer. Here, to the right, are more messages that landed down the burrow. Have your say - email a maximum 200 words to: letters@thesun.co.nz

Looking scruffy...

I’ve noticed and many people have commented to me how scru y Tauranga has been looking and that it’s been steadily getting worse over the past eight years or so.

Prior to that I think we were one of the tidiest and best kept cities in New Zealand but now the Tauranga City Council-owned grass verges, reserves and parks aren’t mown often and when they are – the job isn’t done well.

Sitting in Yatton Park earlyJanuary there’s been no weedeating done around the trees and the grass is starting to cover the gardens, wandering jew and other noxious weeds surround the native trees at the bottom of the park.

As ratepayers we are contributing a lot of money to the council’s upgrade of the

CBD and other multi-million dollar projects around the city but I think we also need to get the basics right by keeping our city clean and tidy and maintaining the assets, natural and built, that we already have.

Fiona Proudlock, Welcome Bay.

*** TCC replies: As outlined last week, due to the large amounts of rainfall since winter and warm weather conditions, grass and weed growth has been much higher than normal. Signi cant periods of rainfall also limit our ability to mow and maintain our greenspaces. As a result of both factors, the grass is getting longer between the regular mowing rounds. Council is working with our contractors to try to get on top of the current backlog of mowing and maintenance jobs.

Resistance

Why do we want Maori names? Maori are a minority, although not in gangs, drugusers, unemployed or the Covid unvaccinated. Good on Tauranga for resisting.

Disgusted

Less divisive

Have both names displayed. at is less divisive.

Dilly Arnold

Leave well alone

Hi Hunter – Perhaps your generation thinks changing names will change history, but it doesn’t. If you have ever had your postal address changed, or your road/street name changed, you would know the frustration. Leave well alone, and be kind to all creeds and races who have been overcome by stronger cultures and armies for centuries. Cheers, Jan.

Chucked out

Hi Hunter – Wholeheartedly agree with you that colonial names should be chucked out and replaced with more relevant names tting our ‘real’ history,

Why not angle parking?

Carparking is an ongoing problem in Tauranga, more so if you don’t live on a bus route. With losing carparks on Cameron Rd and a deadline not to park on the grass verges. Why doesn’t the council consider building angle parking in e Avenues between Cameron Rd and Takitimu Drive? ere is room for angle parking on both sides of the road in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Avenues. If you haven’t got o street parking on Cameron Rd your business will not survive without customers or workers. Cars will be necessary in the future even if the Government and council don’t think so. e city is still being allowed to expand by subdividing more farm land and making longer commutes. Sport and after-school activities and weekend recreation all require cars.

V Brazier, e Avenues.

***TCC responds: Council does undertake studies to look at options such as angle parking

in side roads, to ensure that we can maintain an appropriate number of on-street carparks where needed. Under the grass berms are a signi cant number of services (water supply, telecommunications lines, electricity lines, sewer and stormwater connections and stormwater collection in places) that are often not that deep. Parking on the berms can damage these services through compaction of the soil. In addition, there has been signi cant damage to berms with vehicles causing ruts and spreading the mud and soil onto the road. is is part of the reason the ban has been implemented in the city centre and Avenues area, as part of the parking management plan.

instead of the bogus version we were fed at school.

I especially like your last paragraph about the entrenched attitudes of oldies in resthomes. But let’s not wait for them to die, let’s just get on with it and teach them the new names. It will guide us towards a more inclusive and less racist future.

Ka kite ano, Barbara.

Long overdue

Hey – loved your article, great idea, should be done. Long overdue.

Cheers, Kristine.

Fish and chips paper anks for the article. What a waste of trees!

Cher’s

How crass!

Dear Editor, e closing paragraph is disgraceful and disrespectful.

Hunter’s comment to the e ect that “every time someone in a Tauranga rest home or

retirement home dies, we are one person closer to changing old entrenched attitudes”. How crass is that! He is almost relishing

the fact that we are dying in these homes so as to meet his irresponsible opinion of us seniors. What a shocking thing to say!

David Hallett (in a retirement village).

Don’t wait till we die e Weekend Sun is well able to educate those with “entrenched attitudes”. It is only through knowledge of our past that we can attempt to do what is right. But please don’t wait till we oldies die, we need attitudes changed now.

Patricia Brooks

Shallow

You are just joining the trendy sect that wants to be regarded as progressive and hip. Stop arti cially creating division. Shallow article.

G Harper.

Toll roads and the truth...

Dear Editor, on January 19, 2023, Sunlive ran a story about Mr Ian Young’s petition to Parliament about Tauranga’s toll roads.

A Waka Kotahi spokesperson said there was “considerable public support” for toll roads in Tauranga and said “for example in 2009 public were consulted on whether they supported the Tauranga Eastern Link being a toll road so construction could start 10 years earlier”.

Two of those ‘public’ were the Gisborne

and Rotorua district councils who sent representatives to emphasise their support to the hearing commissioners.

A lot of those ‘public’ who made submissions in favour of the toll road lived in Te Puke and surrounds and would never had any need to use the road.

A submitter against the tolling proposal “so the road could be built 10 years earlier” accurately described the threat as “bureaucratic blackmail”.

P Harlen, Mount Maunganui.

***When o ered, NZTA declined a right of reply.

Come onTauranga - send them a clear message...

Who else is looking at what appears to be a debacle occurring on Cameron Rd with the current upgrade being undertaken?

ere appears to be little consideration given to the plight of local businesses who are su ering from an ability to get easy access to their business – as I had to do the other day when taking in my mower for repair.

It may be great that the footpaths are being widened but why? As relatively few people walk along the road so why provide even more space at the expense of carparks?

Removing the number of carparks, which I understand are going to be replaced with

cycle and bus lanes, is a disgrace and just proves how incompetent some council planning sta are.

One just needs to look at what occurred with the Greerton Village upgrade to realise that when the council believes that it knows best then we are in a desperate situation.

e Cameron Rd upgrade was budgeted at $46 million but from what I’ve heard it is already signi cantly over budget as besides building costs increasing they have also increased the scope of the work but remember every dollar spent above $46 million will be paid for by ratepayers. Our rates have, over recent years, increased

signi cantly ahead of the in ation rate and while we are in the middle of a price crisis we seem to have government-appointed Commissioners that are undertaking nice to have projects rather than sticking to basics.

Mike Baker, Bethlehem.

*** TCC replies: Cameron Rd is being upgraded to cater for the future population that will be living in the Te Papa peninsula area. During the next 30 years, an additional 15,000 residents will be living in this area and the Cameron Rd changes now underway will make it

easier for people to walk, bike and take a bus in their local area. e current number of vehicles lanes is being retained and carparking is also being retained in the bus lanes during o -peak travel hours when the bus lanes are not operating. At the same time, the council is undertaking signi cant replacement of underground services along this corridor, to replace old sewer pipes and upgrade the stormwater system. e budget for this work was additional to the original $46 million budget for the project provided by the Government.

