1 Apr 2018 – Daylight Saving Time Ends Sunday, 1 April 2018, 3:00:00 a.m. clocks are turned backward 1 hour. Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour earlier on 1 Apr 2018 than the day before. History of daylight saving in NZ New Zealand first introduced daylight saving time in 1927. The current times have been fixed since 2007. 1868 — New Zealand officially set a national standard time — called New Zealand Mean Time — at 11 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). 1927 — New Zealand first observed daylight saving time. The dates and time difference were changed several times over the following years. 1941 — New Zealand summer time was extended by emergency regulations to cover the whole year. 1946 — New Zealand summer time (12 hours in advance of GMT) was adopted as New Zealand standard time. Daylight saving time was effectively discontinued at this point. 1974–5 — Daylight saving was trialled again in 1974, and introduced in 1975. Daylight saving time is 1 hour ahead of New Zealand standard time. 1985 — Public attitudes were surveyed and over the next few years the period of daylight saving time was extended twice. 2006-07 — Following public debate and a petition presented to Parliament the period of daylight saving was extended to its current dates. New Zealand observes daylight saving from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April. 2008 — Daylight saving public attitude survey. As a consequence of a survey conducted in 1985, after 10 years experience with daylight time, a trial period of extended daylight time was held in 1989/90 from the 2nd Sunday in October to the 3rd Sunday in March. A new Daylight Time Order 1990 declared that daylight time would commence at 2.00am New Zealand standard time on the 1st Sunday of October in each year and ceasing at 2.00am New Zealand standard time on the 3rd Sunday in March in the following year. 30 Sep 2018 – Daylight Saving Time Starts Sunday, 30 September 2018, 2:00:00 a.m. clocks are turned forward. Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour later on 30 Sep 2018 than the day before.

The Putaruru Volunteer Fire Brigade celebrates 75 years this weekend and the Saturday open day formed part of the celebrations. The yard was set up with displays and activities that attracted the attention of both young and old. The importance of such a volunteer group along with St John is a vital presence in any community. At 12:30pm a controlled demonstration of the rescue processes involved at a two car collision was a feature event of the open day. This involved a communications van, St John and of course the Fire Brigade. This photo series shows some of those processes in operation… Interested in finding out more about the Putaruru Volunteer Fire Brigade, then feel free to contact them.

There has been a lot of behind the scenes work leading up to the opening of the Owlets on Kennedy new Early Learning Centre this April. Owlets on Kennedy has been designed to care for 3 and 4 year olds as they prepare for transition to Primary School, especially with Putaruru Primary directly across the road. On Thursday, Rachelle gave the on-line Prattler a pre-view tour of Owlets on Kennedy to see what has been going on in transforming the Centre into its new role. For more information call 07 883 8665.

Nick Rado and Raybon Kan were the double act at the Plaza, Putaruru last night. The evening was of special significance, (worth ruminating on), being as it was, a Tuesday. It’s a well known fact that airwaves in the area emit signals that attract the attention of the media and prompt clandestine Wellington meetings among unnamed parties #currfeld on such nights. The first half of the evening saw Raybon, then Rado flying solo. Of special mention was Raybon’s recounting of the invitation from a select private school for girls and the possible predicaments that speaking to a group such as this might arise. Luckily there were no puddle producing moments on the night even though we were in spring heartland. Rado gave us an extended account regarding the gifts of the magi in his life with his own gift of myrhth. We now know that buying in bulk is the key and his meatloaf experience probed vegan practices. The second half of the night saw R&R in problem solving mode. Questions from the audience were plucked from a magic bowl and given honest, frank, sensible solutions. In case you missed parts of this important information, the Prattler, (with thinking space of course), recaps their answers here. In order they were: yes, do it, no, get a life, ask you mother, read the label, no, no, get a lawyer, create a gap day. This morning there was indeed evidence that Putaruru on a Tuesday was still being closely observed. We managed to snap a heatray radio detecting craft hovering overhead that was still processing data from last night. With luck we may be able to bring you further news about this occurence at owls creek. But in June, The Plaza shares some Luck with us and more burning questions may be answered such as, “why does love do this to me?”

Waikato River Trails Trust with support from Mercury, South Waikato District Council, Sport Waikato, sponsors and community volunteers hosted the 2018 Generator event on Saturday. The categories were: TEAMS The Generator FULL event (61kms) The Generator TRI event (55kms) Secondary Schools Teams Challenge TRI event (55km) INDIVIDUAL The Generator FULL event (61kms) The Generator TRI event (55kms) The Generator DUO event (17km), The Generator UNO fun run/walk event (5km) The Generator courses feature Arapuni, the nearby Waikato River and of course the Waikato River Trails. There were a variety of event categories being run throughout the day that began and finished at the Arapuni Domain. Disciplines covered were: kayak, trail runs, road cycle and mountain bike. There were many marshals helping with all aspects of the events including mustering the competitors, road traffic control, communications, drink stations, safety and of course food. Full results information can be found at this link.

