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NEWS<br />
6 <strong>Ashburton</strong> <strong>Courier</strong>, <strong>September</strong> <strong>24</strong>, <strong>2020</strong><br />
Powering up old rigs<br />
Vintage fire engines stillneed<br />
their sirens and lights to work<br />
even though they don’tattend<br />
fires, says Newlands<br />
automotive electrician Jason<br />
Bruce.<br />
The<strong>Ashburton</strong> company<br />
keepsthe ‘‘bells and whistles’’<br />
working free of charge for the<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> Fire Museum, which<br />
will have its doors open and<br />
engines gleaming foraspecial<br />
open day on Monday.<br />
Visitors willbeableto<br />
explore thecollection of fire<br />
service memorabilia, take a<br />
journeyonavintagerailcar and<br />
stroll around thepioneer<br />
village at the Plains Railway<br />
and HistoricalMuseum.<br />
Mr Bruce said Newlandskept<br />
the wiringand poweronthe old<br />
fire engines up to spec and<br />
somecreative thinking was<br />
occasionally required,<br />
especially if the engine had<br />
beensitting for alongtime. It<br />
was ablast for staffwhen they<br />
came into the workshop.<br />
As avolunteer firefighter, he<br />
is sometimes behind the wheel<br />
of modernengines. Newlands<br />
has aclose connectionwith the<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> fire service as the<br />
company’s founder John<br />
Newlandsand family through<br />
the generations have been<br />
volunteer firefighters.<br />
ThePlains specialopenday<br />
on Monday coincides with the<br />
Mid Town Mardi Grasand the<br />
opening day of Bookaramaand<br />
is South Canterbury<br />
AnniversaryDay.The Plains<br />
Jason Bruce works on aheritage fire engine in the Newlands<br />
workshop.<br />
will be open from 10am to 4pm.<br />
One of the historic steam<br />
locomotives,whichinclude<br />
K88, Ja1260 and A64, will be<br />
fired up to haul acarriage and<br />
one purchasedticket allows the<br />
holder unlimited rides through<br />
the day.<br />
The pioneer village includes<br />
aprinting works, chemist,<br />
market, church, cottage and<br />
rural history display shed<br />
complete with vintage tractors<br />
andimplements,stationary<br />
enginesand much more.<br />
Group visits arewelcome by<br />
arrangementwith afunction<br />
roomavailablefor hire for any<br />
special event andthere is<br />
plenty of parkingavailable.<br />
The<strong>Ashburton</strong> FireMuseum,<br />
entry by donation,has New<br />
Zealand’s best heritage<br />
collectionoffireequipment<br />
and memorabilia, and children<br />
candressupinareal uniform<br />
and take home aunique<br />
souvenir.<br />
Coffee, cold drinks and hot<br />
food will be available for<br />
purchase and there will be<br />
inflatable funfor the kids with<br />
ThePop Up Playground.<br />
At AlertLevel 1the<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> Steam andModel<br />
Engineers will be offering $2<br />
rides on their miniature train.<br />
QR codes will be posted.<br />
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz<br />
Alert levels ease,<br />
mardi gras ready<br />
There was an extra spring in<br />
Carol Johns’ step this week,<br />
after Prime Minister Jacinda<br />
Ardern eased covid<br />
restrictions that will allow the<br />
new Mid Town Mardi Gras<br />
event to happen on Monday.<br />
The mardi gras takes the<br />
place of Boulevard Day this<br />
year and Mrs Johns hopes<br />
people will flock to <strong>Ashburton</strong><br />
to enjoy the day.<br />
East Street will be closed to<br />
traffic and 70 stallholders will<br />
have wares for sale. There<br />
will also be entertainment in<br />
the form of the New Zealand<br />
Army Band and mouthwatering<br />
food for sale.<br />
‘‘The whole day is just what<br />
we need to celebrate<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong>.’’<br />
Mid Canterbury, like the<br />
rest of the country outside<br />
Auckland, had been in Alert<br />
Level 2onMonday, when the<br />
prime minister announced<br />
levels would lower after the<br />
latest covid outbreak had<br />
been contained. Auckland<br />
dropped to Alert Level 2,<br />
allowing gatherings up to 100,<br />
and the rest of the country<br />
dropped to Alert Level 1,<br />
allowing for mass gatherings.<br />
Mrs Johns said the mardi<br />
gras could not have happened<br />
under Alert Level 2but she<br />
had been confident it would<br />
happen as community<br />
transmission cases waned.<br />
Under level 1, people are<br />
still advised to stay home if<br />
they are sick, practise good<br />
hygiene and keep track of<br />
where they have been.<br />
Mrs Johns said stallholders<br />
had been encouraged to<br />
display their QR codes, wipe<br />
down surfaces like eftpos<br />
machines and take other<br />
sensible precautions. People<br />
could wear masks if they were<br />
worried about being close to<br />
people they didn’t know.<br />
‘‘People have been<br />
following these precautions<br />
for so long already.’’<br />
She said the army band<br />
would be playing two sets of<br />
mardi gras music throughout<br />
the day, at this stage at 11am<br />
and 2pm, and there would be<br />
other entertainment.<br />
Bookarama will also open<br />
its weeklong second hand<br />
book fair at the sports hall on<br />
Monday, which is South<br />
Canterbury anniversary day.<br />
Lots of visitors from Timaru<br />
are expected.<br />
Proudto sponsorthe<br />
Rotary Clubof<strong>Ashburton</strong>’s<br />
MEETTHE CANDIDATES EVENING<br />
30th <strong>September</strong><strong>2020</strong>, 7.30pm<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong>TrustEvent Centre<br />
Rodger Letham<br />
RuralSalesConsultant<br />
M027 4333436<br />
P 03307 9176<br />
E rodger@pb.co.nz<br />
rodgerrural.co.nz<br />
pb.co.nz<br />
Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008
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