Wander walks and talks for WBOP doggies

on Saturday, March 4. e event will be at Te Ara Kahikatea Walkway, Jubilee Park, from 9am. From 9am-9.30am there’s an education

Two Wander Walks for Western Bay of Plenty pooches – and their owners – remain, with one event coming up next Saturday, February 11, at Waihī Beach.

e walks are part of the 2022-2023 series being run by Western Bay of Plenty Council, which are all about giving WBOP dog owners some events just for them – where they can bring their dogs to socialise safely and have a good time exploring the district’s beautiful walks at the same time.

Waihī Beach’s Wander Walk is at Anzac Bay, Seaforth Rd, from 9am on February 11. From 9am-9.30am there’s an education talk on ‘teaching your dog to ‘stay’, with the walk starting 10am.

On Saturday, February 25, the council is hosting a Doggy Day Out at Ōmokoroa Sportsground Western Avenue.

For this, owners can dress their pooch up in their best superhero costume for a pawtastic day of fun – for every dog and their humans!

talk on ‘ e hyperactive dog’, with the walk starting 10am. Find out more at:

www.westernbay.govt.nz

Keeping on top of dental care

Does your pet have bad breath?

Research shows that by the age of two, four out of ve pets have dental disease. Maintaining oral health is important as gum disease can cause pain and may lead to more serious illnesses such as heart, liver, and kidney disease.

Pets are surprisingly stoic and often owners are unaware that

Pretty little Piper is about two years old.

She is just a lovely girl – once she gets to know you she greets you with a big smooch and a chirp to say ‘hello’ and will chat to you about her day.

Piper enjoys gentle pats and chin scratches but prefers to keep four paws on the oor.

She is best-suited to a quiet, mature household, or cat-savvy

their pet is su ering. Regular check-ups are important – we can see what they can’t tell you!

Most dental problems pets encounter are due to plaque.

Left untreated, plaque hardens into tartar. is results in

Please pick pretty

e last Wander walk of the series is at Te Puke for

in ammation of gums, known as gingivitis. As in ammation progresses, it destroys gums and tissues that support teeth, leading to pain, bone loss and ultimately loss of the tooth. Other symptoms of dental disease include bad breath, dribbling and bleeding gums. If your pet has not had a dental health check in the last year, we encourage you to bring them in.

teenagers may suit, where she can lounge about to her heart’s content.

Piper could also be a great choice for someone who is at home often. Piper is such a sweetie, who can't wait to nd her new forever family. Do you have room in your

heart for Piper? Call the Tauranga centre on: 07 5780245. Reference 559248.

tauranga katikati te puna papamoa village

People and their pooches at a past Doggy Day Out at Katikati in 2017.

Finding new ways to spread the love...

A hand rummages in the hat, plucks out a piece of paper and then another! e names on each are read aloud, you look across the room in glee as your eyes lock with your Valentine’s Day match.

It’s this random Russian roulette style of pairing that e Bayview retirement village do to bring a bit of fun to residents on Valentine’s Day.

Something di erent

Each year the village does something di erent to make residents feel included and special on

this annual February celebration.

“ e concept that we have put together this year is to involve the entire village and therefore not exclude anyone that isn’t in a couple relationship,” says village services co-ordinator Pam Billington.

“What we’re going to do on this particular day is we’re going draw

a name out and residents are not going to know who they’re paired with.” It could be a Bill, Jill or a Phil – who knows! “If you just restrict Valentine’s Day for couples then there’s a whole gap of people that tend to miss

A warm smile, thoughtful words spoken and a beautiful red rose. Share the gift of owers with your loved one this Valentine’s Day to make sure their heart glows.

Lily’s Flower Crazy boutique orist and gift store is where love blooms. Being in the Bay of Plenty for 25 years, owneroperators husband and wife, David and Lily, have gorgeous owers to shower your special someone with this February 14.

Fresh owers

out on the day – so that’s why we thought we’d do it like this so everyone can get involved.”

Pam thinks that it’s nice to celebrate Valentine’s Day for people who may have lost their partners, but also it’s just nice

for anyone. “I don’t think Valentine’s Day is just necessarily for couples. I think it’s also something about friendship, support, celebrating love, being cherished and being together.”

Dine together

Valentine matches at Bayview will dine together to enjoy a scrumptious themed lunch – made with love of course by Bayview’s innovative chef Andrew Fletcher. e Bayview team will spread the warm fuzzies by decking out the dining area with red balloons and red themed table dressings. “We de nitely go all out! e residents are all full of fun, laughter, and life and will embrace the themed Valentine’s Day with such delight.”

owers and gifts. “We can just about get any ower at all,” says David. You’ll be spoilt with choice to gift your valentine their favourite orals! e husband-andwife duo have also ordered dozens of fresh red roses too. “We have a customer who’s 98 years old and he always buys a red rose for his wife that has dementia on Valentine’s Day.”

“We’ve got lovely fresh owers for the love of your life,” says David. “Flowers will make anybody’s day…they are always the gift of joy, the gift of love.”

Lily and David’s oristry specialises in bouquets, fresh cut owers, indoor potted plants, arti cial

Order now! While you can’t hurry love, you should hurry getting your roses in a row! David says it’s best to order your special one’s owers now as they usually sell out by Valentine’s Day. “If people pre-order then they’re guaranteed to get what they want for their loved one.”

Located at 1 Sharyn Place, Brook eld, Lily’s Flower Crazy is open Monday to Saturday 8.30am-6pm and deliver anywhere within the North Island.

Georgia Minkhorst

Make that special someone’s day

David from Lily’s Flower Crazy orist with some brilliant red roses perfect for your Valentine. Photo: John Borren.

Bayview residents Margi and Bruce Petersen have been married for 42 years and always celebrate Valentine’s Day together. Photo: John Borren.

Georgia Minkhorst

No Valentine? Try Galentine’s day girls!

We’re sitting in the o ce, discussing what to do on the big day of red a few weeks before February 14.

A young gal o ers: “What about Galentine’s day?” “Galantine’s day?” asks the happily married nearly-40-year-old. “What is that?”

“It’s when you sit around with your girlfriends and talk about all the people –(ahem men) – who have ruined your life.”

And we enter the world of feisty, con dent young people who make their own traditions, their own ‘days’ to celebrate – their own rules.

For the besties

According to a google and a dip into a Cosmopolitan article on the subject, Galentine’s day is a full day dedicated

to showering your besties with love! It’s a day for single gals, heart-broken gals, gals who don’t try to conform to the norm. And it’s celebrated on February 13.

e young gal says a typical Galentine’s celebration could be sitting around watching rom-coms, drinking wine, talking past relationships – and together celebrating those who never quit relationships with you. It could be brunch, lunch, a relaxing massage or a daring skydive with the girls who are always there for you and can

Kokedama on love’s day?

make you laugh without a joke.

“...it honours the people who are always there for you…It’s all about the besties, y’all,” says ‘Cosmopolitan’.

Declaring love

Originating from the popular TV show ‘Parks and Recreation’, the day is all about declaring love and a ection to the girls who make up our support system. e old man in the o ce snu es a laugh. “See men don’t need a special day to do that – we do that all the time.”

