June 2016

SERVING 10,000 HOMES IN THE BLO CKHOUSE BAY AREA

Many of our locals have followed the great Kiwi tradition of the Big O.E. or overseas experience, and Fleur Bourgeois is one such local. Having moved to the Bay in 1978, attended local schools then Auckland University, her childhood experience of life abroad in Fiji came back around with a strong desire to travel again.

POST SHOP Blockhouse Bay

521 Blockhouse Bay Road8:30am - 5:00pm Mon - Fri

9.00am - 12:00pm Sat

Bill paymentsWestern UnionPostal productsPassport photosDigital photosMobile accessoriesGreeting cards StationeryMagazines

www.bhb.nz

From Big OE to Art Show Producer

The Battle of the Island 3Roger Comes to the Rescue 6Whatever Happened to Lucy? 12

Auckland traffic is relatively relaxing,

says Fleur

In 1999 Fleur moved with her young fam-ily to Cambodia, where she lived for 14 years. That country was undergoing a huge growth as it emerged from 25 years of war, occupa-tion and difficulty. Fleur worked with lead-ing Khmer artist Leang Seckon and this involvement in the emerging contemporary art movement was a solid introduction to the global art scene.

Continuing this interest in supporting artists, Fleur is producing art shows at The Block Caf in conjunction with owner Grant Hodges. Fleur comments, Why show art in a caf? Why not show art anywhere we like! The main point for me is to support artists well and make space for more art in our lives. Fleur and Grant are working to develop an art

programme which will see exchanges between New Zealand and Khmer artists, as well as exhibitions by locals.

Since moving home, Fleur has also joined her parents Ian and Heather in their family

business, Twin Har-bours Tours, provid-ing unique tours of Auckland and the re-gion, as well as offer-ing private driving. After experiencing rather different traf-fic conditions in her

time away, she says Auckland traffic is relative-ly relaxing!

The Block is currently showing award win-ning artist Monique Endts new work, Light, landscapes inspired by West Auckland, Coro-mandel and Great Barrier Island. The exhibi-tion runs until mid August.

More details inside ...

2 June 2016

Perhaps you have noticed that your issue of Newstalk Blockhouse Bay has not been ap-pearing in your letterbox for a few months now. Well, that is about to change. There is a new team at the helm who are excited to be re-launching this much-loved local news-paper.

Photo Competition Win a Dinner for Two

Share what you love about the local area with your best photos and win a generous dinner package for two spon-sored by Mt Everest Kitchen one of our favourite local restaurants.

We want to see your photos of the people and community, natural envi-ronment and anything else that grabs your attention.

The winner and selected entries will be in this months photo gallery on our website www.bhb.nz

Send your entry to Kerrie@bhb.nz Entries close Monday 27th June. One entry per person. The Judges decision is final.

The prizeA banquet for two by Head Chef Meraj Mohammed, including a drink each, to the value of $80, at Mt Everest Kitchen, Blockhouse Bay.

Sample of the delicious food on the menu

From left to right: Ajita, Head Chef Meraj Mohammad, Kulbir Gill, Anil Pant and Restaurant Manager Brian Rodricks

John and Kerrie Subritzky, locals from Lyn-field, have stepped into the breach and taken on the responsibility for producing the Beacon every month. They are working on some great new features which will unfold over the next few issues. Kerrie, the new Editor, says, We hope youll love the new look Beacon. We do, and we are putting it together each month with you in mind.

In addition to the newspaper, we now have a website www.bhb.nz. Here you will be kept up to date with local news online, as well as extended articles that may not fit in the print version. You will be able to read the paper in glorious colour, and shop local with our new advertisers directory.

Finally, here are some thoughts from the new captains of the Beacon

John says ...I am excited to be part of a community

and paper that I love. The Blockhouse Bay vil-lage is the community focal point for a wide area, including where I have always lived Lynfield.

We want the paper to have a significant on-line presence so we can be more respon-sive and have more content than is possible in the monthly print edition. Because of this in-creased visibility it is necessary to have a name change to something that does not conflict with other media. We have decided to go back into history with the name Beacon which was used from 1953 1962 in the Bay.

The print edition is only possible because of advertiser support. We appreciate our ad-vertisers and our advertisers appreciate your support.

Kerrie says ...We have just entered a new season. Yes,

winter is upon us and dont you just love it? Those glorious clear winter days where the light gives extraordinary clarity to our beauti-ful harbour and the surrounding hills.

NEWSTALK BECOMES THE BEACON

Its a new season for me too. I have a back-ground in counselling, and more recently in sales and marketing. But! Ive never run a paper before, so this is a new challenge.

As I write, we are about to go to print. Looking back at the past three weeks, for the most part its been a lot of fun - getting out and about, meeting our regular advertisers and contributors, and calling on new ones. Then it was crunch time. Getting the content and layout sorted has been a huge learning curve. And actually, yes, Ive enjoyed that too. Inter-esting times working with my husband on this project - theres a little room for improvement!

