27 September Wainuiomata News

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Frank Neill

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Looking forward to her first World Cup

Continued from page 1

Georja, who is 14, has been selected in Softball New Zealand’s Under 15 Women’s World Cup team.

She will travel to Japan next month where the 23rd ranked New Zealand team will face top competition, including the number one ranked United States and number two ranked Japan. She is, Georja says, “looking forward to the World Cup and playing against the best teams in the world.”

SALES

Les Whiteside

les@wsn.co.nz

021 360 008

This year is the first Under 15 Women’s World Cup. Organised by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and the Japan Softball Association, it will take place in Tokyo from 19 to 30 October.

Flynn, who is 16, has been selected in a Softball New Zealand Development Team that is competing in the Under 18 Queensland State Championships this week.

who have gone on to big things,” Lance says.

The players who have inspired them include Tane Mumu, who plays for the Black Sox, and junior White Sox player Aayla Toman.

This is the first time that the three young softballers have been selected to represent New Zealand, although Flynn was in the Wellington Regional Baseball team that represented New Zealand in a tournament when he was 11 or 12.

Lance is very appreciative of all the support the family has received from Wainuiomata.

“Thank you to the local community and friends and family for all the support and help they have given us,” he says.

That support has included sponsorship, support with their fundraising and general assistance.

“The support has been pretty overwhelming and pretty humbling,” Lance says.

NATIONAL SALES

Sam Barnes

sam@wsn.co.nz 021 109 4406

CLASSIFIED SALES classifieds@wsn.co.nz

His younger brother, 15-year-old Connor, has made an International Softball Academy New Zealand Under 15 Softball Team competing in the Under 15 Blue Blaze Tournament in Sydney next week.

“We’re very proud of them, absolutely,” their father, Lance Keall, says. “It’s a pretty big deal. It’s very cool.

“They have all worked really hard behind the scenes and have taken their opportunities.”

All three have been “inspired by local Wainuiomata juniors

A ll three softballers began their softball careers playing in the junior competitions for the Wainuiomata Softball Club.

However this year the club was unable to attract sufficient players for their age group competitions, so they have had to move over the hill to play.

Flynn and Connor now play for the Hutt Valley Dodgers while Georja plays for Totara Park.

As well as playing Softball and Baseball, Georja, Connor and Flynn are members of the Wainuiomata Squash and Tennis Clubs.

Holiday programmes

School holiday programmes will be taking place at the Wainuiomata Community Hub next week.

Four programmes will be held at the hub.

The first is “Grow your ball skills” and it will take place between 9am and 4pm on Monday 2 October.

“Grow a paper garden” is the next programme. It starts at 2pm on Tuesday 3 October.

“What’s Cooking? Spring into healthy kai”

is the third programme.

It will take place from 10:30am to 1:30pm on Thursday 5 October. A booking is needed to attend this programme. The Community Hub contact is 564 5822, or Wainuiomata.Hub@ huttcity.govt.nz.

The final programme for this school holidays is “Bricks and pieces”.

It will run from 9am to 3pm on Saturday 7 October.

Chris Bishop

Flynn and Connor are both students at Wainuiomata High School while Georja studies at

Whitby Collegiate, having won a Softball scholarship at the school this year.

Connor Keall in the batter’s box awating a pitch. Photo: Supplied.

Georja Keall about to hit the ball.

Photo: Suplied.

Flynn Keall in action as a catcher.

Photo: Supplied.

Joyce Lockyer honoured in Civic Awards

By Frank Neill

Joyce Lockyer, who launched the initiatve to restore Wainuiomta’s Pioneer Church, was honoured at this year’s Hutt Civic Awards.

She was presented with the Civic Honour in Cultural Affairs and Educational Service by the Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis.

Joyce “has a passion for the Wainuiomata community and the Wainuiomata Pioneer Church,” her award citation says.

“From when she moved to the suburb in 1962, Joyce immersed herself in the community by being elected Secretary of the Wainuiomata Free Kindergarten and serving on the Wainuiomata Intermediate and College committees, as well as numerous other community groups.

“But arguably her most impactful work is initiating the restoration of the Coast Road Pioneer Church.