Yeah right! Here’s to making ‘Palentine’s Day’ a thing too!

Behind the beginnings of Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s day – a day that brings polar opposite feelings. February 14 is either a day to celebrate love with your partner, or a day to wallow or dismiss completely.

Yet how exactly did this day, marked by the giving of cards, owers and chocolate to that special someone, come about?

Pagan beginnings

Originally a pagan fertility festival, Valentine’s Day was adopted by Christians to become the celebration of love,

romance and general warmfuzziness it is today.

e history of Valentine’s Day says that Saint Valentine is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. Many historians believe the saint was a priest who lived during the reign of Roman

emperor Claudius II, who was put to death for performing marriage ceremonies for couples who were not allowed to marry. ese unions were forbidden if parents did not agree with the marriage, or the groom was a soldier or slave.

Courtly love

Valentine’s Day became associated with romance during the 14th Century when courtly love was celebrated. In 1381, Chaucer wrote a poem in celebration of England’s Richard II and Anne of Bohemia’s engagement. From then on Valentine’s

Day has always been associated with love. By the 18th Century, gift-giving and exchanging homemade cards became the norm in Europe and became widespread in the rest of the western world during the 19th Century.

Do you want to experience something di erent this Valentine’s Day? e Historic Village has a unique o ering on February 14 – a Kokedama workshop.

Kokedama – also known as Japanese moss balls –are an artform that’s easy and cheap to make, but there are a few secrets to their success.

You’ll be able to learn them on February 14 from 6.30pm-8pm at e Historic Village’s brand new event space - e Creative Campus.

To book, visit: www.theincubator.co.nz/creativecommunity-campus

Wayne Rush

Holistic approach to hearing health

It’s a crowded restaurant, cutlery clatters and chatter clouds the air. Your friend sits across the table from you but you can’t hear what on earth they’re saying!

at’s about to change with Resonate Health. As the third studio of its kind in New Zealand, Resonate

Health was proud to open its doors at Bayfair this week

Unlike traditional audiology clinics, Resonate Health o ers a holistic approach to hearing health. “We’re standing back and taking a broader view of what other things your hearing impacts, as well as what other things are a ected because of hearing loss,” says audiologist of 21

years, Clara Kwaramba. Resonate Health’s unique and exclusive product Ear360 is a 10-point assessment that provides an encompassing overview of your ear and hearing health. “It looks at people’s quality of sleep; potential cognitive decline, like memory loss; balance and fall risk, which may be associated with hearing; and we talk about tinnitus because that’s a close cousin of hearing loss.

“When testing we go beyond

the normal pitch range of hearing because those extra high frequencies are actually really important for hearing in background noise. We are nally picking up hearing losses that aren’t tested for in traditional audiology.” Resonate Health is o ering 50 per cent o their Ear360 assessment as part of their launch and their best-in-class hearing aids are on o er for $90 monthly payments.

Forgiveness is freedom

“Forgive anyone who has caused you pain or harm. Keep in mind that forgiving is not for others. It is for you. Forgiving is not forgetting…it is remembering without anger. It frees up your power and heals your body, mind and spirit. Forgiveness opens up a pathway to a new place of peace where you can thrive despite what has happened to you” – Les Brown.

Anger and blaming another when we are hurt takes much negative energy and passion; it focuses us on the one who hurt us and what we focus on we start to become.

It’s not always easy and it can feel even more painful than the damage initially in icted, and yet you won’t gain any peace without forgiveness.

Forgiveness is freedom because with it you stop being the victim.

“We want to take time with clients to get the full story…it’s not just about hearing. It’s about what else?”

Georgia Minkhorst

However, when you can’t feel it in your heart to forgive someone, a good rst step is to send them a blessing each time they come to mind so you prevent yourself going down that path of bitterness and anger.

Ask yourself: ‘How much do I want to let go of the anger and bitterness I feel?’

To learn more about coaching to open up your potential, or to deal with stresses, phone Mary Parker, e Fast Track Coach, on 021 258 2145. Or visit her website: www.thefasttrackcoach.co.nz

Audiologist of 21 years, Clara Kwaramba. Photo: John Borren.

How does Magnesium help cramp? often

ose that experience muscle cramps know how this happens. Mostly at night, muscles can suddenly cramp with intense pain. Cramps can often be related to physical exercise, dehydration, low salt intake and other factors such as some diseases and medications.

Muscle contraction starts with a nerve impulse that arrives at muscle bres (cells). is commences a process that results in muscles contracting and allowing movement in our body. It is worth noting there are three types of muscles: skeletal muscles are attached to bones to allow us to move; cardiac muscle is the special type of muscle that makes up most of our hearts; while smooth muscle lines our blood vessels and organs.

Calcium is needed for muscles to contract by controlling the nerve-muscle junction. Magnesium is needed for relaxation of muscles by its role in maintaining muscle electrical activity.

Magnesium competes with calcium in this process as it binds to the same sites. A calcium/ magnesium imbalance can cause cramps and in cardiac muscle heart rhythm issues. is is often because of low magnesium intake especially in

relation to calcium intake. Fortunately, increasing magnesium to help with cramp is relatively simple using quality magnesium supplements. e challenge is nding a supplement that works for you. While some use a single form of magnesium, my preference is to combine three di erent forms as these are absorbed di erently. Some are more rapidly absorbed, while others take longer but have longer-lasting e ects. I suggest you avoid supplements with magnesium oxide as it can upset digestion.

ere are also wide variations in the magnesium doses people need. is is why my magnesium supplement has a dosage range of between one and four capsules daily. is allows for experimentation to get the ideal dose.For more information, give me a call or email: john@abundant.co.nz You can read my newsletter at: www.abundant.co.nz

John Arts is a quali ed nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health. Contact John on: 0800 423 559. To read more, go to: www.sunlive.co.nz

Supplements: do we need them?

So here lies the question: do we need to supplement our diet to get the nourishment for health and youthful skin?

I feel you really need to look at what you eat, when you eat, where has your food been sourced, how it is stored, packaged and prepared. en look at what stresses you are under, your health and what stage of life you are in. With all of these answered you can make an informed decision; are you adequately ful lling your body’s nutrient requirements?

Remembering your skin is the largest organ of the body, it will often get the last of the nutrients from our foods. Skin health and nutrients go hand-in-hand so we often encounter a skin condition that’s manifested from a lack of nutrition.

One very important nutrient is water as we are continuously losing it, so we must replenish it.

Other skin conditions we encounter are dryness, eczema, psoriasis, impaired barrier function – your skin’s own natural protective layer – and in ammation.

We carry fantastic supplement ranges to help clients balance these conditions; the InskinCosmodics

Skintrition range and

Bestow Beauty products. Skin requires Omegas, which are lacking in our diets, to provide Omega 3 to restore our skin’s barrier. Our body doesn’t produce Omegas so they need to be in our food, and if we’re not getting su cient quantities we have problems.

As Hippocrates said in 460-370BC: “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food”.

February: blues, jazz, folk and more

February is a short but busy month – so much music, so little time.