Next week I get to breathe again. Ill re-sume my more normal routine which has gone out the window while I transition into this new role Monday night horse riding lessons, cooking nutritious dinners for my family, possibly a lunch date with my mum, a bit of gardening, and I hope to make it to the gym occasionally (stop laughing, John).

Kerrie and John Subritzky

June 2016 3

William MacLean 021 22 33 777 Simon MacLean 021 846 100 w.maclean@barfoot.co.nz

Passionate about property in Blockhouse Bay

The road system around Blockhouse Bay Primary has always been problematic. The buses use the end of Gil-fillan Street as a turn around, many parents travel in cars to drop their children off at school and Blockhouse Bay Road is a major thorough-fare for people driving to and from work each day.

The Blockhouse Bay Trav-elwise Ambassadors and Pa-

trollers recently held a Back to School promotion to draw drivers attention to the fact that the new term had start-ed and that they need to slow down around schools.

The Ambassadors have also been promoting Walk to School Wednesdays. Chil-dren who walk to school go into a daily prize draw and there is a reward for the top walking classes for the term.

If parents have to bring their children in a car, they are encouraged to drop them off in a safe place, close to school, so that the children can at least walk some of the way. This helps to relieve

the congestion around the school gate, make the children fitter and makes the area around our school safer for pedestrians. Cmon Guys Get Travelwise!

Watch out For Kids!

Battle over the Island in the BayA tiny traffic island installed at the intersection of Gilfillan and Blockhouse Bay roads has caused surprise and ongoing controversy.

To many people it seemed like a pointless waste of money, especially as its solitary sign gets regu-larly flattened. James Mika reported seeing a new sign get run over as the worker who installed it was packing up his tools. James said I know its not funny but an old lady just ran over it just a min-ute ago just as the council guy hopped in his van from fixing it. He was cracking up himself as I was laughing my head off feeling sorry for him.

Several suggestions were made about how the traffic island could be improving safety but there was limited consensus about exactly how that was being achieved.

The Beacon asked for the official reason for in-stalling the island. Whau Board Member, Derek Battersby, found the answer for us. He reports:

This island was installed as an interim measure in response to concerns about drivers not stopping when turning left out of Gilfillan St. There are concerns that drivers who dont stop are putting pedestrians at risk at the pedestrian crossing just north of the intersection. The island was intended to reinforce the stop control at the intersection as a short term measure.

Before it was installed, engineers did check the turning path of buses to ensure they could track around it. This showed that in theory there is sufficient space for buses, but obviously the practice doesnt reflect this! The island isnt performing its intended function and we will therefore have it removed. We will instruct our maintenance team to have contractors remove it.

Auckland Transport has the intersection on the for-ward plan for minor safety improvement projects, with the mountable roundabout being the preferred option. Howev-er, there are a lot of projects competing for limited funds and dont yet have a timeframe for delivery for this work.

Everyone wants to see kids able to cross the road safely on the pedestrian crossing. Auckland Transport is still looking for a great solution.

bhb.co.nz

Fun at the Library

New Sponsorship Deal Great for SchoolLocal businesses are always very supportive of schools in the area and Blockhouse Bay Bar-foot and Thompson have taken this one step further by signing a three-year sponsorship deal with Blockhouse Bay Primary School as their platinum sponsor.

This deal is great for the school as it pro-vides us with a significant amount of money that can be used for the children said Princi-pal Neil Robinson. We are very lucky to en-joy a great deal of help from the community and this generous donation is another example of this he added.

The schools latest fundraising goal is to install an all-weather sports area that will add around 200 square metres of play space. When it is completed, it will provide the school and community with another great facility that can be used to improve the quality of sporting in-volvement for people in the area.

Barfoot and Thompson Branch Manager Chris Dever-Young, hands over the sponsorship cheque to Principal Neil Robinson and PTA Chairper-son Annette Bradley.

Lego Technic workshop for 9-15 year-oldsSaturday 25 June, 11am - 3pm

Build, discuss and consider physics princi-ples as LEGO do best. Investigations will con-sider Levers, Wedges, Pulleys. Why making learning hard when it can be fun!KNex workshop for 5-8 year-oldsSunday 26 June, 1pm - 3pmDiscover the world of Construction and Engineering. The group will be building and developing visual and kinaesthetic skills. Depending on ability, at the end of the session each child will be encouraged to build their

own vehicle.RoboArena workshop for 5-8 year-oldsSaturday 2 July, 1pm - 3pm

Build and battle real LEGO robots! Developed to intro-duce children into the world of robotics. LEGO style vi-sual instructions guide children to build the basic robots, they are then encouraged to make modifications that count in the Sumo style RoboArena. Stop Animation workshop for 5-8 year-oldsSunday 3 July, 1pm - 3pm

Lets make your own mini movie. With access to different materials, children will be introduced to Movie making techniques. Producing their own movie by the end of the first session.