“Joyce formed a committee in 2012,

and instigated and organised countless fundraising projects to help fully restore the church, which is now a Heritage Building the community can proudly use.

“Joyce continues to tirelessly work for the church, always being one of the first to raise her hand to volunteer as well as looking after the grounds as part of their garden group,” the citation says.

Joyce received the award for her contributions both to the Coast Road Pioneer Church and also to the wider Wainuiomata community.

Sitting in Wainuiomata’s oldest churchyard, complete with the graves of early settlers, the church held its first service on 6 February 1866.

The opening came some 13 years after Richard Prouse Snr bought the land where the church now stands. He sold the land to the Methodist Church on 4 January 1865 for five shillings.

The first knownburial in the churchyard

was of James Riddle, a local labourer who died on 12 August 1862.

Although built as a Methodist place of worship, all denominations attended services there as it was the only church in the valley for many years. This is evidenced by some of the burials in the churchyard, which are of Roman Catholics.

With the building of St Stephen’s Church in 1957 and its opening in early 1958, the Coast Road church fell into disuse apart from the occasional wedding and funeral.

The Wainuiomata Arts Society then used the building from 1974 to 2009, when the society folded.

The Wainuiomata Pioneer Church Preservation Society Incorporated took over possession of the church and has managed the full renovation, rebuilding of the vestry, and ongoing asset and operational management of the building, churchyard and grounds since.

TRM Training graduation

TRM Training held a graduation ceremony for the latest cohort of the highly successful Wainuiomata-based Whakamana Rangatahi programme on 21 September.

During the ceremony the rangatahi received their certificates, graduating with the St Johns First Aid, NZ Water Safety and the TRM Microcredential in Basics of Mahi Toi (weaving and carving).

Many also attained their New Zealand Driver Licence and all secured placement into tertiary training or employment.

The graduation celebration was held at the Valley Church on Fitzherbert Road and organised by the TRM managers Mere Puketapu-Dahm and Jordan Mansell.

The guest speakers were from the Te Awakairangi Health Network and Ministry of Social Development. Both shared compelling personal stories of their own struggles as rangatahi about how they build their own path of resilience then how they came to be in the careers both were inspiring for all to listen to.

The Whakamana Tane akonga finished off the graduation with a resounding Ngati Porou haka led by programme manager Jordan

Mansell.

Since starting in 2020 TRM Training has engaged more than 200 rangatahi in their programmes and has convened 13 graduations.

TRM is grateful to the help of their

partners

Rachael Van Aalst: Unsure – most likely National but I’m a Labour voter.

Hannah Gauteng

I predict a lot of talk and not much action.

David Flanders

I’ll let you know after the leader’s debate.

Amy Stevenson Certainly won’t be red – time for a change.

Aaron Hammond

Isn’t there rugby world cup action on that night?

Melanie McTosh

I predict Winston to be in the conversation.

Hutt City’s Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis (left) presenting the Civic Award to Joyce Lockyer. Photo: Suplied.

who help make this training happen: Wainuiomata Marae, Valley Church, Active 2001 Accountants, Camp Wainui, Kokiri Hauora, MSD, Te Awakairangi Health Network and Ako Treaty Trainers.

At the TRM Training graduation ceremony (from left) TRM Training manager Jordan Mansell, Angus Te Puni Manuel, graduate Te Kauri Timutimu and Ierquarne Te Wiki-Mu. Photo: Supplied.

The first thing to realise is that plants will take up any minerals or elements that are in the g rowing medium along with any chemicals.

For instance you avoid growing vegetables next to an older house as there is a likelihood of lead in the soil from lead paints used in the past on the house.

This is even more so for any root crops such as potatoes or carrots because roots store more of the lead than the foliage.

I read also that in old gold fields that planting of big rooting plants such as hemp can be used to take up the minute gold particles and then later extracted from the mature plant.

This morning I read the latest newsletter from Guy Hatchet in which he says:

As you know, public health is my major concern. Little is possible without robust health.

So the most important question is what alternatives are available to solve the public health crisis?

Guy goes on to suggest: According to scientific studies, what really can improve health outcomes?