Foolishly I used last week to mourn recent fallen musicians; unhappy emails have been arriving ever since from people mi ed that I neglected to mention their gigs.

So this week it’s all gigs. ere’re a lot. I apologise upfront that this is going to read like a bit of a list. Sorry. But that’s kinda what it is. I’ll try and squeeze in some jokes... But let’s start with this weekend. Right now. Depending on when you read this it could be today. So pay attention!

Friday, February 3, the Frank Burkitt Band returns to the Katikati Folk Club at e Arts Junction. He is now

resident in the UK and the ve-piece band from a couple of years back, whose last show people still rave about, is now a duo. It’s a 7.30pm start, public $25, members $20.

Unusually the club has a second concert this month, with highlyregarded Canadian folk singer Scott Cook coming to Katikati on February 24.

Also this weekend there’s a free Saturday night jazz session, on February 4, at e Barrel Room.

e Alex Trask Trio is here from Wellington after playing e Jam Factory on Wednesday. e Wellington-based saxophonist, a graduate of the New Zealand School of Music, is joined by Umar Zakaria (bass, 2018’s NZ best jazz artist),

Presenting life changing perspectives on making your wishes come true. Special Guest Speaker from Australia, Rev. Steve shares how using the laws of the mind can make wishes and dreams come true. Imagine how the wishes and aspirations we hold this very moment are shaping our future. They will become the roadmap to accomplishments and success we will achieve this year and beyond. This means that whether we are young, middle -aged, or in our twilight years, the time we spend thinking about our dreams and acting on them will have tremendous impact on our happiness and success.

Our future cannot grow better or achieve bigger things than its original design. So, what is your dream today? What do you wish for?

Rev. Steve will teach the laws of the mind to achieve your wishes, as taught by Napoleon Hill. One-hour presentation, short meditation practices followed by question and answer session.

Steve Bellingham

139 Greerton Road, Gate Pa, Tauranga Free Event. Donations Welcome Bookings: TEXT 027 446 5357 newzealand@happy-science.org science.org

and Abe Baillie (drums) for what will I suspect be a sensational night.

Aussie blues

Alternatively, that night, Australian Shaun Kirk is playing the blues at e Jam Factory. I’ve seen Shaun and he puts on a sensational one-man show, backing his singing with guitar, drums

his group Unwind, which features a trio of top Wellington talent: bassist Paul Dyne, drummer Julien Dyne and pianist/composer Norman Meehan. Hayden’s original music is sophisticated jazz while containing elements of folk, Indian raga, and chamber music. Tickets $30, from 7pm

and harmonica. Tickets are $25 for the 7pm show. It’ll be good. At the same venue, also very good and playing the blues, is British Columbian Joel Fafard on ursday, February 9. Joel tells a great story and is a helluva musician, specialising in slide on an acoustic resonator guitar. Cool gravelly singer too. Same price and time as Shaun. I did warn you this was going to resemble a list and sadly that’s how it’s turning out. But it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer concentration of music coming to town, and speci cally to e Jam Factory. Let’s, brie y, look at the rest of February there...

Wednesday, February 15, sees the eclectic arrival of Ensemble Sangineto, a trio bringing arrangements of traditional Irish, Scottish, Breton and Italian tunes, as well as original compositions with hints of classical and folk music, Gregorian chants and Celtic music. ere’s a harp (not the blues variety) a bowed psaltery (Wow! No space to explain here – better look it up), and three-piece harmony vocals. Cost is $20, starts 8pm.

European jazz

Friday, February 17, it’s more jazz, with Europebased Taranaki saxophonist Hayden Chisholm and

Next night, February 18, it’s back to folk with Chris Priestley’s Unsung Heroes. ey comprise of singer-songwriter, guitarist and lap steel player Cameron Bennett, virtuoso guitarist Nigel Gavin (Gitbox Rebellion), and singer Sonia Wilson. Together they tell stories from NZ’s distant past in song, with introductory newspaper clippings and poems read by actor Peter Elliott and an historic slide show accompanying each song. Tickets $30, from 7pm.

On February 19 English ex-pat folkie Bill Angus celebrates his third album ‘All Night Before e World Began’ with his band the Mighty Ways. He has quite a reputation from the UK, purveying easy-listening originals with echoes of Jackson Browne and James Taylor. Costs $20, starts 3pm.

And that’s not all...the following weekend sees singer-songwriter Monty Bevins perform on Friday, February 24; then a special local show from Kokomo on Sunday afternoon, February 26.

Remember, e Jam Factory is small, 55 people is full; so you may want to book in advance.

Meanwhile, February at Totara Street features Valkyrie, Big Sima, Revulva, Hot Potato Band (de nitely one for me), NZ/DC and the return of Ozi Ozaa.

Busy month, eh! Sorry, forgot the jokes –next time...

Hayden Chisholm.

Shaun Kirk.

Ensemble Sangineto.

Tropical bliss in your backyard

in the middle of them where they hold their own water...I honestly can’t think of any other plant that does that.”

e plants also house amphibian friends. “I found a beautiful frog in one...a bright green one...I used to keep going out looking at it every day.”

Unfortunately a cat spotted Lynley’s green buddy too. “I never saw the frog again.” Ribbit in peace!

At next Wednesday’s Open Day there will be growers keen to chat to give you all the information to start or add to your bromeliad collection. ere will be ra es, spot prizes and magni cent bromeliads on display and for sale too.

ey grow their own ‘pups,’ ll their own water tanks, house beautiful green frogs – they truly are the gift that keeps on giving. While you may not be so lucky to have one just yet, it might just be the best plant you ever had...the wonderful, spectacular bromeliad!

e Bay of Plenty Bromeliad Club is holding an open day on Wednesday, February 8, where you can learn all about these gorgeous plants and buy your very own.

In trend

“Bromeliads are very in trend at the moment because they thrive in warm summers with lots of rain and they look great with palms and other bold foliage plants,” says club president Lynley Breeze. She remembers being swept away by the tropical-looking beauties back in the 1990s. “ e rst ones

I ever saw in this area [Bay of Plenty] was in the mid-1990s. ey were very rare here and the sort of people bringing them in weren’t garden centres, it was just individual growers. When I saw the spectacular owers and foliage they were unlike any other plants I’d ever seen!”

Lynley says some bromeliads can remain in ower for up to 10 months. It’s easy to grow a collection of bromeliads too, as each plant grows at least three o sets, known as pups. “I don’t think I could count how many bromeliads I have…it’s several hundred.”

Rare feature

As epiphytes, bromeliads grow attached to trees and rocks in the wild which means they need good drainage. However, they don’t require much attention due to a unique feature. “Most bromeliads hold water in a tank – there’s a cup like structure

Jazz up your evening!

“It’s a chance to get some at a good price and you get such a variety!”

e BOP Bromeliad Club Open Day is at Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club, Sulphur Point, on Wednesday, February 8, from 12.30pm-2.30pm. Free entry.

KATIKATI Twilight Concerts 2023

a

Sit back, relax and enjoy an evening lled with the smooth and synchronised sounds of jazz.

