“Four beautiful taonga (pou) were carved by Tane at whakairo in the Northland Correctional Facility and were gifted to each school in recognition of the tamariki who contributed to this special mahi.

“The taonga proudly overlook the playing field and each one has an important meaning and what they mean to these tamariki and kura.

“As each pou was revealed, a Boyd Davis kōrero was given in each meaning, Rosina Wikaira gave the Te Kura Takiwa Ōpononi kōrero, and the tamariki revealed their taonga.

“It was a unique experience and an opportunity for all tamariki and their supporters to come together and get involved in such a great occasion.

“The day ended on a warm, sunny afternoon with kai (food), laughter and karakia shared between our whānau and hapū from across our community.”

The Waimā school louse was recognized on October 31 after a delay in pruning due to a defect in a “slab”.

Bay of Islands singers celebrate 60 years

To celebrate 60 years of vocal harmonies, the Bay of Islands Singers offer a concert described as “of all kinds”.

It all started in 1964 with a choir giving Christmas and Easter concerts in Kaikohe. It later became a year-round community choir based in Waimate North.

In 1981 the choir was incorporated as the Waimate North Music Society and in 1991 moved its base to Kerikeri and took the name The Bay of Islands Singers. Its current director, John Jackets, was appointed in 2009.

The group is recognized for its professionalism in a wide variety of musical genres.

Most of the three annual performances are accompanied by musical ensembles and often feature talented young and established soloists.

The final concert of the year will take place on November 24 and reflects the wide range of musical styles the choir has performed over the years.

It includes the orchestral sounds of Brahms Nanie to the delicate simplicity of Gjeilo The rose with piano and string quartet. From Broadway comes Gilbert and Sullivan (with a Mikado medley) and popular First World War songs about Coleridge-Taylor Hiawatha’s Wedding Feastwhich was a favorite from the Victorian era.

Half of the orchestra’s 27 members are from Whangarei or Kerikeri, reflecting the growing strength of the local music scene.

Sunday, November 24, 2:30 p.m. at the Turner Center. Tickets on iTicket or at the Turner Center. $40 and $15 for those 18 and under – free for community service card holders

Sizzling Roland’s wooden sausages

Roland’s Wood, a few kilometers from the center of Kerikeri, is a year-round paradise for dogs and their walkers. It was bequeathed by a local man, the late Roland Sansom, to the people and dogs of Kerikeri in 2001.

It’s a little piece of England, with English beech trees but with a touch of Northland. Originally the acreage was four hectares, but additional land acquired in 2020 from Sansom’s sister Lavendar doubled the acreage.

Dogs are allowed off-leash and they make the most of it, moving freely through the large, securely fenced area with a series of tracks crisscrossing the grounds.

Kerikeri Inlet Road English Forest is well known for its bluebells and daffodils which flower in September, but it has been planted with all types of flowering trees and shrubs so that there is something for everyone. Grassy paths wind through groves of oaks, elms and other deciduous trees: it’s a serene place for a leisurely stroll.

The Friends of Rolands Wood Charitable Trust, the organization which administers the woods, recently held a barbecue and raffle to raise funds to help keep the Trust afloat.

They contacted Lily Hagen, a year 13 student at Kerikeri High School, to design a large sign showing the tracks in the woods. Sue Richards, the trust’s secretary, said she had done an outstanding job.

“The design… looks a bit like a map of the London Underground and we hope his work with us will help him on his journey to an incredible career as a designer.”

On the first Sunday in November, they were joined for the barbecue by about 140 people and their children and about 60 dogs of all shapes and sizes who, when not running unfettered through the woods, scooped up the sausages.

New art gallery for Russell/Kororāreka

There’s a new art gallery in town. Called simply The Gallery, it opened in Cass Street, Russell, with a collection of paintings by Shane Cotton.

Cotton stood at the forefront of a renaissance in Māori art and his career now spanned three decades.

He was born in 1964 in Upper Hutt and his iwi affiliations are Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Rangai, Ngāti Hine and Te Uri Taniwha.

In 2008 he received a Laureate Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation and in 2012 he was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the visual arts.

He draws on European and Māori historical sources for his art and explores complex issues of colonization, bicultural exchange and identity. His work frequently references Māori folk art.

He has a long history of international exhibitions and his works are held in important public collections in New Zealand and Australia.

It is no surprise that his work was the first to be presented at the Gallery. His daughter, Mika, runs the business. She is studying for a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and hopes to develop her own practice.

The venue will feature a number of artists from Russell and other parts of New Zealand.

“Our goal is to host new exhibitions approximately every four weeks, with each exhibition featuring different artists,” she says.

When she leaves to study, her parents and her sister help her manage the Gallery.

They travel to Ngāwhā, she and her sister have spent time at the marae and her parents have lived in Russell for five years.

“The location is both inspiring and meaningful to us, with a strong supportive community, so we thought it was the perfect place to create a gallery. »