Treaty2U exhibition 20th August-3rd October 2010

The exhibition aims to promote understanding about the content, meaning and interpretation of the treaty by covering the sectors of Maori and the British 1800-1840, the treaty up close and the treaty today, in a contemporary and interactive engaging space.

“The exhibition will be open to everyone; however we are delighted that we already have over 1000 School Children booked to visit this touring exhibition from Te Papa. It is pleasing to see Schools from the Ashburton & Timaru District proactively incorporating visiting the exhibition into their existing curriculum. We also have some corporate groups booked, that will be taking the opportunity to look at increasing Treaty of Waitangi awareness amongst colleagues”.

The exhibition which is toured by Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara O Te Kawanatanga and the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa , has the latest technology and covers the Treaty of Waitangi in a fun and interactive way, in the form of interactive screens, audio visuals, cartoon story boards, and includes replicas of all 9 treaty documents on display .

The Methven Heritage Centre was officially opened in grand style on Friday night with a fantastic Gala Event. The audience was wowed by a spectacular line up of performers as has not been seen in Methven for many a year.  “A night to remember always” said one  local.

AshburtonTV filmed the event - footage and interviews can be viewed at http://www.ashburtontv.co.nz/cms/index.php?option=com_hwdvideoshare&task=viewvideo&Itemid=1&video_id=101

Photos galleries of the event are availabe at Ashburton Online http://www.ashburtononline.co.nz/newgallery/thumbnails.php?album=303

Artwork for the Methven Heritage Centre’s up-coming Opening Gala and Art Auction will be on display from Friday, May 21 in the Methven i-SITE and Visitor Centre.

On show will be works by Karen Smith, Jennifer Neutze, Sarah Harper, Sally Withell, Kay Hunter, Ngaio McKee and photographer Bill Irwin.

To view the catalogue click here: art-auction-catalogue

The 2010 Annual General Meeting of the Methven District Heritage Association will be held in the newly refurbishment Functions Room on 31st May at 7.30pm.
The agenda includes the acceptance of the proposed new constitution.
Members are requested to review the proposed constitution before attending the meeting.

Download a copy of  the MDHA constitution.

Methven Heritage Project orgainsers say a highly successful 4WD fundraising trip was held to Winterslow Station on the weekend.  More than 50 vehicles made the trip into the back country, and were met with some challenging driving, mustering, music, high country poetry, memorabilia, blade shearing demonstration and of course spectacular scenery.   While run-holder David Whiteman didn’t manage to capture the elusive black panther for the trip, the site of its last appearance was marked for visitors.

Heritage Project events co-ordinator Leanne Clemens said a great day was had by all and while final figures were still to be confirmed it was likely the trip had raised more than $6,000 for the community project, which will see a multi million upgrade of the Mount Hutt Memorial Hall and construction of a new visitor attraction in Methven.  A second trip is being run on February 13, with limited spaces still available.

The gardens surrounding Mount Hutt Memorial Hall in Methven are about to be  transformed as landscaping gets underway in earnest with the delivery of a massive high country boulder to the site. 

Affectionately known as “Bob’s Rock”, the rock has been donated by high country farmer and committee member Bob Todhunter.   

The greywacke giant from Cleardale Station weighs somewhere between 15 and 20 tonnes, and is estimated to be more than 100 million years old. It was transported down the Rakia Valley in ice as part of the Acheron Advance, and came to rest at Cleardale more than 14,000 years ago. 

It will be the main element of a water feature on the site, and took a team of men, a 20 tonne digger and a good dose of ingenuity to transfer it to Methven.

 Jon Harmer of Harmer Construction Limited, seen shaking his head in disbelief in one of the photos, says while he wasn’t too worried when he first saw the rock, when it was excavated and its true size revealed he wondered what he had let himself in for. 

“It’s the biggest rock we’ve ever put on the truck!” he says.  

The rock was too heavy for the 20 tonne digger pictured and in the end was rolled onto the truck, where it lifted the front wheels off the ground. 

Bob Todhunter, says he was happy to see a part of the high country arrive in the gardens for the community to enjoy as part of a naturalistic water feature.  