Keep an eye out for our customer survey this month! We will be running this survey until the end of July. Please do take part - we would love to hear your thoughts on what events, programmes and activities YOU want to be run in the library.

4 June 2016

Find out more: call 09 301 0101 visit aucklandlibraries.govt.nz Facebook Auckland Libraries Twitter @Auckland_Libs

Wide range of products High potency and quality BioGro certified No nasty chemicals Catalogue available Local Consultant Free mini gift for you if you

mention this code: BHBB

We have some great Makerspace workshops for children and teenagers at the library during June and July. These are free and will be run by RoboClub and Sminks Labs. Plac-es are limited and bookings are essential, so please ask at the library or ring us on 374 1311 to book your childs space!RoboClub offers children an opportunity to explore with equipment designed to make them ready for tomorrows challenges. They are offering hands-on programmes at Block-house Bay Library for all ages which will inspire and encourage children to solve chal-lenges within the fields of science, technolo-gy, engineering and maths.

Visique Blockhouse Bay 1 Donovan St, Blockhouse BayPh 626 7713*Ts & Cs apply.

Our lifestyle packages provide quality eyewear and eyecare solutions to suit your needs.

Automotive RepAiRsMonday - Friday and Saturday MorningS

570 Blockhouse Bay Rd. Blockhouse Bay. Behind THE BLOCK Caf

WOF Mechanical RepaiRs autO electRical RepaiRs seRvicing tRans Flushing BRakes clutch exhaust luBes BatteRies

627 9925

BOXTEC - Time to get on your wraps and gloves! Community Boxing Classes held twice a week at the Green Bay Community House have been growing steadily since they started in May 2015. Dedication is the key, and Jo Ulberg both coach and mentor is setting a brilliant example as he has been engaging both kids and adults in learning basic skills, stance, foot work, offence and defence work.

Boxtec is a great way to get fit, but be-sides that it has enabled different age groups in the community to get-together and prac-tice, forming friendships which go far beyond class. The gals and guys commitment to their training and to their mates has recently been recognised by the Whau Local Board who has supportedthe group with much needed equip-ment for their weekly training.

The Green Bay Community House is very proud of this groups achievements and the positive impact it has made to this team of young locals.

Interested in joining? Come along to our BOXTEC Wednesdays, 6 7pm, or Sat-urdays 7.30am 8.30am, at the Green Bay Community House, 1 Barron Drive. Costs: 8 11year olds gold coin donation per class, 12 years+ $5 per class.

For more information and to registe please contact Jo on 0272426699.

BLOCKHOUSE BAY RESPONDS TO CHCH QUAKE

June 2016 5

Phone: 627-9970www.bhbdental.co.nz

3A Heaphy Street(by the roundabout)

Emergency appointmentsavailable daily!

Dentists:Dr. Peter Raymond BDS

Dr. Haydn Gray BDSDr Kathleen Sandberg DDS

Dr Ravi de Saram BDS

Hygienist: Anna

6 Exminster Street, Blockhouse Bay

Phone: 09 627 3555nitin@aucklandortho.co.nzwww.aucklandortho.co.nz

Specialist orthodontics for all ages

Dr Nitin RanigaOrthodontist

BDS (Otago), DclinDent (Otago), MOrth RSCEd, MRACDS (Orth)

A book launch was held at Church of the Saviour on 12 June to help raise funds for the ongo-ing and long term efforts to rebuild Christchurch following the earthquake.

The book, God Is Where The Pain Is, tells the story of how two churches worked togeth-er to launch a community safety initiative after the devastating earthquake five years ago, and have now reached out to over 60,000 homes. It is also being considered as a model for other disaster relief programmes internationally.

It all started when, after the quake, a small group of volunteers with building skills from Church of the Saviour decided to offer help to St Christophers church in Christchurch. St Christophers were keen to have the team, but when they arrived, everyone was still in shock and no one knew where to start.

The Christchurch-Blockhouse Bay team set up a programme with volunteers door knock-

ing and taking notes on what needed to hap-pen to make houses liveable. This may have been as simple as unblocking a front door, re-moving a chimney or other basic repairs. These were then phoned back to base where another member of Church of the Saviour co-ordinat-ed the list and passed the details on to the two teams of builders.

The Christchurch Community Response (CCR) team was born, and the team returned home having helped to secure a few hundred homes. They had left in place a local team, which went on to help thousands of homes.

Books can be ordered through Church of the Saviour, or office@cots.org.nz

Left to right: Geoff Bennett, Mike Playle, Chris Watson

Church of the Saviour have a new 20s and 30s pastor, Jody Drew. Jody and her husband Ed, have three children, and have had some amazing experiences working around the world, with the poorest of the poor with Hei-di Baker in Mozambique, as well as serving in churches in New Zealand. A new programme is starting and Jody welcomes anyone 18 up to join in, she has some great ideas about serving the community, meeting together and finding out more about God. Details of the programme can be found at www.cots.org.nz

New face at Church of the Saviour

bhb.co.nz

With you all the way Commited to excellenceOur mission is simple: to deliver exceptional personal service & the best possible outcome for every client we work with. Why not give us a call or drop in next time youre passing?

