A film featuring Northland showman Eddie Hemara, who died last month, has been awarded a People’s Choice Award at the Māoriland Film Festival. Hemara played Papa in a Briar Pomana directed film called Papa’s Chair. The eight minute movie won best short drama in the festival.
Parrot population grows
A population of rare native parrots in a Whangārei man’s backyard continues to grow. Ethan Benney, who spent years predator-proofing some historic bush on his family’s rural property at Glenbervie, first noticed an adult pair of kākāriki (green parrots) in the area early last year. About six months later, he discovered the duo were raising a clutch of chicks in a hollow tree. Finding the little family was an exciting step for conservation in Northland as kākāriki were seldom seen on the mainland, Benney previously said. He suspected the adult pair were from a flock of about 40, relocated from Hauturu (Little Barrier Island) to a pest-free island near Russell in 2017. The birds must have been content with their new home because the process appeared to be repeating itself again this year, Benney said. He’d recently counted three adult birds and found another nest.
75th anniversary
New Zealand’s first Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses was opened 75 years ago this month in Waimā. Before it was built, the fledging congregation, formed in 1944, met in the home of Tom and Miri King, but the Bible-based meetings became so popular that attendees needed somewhere bigger. A 260-seat hall was built by an all-volunteer team with construction starting in 1949 and finishing in 1950. The hall was used for local Bible meetings and regional assemblies for 17 years until they moved to Kaikohe in 1967, where it remains to this day. The Kaikohe congregation has 78 active members, with an average of 90 people in attendance at meetings held each week.
