Ashburton Courier: August 13, 2020

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NEWS 26 Ashburton Courier, August 13, 2020 www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz Musterers set to take on Methven B in longrunning charity rugby match TONI.WILLIAMS @ashburtoncourier.co.nz Mighty musterers from the mountains will take on the Methven Brugby team in a decades old charity match nextweekend. The RakaiaGorge MusterersvsMethven Rugby Club match has beenrunning for thepast 63 years, although acouple of games had been cancelled due to snow. They hadtheir50th anniversary in 2007. Rakaia Gorge Musterers team managerPaul Ensor, of Double Hill RunRoad, said it was the longest running charity match in the southern hemisphere, although it had not been played consecutively. Aformerplayer himself Ensor, nowaged 43,saidthe mind was willing butthe body tended to suffer. He played 12 games in his time but said players like Chaz Todhunter, of Glenfalloch Station, would have played more games, as would legends like Jim Morris, from Manuka Point Station, (now retired and living in Tarras) who used to ride his Clydesdale horse across the Rakaia River to get in and outinthe 1980s. ‘‘He was likethe Marlborough man of the valley,’’ Ensor said. The musterers team in past were from up the Rakaia Gorge butinrecent years players have been gathered from Rakaia andAshburton gorges, both sides of the Rakaia River and along the Foothills to Mt Somers. ‘‘We have had to spread the net out abit further these days as there are notthe number of shepherds and musterers around as there used to be. ‘‘We just try andgrab anyone whohas workedup here over the past year andfit enough to pull on apairof boots ... generally they have some sort of connection (with mustering).’’ He was hopeful for aheapof guys so they could have rolling subs on the day. ‘‘Some of the guys are hill fit, but not necessarily rugby fit.’’ Ensor said historically at the end of the autumn muster there were heaps of guys floating around and they decided to hold arugby game. ‘‘One yearthe gorge forward pack weighed more than the All Black teamofthe day... it must havebeen around the 1970s,’’ he said. ‘‘It doesn’t mean they were better, they were just heavier.’’ The match, held at the Methven Rugby Club grounds on Methven Chertsey Road, in Methven on August 22,will raise money for St John ambulance. Adonation bucket will be passed around and acharity auction, offeringacouple of B and Baccommodation packages and farm supplies, will be up for grabs. Ensor was hopeful this year would see the musterers take victory but said it was more about the camaraderie fora cause, than the final result. ‘‘Unfortunately we struggle to match the Methven side. We come together at theend of the seasonbut they have been playing together allseason. We are abit of acobbled together bunch.’’ Ensor said night games always suited themusterers better in the past. ‘‘We were able to slip a couple of extra playersonin the shadowsand that helped us abit. We got found out one year andthe following yearwe didn’t play as (well) any more.’’ The senior musterers game kicks offat2.30pm with an Under 9junior musterers curtain raiser at 2pm. Rakaia Gorge Musterers from around 1958, Rod Heard with pipe (third from right) helped get the game going. Photo supplied. Rakaia Gorge Musterers vs Methven rugby during the 25th anniversary game in 1982 saw local Peter Den Baars support the game with his Packmans Palace. Photo Supplied. LOCAL LISTENING Peter Mac l 1pm to 6pm 2304059 MSA OUTDOOR BOWLING CLUB With our winter bowls programme starting to wind downour convertedtrophies are being playedfor amid somefiercebut friendly competition. Firstlythe Bruce Weir Trophy wastaken out by John Moffatt, MikeSkilling and Trevor Pearce. The Kennedy Trophy, donated by the legendary late Tom Phaup, was wonby TonyInwood, Des Prendergast, and Mike Skilling. Our finaltrophy round will be heldon August 12 at 1.30pm. Our return visit to Richmond has been bought forward aweek, now being Sunday August 23, which will allow members to playinthe Sub Centres fundraising tournamentonAugust 30. Aworkingbee to lift the matswillbeheldAugust 24 at atime to be confirmed. Opening day for the summerseasonis set down for SaturdaySeptember12, with new members most welcome. We hostour firstSkip2It FridayTriples on September18 at 12.30pm and the Peters Cup OpenFours Tournament is set for September20 at 9am. ASHBURTON WRITERS’GROUP The annual general meeting of the AshburtonWriters’ Groupwas held recently, it had beendelayed dueto Covid19. President Julie welcomedall present. After the minutesand financial reportwere read, the presidentgave her reportfor the year 31 March 2020. The electionofofficers washeldand resulted as follows–President –Julie Fechney, VicePresident– Stacey Broadbent, Secretary/Treasurer–Rae Magson. Themeeting concludedand the monthly meetingwas held. Aquotation was givenby Stacey “To write means more than pretty wordsona page, the act of writing is to share yoursoul with the world.” Rae readareporton the completed ShortStory Competition. Therewere 83 entries, all of these were read. There wasdiscussionon the timesand dates of our meeting. As manymembers andpotential members are notable to attendinthe afternoons it wasdecidedto hold the meetingsonthe fourth Wednesdays of the month,commencingat7pm. First meeting to be on 26 August. Theassignment for the meetingwas to writeastory titled “ThenMyCar Broke Down”. The instantexercise by Deirdre was achallenge being “Devil’s Advocate”. Themeeting concluded with the servingofafternoon tea. The nextmeeting assignmentis “letter to my younger self”. Visitors are welcome, contact Rae on 308 8927.
