Support lifts pall for couple after fire devastates dairy

SORRY: A small bag of sweets and condolence card from a youngster to Barbara Kirkland.

What brings a tear to Barbara Kirkland's eye is not the shock of losing her dairy to a fire. It's the messages of support from the community - especially the children.

On Sunday night Mrs Kirkland and her husband Tom watched grimly as the Featherston fire brigade tackled a blaze at the Signal Box Dairy, well-known for years as a source for exotic sweets.

The fire destroyed the interior and ruined about $10,000 worth of sweets. A turned-off but still-warm pie warmer is believed to have heated the timber underneath, starting the blaze.

Now the community is rallying to help the elderly couple, including past customers and youngsters who treasured the shop and its treats. Among the flowers from well-wishers was a hand-drawn card from a young boy, Henry Millar, who wrote, "I'm sorry about your shop".

Henry had included a present - a bag of sweets.

"It's because all mine have gone," said Mrs Kirkland. "I just picked him up and gave him a big kiss."

More substantial offers of help are coming in, from adults who remember the shop from when they were young. Tomorrow a group of them will help with the clean-up. As well, the Featherston Men's Shed has called on the Kirklands, offering to help get things tidy.

South Wairarapa councillor Colin Olds, a shed member, said "we're here, we really want to help the community as much as we can".

A Masterton woman, who asked not to be named, called the Times-Age to say she and a friend were forwarding $200 to the Kirklands. She said she was impressed with "their love for life" despite the loss of their shop.

A friend of the family, Pip Stokes, has put a fundraising jar on the counter where she works at Featherston Railway Station. She has set up an Unincorporated Society account at KiwiBank, where people can make donations.

"I had seven kids, and their treat on Friday was to go to the lolly shop - if they had been good during the week," she said. "Now we do it with our grandchildren."

Mrs Kirkland said the shock of the fire made them feel extremely tired, but "another strong coffee and I will be right. We're not ones to dwell on it, we just get on."

The "Signal Box Dairy donations" account at KiwiBank is 38 9015 0455 199 00.