Extra

Greytown School auction a success

When Greytown School’s deputy principal Neil Preston was approached by the organisers of the Greytown Midwinter Christmas Festival, he brainstormed various ideas to involve the school.

At fi rst, he decided an exhibition of students’ art would be a good idea. However, when he and the organising group thought about the numbers of artists and art lovers who live in and near Greytown, the idea morphed into an art auction. “I didn’t have to do much shoulder tapping,” Preston says. “I talked to Becky Bateman and Josepha Murray, parents of children atthe school, and they gave me some contacts. It just grew from there. Word seemed to get out and we had people contacting us. Artists knew that the works were on commission but some still donated a piece. It fi nally resulted in an exhibition of about 70 pieces from 45 diff erent artists.”

Meantime, the idea of a student art exhibition was not abandoned.

“The involvement of the school was to me just as important as the auction,” Preston says. “Our ākonga [students] spent some time researching various artists and their techniques and making art in that style. One class studied Hundertwasser and another our local artist Sandra Wong.”

“On the day before the auction, teachers displayed the students’ art in classrooms. Families could come in that Friday to see the works and make a koha for their child’s piece if they wanted to. Not only was art being taught, but also the diff erent ways we value people’s art work.”

“The kaupapa of the art action was ultimately about us connecting with the school and the wider community,” Greytown School principal Paula Weston said. “Covid removed so many opportunities to come together. So we wanted to do something that invited people in to be part of us again.”

Preston credits the success to community help and eff ort. Under the hammer of Property Brokers’ Benn Milne, most works were sold at above reserve prices, with goodnatured banter from the crowd accompanying the auction battles, raising a sizeable amount of money for the school’s new junior playground.

Greytown School’s auction was not the only opportunity to attend an art auction this year. Aratoi will hold two art auction events in November: on November 4, Little Jewels will, for the fi rst time, take the form of a silent auction. On November 8, the winetasting event Palette to Palate will be accompanied by an auction of works from three or four prestigious Wairarapa artists.

PHOTO/SUPPLIED

International trio returns to Greytown

This weekend, after a long absence, the Levansa Trio will be returning to play in Wairarapa.

The trio, comprised of violinist Andrew Beer, cellist Lev Sivkov, and pianist Sarah Watkins, will be embarking on a New Zealand tour, starting with a concert in Greytown on Saturday afternoon.

The Levansa trio fi rst came together as an ensemble in 2019, while Sivkov, based in Switzerland, was visiting New Zealand to play solo concerts.

It was clear from the beginning that this international collaboration between an Aucklandbased Canadian, a Russian and a Kiwi had great potential, and that the three musicians felt a spontaneous affi nity as chamber music partners.

The performances that emerged during their fi rst series of recitals [including one in Greytown] refl ected their enjoyment and satisfaction in making music together.

The trio agreed to continue playing together — but the covid pandemic intervened.

However, the musicians made the best of the situation: despite being on opposite sides of the world, Beer and Sivkov performed together online and even made recordings of violin and cello duets by Russian composer Reinhold Glière.

Beer and Watkins, who were both named as New Zealand Classical Artists of the Year in 2020, also played together on social media — with a guest appearance from Watkins’ cat.

The Greytown concert, organised by the Greytown Music Group, will feature

The Levansa Trio: Andrew Beer [left], Sarah Watkins, and Lev Sivkov. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Bohuslav Martinu’s Piano

Trio No 2, Mozart’s Adagio by Arvo Pärt, andNew Zealand composer Clare Cowan’s Ultraviolet.

The major work for the programme will be the epic Piano Trio in A Minor by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Although Tchaikovsky had previously refused to write a piano trio, as he thought the sounds didn’t blend well together, the death of close friend Nikolai Rubinstein, who had composed fi ve piano trios, changed his mind.

Tchaikovsky resolved to commemorate Rubinstein by writing a piano part so virtuosic it would have been worthy of his keyboard prowess.

Pianist Watkins said the trio was “looking forward to putting the band together” after several years apart.

“We’ll have an intense period of rehearsals before our fi rst concert in Greytown,” she said.

“We feel that the rapport we felt the fi rst time around will carry us through.”

• The Levansa trio will play on Saturday, July 23, at 57 Wood Street,

Greytown, starting at 4pm. Admission is $30 for adults, $10 for children. Bookings are essential — contact

Ed and Juliet Cooke on 06 304 9497, or efjacooke@gmail.com, to book a space.

Pirinoa Coffee House

Rural cafe, bar and craft store OPEN ALL WINTER 7 days a week 8.30am to 2pm

JULY UPDATE

The next local body election is on the way and with it, certain rules. Some of them revolve around campaigning and publicity, which is why the Mayor’s column is mine until the election on 8 October. Nominations opened on 15 July for anyone wishing to stand for Council or our three community boards. We’re really keen to see a diverse range of people passionate about their communities come on board. If you are wondering what sort of skills and qualities a candidate needs to have, or have other questions, please go to the election page on our website. You’ll find a candidate’s handbook, answers to frequently asked questions and the forms you need. Nominations close on August 12 and will be announced a week later. The election itself will be held by postal vote between 16 September and 8 October. Whether you’re a resident or a property owner here who lives outside the district, you are entitled to your vote, and we will be reminding you in the coming months how to check you are enrolled. You may already have forms in the mail asking you to update any changes to your details from the Parliamentary roll. Finally, there have been many hefty decisions made by Council recently, including our submission on Three Waters and solutions for Hinekura Road. Our submission on Three Waters will be on the Parliamentary website – please read it to understand the finer points on how this may affect our district. And you can read about Hinekura Road below. Keep warm and well. Harry Wilson CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Featherston Master Plan