NEWS Ashburton Courier, August 13, 2020 27 Tell us your priorities Every three years, the council decides what projects and activities it will fund and deliver over the coming 10 years. It’s called our Long Term Plan (LTP) and it’s an important piece of work that brings together local services, infrastructure and work programmes that influence our community – from rubbish and recycling right through to playgrounds, camp grounds, roads, recreation facilities and community grants. We want to hear from residents about what issues and topics you think are a priority for Mid Canterbury as we prepare our LTP for 2021–31. We first asked what was important to residents in 2018 in the lead up to developing our current Long Term Plan. The ideas and issues identified by residents helped to inform the direction of that plan, and it was such agreat tool that we are replicating this exercise again through ashort online survey. In 2018, the top eight priorities for the Ashburton District (in order) were roading, community safety, environment, town centre development, second bridge, business development, EA Networks Centre development and new entertainment centres. Now, the council wants to know if these are still as important, or if there are other issues or ideas that people would like the council to focus on. Given the uncertain and unprecedented challenges we have been facing as a nation this year, the Our Place –Our Plan survey also seeks to understand how you are getting on through the uncertainties of the Covid19 pandemic. For some, the lockdowns and our closed borders may have really impacted your business, you may have concerns about job security, or perhaps you and your family have been fairing reasonably well through this period. No matter how things have been going, the council wants to get abetter understanding of where you are at and this too will help to inform the decisions that are made about what projects will be funded over the next decade. The Our Place –Our Plan survey is now open until 5pm, Friday September 18. Get your ideas into the mix before we begin drafting the LTP so that they may be considered right from the getgo. Council won’t know what you think is most important for the future of our district without your input, so it’s important you tell us through the survey. This is an opportunity that only comes around every few years. Make it count by completing the survey today at itsourplace.com. Rakaia students impress at school talent show BuddingrapperLogan Bradford won Rakaia School’sfinalof2020 Rakaia Got Talent talent showlastweek. In ahotlycontested event, the Year 7pupil took out the winrappingto Clint Eastwood by British virtual bandGorillaz. Secondplace went to Year 4comedianKasey Wiseman whosejokes included somecheesy numberssuch as ‘‘What’s a cats favouritecolour?; purrrrple,and ‘‘What do youcall cheese that’s not yours?; nachocheese.’’ Thetalent show event wasrun by the school’s senior leaders. It was thefirsttime the pupilshad runsuch an event,instigated by school leader Melissa Mattson whowanted to organise something for the pupils. Thefinalsaw five acts take to thestagefor the finals during morning breaklast Friday. Theother finalists were dancingyoungstersfrom thenew entrant/Year1and 2Ako class,sockpuppet trio Maddie, Louann and Peyton andsinger Diego VidalGomez. Thefinalistsperformed in front of theirschool peersand family/friends from theschool community. They werechosenafter a seriesofheats involving up to 50 pupils fromacross the schoolauditionedina rangeofperformances including dancing, a gymnastic display, amagic act, weight liftingand juggling. Dancing youngsters Annie Tagicakibau, Rose Parris, Charlie Hall, Jphil Credo and Izzy Smyth from Rakaia School Year 12 Ako class in the 2020 Rakaia Got Talent final. Jokester Kasey Wiseman in costume during his act telling jokes in the 2020 Rakaia Got Talent final.
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Ashburton Courier: August 13, 2020

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