At the Business Awards recently, an update on the Putaruru Moving Forwards group was presented at the beginning of the evening. We provide here video of this update from the awards night. For all announcements regarding Putaruru Moving Forward use this link: http://prideinputaruru.com/putaruru-moving-forward/

[This video was filmed unattended on the night.] PART 1 Community Service Awards Awarded to: Warren Anderson. Warren is a long term resident of Putaruru. Some of you may remember him in his role at Putaruru Intermediate School. Since his retirement Warren has donated many hours to St Paul’s Church and has been the force behind the SeniorNet computer Training programme operating from above the pharmacy in Duke Street. Warren is also involved in Probus which is now the Putaruru Friendship Club. Awarded to: Michelle Stewart, Sheryl Van Dyk, Anne White These three have spent the last year or so painting and tiding up Putaruru. They are volunteers who have not receive a single cent for their efforts and have donated many hours to literally painting the town. Employment Achievements For the last few years the Business Awards to congratulates people who, while not being business owners themselves, have achieved something for their business or improved their skills in some way which will benefit their business. Awarded to: Ed Headley   New Business Finalists: Hammer Hardware, Sheridan Real Estate, Venice 1 Barber Shop. Winner Venice 1 Barber Shop   Food and Hospitality Finalists: Putaruru District Service Memorial Club, Putaruru Hotel and The Wooden Farmer Runner up: Putaruru Hotel Winner: The Wooden Farmer   Retail  Finalists: Styles on Main, Super Liquor, The Last Tangle, Van Dyks Beds R Us Third: The Last Tangle Runner up: Styles on Main Winner: Super Liquor   Professional Finalists: Bella Creative, Central Kids Kindergartens, Le Pine & Co., NZ Cheese School Runner up: Le Pine & Co. Winner: Central Kids Kindergartens   Trades Finalists: Central Motors, Heartland Homes, Putaruru Tyres, Putaruru Panel Beaters, Van Dam Plumbing Third: Putaruru Tyres Runner up: Heartland Homes Winner: Central Motors   Rural Finalists: Domain Road Kennels & Cattery, PGG Wrightson, Vetora Runner up: Vetora Winner: PGG Wrightson   Manufacturing, Industrial & Logistics Finalist: Farmer’s Transport, Over the Moon Dairy Company, Tirau Earthmovers Runner up: Tirau Earthmovers. Winner:  Over the Moon Dairy Company   Non-Retail Finalists: Buckland Street Childcare, Cardrona Rest Home, Owlets Forest, The Plaza Third: The Plaza Runner up: Buckland Street Childcare Winner: Owlets Forest Early Learning Centre   [This video was filmed unattended on the night.] PART 2 Services to Farming Award    Aaron and Hellen Jeffares   Enterprise Award The enterprise award is presented each year to an individual or business that has in some way excelled often at considerable risk or cost to themselves and always in a way through which Putaruru has benefitted. Owlet’s Forest Early Learning Centre   Overall Winner The overall winner is chosen from among the seven category winners. Over the Moon Dairy Company

  McMeekan Road was the location of a washout yesterday. These pictures give an indication of the damage and the response to this.   Other areas have also banks overflowing and the Waikato Rivers was running high this morning. All is clear around town though. The on-line Prattler thanks the supplier of these photos. Readers are welcome to use the contact area to supply news about the region.

Yes, it was a busy weekend and the Putaruru Lions, the Firebrigade and Girl Guides were driving all around Putaruru for the Foodbank collection as part of the weekend activities. The siren was hard to miss and also served as a reminder of for whom the bell polls. John Hutton, Maryanne Hurcomb and girl guide volunteers were among those preparing for the collection on Saturday morning. In the background are Ken Putt and Sue Harper.   After collection, sorting took place at the Community Centre. Taking a time for a smile break are: Dianne Bennett, Elaine Mitchell, Anne Hughes, Lola McCormack, and Joy Pellow.

