North Taranaki retirement home Arvida Molly Ryan celebrates Puanga with hangi

Arvida Molly Ryan kitchen manager Pamela Watkins and maintenance man Quentin Pratt with a hangi. Photo / Alyssa Smith

A New Plymouth retirement village celebrated Puanga with a shared hangi.

In Taranaki, the star Puanga marks the start of the Māori New Year, as Matariki is hidden by Taranaki Maunga.

On Monday, June 24, Arvida Molly Ryan residents and staff enjoyed a hangi lunch.

Village manager Jennifer MacBeth said this was the second year they’ve had the hangi lunch.

“Our maintenance man, Quentin Pratt, provides the hangi experience for us. He was on-site at 6am, preparing and cooking the hangi for us. We hope to make this hangi lunch a tradition. We have also been learning about Puanga and the residents have been very interactive in the discussion.”

She said staff and residents regularly ate together.

“We enjoy eating together like a family. It’s about community involvement, celebrating Puanga and sharing a meal.”

She said the day also fitted in with Arvida Molly Ryan’s values.

“One thing that resonated with us was finding a way to have a hangi and celebrate together, ensuring we met all the safe food practices. We have three values - being there, in it together and looking for a way to make things happen. All of these values were met with our hangi.”

Resident Tim Wingate said it was great to share meals.

“I came here in March last year. We all get looked after really well and the hangi meal was quite nice. All of the meals are nice.”

John Cook has been a resident since September.

“I’ve had hangi before so I knew it would be quite good. We have friendly staff who are a credit to Arvida Molly Ryan.”