“The water story will be a key element inside the galleries of New Zealand’s Alpine and Agriculture Encounter.  From the snow falling on the alps creating the opportunity for snowsports and alpine tourism through to the role water plays irrigating farmland on the plains, water is the key.” 

“Using a piece of rock that travelled down the glaciers of the Rakaia as part of a water feature in the gardens links in to this story, as well as being a sculptural feature in its own right.”

Minister for Agriculture David Carter joined local Rangitata MP Jo Goodhew for a tour of the Methven Heritage Centre last week to review progress on the multi-million development.

Heritage Board Chairman Graham Robertson said it was an excellent opportunity to be able to talk through the project with the Minister in detail, and in particular the groups’ intentions for the agricultural displays and education centre.

“The Minister was very positive about the work being done.  In particular the educational potential and the importance of a facility that can showcase the district’s and the nation’s world beating agricultural industry, and explore issues such as water use and sustainability.”

Jo Goodhew who has been following the centre’s development closely was also impressed.

“I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit the Methven Heritage Centre site last week with the Hon. David Carter, Minister of Agriculture, and get an update on progress so far. The association are doing a great job progressing this project and the Minister and I were both impressed with progress and also the vision this group of people have for the centre.

Mid Canterbury’s legendary black panther has not been sighted since May last year, but David Wightman thinks it is still out there.

The Winterslow Station runholder has set up a trap to catch the large black cat, complete with a live goat.

Mr Wightman said there had been at least four sightings on his station, and several other sightings on surrounding farms as well as other areas of Mid Canterbury.

He said he initially built the trap in 2000, after consulting on its design with a wildlife expert.

He had operated it on and off over the years, generally following sightings.

Mr Wightman said he had not wanted to go public until now, due to cynicism about the existence of the panther.

Methven Heritage Project members are promoting Mr Wightman’s attempts to capture the cat as they gear up for a fundraising four-wheel-drive trip next month.

They say even if Mr Wightman does not succeed, others going on the trip may spot the panther.

Mr Wightman is happy to go along with the publicity campaign, and said he will operate the trap for two weeks leading up to the trip on January.

He was not sure whether he was confident or not that this time he would catch the cat.

“If a trap isn’t set you have got no chance at all. Right at this very moment I’m not sure where the thing is lurking.”

However, Mr Wightman has no doubt at all about the existence of the panther, and believes it is not just a large black feral cat as many believe.

The last sighting was May last year when two young men tramping on Winterslow Station saw the cat, and described it to him in similar terms to a previous sighting about 80 metres away by farmers Murray and Linda Harmer.

The Harmers, who graze their stock at Winterslow, said they were walking from the station’s cook shop when they spotted three piglets, and what they thought was a sow following them.

“It wasn’t the sow at all, it was a big black cat, about the size of a huntaway dog,” Mrs Harmer said.

Mr Harmer described the animal as “a big black shiny brute”.

Mr Wightman said the trap could be operated only in summer, as snow cut off access in winter.

He places a live goat in the trap for a week at a time, and has two goats he uses so they each get a break.

A wildlife expert had told him the bleating of the goat attracted predatory animals.

The goat is in a self-contained compartment, so remains unharmed.

The four-wheel-drive trips are on January 23 and February 13.

They involve some challenging driving, spectacular scenery and high country history and entertainment.

Ashburton Guardian - December 8 2009

I am thrilled to have this new opportunity to communicate with constituents in the Methven area through a regular column in Snowfed. I hope over the months to come to tell you about policy and legislative matters which will be of interest to you.

Since becoming your MP last November I have been getting about the new areas of my electorate as much as possible and have enjoyed meeting many of you who live and work in the northwest corner of the Ashburton district.

For those of you who may not know, the Rangitata electorate encompasses all of the Ashburton district, Timaru city, Temuka and Pleasant Point and the rural areas to the east of those communities. I have electorate offices in both Timaru and Ashburton.

