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Whaingaroa Kids

Te Uku Pony Club

Te Uku Pony Club was originally established in the early 1950s. It went into recess for a few years and was restarted in the early 1980s by Avril Hawken and Christine Hartstone.

Te Uku has amazing facilities at the ground on Okete Rd. David and Nicola Peacocke sponsored a fabulous three-bay shed for the club rooms which has made a huge difference to rally and competition days. There is a cross country course available for schooling on rally days and training as well. Keep Reading

Raglan Theatre Academy delivers a colourful, energetic take on the classic Alice in Wonderland tale

“But I don’t want to go among mad people”, said Alice.

“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the cat, “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad”.

“How do you know I’m mad?” asked Alice.

“You must be,” said the cat, “Or you wouldn’t have come”.

And Raglan Theatre Academy certainly delivered a mad, fantastical ride for the audience with their production of Lewis Carroll’s timeless classic Alice in Wonderland at the town hall on the weekend.

A melding of Carroll’s much-loved books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, director Ruth Hare flawlessly captures the essence of his quirky characters and nonsensical play with words.

From the moment Alice falls down the rabbit hole which is captured through the clever use of the set design you know you are in for a treat.

The much-loved characters were brought to life by the talented cast – Alice, played by Summer Maybee-Waitere, is just how you would imagine; curious, delightful, clever and slightly naïve being led astray by the White Rabbit – Annie Fisher – who bounces around the stage with boundless energy.

Matthew Roughton and Josh Alexander as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, inject the perfect amount of humour with their impeccable comedic timing and Cassidy Hanna as the Chesire Cat is a purrfect, purring puss.

The Mad Hatter, Dormouse and March Hare, skilfully played Zoe Oliver, Casabella Smith and Coco Smith all keep Alice on her toes in the tea party scene.

The White Queen – Ayla Standley – is delightfully absent-minded and anxious and the Queen of Hearts – Griffin Pohutakawa – captures the awfulness of the character with her constant screeching ‘off with his/her head’.

The Caterpillar- Henry Fisher – is wise in a dreamy way as he attempts to help Alice and the Jabberwocky fight scene is entrancing as Alice overwhelms the creature with her sword.

The stage crew eerily creep around the stage seamlessly changing the stunning set, which is cleverly designed to mimic a chessboard optical illusion with the addition of the looking glass that also acts as portal.

The flowers embody their floral attitudes to a tee, the wind-up toys are delightful miniature versions of the lead characters and the Pirate Sailor birds perform a stunning dance scene.

The costuming is first-class from the very traditional Alice blue dress and the wild Mad Hatter costume to the very cleverly constructed Caterpillar outfit and frightening Jabberwocky.

The make-up, hair, costumes and set design create a feast for the eyes, and combined with the awesome performances by all involved, the Raglan rendition of Alice in Wonderland was elevated to a first-class production.

Janine Jackson

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Images thanks to Marek Kaniewski and Leanne Roughton.
Images thanks to Marek Kaniewski and Leanne Roughton.

Raglan Junior Soccer Prize Giving 2018

Best Team:
The team with the most wins for the season: U10 Seastars

Best Team, Seastars had the most wins this season. Their coach is Luca Grilli, who coached them this year even though his daughter is no longer in the team.
Best Team, Seastars had the most wins this season. Their coach is Luca Grilli, who coached them this year even though his daughter is no longer in the team.

