FAST FUN: Charlie Smith, Hawera, smacks the ball into the outfield during an indoor softball game in New Plymouth. Photo: Sharyn Smart
Softball is being revamped in an attempt to attract new players.
The Taranaki Softball Association under the watchful eye of Allan Prestney, Witt’s Kaitakawaenga – Maori and Pasifika support co-ordinator, has shortened the game and moved it indoors to get more people involved.
“With it being mainly a Saturday afternoon sport we are loosing players due to work commitments,” she said.
Mrs Prestney said that too many games get rained off between October and December and moving indoors would enable play regardless of the weather.
She encourages people to have some fun and exercise by joining a team.
“We have mixed composite teams. So it’s just about giving it a go,” she said.
Teams are generally made up of nine players but can play with a minimum of 7.
Stratford Paralympian cyclist Nathan Smith Photo: SuppliedNZ Challenge: Harcourt’s John Christiansen, left, and Halberg disability sports advisor John Sigurdsson are joining forces to raise funds for disabled children in Taranaki. Photo: Sharyn Smart
Stratford paralympian cyclist Nathan Smith is part of the New Zealand team competing in the ANZA Challenge later this month.
Mr Smith has focused on his career after last year’s London Paralympics, working fulltime as charge pharmacist at McKay Pharmacy in Stratford.
“When they asked me to do it (the ANZA Challenge) I said it will give me a reason to get back on my bike and train for something. I was dead keen,” Mr Smith said.
The charitable event will pit two celebrity teams, representing New Zealand and Australia, against each other as they compete for national pride and raise money for their nominated charities.
Mr Christiansen, New Plymouth spokesperson for Harcourts, said it was a great honour to be principal sponsors of the ANZA Challenge.
The New Zealand race of the ANZA Challenge will begin in Wellington on October 15 and move through Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Hamilton, with their charity being the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation.
TARANAKI SUCCESS: Representing North Taranaki the Huntaways team of C Herbert (left), V Berrie, A Spurway, S Megchelse, S Henderson, O Thompson-Booth, M Henderson, P Grayling and Coaches: H Marshall and L Quay won second place at the North Island Show Hunter championships. PHOTO: Supplied
Riders, ponies and horse-floats took over Foxton earlier this month.
Pony clubs from around the North Island competed for the Show Hunter Championship title.
Representing the North Taranaki Pony Club, the Huntaways finished a close 2nd in the team event at the annual Manawatu Pony Club run event.
Wellington Gold was first and Carlyle (Waverley) was placed third out of 23 teams from the North Island.
Joint coach Holli Marshall said the event had been held since 2007 and the level of competition had grown and improved every year.
“Riders have been training, trialling and working hard with their horses and ponies. Many people made this event a success,” she said.
Huntaways team captain Cassie Herbert said it was a successful end to a great event.
“Everyone in the team rode really well and we all had some real good individual results which made the team come out on top,” she said.
Wedding masterpiece: Alison Lythgow, owner of Cake Alicious in Bell Block, returned from Fashion Week after being named as runner-up for the North Island in the cake decorating section. Photo: Sharyn Smart
Being handpicked to take part in New Zealand Fashion Week was a proud moment for New Plymouth business owner Alison Lythgow.
“I was so excited, what an amazing experience,” she said.
Mrs Lythgow owns a cake decorating business aptly named Cake Alicious, which she operates from her Bell Block home.
Her reputation for perfection and high quality work has resulted in Mrs Lythgow being picked along with eight other cake decorators from the North Island.
“It’s a great honour to be named one of North Island’s best cake decorator’s,” she said.
With the biggest crowd of the season watching, The Good Home Taranaki Mountain Airs put on a show deserving of a win, only to be nudged out in the FOURTH extra period to lose to the Otago Oceana Gold Nuggets 137–145 at TSB Stadium, New Plymouth last night.
MountainAirs Coach Dave Bublitz said he has never known a game to go on and on like this game did.
