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Inglewood art gallery changes with the times

August 2, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

Margaret and Derek — Art skills: An exhibition aptly named From Pixels to Paint at Inglewood’s Fritz Reuter Gallery has photography by Derek Hughes, paintings by Margaret Bake and images from the Inglewood Photography Group. Photo by: Sharyn Smart

Ironically two of the artists who were part of the first exhibition held at the Fritz Reuter Gallery could also well be the last.

Taranaki photographers Margaret Bake and Derek Hughes were joined by Adam Buckle and Helen Wilkin ten years ago at the official opening of the gallery named after a ship which brought the Polish settlers to Inglewood in 1876.

“If my eyesight hadn’t failed through that shingles attack 25 years ago leading to the demise of my business, we would have never come to Inglewood and possibly the Inglewood photographic group may never have been formed. So you just never know circumstances change,” said Margaret.

Sharyn Smart talks with Dean Probyn

August 2, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

“I don’t let my chair dictate my life.”

Dean Probyn lives his ‘One Life, One Decision’ motto every day since a car accident in 1990 left him a tetraplegic.

In 1993 the New Plymouth local took an opportunity to “pay-it-forward” and share his story by speaking to school children, clubs and groups around the country.

He took his “pay it forward” a step further in 2013 and contacted the American Military to offer his skills as a motivational and inspirational speaker sharing his daily life experiences with the wounded soldiers.

After seeing such successful results from his one talk the military now want him back for a longer period of time to reach more soldiers.

“I wanted to do something to just say ‘hey thank-you’ to the soldiers and see if I could help in anyway. I suppose it’s about paying it forward. I’ve been blessed with friends, family, good mates and a good life. So I got in touch with the American Military and got clearance to go in and give a talk.”

“I don’t pretend to understand what they’ve been through. I talk to them about what I went through and what helped me get through things. Your family, your friends, your mates, they are all important to you. You have to be willing to talk about things because that helps.”

Mountain emergency – Guy Vickers

August 2, 2014March 12, 2015 by Sharyn Smart

Cold wait: Guy Vickers waits for the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter to rescue him off Mt Taranaki

My unexpected ‘flight’ while exploring Mt Taranaki

A year after a serious accident on Mt Taranaki Guy Vickers reflects on the accident that he feels could have easily cost him his life.

“This local hill (Mt Taranaki) got me back in the end. I got caught out,” says the Stratford resident.

A very experienced mountain guide from the age of 20 Guy never thought he would receive such excruciating injuries while out tramping resulting in being winched off the mountain by the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter.

“I can’t thank the rescue crew enough, they got me out of a tough situation and they did it with such professionalism and efficiency. I was beyond helping myself in the end and it was great knowing they are there when you need them, they were amazing.”

“The season was a bit later than normal. They quite often say when you have an accident it is a combination of different things all coming together that just don’t quite fit together … and then something happens. That’s pretty much what happened on that day.”

A snapshot of Margaret Bake’s life

August 2, 2014March 12, 2015 by Sharyn Smart

Pixels to Paint: Artist Margaret Bake displays her paintings alongside her photography. Photo by: Sharyn Smart — Pixels to Paint: Artist Margaret Bake displays her paintings alongside her photography.
Photo by: Sharyn Smart

Prominent retired Taranaki Photographer Margaret Bake proves that she has many strings to her artistic bow as she shows her work in an exhibition aptly titled “From pixels to paint” with friend and artist Derek Hughes.

“The idea for the title “From Pixels to Paint” is simply that I’m exploring the idea of doing some painting in a very amateur way while still having the passion for photography.

“Derek Hughes and I are sharing the Fitz Reuter Art Gallery in Inglewood. He’s going to be exhibiting new photographic work and I’m going to be showing some photographic work and also some of my paintings because of the art that I’ve been attempting to do for the last 12 months. We’re also going to give space to the Inglewood Photographic group to hang some of their work.”