From today until Sunday the Ice Skating Tour is on at Putaruruu Primary. The rink is open to everyone between 3pm and 7pm daily and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Come as a family for a fun time. This morning, one of the Junior Classes was happily enjoying themselves. Music, a bubble machine and to help get started, chairs were optional stabilisers. The pupils were having to start and stop to the music at this particular time – not always easy! A great way to develop coordination skills. Enjoy this activity up until 5pm Sunday.

The South Waikato District Council have released their Update 3 March issue of the Putaruru Growth Plan. A copy of the newsletter follows. You can also download it here, or by clicking on the newsletter itself. Contact Council’s Senior Planner, Patrick McHardy on 07 885 0785 for information on the PLAN CHANGE. Contact Council’s Duty Planner on 07 885 0340 for specific subdivision/ development queries.

The upper area at St Mary’s Catholic School was packed with families in the fun fair atmosphere created by the wide variety of games, stalls and activities that were creatively arranged. It’s good to see students playing a big hand in making stimulating carnival games of skill. From crockery smashing, bungee water sliding to pop gun shooting – oh yes and a large variety of tasty food. The popular competition to be “Principal for the Day,” was also running again. Guy Fawkes guys received a lot of positive comments. Maybe one of these will win the Principal for a day prize. The hall had many bargains set out for sale and if it all got a bit too much, there was the opportunity for a massage and a fire engine or donkey ride.

The South Waikato District Council recently adopted an Easter Sunday Trading Policy. This new Policy allows retailers to trade on Easter Sunday if they wish to open their shop. The Policy applies across the district and across all shops. “Council was keen to give retailers the choice to open or not,” said Deputy Mayor Jeff Gash. “We’re pleased also that this Policy applies from this Easter so if a retailer wishes to open on Easter Sunday this year, they are in no danger or incurring any fine.” This Policy does not mean retailers have to open, nor does it mean that staff in retail are required to work on Easter Sunday. The Policy has no effect on Good Friday. The finer details: Interpretation The term “shop” has the same meaning as the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, that is: A shop is a building, place or part of a building or place where goods are kept, sold or offered for sale, by retail and includes an auction mart, and a barrow, stall or other subdivision of a market but does not include: (a)  a private home where the owner or occupiers effects are being sold (by auction or otherwise); or (b)  a building or place where the only business carried out is that of selling by auction agricultural products, pastoral products, and livestock, or any of them, or (c)  a building or place where the only business carried on is that of selling goods to people who are dealers and buy goods to sell them again. Policy Shop trading is permitted on Easter Sunday throughout the South Waikato District area (as defined by the associated map entitled South Waikato District – Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy). This Policy does not: (a)  Apply to any day other than Easter Sunday (b)  Control the types of shops that may open, or their opening hours (c)  Require shops to open, or employees to work on Easter Sunday (Employees have the right to refuse to work on Easter Sunday as per the Act) (d)  Apply to the sale or supply of alcohol which is regulated under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 (e)  Require individuals to shop on Easter Sunday The South Waikato District Council is not responsible for the enforcement of this Policy. Enforcement is undertaken by the central government department that is responsible for the administration of the Act.

The Dairy Women’s Network held a half-day seminar in Putaruru yesterday that focused on mastitis. This event was held at the St John Hall in Overdale Street. The whole Regional Leader South Waikato team was there – Tracey Kerton (leader for this event) – farming in Arapuni, new Regional Leader Tori Kent (farming in Mamaku), Wendy Costar – rural professional in Tokoroa and Sarah Elliot, farming in Tokoroa. DWN is a Kiwi not-for-profit organisation which develops, facilitates and promotes events and initiatives for members to acquire industry-based knowledge and soft skills. As one of New Zealand’s largest dairy networks, it has a nationwide presence of 9,500 members supported by volunteer regional leaders who coordinate activity in each region. Increasingly, the Network has become an influential industry participant and attracts significant support from leading partners and organisations. Waipa Regional Leader Susan Thomas says: “We are an organisation proud to be offering a place of support for everyone, no matter your role in dairy.” To become a DWN member, it’s as easy as heading to www.dwn.co.nz Members can be involved with DWN at whatever level of engagement they choose. They will be connected to others who often share the same successes, challenges and interests. Plus, they’ll receive further opportunities through volunteer roles within DWN, their region and community. Registrations are now open for DWN 18: Our Land, Our People which takes place 22-23 March at the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua. The two-day conference will host three motivational speakers, including TEDx speaker Carn Calkoen, more than 30 exhibition stands and seven practical workshops covering a variety of topics including finance, animal health, sustainability, and wellness. Anyone working in the dairy industry is being encouraged to attend – men, women, rural professionals, all farm workers, and organisations that support the industry. To register, head to: https://www.dwn.eo.nz/events-page/