09 627 9010 Blue Fern Realty Ltd

Licensed Agent REAA 2008

564 Blockhouse Bay Road, Blockhouse Baywestauckland.harcourts.co.nz

ROGER COMES TO THE RESCUE

6 June 2016

WINTER IS COMINGVolunteer Visitors needed

for the ElderlyThere ARE isolated, lonely older people in your community who

need YOUR help. Social isolation is increased for the elderly in the winter months. Outings are less, weather is cold and wet and depression sets in.

AGE CONCERN coordinate an Accredited Visiting Service matching

lonely older people, with caring volunteers who would like to put something back into their local

community.We are in need of visitors offering 1

hour per week to help make someone elses week less isolated. A small bit of social interaction, can make all the difference to an older person who has

limited mobility and socialisation. Evaluations prove that this small

commitment to an older person lowers levels of depression and insecurity.You will be matched with someone

who lives in the same area.Please think about offering a small

portion of your time in this rewarding service to our elderly. Volunteers need good English skills and must be able to visit during the weekday or weekend.

No visits in the evening.

If you would like more information please contact

Age Concern Auckland, Sue Campin Ph: 820-2713

Blockhouse Bay local, Roger Elliott, has recently been recognised by Driving Miss Daisy as their Daisy Driver of the Month for April, and when you read his story, youll understand why.

Last Christmas Eve, Roger was booked in to collect Mrs Thomas from her home and take her to a hairdressers appointment. He ar-rived just before 9.10am, knocked on the door and when he heard Mrs Thomas say come in he opened the door and went in, only to find Mrs Thomas on the floor, where she had been since sun up the previous day, a very long 27 hours ago!

Roger immedi-ately rang for an ambulance, asking Mrs Thomas if she needed anything as the phone was ring-ing. Mrs Thomas was so relieved to finally have help. There had been at least two knocks on the door the previ-ous day, and when she called out come in, no one heard her. She screamed out a few times and again was not heard, she thinks the phone rang about 15 times over the 27 hours, each time going to answer phone.

As they were waiting for the Ambulance to arrive, Roger did a quick walk around the house and property to have a look just in case she had been broken into. Roger helped direct

the Ambulance into the driveway when it ar-rived four minutes later, and as the paramedics went inside to help Mrs Thomas, Roger sorted out care for the dog, arranged with the neigh-bour to lock the door after they had left, and

he even brought her washing in. Legend!!

Mrs Thomas was found to have bro-ken her arm in two places, broken her hip, she had an im-pressive war wound on her forehead and she had had a mild heart attack, which could have been brought on by lying on the floor for so long. She also had other cuts and bruising. Driving Miss Daisy fran-chise owner Susie Davis visited her a few times in hospital

and the rehabilitation home.After 4 months and 4 days of recovery,

Mrs Thomas and her rescuer were reunited when Roger had the privilege of bringing Mrs Thomas home. She calls him her hero, and we think thats well-deserved!

As Susie points out, Driving Miss Daisy is so much more than just transport!!

Footpath Upgrades, New Traffic Lights

Hi! Im Monica BajajHaving recently joined the team at Barfoot & Thompson, Block-house Bay, I thought it was time I introduced myself to the wider community.

A long-time resident of Lynfield, my husband and I have raised our

two gorgeous children here. We feel privileged to live in such close prox-imity to the beautiful bays and bush walks in the area. My wee dog Mia and I love to play soccer together at the Manukau Domain, and I am often struck by the resemblance of that vista to Milford Sound.

I am a born people-person, and my background in teaching and adult education provided plenty of opportunity to connect with people, devel-oping strong listening skills along the way, as well as empathy towards people from all walks of life.

Being a people business, real estate has been a natural progression for me. It means I get to do what I love to do most build relationships, based on old fashioned values truthfulness, honesty and integrity. My philosophy is There is no substitute for hard work! which means I am always going to be working hard for you - achieving your real estate goals is my success.

So, give me a call and lets catch up over coffee to discuss your real estate needs.

June 2016 7

I was concerned at the level of deterioration of footpaths around the BHB village and asked Auckland Transport to review. Its good to see AT addressing the appalling state of the old red asphalt in and around Blockhouse Bay. Renewals will be undertaken around the BHB village shopping precinct, in particular Kinross Street, down 150 meters down from the village during the 2016/17 year.

bhb.co.nz

Monica BajajResidential Sales | www.barfoot.co.nz/m.bajaj

M 021 268 3963 P 09 213 0833Blockhouse Bay 09 627 8325 F 09 627 8391

Ive been advocating with Board support to get lights on the corner of Blockhouse Bay and New Windsor Roads, these are now due to be installed. I know! Not another set of lights! I hear you cry. However, this intersection is a major connector to the motorway network linking Avondale/New Lynn area via Maioro Road and it has proven to be an accident hot spot.

