Archive | October, 2010

Building Biodiversity: Building New Zealand

7 Oct

Al Morrison, Director-General, Department of Conservation, speaking at Lincoln University, 7 October 2010.

Here’s a question. What connects Elvis Presley, Roy Rogers, Billie Graham, Sir Howard Morrison and probably you?

They all added to their popularity – well, perhaps not you – with a rendition of the popular hymn, How Great Thou Art. Elvis even won a Grammy Award for it in 1967.

My guess is you remember the first verse about the awesome wonder of the stars and the rolling thunder. Do you remember the second?

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Four weeks after the big Canterbury eart…

6 Oct

Four weeks after the big Canterbury earthquake, the people of Sumner got together to celebrate the efforts of their volunteer fire brigade and raise funds.

A selection of photos from the fair on Saturday 2 October.

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A big hand for Avonside

6 Oct

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The silt-shovelling team taking a lunchbreak on Avonside Drive a couple of weekends ago.

A huge team of volunteers, initially university students, combed Christchurch after the 4 Sept earthquake, helping out where they could.

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Self-help Community Pool

4 Oct

The strength of a local community can often be gauged by the strength of its community facilities.  More so when those facilities are provided directly through residents’ efforts.

The Sumner Community Pool is one of the few community pools in Christchurch that has managed to survive the pool-closure mania of the last two decades.  I know from my own experience as a school trustee at Shirley Intermediate School that it is a hard fight to maintain and fund pools in the face of bureaucratic resistance.

The Sumner Community Pool committee has been outstandingly effective in maintaining and developing their pool.  The pool is a hugely popular focus of community activity during the summer months.

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