Food Improving diet is a powerful approach.

Many studies show that the benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables for health are not only significant but they are very large studies.

Research published in 2015, with 150,000 participants over 32 years found that vegetarians live longer. Even a tiny 3 per cent increase in protein from plants led to a huge 12

GARDENING THIS WEEK

Bringing the ocean to your garden: By Wally Richards

per cent drop in risk of death from cardiovascular-related disease.

A study published by the BMJ found:

“Participants with Covid-19 who reported following ‘plant-based diets’ and ‘plant-based diets with pescatarian elements’ had 73% and 59% lower odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 severity, respectively, compared with participants who did not follow these diets.”

I replied back to Guy with the following: Hi Guy

Yes you are right about diet being the key to better health outcomes but produce commercially grown found in supermarkets is not healthy food with good nutritional values; it is unhealthy, force grown and containing numerous chemicals from sprays and fertilisers.

For instance NZFSA in one of their past analysis of food found 23 different chemicals in cucumbers tested; these were from sprays used to protect from diseases and insect pests.

That was one of the worst cases but most others also had too many chemical poisons in the produce.

Commercially grown produce is also relatively tasteless when compared to naturally home grown vegetables, which are delicious to eat and brimming full of minerals and nutrients.

Organic grown is half the answer as it removes the chemical poisons but it does not necessary increase the nutritional values and taste.

The simple test is if the produce tastes really good then it has great health values and you do not need to eat much to feel satisfied.

Regards Wally Richards. I believe that most readers of my columns already know these aspects and hence do grow as much of their own food chain as possible and have better health outcomes as a result, for them and their families.

Putting the goodness into the soil so the plants take it up will not only increase the goodness of the food but the taste will be that much better as well.

We have two products which are from the ocean one of which is Wallys Ocean Solids containing all the known minerals and elements of which there are 114.

Lightly applied to the soil or occasionally diluted and sprayed over t he foliage of your plants it will increase the health and goodness of your vegetables.

Then there is our special fertiliser made from the fish of the sea: Bio Marinus™ which is manufactured by the enzymatic hydrolysis of fish offal, blended with humate, seaweed and biology including Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma, mycorrhizae fungi etc, together with gibberellic acid which promotes growth.

Designed to provide a high quality, cost effective fertiliser.

Use at 30ml per litre of non chlorinated water for soil drench and feeding plants, and 15ml per litre of non chlorinated water for foliage spray Biologically active soils have the

ability to retain moisture and release nutrients ensuring greater production, faster rotation and more rapid recovery from stress.

To build a healthy biological soil we need products that can feed living organisms.

Soil health and soil fertility requires much more than NPK fertiliser.

Without the right biology, plants and animals cannot reach their full potential.

Biology is essential for the recycling of nutrients and the fixing of atmospheric nitrogen.

Bio Marinus™ is produced in Christchurch made with fish from our Southern Oceans and available in one litre containers for the home gardeners.

These we have had the privilege to promote for a few years.

The company has focused its products to the commercial growers and have given me the rights to decant and relabel the

product, which soon will be labeled as Wallys Fish Fertiliser.

The cost savings of us doing the product has reduced the retail price down by $2.00 to $16.00 a litre.

We also can now supply garden shops with a wholesale price so they can offer their customers the best fish fertiliser in NZ brimming full of goodness and microbes for your gardens.

The product is suitable to add Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) to the spray but as there is life microbes in the fish fertiliser you need to use it soon after adding or otherwise do not seal the cap as the microbes c an grow their populations and balloon the plastic container.

You can use this to advantage by placing the fish fertiliser into a bucket of non chlorinated water and then add some molasses to the brew and grow over night your own billions of beneficial microbes to add to the soils of your garden.

New DP at Wainuiomata High School

By Frank Neill

Wainuiomata High School has a new Deputy Principal.

Jonathan Broom is coming to the school from the Taipa Area School, where he is currently the Deputy Principal. He will take up his new role at Wainuiomata High School in week 5 of term 4.

The school farewelled its Deputy Principal Ryan Clark at the end of week 8.