Our planners will be consulting later this month with the Featherston community on two concept options for the town’s Master Plan. Over the next 30 years, Featherston is expected to be a popular place, particularly because of its proximity to the train. Future development must consider how we allow for more housing and infrastructure while retaining the town’s character and feel. One option will focus on housing intensification around the station and main street. The other proposes moving the train station closer to town to rejuvenate and intensify the main street. Both concepts have their pros and cons. Our Featherston Master Plan Discussion Document comes out on 22 July. You’ll find it at the libraries or on our website, and a flyer will be emailed to Featherston residents who have joined our database. We want your feedback, which you can give via a survey on our website, by emailing or writing to us, and at drop-in sessions due to be announced soon. Please email enquiries@swdc.govt.nz to join our database. The results of this feedback will contribute to a draft Master Plan and hearings later this year, with adoption and implementation expected early next year.

Hinekura Road

On July 14 the Council agreed to allocate funding to help residents in the Hinekura area who have lost their main access route to Martinborough due to a large landslide on 14 June. The landslide was 80 metres wide and destroyed over 500m of Hinekura Road, and is still considered active. With the old section of road deemed unable to be fixed, the Council has begun planning a new road, and has allocated up to $500,000 towards the design work . Up to $200,000 was also allocated towards maintaining the residents’ alternative route, Admiral Road, and a contribution of up to $100,000 towards supporting a community initiative to create a temporary farm track. The temporary track is on private land and would be suitable for 4WD and light vehicles. It would provide emergency access to Martinborough should the Admiral Road route be closed. Waka Kotahi has approved an initial application for $200,000 to help with design costs, and further applications will be made once the costs of the new road are firmed up. The Admiral Road access has added considerable time to the commute of Hinekura residents, affecting at least around 30 households and 10 school students, plus business-related traffic and farm staff. The Council had previously launched a $20,000 Hinekura Road Relief Fund to support these residents as they prepare for a number of months of disruption. The fund, launched on 29 June and administered by the Rural Support Trust, will help with accommodation, transport and other immediate costs.

Wonderful winter cheer

The libraries have been humming with a number of winter activities. More than 1,400 school children (and some adults!) visited the Stardome, Te Papa’s mobile inflatable planetarium, as it travelled around the towns helping people learn about the Matariki constellation. Then the latest instalment of our school holiday activity booklets, Discover, came out in time for the July school holidays. During Greytown’s MidWinter Festival of Christmas, one of our librarians Sylvia Arnold, found herself teaching furoshiki, the Japanese art of fabric gift-wrapping, to booked-out sessions. And the whole library took on a Narnia-like appearance last Friday evening as it celebrated all things wintry.

Tayla enjoys the Narnian-themed night at Greytown Library.

Loving our local heroes

We’d like to take a moment to recognise the good works of some of the community groups in our area. Firstly, the Greytown Menz Shed, which rents Council premises, recently raised $4,000 to send to relief agencies in the Ukraine. Ka pai! We’d also like to introduce to you the Wairarapa branch of the Good Bitches Baking group. GBB, as it’s called, bakes goodies to cheer up many organisations, from Women’s Refuge and foodbanks to community groups. At least once a week, Featherston GBB volunteer Tracey Cassells (pictured) drops goodies down to people like Featherston Foodbank’s Erin McBride. GBB needs more drivers and bakers – will you help? Contact Eve at GBB Wairarapa on Facebook. And finally, a shout-out to the ever-active Greytown Lions for painting the timber rails outside the Soldiers’ Park Memorial Pool – they look great!

Notice of Meeting

Meeting agendas are available for inspection at least two days before the meeting at the district libraries, Council offices and at www. swdc.govt.nz. Public participation is welcome. If you wish to speak during the public participation session at any of the below meetings, please phone 06 306 9611 at least 24 hours prior to the meeting or email enquiries@swdc.govt.nz. Masks are required for those in attendance and physical distancing is recommended at all times. If you have cold and flu symptoms, please stay at home. The meetings will be livestreamed on our YouTube Channel, where possible.

AUGUST MEETINGS

MĀORI STANDING COMMITTEE Tuesday, 2 August at 6.00pm Supper Room, Waihinga Centre, Texas Street, Martinborough FINANCE, AUDIT AND RISK Wednesday, 3 August at 10.00am Supper Room, Waihinga Centre, Texas Street, Martinborough WAIRARAPA LIBRARY SERVICE JOINT COMMITTEE Wednesday 3 August at 2.00pm Supper Room, Waihinga Centre, Texas Street, Martinborough GREYTOWN COMMUNITY BOARD Wednesday, 3 August at 6.00pm Greytown WBS Room, Greytown Town Centre, Main Street, Greytown FEATHERSTON COMMUNITY BOARD Tuesday, 9 August at 7.00pm Kiwi Hall, 62 Bell Street, Featherston COUNCIL (ORDINARY) Wednesday, 10 August at 10.00am Supper Room, Waihinga Centre, Texas Street, Martinborough MARTINBOROUGH COMMUNITY BOARD Thursday, 11 August at 6.30pm Supper Room, Waihinga Centre, Texas Street, Martinborough PLANNING AND REGULATORY Wednesday, 24 August at 10.00am Supper Room, Waihinga Centre, Texas Street, Martinborough ASSETS AND SERVICES Wednesday, 24 August at 12.30pm Supper Room, Waihinga Centre, Texas Street, Martinborough Harry Wilson CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

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