Katikati Twilight Concerts will see the summer out with their show ‘Cool Jazz’ on Saturday, February 11. Starting the night o in the jazz swing is the Blue Light Trio with Tracey Collins on accordion, Alan MacDonald on cojon and Pascal Roggen on electric violin.

e carefree and excitement these three bring to the stage will have you smiling and dancing into the night!

e second half of the show will be led by accomplished Irish performer Caitríona Fallon and her stellar band.

Catriona’s stunning vocals will have the audience on a musical high, performing a mix of jazz and blues numbers by artists such as Norah Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Caro Emerald

and more. Held on Saturday, February 11 at Haiku Reserve, Katikaiti – the concert runs from 6pm-8.30pm. Tickets are $25.

For more information and ticket booking, visit: www.katikaticoncerts.co.nz/

e Weekend Sun has one double pass to experience ‘Cool Jazz’ on February 11 for one lucky reader who can tell us what instruments Blue Light Trio will bring the jazz groove with? Enter online at: www.sunlive.co.nz under the competitions tab. Entries must be received by Tuesday, February 7.

Crowds ocking to

Katikati Twilight Concert back in 2021. Photo: supplied.

Lynley Breeze and Mary Hunt among some of Mary’s gorgeous bromeliads from her garden.

Photo: John Borren.

Georgia Minkhorst

Saturday 4 Feb

All Clothing $1 Vinnies Storage facility overflowing, all clothing $1.00 at all St Vincent de Paul Stores for all of February!

Exclusions apply

A Course in Miracles

Are you stuck in the past, grievances and resentments? Get over it Free forgiveness workshop that transforms your thinking from fear to Love. Text 021 0274 2502

Art in the Park Original art for sale. Coronation Park, Mt Maunganui. 9am-4pm. Weather permitting. Tauranga

Society of Artists

Beth-El Messianic Family

Celebrate Shabbat (Sabbath) as did Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), his disciples and early believers. All welcome.

Otumoetai Primary 10am or FaceBook Live 11am. Joel 021 768 043 info@bethel.org.nz

Katikati Bowling Club

8 Park Rd 1.45pm

Katikati Toy Library

Family-focused facility offering 600 toys to loan to children zero-10.

Tues 6.30-8pm Weds

2.30-4pm Sat 9am-10am. Located behind the Christian Centre, Henry Rd, Katikati

Laughter Yoga

Join us for fun and laughter at Arataki Community Centre every Saturday 10am from 11th February onwards. Phone 022 036 6768 or email trish.baars@gmail.com

Otumoetai Tennis Club

Adult tennis. Start 1.30pm. Bellevue Park Windsor Rd. (Adjacent to swimming pool). New players & visitors welcome. Ph Victor 027 577 1818 a/hrs

Riverlight Suicide Loss Support

Katikati/Waihi Beach group. Providing hope and inspiration to those coping with the suicide of a loved one.

9:30am-11:30am. Contact Karin: riverlight62@gmail. com 021 103 7404

St Stephen’s Jigsaw Library

Every Saturday 10-12noon. Hire for 2 weeks a variety of 600 puzzles. 100-2000 piece puzzles. Please wear masks. Cnr Brookfield and Highmore Terrrace

Taijiquan and Qigong

Sat & Wed 9:00 am. Free Taiji / Qigong group. Kulim Park on beach by big rock. All welcome. Ph Petro 021 751 665

Tauranga Farmers Market

7.45am-12noon at Tauranga Primary School cnr Cameron Rd & 5th Avenue. Rain, hail or shine. Direct from the Producers. Support local

Tauranga Social Dance Club

Sequence Dancing 7-10pm Sat

11th February Wesley Church Hall

100/13th Ave All Welcome to our 1st Dance for 2023

Ph Jan 576 3455

Village Radio Museum

Community Radio broadcasting

nostalgic music & Community Notices seven days on 1368 KHz AM Band. Radio Museum open from 10am. Request line 571 3710

Sunday 5 Feb

Carboot sale for Rotary

Otumoetai College Carpark at 8.00am for Buyers. Space rental $10. Proceeds for Rotary Projects. Sellers text Brian 021 122 8735 or Bevan 027 461 2127

Falun Dafa

Apply ancient wisdom in 2023 with easy, qigong Exercises in the Parks. Free to learn. All welcome. https://en.falundafa.org For details, ph/text Judy 021 0425 398 Farmers Market - Mount Mainstreet

Every Sunday 9am-1pm

rain or shine Te Papa o Nga Manu Porotakataka (Phoenix Park). www.mountmainstreet.nz

Papamoa Lions Club Market

2nd & 4th Sunday. Gordon Spratt Reserve, Parton Rd, Papamoa. Gates open 7am for stall holder entry. Wayne 027 974 5699

Radio Controlled Model Yachts

Sundays & Thursdays 1:003:30pm, at Pond behind 22

Montego Drive Papamoa, sailing Electron Radio Controlled Yachts for fun. Adult beginners welcome.

Graham 572 5419

Religious Society of Friends

Happily retired yet Soul searching?

Share Friendship and silent contemplation with us. No dogma, creed, preaching. 10am-12pm. Corner Cameron/Elisabeth St. Quakers.nz

Spiritual Centre Psycic Cafe Greerton Community Hall.

Doors open 6.30pm, starts 7pm. Entry $20 (no eftpos). After that; everything Free: Psychics, Healers, Spiritualists, Refreshments. 25 practitioners. www.psychiccafe.nz.

Ph 07 578 7205

St Enochs Presbyterian Church

Join us at 9.30am on Sunday at 134 Sixteenth Avenue, Tauranga. Phone 07 5783040. God

honouring, Christ following, Holy Spirit led Sunday Scribblers

Small friendly group writing down ones memories Chrome Cafe, Wharawhara Rd Katikati. Third Sunday of each month 11am-12.30pm Ph Gaye 027 274 8753 Email gayehemsley@gmail. com

Tauranga Organ Keyboard Society

Meets 1.30pm at Carmel Country Estate Social Centre, 11 Hollister Lane, Ohauiti, Tauranga. Play or listen to Organ, Clavinova, Piano. Contact Maureen 544 5013

Monday 6 Feb

500 Card Group

Held every Monday (except Public Holidays) at Age

Concern, 177a Fraser St, Tauranga at 9.30am. Cost $2 Greerton Garden Club Greerton Garden Club meets 2nd Monday each month at St James

Church Hall, Pooles Rd, Greerton, at 1pm. Visitors Welcome. Ph 07 562 8855

JP Service at CAB

JP available at Citizens Advice Bureau Tauranga, 367 Cameron Rd. Monday 1-3pm. Thursday 9.3011.30am. Friday 9.30-11.30am

Katikati Bowling Club

Mixed 2 x 4 x2. Reporting time

9.15am

Tauranga Stamp Club

Wesley Methodist Church, 100 Thirteenth Ave. 10am on the 2nd and 7.30pm on the 4th Monday of the month. All welcome. Ph Tony 07 549 5015 or Brian 07 576 5210

Tuesday 7 Feb

Bayfair Gardens

Need your help supplying fresh vegetables to the Tauranga Foodbank. Tuesday and Friday mornings. Hillier Centre at The Mount. Ph 575 9709

Beginner Social Dance Group

Commencing Tues 14 Feb 8-9pm,Wed 15 Feb 6-7pm, Welcome Bay School Hall, Welcome Bay Rd. Ballroom/Latin/ Rock&Roll. Just come along on the night Ph Sonia 027 322 1786 Cards 500

Mount Community Hall, 345 Maunganui Rd. 12.30-4pm. Friendly group. Car parks available. Bus stop outside. Inquiries phone 027 658 6848. All ages welcome

Conversation Cafe Dee St

9-11.45am at Presbyterian Church Hall. Varied program. Morning tea, aimed at seniors. All welcome. $2.50pp until further notice. 544 0951 or 021 127 4277

Fitness for over 65’s Co-ordination, strength and balance classes for over 65’s. Welcome Bay Hall Tuesdays 11am. No class first week of school holidays. $8 Nadia 021 187 0345. Low impact

Turn a page, head back to the library!

