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Friday 22 July 2022
Stomping on poverty
At their midwinter ceilidh held in Kotinga Hall, members of Golden Bay Tramping Club and local folk dancers learn a Scottish country dance, "The Borrowdale Exchange". Kevin Durkan, far right, coaches the revellers. Photo: Ronnie Short. RONNIE SHORT
A folk-dance fundraiser is to be held at Pōhara Hall next month to raise money for Golden Bay’s Foodbank. The “Stomp On Poverty” event is being organised by Kevin Durkan and will be hosted by the Nelson/Tasman Footloose Ceilidh Band on Saturday 6 August. Last April, Kevin organised a similar event with the same band and raised nearly $2000 for Foodbank. “It’s a great opportunity to have some fun and help some people out, it’s worthwhile doing,” says Kevin. For those who may be intimidated by getting up to dance, or feel excluded because they’re single, Kevin is reassuring. “You don’t need to know anything, you don’t even need to have a partner…You can have two left feet and still make it work…If everybody’s up and learning together, it’s fine.”
This was evidenced by Golden Bay Tramping Club members at their midwinter ceilidh held at Kotinga Hall recently. Great hilarity ensued as they attempted the sequence of steps required for the Scottish dance Kevin was teaching them. “My philosophy is that it’s all about having fun, that’s the big thing. So if we get it wrong we just laugh and carry on.” Kevin has “called the dances” every winter for the past seven years for a keen group, who now meet at Kotinga Hall on Monday evenings. Open to members of all ages, it’s $5 koha to join in. “It started off being largely Scottish country dancing and then one or two people suggested dances from other parts of the world. So there’s Greek, Russian and an American barn-dance style called contradancing,” said Kevin. The level of interest increases with a larger
number of people, he said, and it’s ideal for fun, fitness and coordination. Unfortunately, several younger dancers have dropped out due to a shortage of dancers their own age. Compounded by the Covid situation, numbers have dropped overall from the initial 12-16 attendees to 6 or 7 people, which Kevin says “makes it difficult because a lot of the dances are made for 8 minimum” . A fun night is promised for the Stomp on Poverty fundraiser, and Kevin even gets to join in, because the band will call the dances and explain the steps. Kevin wants the event to be as affordable and inclusive as possible. Accordingly, tickets are priced at $20, (plus optional koha) and will go on sale soon at Tākaka’s Organic Shop. For more details, see the advertisement on page 15 of this issue, or contact Kevin on 027 510 7483.
Bay boy's big bike win JO RICHARDS
While many Golden Bay cycling fans will have been following Jack Bauer’s every pedal stroke as he races across France in Le Tour, they may have missed the big news about another son of the Bay. Days before Jack set off on his 3328km punishing journey around France, an ex-Golden Bay “boy” finished a brutal 10-day endurance race across the United States in first place. Allan Jefferson, who hails from East Tākaka but is now a resident of Townsville Australia, cycled a total of 4,889km through 12 states – from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland – in a time of 240 hours and 15 minutes, at an average speed of 20.34 kmph. The 54-year-old’s achievement won him the honour of overall solo male winner, and solo male 50-59 winner in the 2022 Race Across America, aka RAAM. Allan’s Mum Betty Ferris, who now lives in Richmond, spoke to The GB Weekly earlier this week from Townsville where she was celebrating with her son. “We had a big day yesterday. I’m very proud,” said Betty, who knows tragedy as well as triumph, due to the untimely deaths of her two other sons, “I lost my eldest and my youngest.” Three weeks after he rolled into Annapolis, Betty’s middle son was still recovering from his 10 days of relentless pedalling. “It’s taken a while, but I’m feeling a lot better than a week ago,” said Allan, adding that the enormity of his achievement hasn’t yet sunk in. “I’m still coming to grips with it.” The experienced elite multi-sports athlete has competed in several Ironman World Championships and is renowned for his cycling time trial ability, but his latest performance still exceeded all his expectations. “To finish was the primary goal – anything else was a bonus,” said Allan, who didn’t think about winning until the finishing line was in sight. “It wasn’t until the last minute, when I got to the final time station with 30 miles to go, that I thought ‘maybe we have done the impossible’.” Although he moved to Australia in the 1990s, Allan hasn’t forgotten his roots. “I grew up in the Bay and I’m still a Kiwi. I’ll always be a Kiwi. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” Allan said that he’ll be back on home soil next February when he lines up alongside... Continued on page 3
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