Whakatane couple Tom and Elizabeth Bayliss have instilled their love of music in hundreds of children.
For Eastern Bay of Plenty music and art enthusiasts, it comes as no surprise the husband and wife have been awarded the Queen's Service Medal for Community Service in the 2007 New Year Honours
List.
But for the Baylisses themselves the announcement was a total shock.
"It is an honour," Mrs Bayliss said. "But for every one of Tom and I, there are at least 10 other people just as deserving."
She used the 1624 quote from John Donne to describe their reaction to the news - "No man is an island, entire of itself".
In spite of these words Mr and Mrs Bayliss have introduced at least 1500 Whakatane youngsters to music through their endeavours that have spanned the past three decades. The couple are involved with the Whakatane Children's Music and Drama School, the Bay of Plenty Music School and the biennial Proms concert.
They have established the Whakatane Community Orchestra and, through the Whakatane Music Society, have introduced many international musicians to the community. But both humbly say that when they arrived in Whakatane in the 1970s, they simply tapped into an already established music scene.
"People like Violet Briffault, Lotte McFarland and Ken McDonald had done so much for music within the Eastern Bay long before we got here and, as they retired from the scene, we just picked things up and ran with them," Mr Bayliss said.
"Our children have been the recipients of so many wonderful coaches and teachers. It is actually quite hard to accept such an honour knowing that nothing can happen with just one person alone at the helm."
Both Mr and Mrs Bayliss agree that the opportunity to introduce primary-aged children to music, for some the only opportunity they will be provided with, is what drives them to keep going.
"For some generations the only introduction to music they have is a ghetto blaster or an iPod, but to see a little face understand the production of music and to coax a sound from an instrument is just overwhelming," Mrs Bayliss said.