Western Bay of Plenty District’s four libraries are appealing for people to return, with more than 1.2 million pukapuka (books), magazine, eBooks, eAudio books and eMagazines available to lend.

e callout comes from Te Puke, Ōmokoroa, Katikati and Waihī Beach libraries, with WBOPDC team leader libraries (east) Amanda-Jane McFadden saying now is the time to get back to your library.

“Your local library has a lot happening, maybe more than you know. In the last year our library network has run holiday programmes, reading, and colouring competitions. We’ve hosted Sir Edmund Hillary’s Hut Virtual Reality Experience and had be-spook Halloween activities.

“We want everyone to know, they’re welcome at our community libraries and we’re sure to have something that’ll interest you.”

No more nes

One of the most exciting recent changes is all four libraries going ne-free in 2022. is included wiping the slate on more than $21,000 of historic debt from 2589 library users. is means there are no overdue nes for borrowed items, apart from rental items: DVDs and Top Shelf books. And any old nes from items, holds and rental items (DVDs and Top Shelf books) have also evaporated.

WBOPDC team leader libraries (west) Julia Edgecombe says these bills were slashed in a move to encourage the community to get back into the library and reading again.

“Our libraries are here for our communities. We don’t want anything stopping people from visiting. “To anyone who’s stayed away because of old nes, please don’t hesitate to come in. We’re here to help and we want you enjoying your favourite pukapuka (books) again.”

In 2022, according to WBOPDC, 316,516 pukapuka (books) borrowed from its libraries – and the team is hoping to increase that number in 2023.

Events for all

Events and activities are also back in full swing. Adult events include computer classes (one-on-one and group), knit and natter, Scrabble groups, and book chat. “For the younger ones we have code clubs, story times, school holiday events and much more.”

Community services like the Justice of the Peace clinics at Te Puke, Waihī Beach and Ōmokoroa Libraries and Te Puke Library’s AA Service Desk are also back in 2023. e Citizens Advice Bureau will also join the crew at Te Puke later in 2023. Look out for details coming out soon.

To join or re-join a library is super simple. Pop into your local library with your photo ID and proof of your address. In less than 10 minutes you’ll have access to the entire collection.

Check out your local libraries at: libraries.westernbay.govt.nz

Fitness Fun

Total body fitness walking plus weights, mat work, and dance. Venue: St Columba Church, 502 Otumoetai Rd, Cherrywood. Time 9.30-10.30am

Contact: Gloria 021 139 2448

Inachord Women Singers

Join us for singing and fun. 7pm Bethlehem Community Church, 183

Moffat Rd. Musical Director Andrew Braid. Pippa 027 473 0185, Julie 021 0252 6805

Justice of the Peace Greerton Library 2-4pm

Otumoetai Tennis Club

Adult tennis. Start 9am Tues & Thurs. Bellevue Park Windsor Rd (Adjacent to swimming pool). New players and visitors welcome.

Ph Peter 021 542 172

Otumoetai Walking Group

Meet at 9am at Kulim Park.

Ph Danny 576 6480

Overeaters Anonymous

Is your eating affecting the way you, or someone else, live your life?

Overeating, undereating - meet

Tuesdays 7-8pm and Fridays 11-12pm. Phone 021 0236 3236 oa.org

Papamoa Sunshine Probus Club

Meetings held 2nd Tuesday of every month starting at 11.30am at the Gordon Spratt Reserve Clubrooms

Papamoa. Contacts Colleen

Lambourne 210 235 2736 or Paula

Neilson 021 117 0802

Recycled Teenagers Gentle Exercise St. Mary’s Church Hall cnr Girven & Marlin 9-10.30am. Suitable for joint replacements, arthritics,recovery from accidents & illness. Strength, coordination and balance

Jennifer 027 206 0776

Taichi Qigong Beginner Classes

Te Puke Memorial Hall, Tuesday 9.30-11.30 / St Georges Church Hall Gate Pa, Wednesday 9.3011.00 / Te Puna Memorial Hall Thursday 9.30-11.00.

$6 All welcome, non religious. Contact David 027 222 2824

Linda 027 948 6385

Tauranga Acoustic Music Club

Greerton RSA 7pm. Friendly gettogether, all instruments, all levels of ability. Come in & enjoy some live music. Grant 578 6448

Tauranga Patchwork and Quilters

Every 1st & 3rd Tuesday, 7pm; 2nd & 4th Friday, 10am. Art & Craft Centre, 177 Elizabeth St. Ph Jenny 07 262 3120

U3A Beachside Meeting

Public meeting is at Gordon Spratt Reserve, 10am. Speaker is Robyn Paterson from Consumer Health Service. Door entry $5

Wednesday 8 Feb

Adult Ballet/Plus Class

Lots of dance styles covered. Lots of fun 12.30: Anglican Church Hall, Beach Rd, Katikati Ph: 07 577 1753 or 027 274 8753 Email: gayehemsley@ gmail.com

Age Concern Walking Group Meet at 10am. 8th - Carmichael Reserve off Carmichael Rd. 15th - Kulim Park sausage sizzle. 22ndPacific Ave, Mt Maunganui. Ph Renee 07 576 6699

Avenues Friendship Club

1st Wednesday each month at 9.30am. Tauranga Citizens Club 170 / 13th Ave. Visitors very welcome Phone 027 406 1846

Beginner Social Dance Group Commencing Tues 14 Feb 8-9pm,Wed 15 Feb 6-7pm, Welcome Bay School Hall, Welcome Bay Rd. Ballroom/ Latin/Rock&Roll. Just come along on the night Ph Sonia 027 322 1786

Bromeliad Club Open Day 12.30-2.30 at the Yacht Club, Sulphur point. Lovely display of bromeliad plants. Many sales tables running. Good prices - great plants Grower information available. Free entry Raffles

Cards

Cribbage 12.30 for 1pm start at RSA Greerton. Friendly club. New members very welcome.