The close game was very physical and at times out-of-control as players flew in all directions with inconsistent decisions from the refs.
The fourth quarter saw the Mountain Airs playing “catch up”. Amazing work from Airs’ Jack Leasure, Link Abrams and Ethan Rusbatch saw the gap close. The calls from the refs were starting to have a big impact on the game as Nuggets’ Mark Dickel took a swing at Airs’ Link Abrams. The crowd chanted “off, off, off” but the ref only gave Abrams 2 shots. This decision would haunt the Airs.
With 4.07mins remaining on the clock Nuggets’ Benny Anthony was fouled out of the game and expressed his displeasure to the crowd. At full-time the scores were locked 93-93 with a clutch shot from Airs’ Jack Leasure sealing the deal.
Airs’ Kenny Gabriel had a quiet night adding only 10 points and 6 rebounds to be fouled out in the second of the four extra periods.
ANIMAL FUN: Ruby Hosking, 11, takes her furry friend Monty for a paddleboard ride during a public give it a go session in New Plymouth’s Breakwater Bay. Photo: Supplied
Kevin Hosking of Shorebreak Paddleboards is inviting the public to come and have a go.
“Come on down, enjoy the fun and get fit for summer,” he said.
Fortnightly races will be held starting Wednesday October 9 at Ngamotu Beach in New Plymouth.
For newbies there will be a fun short course race of 1km and a longer course of 3km for the more adventurous.
Mr Hosking will have some boards available for hire at a cost of $10 per race or bring your own.
Contact him at Shorebreak Paddleboards 0800 2782 6387.
This article was published in the North Taranaki Midweek on Wednesday October 9, 2013.
Love and respect: Rex and Fay Walker’s love for each other has spanned 60 years as they celebrated their wedding anniversary last week. Photo: Sharyn Smart
For Rex and Fay Walker it was love at first sight.
Still deeply in love the New Plymouth couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at a party with family and friends last week.
“I think we admired one another right from the start,” Mr Walker said looking at his wife for confirmation.
“Right from the beginning,” Mrs Walker (nee Sattler) said.
“It was pretty quick. The connection was there straight away,” Mr Walker said.
The couple speak as they treat life – with deep respect for each other and genuine love.
They first met at a dance held in the Inglewood Trade Hall during the square dance era.
Mrs Walker was a fantastic dancer and very much in demand while Mr Walker was not.
“Rex had never danced in his life before but proved a quick learner. He was special I thought,” Mrs Walker said.
Married in the Inglewood Presbyterian Church on October 3 the couple ran the family farm at Lepperton where they raised their four children.
They retired to New Plymouth nine years ago and now enjoy spending time with their eight grandchildren.
Mrs Walker says it’s important to “cherish” each other and that’s a word that involves a lot of thinking – to ensure a successful marriage.
“We had our own interests and were interested in each others,” she said.
Mr Walker said communication is the key to a successful marriage.
“I think that a big thing in life is to be able to communicate with people. If you can talk to people about the good and the bad – whatever you are discussing – if you can communicate you are away laughing,” he said.
Over the years it hasn’t all been plain sailing with the couple saying there has been a lot of give and take.
“Take the good with bad when you have to and work your way through it,” Mr Walker said.
“It’s important to let each other be themselves,” Mrs Walker said.
This article was published in the North Taranaki Midweek on Wednesday October 9, 2013.
CLOSE BONDS: Radio broadcasters Jay-Jay Feeney and Dom Harvey have shared their struggle to concieve a chld in the book Misconception.
FACTS ABOUT FERTILITY
One in five couples will experience difficulty to conceive
The cause of fertility issues are about 40% due to female, 40% the male, 10% both and 10% unexplained
Most women in their 20s-30s do not realise how early and how quickly their fertility can decline.
The average age for a first child for women in NZ currently is 30 and getting older.
At 30 a woman has a 22% chance each month of conceiving with unprotected intercourse.
