No Exit

It is a short road, about 100 metres long. No one lives on it. In fact, at the end of it is a field with horses. Then I looked again. All the horses seemed to be old, and thin. Maybe the sign is right.

Kirk and Ann-Marie

Generally I ask before I put any one's photo on this blog, but sometimes the message does not get through. This photo was taken in early February.
Kirk is a Holden man. He has a Team Holden jacket, and drives a Holden himself. How did he feel then, when Ann-Marie arrived at the wedding in a 1930's Ford.
I don't think he cared.
When I do photos of the cars for a wedding, I always put the drivers in as well. After all, they got us there, and may as well be recorded along with their wheels.
In the above photo, the bridge just fits as a frame for three cars, (two Fords and one Holden), and the expanded group.
It was getting hotter when we took this photo, but it was the last before we headed to the reception. I must say the older car kept up with the rest.

Break Out

Over the last weekend, I was fortunate to be taking photos at the 125th jubilee of the Lawrence Rugby Club.
This small town has a long history, and it's Rugby Club has been well established and continues to be well run. Every one in the community seems to be involved in some way, and though they have struggled for numbers at times, still manage to field teams in most grades. From the under 7's through to the Golden Oldies, they certainly enjoy their Rugby, and over the last few years it has been showing, with some very good results.
When one gets into the rural heartland of this country, 'time' seems to become less of a problem. When it came to photographing 250 past and present members in one big group, no time for this happening was made until the day. This meant that those who wanted to be in the photo had to be there and be ready. As it was, at about 11.00am it was decided to do the big photo at 2.00pm. The whole town seemed to know this within minutes, and by 2.00pm all who should have been there, were there.
In the above photo, Max, who seems to be the quintessential prop, bursts from the maul with the ball, in what I think is the under 11 years game. Max has the advantage of racing strips in his haircut, which must add to his speed, and he played well throughout. On the Sunday, when all the photos were on display, he seemed quite chuffed that I had 'got him', as he thought that he did not get many runs with the ball. He already shows all the thinking that props demonstrate, as I heard one from the golden oldies game complain about the same thing.
This three day, (or maybe four... I was not there on Monday) party was very well organised by a solid committee lead by Roger Cotton and Willis Paterson. They had a good team, and 125 years of Rugby has taught them that it is the team that makes it work.
Thanks guys, what about 130 years?

Lions 4

This is Karen and Nick Herrold. They are an affable couple, and are dancing on their 33rd wedding anniversary. They are also at the Lions Convention organised by the Wakatipu Lions Club in the district of 202F. This happened in Queenstown last weekend.
Nick is the Council Chairman. He was elected in Hamilton last year, and was elected to head a group consisting of all the incoming District Governors. It was pointed out at the time that this was an election that maybe no one wanted to win, but to their credit, Nick and Karen have welded this group into a functioning council.
In a couple of weeks, a new Council Chairman will be elected at the MultiDistrict Convention in Wellington. Nick finishes his tenure in June.
Wags pointed out that Karen must have been very young when they married. Keep dancing Nick.

Lions 3

Over the last couple of weekends, I have been taking photos at Lions conventions. The first was at Methven, in the Lions district 202J. In the above photo is Neil Blake, who is the District Governor, and Denis Brown, the District's secretary. They are ready to start the meeting.
Lions conventions are not all meetings. Later this day all turned up to a big party, the theme to which was 'White Gold'. It was amazing the different ways such a theme was portrayed, but most went dressed as cows or milk maids, or some other character related to the production of milk. There were even a couple of bulls there. It is tempting to put photos of this sort of thing on this blog, but I am a firm believer in the old adage 'what happens at convention stays at convention'. I can tell you that I start laughing when the first lot turn up, and don't stop all night. Many of the teams from various clubs have acts as well, and these are always funny.
I wish to thank Denis Brown for having me, Neil Blake for the invitation, and the members of the Methven Lions Club for your help. It was a great weekend.

Jeremiah Nolan

This is Maree Cooper. She is standing beside the headstone of her Great Grandparents in the Macraes Flat cemetery.
She is telling me to hurry up because it is raining that light Easterly drizzle that is common in that area, though the locals would deny it.
The search and research for pioneers is becoming more popular. Neil Roy, who farms in the Moonlight Valley, and is acknowledged as the local historian, tells me there are more people calling on him for information all the time.
I wonder if Maree went back to the graveside the next day when the rain had stopped. It would have been the anniversary of Jeremiah Nolan's death.
I have a personal interest in this. Jeremiah Nolan and Mary Mahoney were also my Great Grandparents.