The print Prattler will be delivered this Wednesday and you can access the page turning edition NOW from the righthand sidebar of this site. To get you started here is Page 1.  

For your convenience we republish the voting booth locations across the region today. That are open from 9:00am to 7:00pm. Polling booths open today are: Location Accessibility Address Arapuni Arapuni Community Hall, 47 Arapuni Road Broadlands Broadlands School, 2986 Broadlands Road Cambridge Cambridge East School, corner Bowen & Williams Streets Cambridge Cambridge High School, 25 Swayne Road Cambridge Cambridge Middle School, corner Clare & Grey Streets Cambridge Cambridge Primary School, 3 Wilson Street Cambridge Leamington Primary School, corner Lamb & Scott Streets Cambridge Raleigh Street Christian Centre, 24 Raleigh Street Fencourt Goodwood School, 517 Fencourt Road Hamilton Central Centre Place (between 2° and Emma Rose), Bryce Street entrance Hamilton West Meade Clinical Centre, Waikato Hospital, Pembroke Street Hautapu Hautapu School, 5 Hana Lane Horahora Horahora School, 1798 Maungatautari Road Karapiro Karapiro School, 705 Tirau Road Karapiro Sir Don Rowlands Centre, Gate 2 Mighty River Domain, 601 Maungatautari Road Kinloch Kinloch Community Hall, Kinloch Domain, 14 Mata Place Lichfield Lichfield School and Community Hall, Kells Lane Mangakino Mangakino Senior Citizens Hall, 25 College Street Marotiri Marotiri School and Community Hall, 1569 State Highway 32 Motuoapa Motuoapa Fishing and Boating Association, 2 Arataha Street Okoroire Kuranui School, 66 Waiomou Road Omori Omori Community Hall, 220 Omori Road Puketurua Puketurua Hall, corner Old Taupo, Huihuitaha & Pearson Roads Putaruru Putaruru Baptist Church Hall, 52 Arapuni Street Putaruru St Patrick’s Hall, Kensington Street Putaruru Te Wharekura o Te Kaokaoroa o Patetere, Charles Crescent Rangitaiki Rangitaiki School, 27 Rangitaiki School Road Reporoa Mihi School, 76 Springs Road Roto-o-Rangi Roto-o-Rangi School, 5 Kairangi Road Rotorua Rotorua Central Mall, Shop 3, 1170 Amohau Street Taupo Acacia Bay Community Centre, 1 Wakeman Road Taupo Active Arts, 5 Redoubt Street Taupo Hilltop School, 90 Rokino Road Taupo Mountview School, 31 Rangatira Street Taupo Rotary House, 12 Story Place Taupo St Patricks School, 86 Acacia Bay Road Taupo Summerset By The Lake, 2 Wharewaka Road Taupo Tauhara College, 101 Invergarry Road Taupo Taupo Baptist Church Hall, corner Rifle Range & Taupo View Roads Taupo Taupo-nui-a-Tia College, 122 Spa Road Taupo Taupo Primary School, corner Tamamutu & Ruapehu Streets Taupo Taupo Youth Arts Centre, 98 Richmond Avenue Taupo Waipahihi School, 20 Parata Street Te Rapa Te Awa, The Base, between Burger Fuel and Toyworld, Maahanga Drive Tirau Tirau War Memorial Hall, 27 Main Road Tirohanga Tirohanga School, 851 Tirohanga Road Tokoroa David Henry School, 4-8 Thompson Street Tokoroa St John Ambulance Hall, 62 Logan Street Tokoroa St Luke’s Pacific Island Presbyterian Church Hall, corner Maraetai Road & Kelso Street Tokoroa Strathmore School, 27 Strathmore Drive Tokoroa Tainui Full Primary School, 63-69 Tainui Street Tokoroa Tokoroa North School, 29 Paraonui Road Turangi Te Kura o Hirangi, 29 Mawake Place Turangi Tongariro Senior Citizens Hall, 83 The Town Centre Upper Atiamuri Upper Atiamuri School, 2613 State Highway 30 Wairakei Village Wairakei School, 2 Kauri Drive Waitahanui Te Kura o Waitahanui, 107 State Highway 1 Waotu Te Waotu Full Primary School, 1274 Waotu Road Whakamaru Whakamaru School, 36 Kaahu Road Accessible – independent access to and within this building Accessible with assistance – may have step, steep ramp…   Maori electorates are geographically larger and cover the same area as a number of general electorates.   Those below are just those in the Taupo ‘part’ of the Te Tai Hauāuru electorate. Remember, you can cast an ordinary vote at any of the voting places on this list. Location Accessibility Address Arapuni Arapuni Community Hall, 47 Arapuni Road Horahora Horahora School, 1798 Maungatautari Road Karapiro Sir Don Rowlands Centre, Gate 2 Mighty River Domain, 601 Maungatautari Road Lichfield Lichfield School and Community Hall, Kells Lane Mangakino Mangakino Senior Citizens Hall, 25 College Street Marotiri Marotiri School and Community Hall, 1569 State Highway 32 Okoroire Kuranui School, 66 Waiomou Road Puketurua Puketurua Hall, corner Old Taupo, Huihuitaha & Pearson Roads Putaruru Putaruru Baptist Church Hall, 52 Arapuni Street Putaruru St Patrick’s Hall, Kensington Street Putaruru Te Wharekura o Te Kaokaoroa o Patetere, Charles Crescent Tirau Tirau War Memorial Hall, 27 Main Road Tirohanga Tirohanga School, 851 Tirohanga Road Tokoroa David Henry School, 4-8 Thompson Street Tokoroa St John Ambulance Hall, 62 Logan Street Tokoroa St Luke’s Pacific Island Presbyterian Church Hall, corner Maraetai Road & Kelso Street Tokoroa Strathmore School, 27 Strathmore Drive Tokoroa Tainui Full Primary School, 63-69 Tainui Street Tokoroa Tokoroa North School, 29 Paraonui Road Waotu Te Waotu Full Primary School, 1274 Waotu Road Whakamaru Whakamaru School, 36 Kaahu Road