By 40 years old this chance is reduced to just 6%.
Lifestyle factors such as smoking, overweight, recreational drugs and alcohol all effect fertility
Radio announcer Jay-Jay Feeney likens her and husband Dom Harvey’s experience with fertility treatment to a rollercoaster ride with massive highs followed by dark lows.
“If you are doing any sort of fertility treatment it totally takes over your life – it consumes it,” she said.
Feeney, who is an ambassador for Fertility New Zealand, will be talking about her book Misconception at Benny’s Books in New Plymouth tonight.
“We needed to share our story because we couldn’t find anything. It’s actually been awesome because we have had so much positive feedback about it,” the Edge breakfast host said. “People have been so thankful that there has been a story for them to connect with and that just happens to be ours.”
The couple have been through five rounds of IVF treatment in a so-far unsuccessful eight-year battle to conceive.
The fertility ordeal had strengthened the couple’s relationship at a time when many fell apart, Feeney said.
And while Harvey wished they did not have this story to share and had a baby instead, he recognised their story had touched so many people’s lives.
“Dom feels that his full purpose in life is to procreate and be a dad, and so he feels ripped off that it might not happen for him,” Feeney said.
“But even though it is a shitty situation it’s not the worst thing that can happen in life. I’m fairly realistic about that.”
The broadcaster had a simple message to couples going through fertility treatment. “Don’t compare yourself to other people and if the worst comes to the worst and you can’t have a baby, it is not the end of the world.”
Feeney, who was educated in New Plymouth and started her radio career here, will be talking about her book Misconception at Benny’s Books in New Plymouth at 6.30pm today.
This article was published in the Taranaki Daily News with a different photo on Saturday, September 21, 2013
JUMPING HIGH: Children taking part in the Creeklands Christian Camp at Inglewood from left, Mary-Jane Knight, Crystal Hunter, Angel Hunter and Helen Knight enjoy the camp’s activities. Photo : Supplied
The children’s holiday programme at Creeklands Christian Camp in Inglewood is a family tradition for the Aish family.
The camp is organised through the Liberty Baptist Church Inc. Charitable Trust and run by Deb (nee Aish) and Mike Rawson with Bronwyn and Edward Aish.
Deb and Edward’s mother Carolyn Ann Aish volunteers along with Deb and Mike’s children, while Bronwyn and Edward’s children take part in the camp.
Mrs Aish said they were fortunate to have support from the Liberty Baptist Church members enabling the camps to run.
“The church members enjoy being able to give back to our community,” she said.
The camps have been running for over 35 years with parents and caregivers thankful for good reliable day-care at a reasonable cost of $90 for the week.
“We want to provide a safe, happy, positive place for youth to experience life skills and values,” Mrs Rawson said.
She said Logan Kerrisk had been coming since he was 5-years-old.
A keen BMX rider, 9-year-old Logan said: “It’s fun because they have their own BMX track.”
Mornings are spent teaching good values, team building and good decision making through singing, action songs and story time.
Troy Ryan, 12, said he enjoyed coming to camp because “the people are really nice and I have lots of fun.”
The children eat a cooked lunch followed by free time to enjoy the BMX track, riding bikes and scooters along with a range of other outdoor activities.
In the afternoon there is a craft session making things like snow globes and masks, followed by games.
Another regular Helen Knight, 13, said “Camp was fun because the crafts are pretty cool.”
Mrs Aish said in summer they have a huge water slide.
Camps are held the first week of the school holidays with the next camp from January 13 – 17 2014.
Contact Camp Co-Ordinator Deb Rawson at rawsons@clear.net.nz or visit their website www.lbc.org.nz
This article was published in the North Taranaki Midweek on October 9, 2013.