Old footpath

New footpath

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Contact Prateek Malhotra on 09 215 6912 or 0800 22 33 46 Mobile: 021 424 119 or email: info@everesthomeloans.co.nz Visit us at 557 Blockhouse Bay Road, Blockhouse Baywww.everesthomeloans.co.nz*Lender Criteria and conditions apply. Disclosure statement available on request

Advocating for our fair share of council revenue to support town centre revitalisation has been challenging, and now this election term is nearing its end. The board believes that community empowerment is essential for people to take more action within their own communities, and that Auckland Council needs to entrust more regional funding to lo-cal boards, to make this a reality.

I thank you for your support.

Derek Battersby QSM, JP, Local Board Member

derek.battersby@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

8 June 2016

RENTAL PROPERTY UPDATEThe rental market is still quite active, given that things traditionally slow down at this time of year. There are currently just under thirty properties for rent in Blockhouse Bay showing a good supply. A rental property in good condition and appropriately priced will still rent well in this market.

This week the Government has brought into law compulsory smoke alarms and insulation in rental properties. Insulation needs to be in place by July 2019 and I will discuss this in more detail in the next issue.

SMOKE ALARMS.As at July 1, 2016 all rental properties must have a minimum of

one working smoke alarm within 3 metres of each bedroom door. Long life photoelectric smoke alarms are required where there are no smoke alarms and also when existing smoke alarms are replaced.

Landlords Responsibilites. Make sure smoke alarms are in working order at the start of every

tenancy. Replace smoke alarms in accordance with manufacturers replace-

ment date Check with their insurance company to be clear about landlords and

tenants responsibilities regarding smoke alarms and fires. Have all smoke alarms installed before October 1, 2016 or face a

potential fine of $3000.

Tenants Responsibilites regularly check the smoke alarms are in working order and report

any faults. It is unlawful for tenants to interfere with smoke alarms and they can

be fined up to $3000

If tenants are concerned about the performance of their smoke alarms and cannot resolve this with the landlords, they can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal who can issue a works order and also fine the landlord.

There is more in depth information regarding smoke alarms on the government website www.mbie.govt.nz.

JANNE BREETVELT CITY PROEPRTY MANAGEMENT557 Blockhouse Bay Rd | Ph 021 720950

June 2016 9

AA Meeting 10.30am Mondays, Thursdays (Armanasco House)

AA Meeting 7pm Mondays & Fridays (Armanasco House)Aerobics Zumba Gold 9.15am MondaysAerobics Annies Movers & Shakers 9am Fridays

Antiques & Craft Fair 9am 24 July, 18 September, 20 NovemberBallroom & Latin Dance Class 6.45pm WednesdaysBasic Mandarin, Chinese Food & Arts 7pm MondaysBelly Dance for Fitness 7pm Tuesdays & FridaysBollywood Dance 1pm SaturdaysBonsai Group 2.30pm 2nd SundayCards 12.30pm WednesdaysChildrens Baking 10.30am SaturdaysChildrens Latin Dance 3.30pm Wednesdays, ThursdaysGO Kids Fitness Junior 3.30pm Fridays Dancing in the Dark 7.30pm ThursdaysEmbroidery 10am WednesdaysEngineering Concepts for Children 3.30pm ThursdaysFree English Class 1.15pm Mondays & FridaysFree Phone & Tablet Troubleshooting 2pm WednesdaysGarden Club 1pm 1st TuesdayGentle Exercise for over 60s 10am WednesdaysGreen Bay Community Choir 12.30pm ThursdaysHighland Dance 10am SundaysHistorical Society 10am Tuesdays (Armanasco House)Historical Society 1pm Wednesday (Bi-monthly meeting)Housie 7pm TuesdaysIona Scouts 6pm WednesdaysKids 4 Drama Various Wednesdays & ThursdaysKrav Maga/Taekwondo 6.30 Tuesdays & ThursdaysLaughter Yoga 4pm SundaysLine Dancing 9.45am Tuesdays & Fridays Low Impact Aerobics 9.15am Mondays (Also 9am Fridays) Mah Jong 12.30pm Mondays (Armanasco House) Markets 7am 2nd and last SaturdayMaths Tuition 5pm WeekdaysMoving Mums 10am Thursdays

Pilates 7.30pm Mondays (Also 10.30am Thursdays)

Pregnancy Help 9.30-11.30am Wednesdays

Probus 10am 2nd Friday Rummikub 12.45pm WednesdaysSchool Holiday Programme Monday 11th to Friday 22nd JulyScience Tuition 5pm Tuesdays & ThursdaySequence Dancing 12 noon Mondays

Taekwondo 6.30pm Tuesdays & Thursdays (Scout Hall)Tai Chi 10.30am Mondays (Also 10am Thursdays)Ukulele 11am Mondays

Womens Institute 12.30pm 3rd Wednesday (Armanasco House)Ys Walkers 8.15am Mondays & Wednesdays

Yoga 6.30pm Mondays (Also 10.30am Fridays & 8.45am Sunday) Zumba 9.30am Saturdays

Zumba for all ages 8.45am Tuesdays & Thursdays (Also Sundays 9.30am)

To register interest, or for more information please contact the office or download a full programme from our website.