Margaret explains her move from photography to oils as a “dabble” into the painting world. She is certainly as capable with a brush as she is a camera.

“A year on I think I’m making a bit of progress. I don’t how far I will take the painting or how long I will do it. I always thought I would like to work with clay. I’ve always wondered about pottery, ceramics and things like that.

Jaydene Nepia lifts gold

August 2, 2014March 12, 2015 by Sharyn Smart

Weightlifting: Jaydene Nepia is easily lifted by her mentor Precious McKenzie.

Jaydene Nepia power lifts a NZ record at first ever competition

After only a year in the sport Nelson’s Jaydene Nepia is taking the New Zealand weightlifting world by storm as she sets new records and wins gold.

In only her third competition the gutsy teenager reset the New Zealand junior clean and jerk record to 56kg while competing at the South Island weightlifting championships in June. Jaydene broke her own previous NZ record by 1kg.

“I was stoked that I got a medal, it’s a huge achievement and my first gold. I wanted to lift my best and win for my niece.

“I received the news that my niece had just been born and only had a couple of days to live. I flew home to Rotorua to meet her almost straight after my competition. I had very mixed emotions. She was a little fighter and died on her one week birthday.”

At her competitive debut at the Christchurch invitational in March the 18-year-old claimed a New Zealand record lifting 55kgs in the Clean & Jerk under 48kg division.

A night shift with the Community Patrollers

June 17, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

The New Plymouth Community patrol police liaison officer Senior Constable Graeme Jones advises how to protect you and your property:-

“Reality is if you want to reduce the crime and prevent yourself from becoming a victim just take these simple steps:-

lock things up when you are not using them including your car in the driveway
put your vehicles in the garage if you have one available
take valuables inside, do not leave valuables in plain sight – even placing them in the boot out of sight is a better option.
take photos, record serial numbers and any distinguishing features
make a list of your make, model and serial numbers of your valuable items remembering to keep it somewhere safe.
Invisible DNA markers are a great invention for coding your valuables.

Our plan is to make the community part of the solution as opposed to the problem by being aware of situations around them and looking after yourself and your neighbours.

There is a misconception of what the community patrol does so freelance writer Sharyn Smart spent a “night shift” with New Plymouth volunteers Jonathan Weatherall (left) and Ray Shute (right).

Patrol landscape Meeting at the police station at 10:15pm on a Saturday night was an experience in itself. Getting out of my car a drunk male offered me $20 to drive him to the other end of town. “I’m meant to be at the police station and I’m running late” seemed enough of a deterrent as he turned and stumbled away.

Every community patrol shift starts with a meeting. The community patrol police liaison officer Snr Constable Graeme Jones discusses the plan for the night. Only fully trained patrollers are allowed because of confidentiality so I patiently wait in the reception area of the recently opened New Plymouth police station.

Sharyn Smart talks to Emma and Connor Heke about their “Our Green Roadie” adventure

June 15, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

Inspiring stories by Real Life Writer Sharyn Smart

Our Green Roadie – Emma and Connor Heke’s road trip

Emma’s motto: “A little film team making big films. Being the change we want to see in the World.”

Already living an environmentally aware lifestyle inspired Nelson film maker Emma Heke to set out on a quest to live “better not faster”. Her first step was to attend an eco-film night which left her feeling hopeless when only six other people attended.

“Then and there I decided to make a film that celebrated the positive steps that people in NZ are taking on their journeys to become more environmentally aware. I wanted to create something that the everyday person could relate to and be inspired by. It was crucial to find very ‘ordinary people’ who made decisions to do things extra-ordinary in their businesses and lifestyles.”

MountainAirs snatch last second win

June 10, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

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With 25.3 seconds remaining on the clock and the score locked at 74-74, the very vocal Taranaki crowd at the TSB Stadium were on their feet encouraging The Good Home Taranaki MountainAirs as loudly as they could.