Ryan has been appointed in the education sector with Wellington City Council.

“In his short time here, Ryan had a positive impact on our young people, and he will be missed,” the school says.

“Ryan has a real passion for

education, but more so for finding ways to give our konga every possible opportunity to succeed and to shine.

“He made strong connections with wh nau and our community, and we are really grateful for the contributions he made to Wainuiomata High School.”

Wainuiomata High has received a grant of $1,616 from the Hutt

Valley Trampiing Club.

The money will be used to encourage more outdoor education at the school.

The tramping club has also donated the school a large amount of pre-loved clothing, tramping gear and equipment.

“Wainuiomata High School is very appreciative of this massive contribution,” the school says.

Shakespearean actors in the capital

The walls of Scots College is resounding with the mellifluous tones of Shakespearean drama and music this week.

Secondary students from around New Zealand are attending the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand’s (SGCNZ) National Shakespeare Schools Production.

The 48 students have been selected from SGCNZ’s 24 regional and national festivals.

Starting on 24 September and running to 2 October the rangatahi begin each day with waiata and haka practice before joining together to do workshops on singing Shakespearean songs, dancing, comedy and combat – to mention just a few.

For the other half of each day, they toil away in rehearsals, pre-

paring for the culminating productions of 40-minute excerpts of scenes from Romeo & Juliet, Richard III and Cymbeline to be directed by actor/director/agent/ SGCNZ Alumna Holly Shanahan, drama lecturer/director Kerryn Palmer and actor Craig Geenty, (respectively), who will also take a workshop each.

They will be accompanied by winners of SGCNZ’s Music Composition and Costume Design Competitions, Student Composer, Karim Efremov and Student Costumier, Libby Nicholls.

The line up of illustrious tutors includes Dame Miranda Harcourt speaking on screen skills for Shakespeare and SGCNZ Chief Executive Dawn Sanders sharing her deep knowledge of the Globe

Public Notice

and NZ’s gift of Hangings, as well as Shakespeare’s world. Performances comprising 40 minutes from each of the plays plus some additional items will take place at the Alan Gibbs Centre, Wellington College at 7.30pm on Saturday 30 September and 4pm on Sunday 1 October at the Wild Theatre, Wellington Zoo.

“This hotly sought after opportunity is full of enriching learning experiences, creating a like-minded new whanau and all-important support network, and the chance of being selected to go to the Globe as a member of SGCNZ Young Shakespeare Company 2024,” CEO/Organiser Dawn Sanders says.

Bookings can be made at Eventfinda.co.nz.

CLASSIFIEDS

Wainuiomata Rugby Football Club Inc

AGM WRFC Clubrooms

Friday 27th October 2023, 6:00pm at the Clubrooms, 2 Moohan St, Wainuiomata.

All members welcome Any body interested in being part of the WRFC committee please let us know?

wainuirugbyclub@gmail.com

027 779 9411

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Need some extra cash??

Why not get fit while earning Be part of our team from the Wainuiomata News and deliver newspapers to local houses. We require honest and reliable people aged 11 and older. Interested? Please contact:

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ACROSS

WEDNESDAY

Painters

CATTERY Casa De Wootton, home away from home. Rural surroundings. 187 Moores Valley Road. Phone Jane 5644310 Your

1. Be traitorous (6,5)

7. Alien (7)

11. Lowest point (5)

12. Italian wine (7)

13. Latin American dance (5)

14. FIll with delight (9)

15. Abode (9)

16. World’s largest river (6)

18. Mobile home (7)

21. Sinistral (4)

23. For every (3)

25. Jack (in cribbage) (3)

27. Neat (4)

28. Castrated horse (7)

30. Became bitter (6)

32. High mountain (3)

33. Evil spell (3)

34. Puzzle (6)

35. Large grey goose (7)

36. Cross between a grapefruit & a tangerine (4)

37. Deed (3)

39. Petrol(inf) (3)

41. College official (4)

43. Diplomatic (7)

45. Young people (6)

48. Advancement (9)

49. Crouching down (9)

51. Take in & feed(livestock)

Who first proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection?

