All articles in ‘Community’

You don’t need to know a tea rose from a rhizome, to enjoy the Franklin Hospice Garden Ramble. Created and managed by two local women as a fund raiser for Franklin Hospice (more than $200,000 raised since 2012), people flocked to the picture-perfect gard…

Auckland Zoo is celebrating the birth of its first baby rhino in 20 years – a healthy female delivered by first-time mum Jamila in a speedy one-hour labour 12 days ago. The much-anticipated birth of the southern white rhino calf on 14 August to mum Jamil…

On Friday 17 July 2020, Karaka Playcentre were extremely lucky to have Bunnings transform their wilderness area through the Bunnings community support programme. Bunnings is committed to participating in the communities in which they operate by contribut…

When the doors open on Sunday November 22nd to showcase Pokeno’s formula manufacturing plant you won’t be bombarded with Yashili branded memorabilia. Because despite being partly responsible for the area’s considerable economic growth since it opened in …

James Sydney Heard was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal New Zealand Artillery (RNZA) when he first served with 161 Battery in Vietnam. During a second Tour of Duty, he served with the 1st New Zealand Army Training Team Vietnam (1-NZATTV). He retired from th…

The Rotary Club of Pukekohe Inc. was established in August 1945 and marks its 75th birthday on 22 August this year. The club today bears little resemblance to the one chartered the year World War 2 ended. In those days Rotary was a male-only affair with…

In winter of 1864 the three masted clipper ship the ‘Ganges’ set sail from Cobh, Ireland for a 12,000 mile journey to Auckland. Amongst almost five hundred passengers and crew onboard the 192 foot (59m) ship were newly married couple, John and Sarah Faus…

ANZAC day 2020 will be a vastly different day to years previous, but still bears little resemblance to the horrors that young Sargeant James Stanton experienced during the First World War. Thanks to a canny series of events, we know a little about what h…

While public ANZAC Day services will not be able to go ahead this year, we can still take time to reflect on the sacrifice made by our ANZACs and show our appreciation to all of our veterans and service personnel. Defence Minister Ron Mark joined Defe…

To all Dutch New Zealanders, While we work from home, walk in empty streets, wait in lines to do our shopping in supermarkets in compliance with the 2 m social distancing, life in New Zealand and the rest of the world seems to be on hold. No plans ar…

New Zealand has grown to be a multi-cultural nation and encompasses a wide range of groups and beliefs. But as of the 2018 census, statistics show almost half of our population doesn’t identify with any religion. As churches all over the country celebrat…

Project Face Shield NZ is an online community of over 200 NZ based 3D Printer owners who through the Covid19 Lockdown, started to see unprecedented demand from front line agencies for Personal Protection Equipment, (PPE equipment) including Face Shields.

I jumped on those scales and cried. And now this is the start of the rest of my life. Stephanie Hooper had always been big. As a child and throughout her teenage years she sought comfort in food as a way of dealing with life, until a series of events lea…

For the third successive year the annual North Island Donkey & Mule Society Show was held at the Counties Dog Training club grounds at Kidd Elliot Park in Te Hi Hi. This year the show also incorporated the National Miniature Donkey Show. Fortunately the …

Pukekohe Christian School, located at 82 Yates Road, Pukekohe, is a small and welcoming private school. The school offers a supportive environment for Year 1 through to Year 13 students and provides the Cambridge curriculum from a Christian worldview. Th…

Adam Mainey has always enjoyed keeping fit. From his younger years playing sport, to his previous jobs as a Bricklayer and running his own Masonry business, he was always challenged, or so he thought, until the day he changed careers and tried Crossfit f…

It’s that time of year again when, for all things, Jolly, Joyful and generally Christmassy, Papakura is your one stop Christmas stop! Having always had always had a strong community spirit, a varied retail base with 36 new shops opened this year alone, a…

If you are looking for something to do as the weather gets warmer that gets you and the family out and about then you can’t go past the new Five Summits Walk and Bike Trail and accompanying map that has recently been developed in Pukekohe. A gift to the …

The Christmas season is a time to celebrate being with family and friends. It can however sometimes isolate members of our community, especially our senior members, who are without a strong network around them or who’s usual network of friends return to …

Cosplay. To some people it’s a foreign word and they have no clue what it is. To others, they might have heard of it, but know little else, and Cosplayers themselves? Well, to them it can be a pretty big deal. Cosplay is short for costume play, an anglic…