Barracudas – 12th Grade
MVP: Jahmin Thompson
MIP: Ashton Ladyman

Dolphins – U12
MIP: Natalia Meek
MVP: Alicia Baker

Seahorses – U12
MIP: Riley Harding
MVP: Nina George         

Tsunamis – 11th Grade
MVP: Cormag Eadie
MIP: Alex Gott           

Seastars  – U10
MVP: Jade Camenzind
MIP: Milla Taggart   

Orcas – U10
MVP: Nirmala Milek-Zaini
MIP: Michaela Adams        

Kinas – 10th grade
MIP: Felix Sargent
MVP: Sol O’Loughlin

Thresher Sharks – 10th grade
MVP: Lucien Kite
MIP: Oliver Highway

Snappers  – 9th grade
MVP: Van Camenzind
MIP: Ngaru Wynyard

Mermaids – U 10
MIP: Coco WIlson
MVP: Abi Meyer

Hammer Heads – 8th Grade
MVP: Sam Crane
MIP: Cassius Eyre

Marlins – 8th Grade
MVP: Toby Bower
MIP: Diego Henderson

Urchins – 8th Grade
MIP: Finn Cameron
MVP: Ramone Regnier

Tiger Sharks – 7th Grade
MVP: Vincent Renfree
MIP: Dougal McGregor

Whale Tails – 8th Grade
MVP: Mikki Meyer
MIP: Sydney Duston    

Great Whites – 7th Grade
MVP: Selva Petzold de la Cruz
MIP: Nyah Carruthers

Pipis – 6th Grade
MIP: Patrick Scott
MVP: Paulo Regnier

Karioi Kahawai  – 6th Grade
MVP: Caitlin Higgins
MIP: Trixie Kroon

Spratz  – 6th Grade
MVP: Theo Pease
MIP: Bailey Martin   

Squids  – 6th Grade
MIP: Devon Watts
MVP: Miller Kirk

Tuatuas  – 5th Grade
MVP: Emily Gaustad

Bullsharks  – 5th Grade
MIP: Oliver Ashplant
MVP: Jack Bourke

Holiday music for kids hits the right note

Young Raglan musicians turned composers after a two-day workshop at the Old School Arts Centre recently.

Run by Ruth Power with her husband Kane (drummer/audio engineer/podcaster of Musicians Map) in support, Inspire! Holiday Music Program introduces instrument making, percussion, music experimentation, jamming and composition to musos-in-the-making.

Ruth says she spent the past year developing online piano courses and was keen to bring music to the students in a live setting. Keep Reading

Life savers added to local schools

A lucky break for a truck driver who had a heart attack outside Te Mata School has led to three new defibrillators being donated to Te Mata, Te Uku and Waitetuna.

Thankfully, one of the first responders to the incident was a local resident who had recently updated her first aid certificate and the second to arrive at the scene was a Meridian Energy employee with a portable defibrillator in his company vehicle.

The pair were able to save the truck driver’s life while waiting for an ambulance and the Westpac Helicopter to arrive. Without this timely assistance and life-saving equipment, this incident may have had a different ending. Keep Reading

New te reo singalong book features Matapihi youngsters exploring nature

All children at Matapihi Kindergarten now have their own glossy te reo singalong book – complete with CD – showing pictures of their exploration of the kindy’s lush, eight-acre bushclad playground.

The teachers too have all been given a complimentary copy of ‘Te Taiao’ (The Natural World), one of the latest in an interactive series of te reo books for early childhood education.

“We’re excited to see it published in time for Māori Language Week (this week),” kindergarten co-owner and teacher Angela Kimber told the Chronicle. Keep Reading

Raglan actors make the cut

Raglan Area School theatresports students have been thrown into the limelight with a win at the Waikato Secondary School Theatresports competition.

Led by teacher/coach Ruth Hare, the year 9 and 10 students – Jack and Sasha Kirkwood, Mason Swann and Connor Marquand – used all their thespian skills to come out tops over 12 other junior teams from across the Waikato.

“This is the first time Raglan has entered the competition so we are thrilled with their success,” Ruth says.  Keep Reading

Students a credit to the environment

Students from Raglan Area School are working for a better world while gaining NCEA qualifications.

Fifteen year 11-13 students are taking part in the Karioi Earthcare programme, led by Raglan’s community Karioi Maunga ki te Moana project and Papa Taiao Earthcare, a sustainability and ecological restoration training organisation. Keep Reading

Skate school for kids

Year 7 and 8 students from Raglan Area School have been attending a skating school run by Htown Skate Project at the local skate bowl during their sports slot on Fridays. Keep Reading

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