Northland news in brief: Seven recognised for services in Kaipara; Matariki Glow Show is back in Whangārei

John Bishop (left), Shane Gould, Phillip Godfrey, Allan Mortensen, Shaun Holland, Graham Taylor, and mayor Jason Smith after the awards presentation. Photo / Supplied

Seven Kaipara residents have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to the district's citizens and environment at an award ceremony held in Dargaville. Those recognised share more than 160 years of voluntary service to communities across the district. The 2021 Citizens' Awards went to Shane Gould while John and Margaret Bishop, Phillip Godfrey, Allan Mortensen, and Graham Taylor took out the honours for 2022. The awards recognise substantial service, usually of a voluntary nature or beyond normal employment, benefiting Kaipara and its people. The 2021 Environmental Award went to Shaun Holland.

Collaboration on Kauri Coast

Kaitiaki from Waikaretu Marae (Te Uri o Hau) have teamed up with the Department of Conservation Kauri Coast Team to establish a more coordinated way of working together.
Paraire Kena was welcomed with a whakatau by DoC and Te Uri Hau representatives last Monday. Operations manager for Kauri Coast, Stephen Soole said the collaboration would strengthen what they felt was a good working relationship. Paraire joins the team and will cover a wide range of conservation initiatives from pest control, weed eradication, marine mammals and community events to name just a few.

Glow Show is back

The Matariki Glow Show is back in Whangārei with an all-new, giant-scale puppet show for tamariki, educators and whãnau. Bigger, better, bolder, with more music and more characters, this is an upbeat show that 'edu-tains' and engages the audience over 50 minutes with patai (Q and A) afterwards. Shorter shows of 30 minutes are designed for 0-5-year-olds. There'll be two shows at the Forum North on July 23. The first will run from 11am to 11.40am and the second from 1pm to 1.55pm. Adults pay the same price as children while children under 18 months on a parent's/caregiver's lap are free of charge with a paying adult.

Entries are open

Entries for the Northland Business Excellence Awards 2022 are officially open. Northland Inc is encouraging businesses of all sizes to throw their name into the mix for the 14 categories. All business category entries are considered for the Northland Regional Council Environmental Excellence Award and the Judges Choice Award while all category winners go head to head for the Northland Business Excellence Supreme Award.
Entries close on July 29 and winners are announced at an award ceremony on November 4. To enter visit northlandbusinessawards.co.nz

Time Warp a hit

A new school holiday family fun activity at Matakohe's Kauri Museum is proving to be more of a hit than organisers expected – and with a completely different group. The Time Warp has contemporary everyday objects that might be seen in anyone's home placed in 16 of the museum's period rooms. A mobile phone and plastic coat hangers appear next to kerosene lamps and so on. The 'spot it if you can' activity, put together by museum collections staff Thelma, Pete Panhuis and Aaron Philips, was aimed at school-aged visitors but adults are having the most fun, museum director Barbara Hilden said. Concerned adults were approaching staff to report objects they thought had been mistakenly left in the rooms. Upon finding out it was deliberate they then went back to finish the game. The Kauri Museum is open every day from 9am to 5pm with free admission for children accompanied by adult.