Noel Saunders, pictured with wife Grace, was never charged for tuition and he has carried on the tradition. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Some 75 years ago Noel Saunders learned to play the trumpet.
His teachers charged nothing, but the music that flooded into his life had immeasurable value.
So in 1949, aged 20, he returned the favour, giving free trumpet lessons to children in his new town of Tokoroa.
He's
taught thousands of children since, never asking for a cent.
For 42 years he has organised and run daily practices before school for Tokoroa High School's brass band.
If children need extra tuition, that's free too, at the home Mr Saunders shares with his wife, Grace - the drummer in the brass band.
Angela Ria said her 12-year-old son, a member of the band, was in awe of the time and effort Mr Saunders put in to the town's children.
"Because he's done it for so long I think we forget, we probably take it for granted. I can't see anyone else who would make that commitment."
Mr Saunders said he had never considered charging for his tutoring.
"When I was learning I had some pretty good teachers, and nobody ever charged me. So I'm carrying on the tradition. And it's just something I'm able to do.
"This is what it used to be like. There has been a slow sort of change over the last 30-odd years. Everybody's got very self-centred now. But this is how we lived.
"My parents expected me to do things when I was a kid, little jobs for neighbours. And if I'd have suggested getting a tuppence or a penny, I would have got a clip over the ear."
And his old lungs have a few clear notes in them yet, he said.
"I've got another 16 years in me yet. You've got to look for things that give you satisfaction. The amount of satisfaction I get out of taking a sow's ear and turning it into silk purses is very hard to explain."
