Kristian Clarke, Black Cap
Community groups get a boost
Taupō’s Barbara Mackay, left, with Jenny Elers.
The 2025 Rosetown Lions Sleigh Raffle raised about $8000 for community groups in the wider Te Awamutu area last month.
The raffle is an annual fixture for the Rosetown Lions Club, with prizes donated by Te Awamutu businesses and club members.
Taupō’s Barbara Mackay, was in Te Awamutu recently to collect her prize. She is a regular visitor as her son lives in Te Awamutu supported by ConneXu. She is also involved in helping out a special needs school in Taupō.
“I bought the ticket on a whim when I went to buy food to take to my son. The prize turned out to be everything but the kitchen sink! I’m very grateful to the Rosetown Lions and all the businesses that supported the raffle.”
Willow control
Nga Roto
Contractors Aotearoa Restoration have completed the latest stage of willow control at Lake Ngā Roto. The work, using a broad-spectrum herbicide targeted invasive trees that smother native vegetation and make restoration more difficult.
Honouring Mason
Husband and wife Scott and Tayla Crowe will set out to complete 12 workouts in as many hours at Strength Nation Cambridge on Friday next week in memory of their son Mason. The day will mark the first anniversary of his birth and death. “Funds will go to Angel Casts to ensure they can keep making tangible keepsake for bereaved parents like us,” Tayla said. At last count more than $5000 had been raised.
Chips go down
Chip sealing on SH3 Ōhaupō Road between Rukuhia and Te Awamutu will start on Sunday. The project worksite has been split into eight sections. Work on the first four, starting on Monday, should take a week. Crews return on February 8 to complete the remaining four sections. Stop/go traffic management will be in place.
Prison alarms
Aerial view of the Waikeria facility. The building housing the mental health and addiction service is in the foreground.
False alarms at Waikeria Prison contributed to a record number of callouts last year for the Ōtorohanga’s Volunteer Fire Brigade, 232. Brigade chief Neville King said many calls were weather-related. An overhaul of the prison’s alarm system as part of major redevelopment work was behind many of the false alarms, but the issue now seems to be under control, King said.
Clarke debuts
Kristian Clarke
Te Awamutu’s Kristian Clarke, 24, made his debut for the Black Caps in this week’s first One Day International defeat against India. The 24-year-old seam bowler contributed 24 runs with the bat as New Zealand made 300 and finished with one for 73 from 10 overs with the ball as the hosts reached 306 with an over to spare.
Mascots on tour
Waitetuna School junior room teacher Robyn Marquand. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Waitetuna School junior room teacher Robyn Marquand has the responsibility of looking after school toy mascots Tama and Taimana during the holidays. So, it was a no brainer when she rode the Te Awa River Ride between Cambridge and Tamahere that she photographed them at various vantage points. The Tuna Kuwharuwharu (native longfin eel) sculpture beneath the Velodrome, now part of an impressive Art Trail on the cycleway, was one of the places she stopped as was the newly installed tui behind Te Awa Lifecare Retirement Village.
Gower wins worlds qualifier
Tara Gower rides Riverhills Legend, Dannevirke World Cup Show. Photo: KAMPIC / Kerry Marshall
Tara Gower was a rookie on a roll at the Central and Southern Hawke’s Bay Jumping Show in Dannevirke.
The Cambridge-based rider, originally from Ōhura, finished first in the FEI World Cup qualifier at the weekend.
After recording four faults in their opening round, the former St Peter’s School Cambridge student and her mount Riverhills Legend registered a clear second round to put the pressure on the series leaders.
“It was rider error and he just didn’t realise the jumps were that big,” she said. “I honestly thought I had knocked down a fence in the second round and desperately wanted to turn around but I thought, ‘no, keep going’.”
Among Gower’s cheering section was her mum, Sue, who bred Riverhills Legend, also known as Epic, at Ōhura’s Riverhills Station.
Gower now has the series final – January 17 at Takapoto Estate near Maungatautari – and selection for the senior trans-Tasman team in her sights.
