Waimea Weekly
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Wednesday 27 June 2012
Raising big bucks Page 5
Stoke spoil party
Queen Street Lower
Page 16 - 18
Page 25
School to rebuild iconic water wheel Phillip Rollo
In 1911, Brightwater’s first five street lights were switched on when the hens came to roost at night. Power was supplied by Kohatu farmer Robert Ellis’ water wheel at the Brightwater Flourmill. The only problem was he did not have a switch to turn it on and off. Instead it was up to the timing of the chooks who would sit on a plank in the evening and turn the power on. Ellis St was named after the farmer who was also the first supplier of electricity in the region. For Brightwater School’s
125th jubilee the iconic water wheel will be reconstructed and turned into a feature at the front of the school. The water wheel has been the school logo since its centenary in 1988. The school’s current sports uniform had the water wheel emblem imprinted on it and there are windows around the school that depict a water wheel. It will be made in time for the 125th jubilee held on March 22 and 23 in 2013. Current principal Gerald Baldwin was hoping to use “as much local labour” as possible but had not confirmed who SEE PAGE 2
Lightning bolts rural homes Phillip Rollo A lightning strike in Brightwater last Monday night has caused computers to explode and ruined thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment. Lightning struck Palmer Rd and Livingston Rd in Brightwater, leaving some residents without power or internet access for numerous days. There was a report of a destroyed television while phones, scanners, printers, modems and light bulbs were also ruined in some homes.
Livingston Rd residents Colin and Jenny The Halls had insurance, and were thankHall were sitting in the lounge when they ful that the computer’s hard drive had been restored. heard the computer room “combust.” The couple did not lose Kelly and Paula Fearnley, who power to their home but a brand also live on Livingston Rd, new $3000 computer, scanner thought their son had been elecand printer were ruined. “It was trocuted by his Xbox. He was playing on the console when the like a bolt out of the blue,” says Jenny. “It was just like the comfirst strike hit. “There was a masputer room blowing up. The Lightning strikes sive bang. I heard my kid scream. whole room just went ‘kaboom’. in Palmers Rd. I thought something had blown We were in the lounge and we felt the com- up. It was really scary,” says Kelly. bustion. It was horrible.” Paula was at a friend’s place when the
lightning and thunder struck. When she returned home, the street was barely visible. “It was just black. There are no street lights so it was impossible to see.” Their computer and modem had been destroyed. The Fearnleys also had insurance. Kaimira Winery had no internet and no working phone line from Monday through to Thursday afternoon but worked around it by sending management staff home to check their emails. SEE PAGE 4
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