Phone: 6264980 | Email: info@bhbaycommunitycentre.co.nz Website: www.blockhousebaycentre.co.nz

Activities/Classes at the Blockhouse Bay Community Centre and Armanasco House TERMS 2 & 3 2016

NEW ACTIVITIES AT THE COMMUNITY CENTRE

We have two new activities for mums and mums-to-be at the Centre now. Moving Mums (all fitness levels, and children welcome) and Pregnancy Help.

Just started is a weekly class for children aged between 6 and 10 run by VK called Young Engineers STEM. VK is offering a 90 minute FREE trial workshop to the first 15 children who register with VK on 022 1955 733.

Also FREE at the Centre is a beginners immersion course in Chi-nese, including, food, customs and handy phrases. This is run entirely free by Joy who is keen to give something back to the community and foster more understanding about all things Chinese. Registration is es-sential; for more details, please see our website or call Joy on 021 259 4978

On Sundays at 4pm the popular Laughter Yoga run by Matthew from the School Holiday Programme is back. Contact Matthew on 021 0811 2942 for details.

And dont forget the Community Centre School Holiday Pro-gramme runs from 11 to 22 July. Details will be available mid-June and we strongly advise early booking as the programme usually sells out.

Staff and Committee at the Community Centre welcome Kerrie and John Subritzky as the new publishers and editors of the BHB Beacon (formerly Newstalk Blockhouse Bay) and look forward to working with them to the benefit of the Bay communities.

Pregnancy Help Now In Blockhouse BayPregnancy Help have been around throughout New Zealand for the

last 40 years. They are a non profit charitable organisation providing holistic and client focused support service, whatever the circumstances.

Their core services are providing advice and essential information, pregnancy tests, and practical items such as bassinets, bedding, cloth-ing, cloth nappies and other baby items. Their services are free and confidential, and clients are assured of a welcoming, listening ear and assistance to access other appropriate support. They rely heavily on grants and donations. Pregnancy Help encourage sustainable practices and recycling of pre-loved items and are a vital link in the chain of helping.

Pregnancy Help have been operating out of New Lynn for the past five years, but because there has been an increase of clientele from the Bay area, they have now moved to Blockhouse Bay Community Centre with immediate effect.

Open every Wednesday from 9.30 am to 12.00 noon. City office is open Mon - Fri from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm.

Contact: auckland@pregnancyhelp.org.nz 09-373 2599 www.pregnancyhelp.org.nz.

Moving MumsSince becoming first-time mums themselves last year, West Auckland

personal trainers Hannah Gillard and Ange Noy discovered first-hand how important and beneficial exercise is for new mothers. However, many general boot camps and exercise programmes are unsuitable for regaining fitness after giving birth. This led them to join forces to cre-ate Moving Mums - fun, supportive and social group training sessions where mums can bring along their young children so there is no need to find childcare while they work out. Hannah and Ange are passion-ate about getting mamas and babies active, and are looking forward to meeting more local mums and helping them achieve their health goals. Thursdays at 10am, Ph: 021 391 911

Activity CornerThe BHB Senior Citizens Hall (Cnr Exminster St & BHB Rd) are

now holding an Activity Corner each Thursday morning. Everyone is welcome. Morning Tea,followed with card games, chess, Rummikub or bring your own to share with others. Ph: Sheila09 626 6678.

bhb.co.nz

Gauri, who is a University student, was a recent guest speaker at BHB-Lynfield Lions Club. While she was a pu-pil at Lynfield College she had been sponsored by this club into the District Young Speechmakers contest. She later entered the Zone Lions Young Ambassador Competition against entrants from several other west Auckland Schools and won the coveted title. Judged on Community activi-ty, academic achievement and leadership potential, Gauri was outstanding. She won $1000 for her continued study

10 June 2016 bhb.co.nz

On Thursday 19th May, the staff, students and community of Chaucer School came together to celebrate Grandparents Day. Grandparents and members of whanau came to join us in our learning, some travelling from out of Auckland to be here.

Student wins $1,000 prize from Lions Club

expenses.

While at Lynfield College, Gauri was chosen by New Zealand Model United Nations to represent New Zealand youth with a few other candidates at The Hague Interna-tional Model United Nations in 2016. The Blockhouse Bay-Lynfield Lions proudly and enthusiastically supported her with a donation towards her expenses.

In the spirit of which the Lions encourage the areas youth to help themselves and not just provide handouts, Gauri had assisted the Lions at their sausage sizzle fundrais-er at the Monthly Blockhouse Bay Market. On her return from the UN she came and addressed the club about her UN experience.