In the early 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed his theory of the transmutation of species, the first fully formed theory of evolution. In 1858, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace published a new evolutionary theory that was explained in detail in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859).

for payment (5)

52. Mythical creature (7)

53. Bony plated marine fish(Europe) (5)

54. Skilled workman (7)

55. Hell (6,5)

DOWN

1. Stupid (5)

2. Deceitful (11)

3. Tip of graduates hood (8)

4. Desert plant (6)

5. Yellow-green colour (5)

6. Drink of red wine & fruit juice (7)

7. Cattle breed (8)

8. Cure (6)

9. Vast (7)

10. Loop (5)

16. Changed (7)

17. Overlook (7)

19. Snake (5)

20. Posy (7)

22. Hot spirit drinks (7)

24. Corded cloth (3)

26. Spar (3)

29. Brandy liqueur with almonds (5)

31. Conservative party member (5,6)

32. Wing (3)

33. Witch (3)

38. Habitually silent (8)

40. Left-handed person(inf) (8)

42. Writer of love (7)

44. Stress (7)

46. Adages (6)

47. Pear-shaped fruit (6)

48. Italian syndicate (Americas’ Cup) (5)

49. Sprout (5)

50. Gluttony (5)

Solution

13 September 2023

Garin College’s scene from Richard III that the students will perform.

Photo: Brian Scurfield, Memory of Light.

Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Peter, Ruben star for Lions

By Frank Neill

Wainuiomata’s Peter UmagaJensen was among the players who starred when the Wellington Lions defeated North Harbour 26-6 at Jerry Collins Stadium, Porirua, on 24 September.

The win meant that the undefeated Lions cannot be topped in Rugby’s National Provincial Championship with one round to play before the finals begin.

Peter and his fellow mid fielder Billy Proctor proved an outstand-

ing combination in the match, which also saw the Lions retain the Ranfurly Shield.

Their combination was very evident when Peter slotted a perfectly weighted kick through the North Harbour defence and Billy raced through to pick up the kick and score an outstanding try.

Billy’s try saw the Lions take a 16-6 lead into the half time break.

Full back Ruben Love also played outstandingly in the Lions win over North Harbour, highlighting the importance of

the two Wainuiomata players to the Lions..

The Lions owe their opening try to Ruben after he made an excellent injection to into the back line a nd then delvered an excellent long pass to Losi Filipo, who ran in untouched.

The Lions next match sees them hosting Hawke’s Bay, who currently lie fifth on the table.

T he match will be played at Sky Stadium on 30 September, and the Ranfurly Shield will be on the line.

Rugby group visits Josh Bowles

By Frank Neill

A group from the Wainuiomata Rugby Football Club visited one of its members, Josh Bowles, at the Burwood Sprinal Unit on 23 September.

The group of 14 club members was in Christchurch with the Rugby Ramblers on its annual trip, where they watched two Heartland Rugby matches.

While in Christchurch the group, which included Josh’s father Warren (Lawn) Bowles, made their visit to Josh.

Josh was seriously injured on 18 April last year.

He fell five metres and sustained critical injuries including broken legs, hand, spine in two places, and facial injuries along with having part of his skull removed to relieve pressure on his brain.

After several surgeries in Wel-

lington Josh was transferred to Burwood Spinal Unit for more specialised treatment and rehabilitation.

He is facing a long road to recovery from the life changing injuries, which includes being blind in one eye.

The Rugby club organised fundraisers for Josh, raising thousands of dollars.

It was “really good” to visit Josh, Gerard Eising, the Wainuiomata Rugby Football Club’s Chair, says.

“We presented him with a Rugby Ramblers polo

“Josh is hoping to be back in Wellington by Christmas all depending on progress,” Gerard says.

Josh has been both a junior and senior player for the club as well as coaching junior sides over the years.

Eye-opening review of KiwiRail failure

A rapid review following the failure of KiwiRail equipment that almost brought Wellington passenger services to a standstill in May has been described as “eye-opening” by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC).

The independent review was prompted by the failure of KiwiRail’s EM80 track inspection unit, the only equipment in the North Island capable of certifying rail track safety.

