This event provided an opportunity to recognise and pay tribute to their contributions. Families such as Farrell and Connie Chrystal of Chrystal Shearing Ltd, who run a community-focused business.
They have shorn for Hawke's Bay farms for over 25 years. They run five shearing gangs during the peak season hiring up to 50 staff.
During his speech, Farrell described how he offered two young women the opportunity to be rouseys for his shearing gang. "If you are outside your house at 5am I will come and pick you up and give you a job".
Suffice to say, both were outside their house the next day at that time and have worked for him since. Farrell and Connie have five children and one grandchild.
They are passionate about supporting Flaxmere community and promoting opportunities for Hawke's Bay Youth and families through sport and employment. They are also great supporters of the Flaxmere Boxing Academy.
Our December hero is Brian Frederick Webb. Henare would often see 75-year-old Brian walking to the supermarket every day - rain hail or shine.
A firm believer in getting exercise, Brian walks daily for two hours. During his speech, he provided advice about dogs: on their own, generally, they are okay, if there is more than one dog, you need to be careful.
On the night, Brian also told us how people would often stop to ask him if he needed a lift home. His reply to these offers would be "no, but you may think about having a regular walk yourself".
Brain was born on October 28, 1940, schooled at Rotorua Primary, Pukehou Primary, followed by 6 years at Te Aute College where his father was the headmaster. He spent seven years at the University of Canterbury where he received a BSc than a MSc in Zoology. For five years he worked for MAF, including fish research on the W.J. Scott (a 90ft fishing vessel owned by MAF). Five years were spent as a research officer on pelagic fish before he worked for 28 years as a manager with the North Canterbury Society. Brian now lives in Flaxmere and is happily retired.
Taylor Greening, our April calendar hero. Multi-talented, she has a string of sporting achievements and just to name a few she has been a member of the following teams: NZ U21 Netball team, NZ Talent Development Squads, Hamilton City U19 Netball team, Eastern Womens netball team, Eastern U19 Netball team, Hawke's Bay age group basketball teams, Hawke's Bay age group surf lifesaving teams and Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay age group.
Her supportive proud parents were also in attendance.
What struck many of us during this launch were the stories and how moved we were. Many of the heroes would have had no idea that they would be expected to speak. Maybe that is why the quality of the speakers was so high, stories straight from the heart, with little or no rehearsal.
Those of us organising this event agree to film the launch next year. Since the inception of the calendar heroes in 2009, there seems to be no shortage of Flaxmere talent to call upon.
-Ana Apatu is chief executive of the U-Turn Trust, based at Te Aranga Marae in Flaxmere