Some weeks ago I held a constituent clinic in Methven and was pleased several members of the community took time out to come along and speak to me on issues of concern to them. Later in the year I will hold another clinic in Methven. In the meantime, if there are issues you wish to raise with me please contact my Ashburton office at 3087510 or email me at rangitatamp@parliament.govt.nz

Methven Heritage CentreThe Methven Heritage Centre is going to be a great asset for the Methven community.
I was very pleased the Lottery Grants Board’s Community Facilities Committee granted $500,000 to the Methven District Heritage Association Incorporated for the upgrade of the Mount Hutt Memorial Hall recently. I recently visited the site and viewed the impressive plans the association has for this facility.
 
I understand the Mount Hutt Memorial Hall was used by 49 groups ranging from the Methven Community Board to the Red Cross Blood Bank to Methven Line Dancing last year.  It is an integral part of a healthy community.
The hall redevelopment and projects like it help build strong communities. I congratulate all those involved in this project for their hard work, determination and willingness to get involved.  I am looking forward to seeing the community’s plans for this project fulfilled.

Saturday night saw the second Big Mountain Film Competition Awards night held at Samuels Bar, Methven.

Glitz and glamour was the theme of the night with fairy lights, red carpet and plenty of gold statuettes. A crowd of around 100 people packed the venue and tensions were running high as the film makers waited for the announcement of the winner of the overall grand prize of three 2010 Mt Hutt season passes. Category winner and special award prizes were sponsored by Mt Hutt, Victoria Ski Sports and Cheapskates.

The Patterson Family from Christchurch took top honours with their film “Life as it Ought to be”, taking out both the family and supreme award.

Michael Patterson said it was great to be involved as a family. “With our entry we had my dad who hadn’t been to the snow for 15 years and my father in law who’d never been skiing at all, and we enticed them to come skiing by being part of our movie.”

He said that while the film making process could be hard work at times, it was also a lot of fun and the Patterson’s would encourage other families to be involved, as the resulting movie was something to treasure.

“It’s wonderful to ‘date stamp’ the years with something like this. A lot of people have video footage, but the discipline of having to edit into a three minute movie is really neat.”

The award presentation was followed by screening of the Emmy nominated film “Kayak Iceland” which recently screened at the Queenstown Adventure Film Festival.

The event was a fundraiser for the Methven District Heritage Association which is currently fundraising for the refurbishment of the Mt Hutt Memorial Hall, and development of the interactive exhibition “New Zealand’s Alpine and Agriculture Encounter.” Stage One of this redevelopment is underway and will be finished in early 2010.

Project Manager Roxane Gajadhar, said the calibre of entries was extremely high.

“The judges were blown away by the quality of entries this year, in particular there was some great story telling and humour. The excellent response means we’re on track to see the event return bigger and better in 2010.

“We had fantastic support from the sponsors, Mt Hutt, Victoria Ski Sports and Cheapskates, the Blue Pub and also a big thanks goes out to the Ashburton Creative Communities Fund which made the event possible.”

The results with judges comments, were as follows:

RANDOM CHALLENGE SCHOOL: “Blossoming Dreams” produced by Diana Dixon, Team Triple D. “It was very spirit lifting, and had a good storyline and the shots used captured the emotion that the characters portrayed were well done.”

RANDOM CHALLENGE FAMILY: “Life as it ought to be” produced by Michael Patterson from Team Patterson. “Overall brilliant camera work and sound throughout mixed with a well defined storyline and comedy made this an amazing short film.”

ACTION: “A New Perspective” produced by Roy Schott, The A Team. “Good support of local music by using Doppler. The POV head cameras were used very well by this team to deliver some cleverly crafted shots which gave us (audience) a great perspective of the action these skiers and boarders were doing.”

OVERALL WINNER: “Life as it ought to be” produced by Michael Patterson.

Highly commended awards went to Team Pretzel and producer Kiri Binnersley for the entertaining and innovative mock-umentary “Inside New Zealand” and Neil Walker and Scope Productions for their entry in the action section.

Winners will be available to view on the Mount Hut Website and www.nzski.co.nz and the Methven Heritage Website www.methvenheritagecentre.co.nz.