Airs’ Brad Anderson and Suleiman Braimoh took time to settle the team as the clock counted down. Great team work found Suleiman who put up an awesome winning shot from just inside the arc leaving 1.6 seconds on the clock.

The noise was deafening as the crowd celebrated whilst the Wellington Saints called a time-out.

Air’s captain Aaron Bailey-Nowell’s outstanding effort was rewarded as he intercepted a Saints pass creating a win for the Airs 76-74.

How to feed a family of six for under $20

June 4, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

Jas and Vance McPhee are cooking up new projects to add to their successful facebook recipe page and cookbook.

With over 70,000 likes on How to Feed a Family of 6 for under $20 and the cookbook sales escalating Jas and Vance are focusing on how they can best help their community.

“Food and cooking have always been an important part of my life. My grandfather Basil used to watch me while my parents were at work and most days we’d cook together, me sitting up on the bench watching while he prepared food for our household. I remember his home-made smoker, his vegetable garden and his love for making things from scratch. So my love affair with food and cooking began,” says Jas.

Lightweight weightlifter

May 31, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

Precious lifting Jaydene Sharyn Smart talked to a weightlifter who had beaten some pretty heavy odds.

Jayden Nepia lifted a national record in her first competition.

And now she is part of an International team competing in New Caledonia.

The Nelson athlete made her competitive debut in Christchurch in March and the Nelson teenager claimed a New Zealand record, lifting 55kg in the Clean & Jerk under 48kg division.

“I felt so proud of myself. I just threw the bar down and walked off to give Ed (my coach) a big hug. I didn’t realise I had done it (won) until it had been officially announced.”

The 18-year-old, who weighed in at just 46kg and 1.44m tall also narrowly missed taking out setting a new record for the snatch at the same competition.

But this is a weightlifter who was beating the weight odds from birth.

Jaydene was born at 37 weeks only weighing 2.9 pounds (1321g) and spent six weeks in the Neo-Natal Unit.

An Interview With Taranaki Standout Suleiman Braimoh

May 28, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

After being named Most Valuable Player of the NBL league for the fourth successive week Suleiman Braimoh of the Good Home Taranaki MountainAirs talks to Sharyn Smart about playing in New Zealand.

Sharyn Smart: The MountainAirs shoot the least of any NBL team from deep, and the most at the rim – is it hard sometimes as a big man to get clean shots when you have guys who like to get their shots inside, occasionally clogging the lane on offence?

Suleiman Braimoh: Sometimes it might be a little tough, a little clogged up in there for me but I think as a team we do a good job of distributing the ball. I think our teams passing is pretty good so even though we don’t shoot that well from deep I think we do good work inside so that makes up for it.

SS: Aled Jones does a great job of cutting underneath a player under the hoop.

SB: I think things like that, him cutting around and drawing attention from somebody else, I think our interior play is one of our strengths. We do a good job of getting it into the paint so I think we are getting better from shooting from deep but I think when we play from inside out that works to our advantage.

Mountain Air too thin for Rams

May 19, 2014 by Sharyn Smart

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The noise was deafening and the crowd were on their feet for the final 37.1 seconds of the game at the TSB Stadium in New Plymouth as the Good Home Taranaki MountainAirs held off the Rams to claim their fourth win.

With the score 93 – 90 the Rams’ foul count soared as they fought with desperation for the win. Both Marcel Jones and Matthew Rogers clocked up the fouls and were shown the door late.

The fouls kept coming for the Rams with Jeremy Kench the last of the night. Suleiman shot 1 from 2 to end the game 98 – 93 a fourth win in a row for the Airs with the crowd roaring their approval.

Airs’ Coach Daryn Shaw said he thought the Rams had stepped up and played a lot harder than previously.

“Canterbury is a really talented team. They have got some really good players. They certainly did some things that caused us to adjust for sure.”

“Our four main guys really came to the party and played really well at the critical moments. I think it was an exciting game and all the boys played well. They (Rams) threw a lot of hooks at us that made us adjust but I think we always just grind it out.”