Ph Jill 021 160 6143

Community Bible Study

Join us for CBS bible study The Books of Romans. Wed 7-9pm C3, 252 Otumoetai Rd. Call 021 225 5981

Fernland Spa Gentle Exercise

Gentle exercise in warm mineral water. Suitable for joint replacements, arthritics & recovery from accident or injury. Good for strength, coordination and balance. Jennifer 027 206 0776

Fitness for over 65’s

Co-ordination, strength and balance classes for over 65’s. Welcome Bay Hall

Wednesdays 9.15am. No class first week of school holidays. $8 Nadia 021 187 0345. Intermediate level

Free info & Advice

Come and see the Citizens Advice Bureau Tauranga at Welcome Bay Community Centre. Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month and Greerton Library every 2nd & 4th

Wednesday 10am -12midday

Healing Rooms Prayer Experience Gods healing touch, whether physical, emotional, spiritual. 1-3pm Every Wednesday. All welcome. No charge. Central Baptist

Lounge. 640 Cameron Rd. www. healingrooms.co.nz 027 640 1263

Katikati Bowling Club

8 Park Rd. Mixed Rollups 12.45-3pm

Marching for Leisure

A non-competitive activity for mature ladies. Fun, fitness and friendship. For Tauranga team’s practice and contact details please call Glenice Dando 027 489 8841

Taijiquan and Qigong

Sat & Wed 9am free Taiji / Qigong group. Kulim Park on beach by big rock. All welcome. Ph Petro 021 751 665

Tauranga Embroiderers’ Guild

Meets every Wednesday at Tauranga Rowing Club, Devonport Rd 10am-2.30pm and 7-9pm. Beginners very welcome. Contact Pat McDonald 027 234 8568 / 544 1988

Thursday 9 Feb

Adult Ballroom/Latin Dance

Free introductory beginner dance lesson. Thursday 16 Feb, 7.30pm at Club Mt. Maunganui. Dean Smith Ph 021 230 3187 www.udance2.co.nz

Just come along

Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting

All welcome to our friendly, open meeting at 7.30pm, Lifechurch Tauranga, 934 Cameron Rd, Gate Pa, Tauranga. Tea and coffee provided Ph 0800 229 6757

Cards 500

Mount Community Hall, 345 Maunganui Rd. 12.30-4pm. Friendly group. Car parks available. Bus stop outside. Inquiries phone 027 658 6848. All ages welcome China painting for Beginners

Starts 16th February 2023 6 lessons $30.00 Everything provided. Thursdays 10-12noon Tauranga Arts & Craft Centr Elizabeth St, Tauranaga. Call 027 553 3042 to register. Limited class size

Coffee/Conversation

Group - Greerton

Age Concern Tauranga holds a friendly Coffee and Conversation Group, Greerton Senior Citizens Hall, 33 Maitland St, 10.30am-12noon, cost $5pp.

All Welcome

English Classes Multicultural

Tauranga

Free Conversational English classes at the Multicultural Tauranga office in the Historic Village at 10am. Everyone is welcome Contact- enquiries@trmc. co.nz or 07 571 6419

FLexercise with Fitness League Exercise, movement, dance, focusing on posture, balance, stretching,

strengthening & flexibility, all ages and abilities.10am, Central Baptist Church Hall, cnr 13th Ave Pam 021 117 7170

Justice of the Peace

Greerton Library 2-4pm

Katikati Bowling Club

8 Park Rd Rummikub 1-4pm, $3 entry

Keynotes Women’s Barbershop Chorus

Meet 7pm Wesley Hall, 100 13th Ave.

New singers welcome, age no barrier, come join us, have fun while singing. Ph Bernice 576 4848, Facebook Keynotes Inc.

Otumoetai Tennis Club

Adult tennis. Start 9am Tues & Thurs. Bellevue Park Windsor Rd (Adjacent to swimming pool).

New players and visitors welcome. Ph Peter 021 542 172

Pickleball Waihi Beach

Playing on Thursdays at 9:30 at Waihi

Beach Community Centre. Paddles provided.Ph Doreen 022 687 1586

Radio Controlled Model Yachts

Sundays & Thursdays 1:00-3:30pm, at Pond behind 22 Montego Drive Papamoa, sailing Electron Radio Controlled Yachts for fun. Adult beginners welcome. Graham 572 5419

Friday 10 Feb

Bayfair Gardens

Need your help supplying fresh vegetables to the Tauranga Foodbank. Tuesday and Friday mornings. Hillier Centre at The Mount. Ph 575 9709

Free Library 1-3

Free Library. Located at the Greerton Senior Citizens Hall, 33 Maitland St. Lots of books, games, jig-saw puzzles, free refreshments. Questions: call a librarian, 07 543 0355

Katikati Bowling Club

Mixed roll up. Reporting time 1.45pm. Visitors welcome. Coaching available. Social activities commence at 4pm.

Miniatures Club Tauranga

“Making it Small” Meetings

2nd Sunday each month {Feb-Nov} 10am-4pm. Arts and Crafts Centre 177 Elizabeth St Tauranga. Contact Jan 07 542 0998

Overeaters Anonymous

Is your eating affecting the way you, or someone else, live your life? Overeating, undereating - meet Tuesdays 7-8pm and Fridays 11-12pm.

Ph 021 0236 3236 oa.org

Papamoa Seniors Indoor Bowls

Enjoyable afternoon with other Seniors whilst playing Indoor Bowls at Papamoa Sports Centre. Names in by 11.45, prizes $5 entrance

Sahaja Yoga Meditation

Discover your Self. Meditation classes. Always Free. Fridays 7-8pm. Sport BOP offices (next to Squash courts), 406 Devonport Rd, Tauranga. Ph 022 303 5704

Tauranga Patchwork and Quilters

Every 1st & 3rd Tuesday, 7pm; 2nd & 4th Friday, 10am. Art & Craft Centre, 177 Elizabeth St. Ph Jenny 07 262 3120

Community breakfast back on the menu

Katikati’s Drop-In Community Breakfast is back on the menu each ursday morning for 2023, from February 9.

e free, hearty food and good company – which is on o er to all – is at the Katikati Community Baptist Church from 7.30am-8.30am. ere is a pick-up service available, as well as shower

facilities on o er. Gold coin donations are appreciated. For more information, phone Angela on: 020 4070 4426.

Churches Active In Our Community

The ultimate relationship

Consider how empty life can be with no-one close to share it with. Living in your luxurious apartment with wonderful views is not the same on your own. Going on holiday to Rarotonga is not the same on your own. Our greatest times have been spent with others. Perhaps your greatest time in life was the time you spent with your rst love?

We must not miss the fact the greatest joy, God, who desires to be our ‘ rst love,’ has planned for us now and for eternity, is relationship with Him. Knowing the joys of relationship, this should make perfect sense. Marriage between a man and a woman is even given

Dawn service returns to Hopukiore

e Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day dawn service returns to Hopukiore (Mount Drury Reserve) in Mount Maunganui for this year’s gathering.

e dawn service will be recorded and available to view online later in the day for those who can’t attend in-person.

A road closure will be in place on Monday, February 6, from 5.30am until 9am on Marine Parade from Grace Ave to Paci c Ave.

as a picture of the relationship the church has with Christ.