In recent times the Lions have assisted many local stu-dents including Grace to a Girls football match in Australia, Maddison who is an upcoming shot putter to Youth Games in Columbia, a Robotics team to world champs and Wendy who is a profoundly deaf young lady, to learn sign language.

This month the Lions will be having a Mid-Winter Christmas dinner. The Lions welcome visitors to come and enjoy the fellowship and good food on these occasions every third Wednesday of the month. Go to http://e-clubhouse.org/sites/blockhousebaynz/page-10.php for more infor-mation or text Lions Dinner 2016 to 0276611122.

Grandparents day at Chaucer School

Monday Thursday9.30am to

5.30pmFriday

9.30am to 6.00pm

Saturday9.30am to

2.00pm

Phone: 626-5633 561 Blockhouse Bay Road

(opposite the Library)

Selection,service,

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KARATE SATURDAY LESSONS - START-ING 6 AUGUST! Lion Budokan Karate Inter-national is pleased to announce the commence-ment of our saturday classes for beginners at Bay Roskill Sports Club, 231 Whitney Street, Blockhouse Bay. Spaces are limited so act now if you are keen to join. Visit www.budokan.co.nz for more details or call Syed now at 021-1887250.

ELOHIM / COLOUR HEALING Feeling out of sorts or off-colour? Enjoy a massage for the soul and have a full body balance using a combi-nation of hands on healing and energy work. This aligns the chakras and releases blockages on all levels. Very relaxing and feel completely at one. Contact Denise on 627-5449 for an appointment.

SPEECH, DRAMA AND COMMUNICA-TION TUITION - All levels, with Trinity College exams, when desired. Experienced teacher, and students get high grades. Gordon Miller BA, Cert Eff Com, ATCL (Sp & Dr), LSB (P Spkg). Ph 627 6413 or 021 450 933 or email gordon.miller@paradise.net.nz.

Grandparents joined in all kinds of learning: Reading, writing, playing and even danc-ing! Children had great pride in sharing their work and learning environment with their Grand-parents. Those children who didnt have grandparents come still enjoyed working with oth-er childrens grandparents which created a nice whanau feeling and truly gave meaning to the phrase Chaucer family.

We finished our fun-filled morning with a special morning tea for our incredible Grandpar-ents and whanau. There was a

lovely positive buzz throughout the school all day.

Thank you to all the grandparents and whanau members who joined us in celebrating Grandparents Day!

Lynfield College Students are again World Robotics ChampionsIt is not by chance that the VEX robotics competition has grown to be the worlds biggest robotics competition! The passion and dedication that the competition generates in the students and anyone involved in the programme is evident by the excitement shown in the 1072 teams that competed in Louisville, USA, last month for the right to call themselves World Champions

Huge congratulations to Lynfield College whose students achieved the ultimate accolade being crowned the winners of theHigh School Excellence Award. They join an elite group of teams who number only nine who can call themselves the best of the best.

Our competitors were Steven Barkers team with Reeve DCunha, Irisha Inamke, Andrew Isdale, Grun Wia Wong and Jona-thon Brown and Conor Thomass team with Jia Dua, Nathan Varney, Zane Imran, Alur Sanguinsin and Iain Purdie.

The recipient of the Excellence Award exemplifies overall excellence in building a well-rounded VEX robotics program. They excel in many areas and are a shining example of dedication, devotion, hard work and team-work. They are strong contenders in numerous

award categories, and deserve to be recognized for building quality robots and a team com-mitted to quality in everything that they do. To be eligible for the Excellence Award at the World Championship, they must have sub-mitted at least two different online challenges in the current year and must also sign up for both an Excellence Award interview and De-sign Award submissions.

Due to the amazing and dedicated efforts of the senior students along with the support of the junior members in the Lynfield College Robotics Group all of these criteria were met to a high standard. An example is the online website design challenge in which the Lyn-field students www.lcrobotics.nz website was placed 2nd in the world. Their promotional vid-eo also made it to the top 10 finalists.

Lynfield College also won theRobot Skills World Champions Award for the highest score in the world in a competition where the robot competes alone on the field under driver control for one minute. Scoring 454 points equates to getting two balls into a net with an opening roughly half the size of a netball hoop 15 feet away every second! All of this was done using a robot built and programmed by the Lynfield students and their next closest rival was 23 points behind them.

The teams have arrived back jubilant but are continuing for their trip to the Worlds. A Givealittle page is still available for anyone who is able to to fundraise contribute https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/lcrobotics2016worlds

June 2016 11

Light is an exhibition of nine new paint-ings by Monique Endt. The show opened at The Block on 14 June and will run for two months.

Monique Endt is a local artist who has spent her life mainly in West Auckland. She grew up in Oratia on land her parents developed to be a tropical paradise, nestled in Waitakeres foot-hills. Like many aware people, she developed an affinity for trees, landscapes and birds of the places where she spent time.