This is a busy weekend! First there is the Putaruru Lions and Putaruru Fire Brigade annual FOOD BANK APPEAL. This is from 9:00am onwards. Listen for the sirens in your street and please give generously. It’s also a good time to check that the smoke detectors in your house are working. Later we have the Pride in Putaruru Business Awards which this year are being held in the Putaruru College Hall. Who will the winners be this year? During the evening there is also the auction of a Team New Zealand signed NZ flag. Oh, but wait there’s more – the Elections. These are from 9:00am until 7:00pm. Local polling booth details are here. Is that it? No! It’s daylight saving starting at 2:00am this Sunday morning – clocks forward one hour. Daylight saving ends on 1 April 2018 when the clocks go back the hour. Monday follows as usual, but as the classic lyrics go, “Tell me why I don’t like Monday’s,” (and the reason for those Bob Geldof, Boomtown Rats lyrics is not pretty). The video is provided below, but maybe reset your silicon chip first.

Putaruru Primary School had the opening night of their Senior School production, Lost in Time, at the School Hall last night. The original show was written by Lynne Richards and produced and directed by Karla Little and Lynne Richards with assistance from Michaela Rose. Lost in Time takes us on a musical journey through selected moments in history that all originate from the bedroom of two young girls and their unsuspecting mother. This production features many students and involves drama and dance to tell an imaginative tale. The students arranged their own choreography. There is musical variety for all tastes in this colourful production. It was good to see the sparing use of microphones as this emphasised the importance of the natural dialogue which was well handled by the large cast. From the opening strains of Going up the Country, we were taken from the present, back in time and finally live back to Aotearoa and reminded that “no matter if you’re near or far … we’ll fight for your freedom.” The final show starts at 7:30pm tonight. Take your family to this great local Putaruru Primary School production. No live homework was endangered in this production.

