Helping in the community

With Bayfair expanding, the shopping mall’s Police Information Centre is  looking for more volunteers to help cover shifts and ensure they can patrol the complex each and every day. “We need heaps more volunteers,” says Bayfair...... Read More

Tauranga South’s community patrol

One Friday night in October, I joined  the community night patrol as they  set off on their four-hour surveillance  of Tauranga South. The secretary of the Tauranga South Community Patrol, Maureen Kathan, had invited me along with her...... Read More

Tap dancing comes full circle

Merv Beets is directing 16th Ave Theatre’s next play, Stepping Out. “I was in Stepping Out in Rotorua about 30 years ago,” says Merv, “and Fiona McNeill played Sylvia. Now I’m directing and she’s Mrs Fraser in the...... Read More

Limo, ice cream and fun

Zahnee Campbell’s lower spine surgery is scheduled for late November. The first decade of her life has been one of overcoming serious health challenges, and recently she reached the teenage year milestone. Mount Maunganui Lions Club was approached...... Read More

Athenree Homestead Christmas Fair

Quiches, sausage rolls, salad sandwiches and bread cases brimming with delicious fillings – just some of the delights to be enjoyed in the Athenree Homestead station kitchen at the annual Christmas Fair on Sunday. The garden is in full bloom...... Read More

A look back at history

Tauranga’s old post office at 51 Willow Street was originally constructed in 1906. An Edwardian Baroque-style building, it was designed to house government departments, including a courtroom, lands office and a customs office. It is the third...... Read More

Cuisine replaces letters

It was once a place to mail your all-important letters. Now, it is a space to wine, dine and escape. Located in one of Tauranga’s oldest buildings at 51 Willow Street, in the old post office, Clarence Hotel has transformed into an oasis, and...... Read More

The art of the cordwainer

Nick Eggleston jokes that he has ‘ish-shoes’ about his shoes. I try not to smile so gaze past him at one of his paintings. It’s an amusing shoebill with a sock monkey. I can’t help it, I’m laughing. The charming eccentric...... Read More

Unearthed treasures

Hidden away in Tauranga Library’s archives are some interesting items that tell stories about early Tauranga. Some of these relate to the women who have lived in Tauranga since the Suffrage petition was signed 125 years ago. Librarian Stephanie...... Read More

Memories of Gallipoli

A unique personal collection of autographs, notes, cartoons and poems penned by soldiers from the Gallipoli campaign has been launched at the Mount Maunganui RSA. Crafted into a book with the assistance of Kate McCarthy, a personal historian with Forget-Me-Not...... Read More