DOUBLE CELEBRATION: Sophie, 14, left, and Max, 7, front, proudly share the Belt Road Seaside Holiday Park’s awards which cap off a busy and successful year for co-owner Teresa Bowe. Photo : Sharyn Smart
As the school holidays start families are visiting New Plymouth with Belt Road Seaside Holiday Park proving to be one of the popular places to stay.
Co-owner Teresa Bowe said they were currently full and had not slowed down this winter as much as normal with figures showing it was a busier winter than in previous years.
“Our summer forward bookings are a lot heavier than normal. So we are well up on last year. At the moment we are about 20 per cent up which is great,” she said.
Mrs Bowe said Taranaki residents were talking about all the great things happening here and by being positive and enthusiastic about the area were all helping our Taranaki businesses.
“Everybody in Taranaki does tourism. They talk to their family and friends. There’s heaps happening, you guys should come and visit.”
The motel units are popular and Mrs Bowe said more people were choosing to use them enjoying everything that Breakwater Bay had to offer and then using the foreshore walkway to get to town.
She said “I just think it’s such a neat city to live in because its got the coast, its got the mountain, its got the walkway.”
At Belt Road Seaside Holiday Park owners Teresa and Kevin Bowe believe in manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga – caring for, protecting and managing our beautiful slice of New Zealand – and have earned their Qualmark Bronze Enviro Assured Award in 2012.
At the recent Westpac Taranaki Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards they won the medium business excellence award and the Air New Zealand visitor industry excellence award adding to their growing list of awards.
Mrs Bowe said that one of their core values is “they care for our people and our place”.
“New Plymouth is a cool town to show off and I just think it’s a town with lots of energy,” she said.
This article was published in the North Taranaki Midweek on October 9, 2013.
ALZHEIMERS AWARENESS: Taranaki office administrator Andrea Jupp supports Brian Richards as he shares his experiences of a family member with dementia. Photo : Sharyn Smart
New Zealand TV personality Colin Mathura-Jeffree has become the first champion for dementia.
This was announced in conjunction with the launch of the World Alzheimer Report 2013 at a function in Wellington last month.
The report predicts the number of dependent older people around the world will rise from 101 million in 2010 to 277 million in 2050, nearly half of whom will be living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.
Mr Mathura-Jeffree’s grandmother Eileen died in 1998 after battling dementia and he wants to share his experience.
“Treat the person with dementia with the same love and courage you would want to be treated with in the same situation,” he said.
Alzheimers Taranaki office administrator Andrea Jupp said the over-65 population was living longer, and with more awareness of the symptoms the number of people being diagnosed with dementia was rapidly increasing.
“People are being diagnosed earlier and more accurately. They’re coming forward earlier when the first signs of memory loss are becoming apparent,” she said.
New Plymouth volunteer Brian Richards has been married 57 years with his wife Coral living in a New Plymouth rest home for the past seven years.
Richards said people struggled with how to treat Coral because when she was having a good day you would not realise that she had dementia.
“You would say why is she here (in the rest home), you wouldn’t see it. She can be absolute perfection,” he said.
The standard question that people ask him is “Does she know you?” and he says “yes she does know me”.
Some days she says “you’re Brian” and he says “yes”. Then other days she says “where is Brian?” and he says “he couldn’t come today and he asked me to come”.
Every day she wants to come home and Mr Richards makes up therapeutic lies to keep his wife calm, causing him a lot of guilt that hurts.
He has found a support group for male carers invaluable.
Mr Richards wants to stress that he is sad but not lonely. He misses sharing his life with his wife because her memory retention is now only 15 seconds, and she is incapable of holding a conversation.
ALZHEIMER FACTS Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. There are 50,000 people in New Zealand living with dementia. It is predicted that by 2050 the number of people with dementia will rise to 150,000. For more information on the World Alzheimer Report go to alzheimers.org.nz For information and support contact Andrea at Alzheimers Taranaki on 769 6916 or 0800 004 001 and alzheimers.taranaki@xtra.co.nz
This article was published in the North Taranaki Midweek on October 9, 2013.