Free business training programmes will be available for South Waikato residents to help launch and grow businesses in the region. Firestation, a central North Island business growth centre, is seeking applicants for their Activate and Incubate courses. The programmes will be fully funded by South Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT). SWIFT chairman Ian Elliott says they are funding this initiative to spur business and economic growth in the district. “We want to help businesses launch and existing businesses do better. For South Waikato to continue develop and grow we need to support initiatives that will boost the local economy. It’s crucial that we help and support people who want to take the risk and start a business or social enterprise.” “We have appointed Firestation as they have a proven track record delivering these types of programmes in the regions,” says Elliott. Firestation and SWIFT are seeking up to 20 participants in total for the two programmes to commence in October. Activate is a six-week course and is for people who have an idea for a new business, product or service but are not sure how to get it off the ground. The programme focuses on idea development and the steps required for launch. Incubate is for smaller, newer businesses and focusses on the foundation of setting up a sustainable and successful business. Participants present a business plan at the end of the 12-week course. Both programmes have a mix of group training and one-on-one business coaching. Programme director Darren McGarvie, co-founder of Firestation, says he is looking forward to bringing these programmes to South Waikato. “In three years we have had more than 100 organisations through our programmes in Rotorua, Taupo and Kawerau. We have run seven Incubate cohorts in Rotorua and the business survival rate after one year is 95%, significantly higher than average.” McGarvie attributes the success of the programmes due to the focus on implementation and execution. He stresses these are not theoretical courses. “We provide best practice examples with tips for implementation. We share what we have done in our own business and why it works.” All participants need to sign a pledge of commitment. “The pledge is an important part of our programmes as they are subsidised by councils and economic development agencies. We have found it is a powerful way to set the tone of the course. It highlights that it’s not just about sitting in a room for a couple of hours a week. You need to be an active participant and then execute what you learn. The training they receive is invaluable, but participants also get the bonus of developing business networks. The groups support each other, learn from each other and help each other,” says McGarvie. Applications are now open for Incubate and Activate, with the programmes starting October. For more information or to apply go to http://bit.ly/SWProg Firestation is the only Business Growth Centre in the central North Island with programmes and services covering leadership, sales, brand, governance, marketing and business coaching. Origins of South Waikato Investment Fund Investment fund set-up in the 1990s using the proceeds of the sale of power company shares. Since 1998, the Council managed the fund in-house. It has mainly used income from the fund to subsidise rates. In 2006, the Council resolved to make a portion of the fund available for activities focused on economic development, including to build facilities and amenities, enhance local employment opportunities, and attract people to move to, and stay in, the district. In September 2013, the Council consulted the community on an amendment to the 2012-22 long-term plan that would help to transfer the investment fund out of the Council’s control. The aim was to protect the fund should an amalgamation take place, ensure that the fund was safeguarded for the South Waikato District community, and ensure that people with the right networks, experience, and skills in driving economic development manage the fund. The investment fund was transferred into two trusts outside the Council’s control. The trusts were established with a clear objective to maintain the goals of the investment fund that the Council had previously set. The two trusts were combined into one and now known simply as the SWIFT Trust. The Trust is pursuing a wide range of projects all with one simple aim – to generate more jobs and sustainable economic growth for the South Waikato We’ve posted this great opportunity information again. It’s too good to be a secret.

As part of the Pride in Putaruru Business Awards this Saturday, there will be an auction of a New Zealand flag that has been especially signed by members of that magic boat. Among the signatures are those of Peter Burling, Kevin Shoebridge and Blair Tuke. Of course you’ll need to be there to experience this. Last minute tickets can be obtained from the PiP Office, 2 Overdale Street. There will also be Election Day vote counting progress updates during the evening. We have a reminder of voting booths on the day here and advanced voting in Putaruru here.