With this series of paintings, Monique con-

tinues a focus on Aotearoas coastal landscapes, based in locations she feels connected to, such as Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel and Aucklands West Coast. She says, when I lived on Great Barrier, the beauty and the light were what I really wanted to paint; it was the be-ginning of the inspiration to do landscape and birds. I started with writing and illustrating a childrens book called Lucky Pateke (Brown Teal) about the rarest duck in New Zealand.

I try to capture the light in my work, the essence, using colours to create the mood, she says. Viewing Moniques work we are drawn in, both by her colour palette which, depend-ing on her mood, ranges from muted to bright colours, and the bold depiction of well-known scenes. But something more than that holds us. Is it the familiarity, the feeling of place, and old stories about places we know? Strange

elements emerge if we give ourselves time to observe.

Describing elements of the surreal in her work, Monique talks about a growing aware-ness throughout her lifetime of a presence that trees have, the feeling she has from the land, and the knowing of birds. She says, Time spent looking at works about places we all have our own histories with, gives way to recognis-ing that we are not the only ones who experi-ence our surroundings in a spiritual sense. I do and we do. And maybe then both I, and we, are involved in, and then responsible for, caring for these places.

Come to the Block and enjoy the work with an award winning coffee or a meal. Interest to purchase to Fleur 022 125 7857 or Monique 027 412 1652.

Monique Endt Artist

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Have you seen the Stihl chain saw ads where the guy has to choose between saving a lamb or his chainsaw? The ad had two versions to choose from. The animal lovers won the vote and the lamb was saved.

It got me thinking, maybe I could tell a story and you could choose which outcome you liked the best

Once upon a time in a little village called Blockhouse Bay, a very elderly cat called Lucy lived in a grossly over priced home with her fam-ily; Mum, Dad and the two young girls Imogen and Taylor.

If Lucy was a person she would have had her gold card some time back. Sadly, Lucy had poor kidney function and was looking very thin and frail these days. Her family adored Lucy and gave her special kidney food and medications to keep her as healthy as possible.

Lucy didnt do much these days but would occasionally wander out and lie on the stone wall in front of the house on sunny days. On one of these days a very kind, animal loving lady called Sue, was walking past the stone wall and saw Lucy. She gave her a pat, which Lucy always en-joys. The Lady realised that Lucy was very thin and seemed weak on her legs.

Now Sue being a cat lover was very concerned about Lucy. Nobody was about so she decided the best option was to take Lucy to her local vet.

Ok guys this is where you get to choose which

12 June 2016

Whatever Happened to Lucy?ending you like the most:

Number 1The very kind and caring vet checks Lucy over

and comes to the conclusion she is very elderly and has poor kidney function. The vet checks for a microchip but sadly Lucy does not have one. Sue, being a cat lover, decides to take Lucy home and care for her. She takes good care of her and Lucy ends up living for two more years with Sue.

That night however Imogen and Taylor are distraught because Lucy has not come home. In their whole lives this has never happened. Mum stays home to try to console the kids while Dad visits all the neighbours to see if anyone has seen Lucy. Nobody has seen Lucy, and given her poor health, he worries she may have gone off to die.

The family never finds out what happened to Lucy.

Number 2Lucy is taken by Sue to the kind, caring

vet who scans for a microchip. Lucy was mi-cro-chipped when she was young so the vet is able to rapidly contact Lucys Mum.

Lucys Mum comes and collects her and takes her home. She tells Imogen and Taylor about Lucys adventure and they fight over whose bed Lucy will sleep on tonight.

Sue is happy to know Lucy has a home and is much loved.

Although this is a work of fiction, we get some version of this story most days of the week at Blockhouse Bay Vets. As vets, we love when cats are micro-chipped as re-turning a cat to its owners feels so much better than having to send it to the SPCA.

Lance Eastman

Found on Facebook

Stray dogs and missing animals are comment-ed on every week on the BHB Facebook Group page. As Lance Eastman (BHB Vets) says, it can be difficult to reunite owners and animals. However, sometimes social media and crowd sourcing infor-mation gets a happy ending.

In a recent post, Bronwyn Lane asked Is this anybodys dog? Visiting our place on Heaphy Street...

Within minutes, Catherine Watson asked Chrissy MacLove - is this your missing dog? and Chrissy came straight back Yes yes!!!!! One very relieved owner, after her dog Lulu had been miss-ing for four days. Chrissy said Thank you so much Bronwyn Lane for feeding her and keeping her there today. It just got so much colder today, were so relieved shes back and in one piece

31.05.16 Chrissy wrote Lulu was found safe and sound this morning by a lovely family in Heaphy Street BHBAY. And I was notified on the BHB community fb page. Thank you so much for your page and sharing the lost poster everywhere. Were so happy to have her home.

Lulu had also been listed on the New Zealand Lost Pet Register and that link has been shared on Neighbourly. The posts from both websites were mentioned on this Facebook thread.

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