How much more can relationship with Christ or God, the glorious and majestic Ones who created all things in heaven and earth, surpass even the perfect marriage relationship? God’s love, character and personality are vastly better than anything we can experience with another person.

Enjoying God will be what we will be doing throughout eternity. e beauty of what I’m sharing is you have been blessed with the opportunity to begin this relationship now. Rather than looking for things from God, just look for Him, to know Him and be known by Him. is is the beginning and end goal of a Christian life.

Jesus said: “And this is eternal life,

that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

You are welcome to worship with us each Sabbath (Saturday)

St Andrews Church, Dee St, Mt Maunganui Bible Study 9:30am • Worship Service 10:45am Enquiries 021 277 1909

We look forward to seeing you!

mtmaunganui.adventist.org.nz

David Kidd, Church of God’s Love.

e service on Monday, February 6, is an opportunity for Tauranga’s community to commemorate the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Treaty of Waitangi, and re ect on what it means to us today.

A welcome from tangata whenua begins the service at 6.30am, and will be followed by hymns, guest speakers, and kapa haka. is year speakers include local kaumātua (elders), clergy from community church groups, civic leaders and rangatahi (youth) leaders. e ceremony will conclude with a closing karakia at 8am.

Tauranga City Council manager of strategic Māori engagement Carlo Ellis says the dawn service represents a time for the community to come together for an important date in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history.

“We’re grateful for Whareroa Marae hosting a reduced service last year due to physical distancing restrictions, and it’s exciting to look toward the upcoming service where the Tauranga Moana community can gather in-person to honour and re ect on the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” says Carlo.

Tauranga City Council is proud to work collaboratively with mana whenua to ensure this important date in our country’s history is commemorated year on year.

Carlo says TCC works, as part of the organising committee, alongside the Whareroa Marae Committee, Ngai Tukairangi, Māori Wardens, Te Kohinga Network, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Tauranga Church Community.

e organising committee receives funding from Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Tauranga City Council to support the service.

***TCC community relations advisor Abe Leach told e Sun at the time of print: that the council’s project team were yet to make a decision on if this event would be cancelled due to forecasted wet weather.

e project team was set to meet ursday afternoon – and if cancelled, Abe says TCC would provide more information on potential alternate viewing options.

Tips to keep school lunches cool

With school holidays wrapping up, and kids heading back to school, New Zealand Food Safety is sharing some tips to keep your tamariki’s packed lunches safe to eat this summer as stu y, wet and hot weather continues.

school, but parents and caregivers preparing those lunches need to consider how to keep food cool until it’s eaten. No one wants to start the year o with a sick day.”

BETH - EL

BETH - EL

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“When lunchboxes get hot, the warm environment not only makes the food unpleasant to eat but also gives germs the opportunity to multiply faster on the food inside, and therefore to cause foodborne illness when eaten," says NZFS deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle.

So here are some tips to keep your children’s lunchboxes safe: Have clean hands and utensils when making packed lunches. Freeze water bottles overnight and pop them in the lunchbox to keep food chilled – or include a mini freezer pack.

“Children can do their part by keeping their lunchboxes out of the sun and heat when at

SABBATH 10AM

PRIMARY

Joel & Sharon van Ameringen

Joel & Sharon van Ameringen

768 043

021 768 043

Messianic Family bethel.org.nz

Messianic Family bethel.org.nz

WELCOME SHALOM info@bethel.org.nz

Chill packed lunches in the fridge overnight, but if you can’t get to it the night before, keep

perishable foods (like cold meats or egg sandwiches) safe by packing them between cold items (like yoghurt).

Unless your children have access to a microwave at school, don’t include leftovers that need reheating before being eaten. Stick coloured stars or stickers on foods that might spoil to let kids know they should be eaten rst.

row away perishable leftovers that are brought back home. Wash lunchboxes each day with hot soapy water and dry carefully.

People sitting at Hopukiore (Mount Drury Reserve) as a Waitangi Day service takes place in 2018.

Cement your renovation plans

Don’t delay with your New Year reno resolutions! If you need a new driveway, resurfaced patio or anything concrete concerned –the expert team at JKR Concrete are here to help.

JKR Concrete is a small family business run by partners Kiri MacDonald and Jamie Nahi, who have 20 years’ experience in the concreting game. “We do almost anything in residential concrete so driveways, house slabs, patios, footpaths, and driveways.”

You name it, and JKR concrete will prep and pour it!

“We come in and do everything from digging the area out, preparing the slab, putting mesh in. Everything is taken care of from start to nish.”

Kiri describes Jamie as approachable and a great communicator. “He likes to make sure that clients know what he’s doing so that everything runs smoothly and clients are getting what they want.”

Revamp your tired old furniture!

Richardson’s Upholstery is a family-owned business. “We can re-upholster your tired old furniture to how you like,” says Justin Richardson.

“We specialise in recovering antique furniture also recovering lounge

suites, wingback chairs, ottomans/footstools, dining suites and window seat squabs just to mention a few.

“We can make headboards to suit; build ottomans or footstools to your desired size.

“Bolster cushions big or small, we can even build you an elegant or quirky chaise lounge to add class or wow to your living room.”

By changing the colour of your furniture it can brighten and uplift a whole room.

“Repairs are also a big part of our business so if you have a saggy seat or the cat has shown you who’s boss – contact us today.”

TAURANGA BUILDING SOLUTIONS

Opposite BP Te Puke. Ph 573 5533 www. naturaltherapiesnz.com and www. naturalpetremediesstore.com

health & wellbeing

TAROT READER Experienced lady reader ph 027 427 5635

livestock

AC PETFOODS collect injured & unwanted cows & horses. Ph 0800 369 6269

lost & found

FOUND KITTENS & PUPPIES various places, colours and sex. Ph

SPCA 07 578 0245

Found Cat, White & Black, Female, Katikati. Ref 568225

Found Cat, Tortoiseshell, Female, Katikati. Ref 568439

Found Cat, Black , Male, Whkamarama. Ref 568588

Found Rabbit, Black, Male, Papamoa. Ref 568412

Found Rabbit, Pointed White Himi, Brook eld. Ref 568635 trades & services

HANDYMAN, decks, fencing repairs, painting, water blasting, lawns, and odd jobs. Free quotes Ph Rossco 027 270 3313

ROOF REPAIRS Free quotes for all maintenance of leaking roofs, gutter cleaning & repairs. Chimney maintenance & repairs. Registered roofer, 30yrs exp. Ph Peter 542 4291 or 027 436 7740

TREE, SHRUB and hedges trimming, topping, rubbish, palm pruning or removal, satisfaction guaranteed free quote. Ph Steve Hockly 027 498 1857

venues

WEDDINGS, PARTIES, MEETINGS, etc. The perfect venue. With stunning Harbour views, fully licensed bar & kitchen onsite. Restaurant open every Friday from 5pm & Sunday from 4.30pm, kids under 12 years dine free with every paying adult. Tauranga Fish & Dive Club, 60 Cross Rd, Sulphur Point. Ph 571 8450