The review into KiwiRail’s management of Auckland and Wellington rail networks is, “an eye-opening account of poor decision-making,” GWRC’s Chair Daran Ponter says.

“We support the findings and would gladly join the proposed passenger rail governance group to help deliver the overdue recommendations within the review,” Cr Ponter says.

The review recommends measures to strengthen the governance, safety and funding of passenger rail services.

It also calls for KiwiRail to improve its management of vital equipment, its communication with public transport authorities, and its focus on metropolitan rail and passengers as opposed to freight.

The equipment failure and review are timely reminders of the resilience that needs to be built into Wellington’s rail network, along with the significant upgrades needed to increase capacity and frequency of passenger rail services, Thomas Nash, Chair of GWRC’s Transport Committee, says.

“Current funding is not enough to deal with the range of resilience issues that KiwiRail needs to address in our region.

“These include fragilities like slope instability

and assets at the end of their life.

“We’ve asked KiwiRail to identify all potential critical points of failure on our rail network, and we believe an injection of cash will be necessary to manage these risks.

“This is especially important given our ambition to triple passenger rail capacity in our region over the next 30 years,” Cr Nash says.

The review also highlighted a culture of ‘decisionmaking being pushed up the chain of command’ at KiwiRail, ‘rather than problems being solved at the level they are created and observed’.

As well as improving KiwiRail’s internal processes, the review will enhance its relationships with Metlink and rail operator Transdev, Metlink Group Manager Samantha Gain says.

“Important lessons have been learned from this episode.

“KiwiRail will be at pains to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again and that good communication and understanding of the impact on passengers is at the forefront of future decisions,” Ms Gain says.

“We continue to work closely and collaboratively with KiwiRail on a range of upgrades to the Wellington rail network through our Future Rail work programme.

“Passengers will benefit from the increased reliability and comfort that comes from station and platform upgrades and double tracking.”

The rapid review of ‘KiwiRail’s Handling of Recent Disruptions to Passenger Services’ can be found on the transport.govt.nz website

For more information on planned upgrades to the Wellington rail network visit www.metlink.org. nz/news-and-updates/news/future-rail/.

Speed limit increase proposed

Faster journeys to the K piti Coast and beyond are in the pipeline.

Waka Kotahi is working to see if speed limits can be increased to 110 km/h on the Mackays to Peka Peka and Peka Peka to taki expressways next year.

Increasing the speed limits on the Transmission Gully may also be considered.

A speed management technical review of the Mackays to taki expressways are being done and the intention is to make a decision on speed limits for the expressways in early 2024, Emma Speight, Waka Kotahi’s Director of Regional Relationships, says.

“The review, along with public consultation, will see if it is appropriate to increase the speed limit on these expressways without compromising driver safety.

“We can consider increasing the posted speed limit when a road is designed and constructed to modern safety standards.”

Before the new sections of State Highway 1 were built, there were over a thousand crashes on the old highway route between 2008 and 2022, Ms Speight says.

Of these, 10 were fatal and 55 were serious.

“The number of crashes on the new expressway between Mackays Crossing and Peka Peka has fallen dramatically following its opening in 2017. 166 crashes have been recorded, with no fatal crashes and only seven serious crashes.

“Since the opening of Peka Peka to taki Expressway last year, there have only been four minor crashes on the route,” Ms Speight says.

New higher speed limits can only be considered for roads designed and constructed to the necessary standards and only after comprehensive review and consultation.

Raising the speed limit to 110 km/h is subject to the review finding the increase is safe and appropriate. It also requires technical and safety reviews and public consultation to be carried out through a Speed Management Plan.

The Director of Land Transport at Waka Kotahi must also be satisfied the road can be safely maintained and operated at a higher speed.

The aim is to wrap this work into the State Highway Speed Management Plan 2024-27,” Ms Speight says.

“This means we should be able to release a decision later in 2024. If approved by the Director of Land Transport, we can then begin implementing any changes,” Ms Speight says.

Ruben Love about to score a try for the Wellington Lions on 24 September.

The Wainuiomata Rugby Club contingent with Josh Bowles at the Burwood Spinal Unit in Christchurch.

Photo: Supplied.