Lipsync a joyous sell-out success

Due to the Matariki public holiday falling on Friday 14 July

The GB Weekly will be delivered a day early, on Thursday 13 July.

That means the deadline is also a day early: MONDAY 10 JULY at 12pm

Golden Bay High School (GBHS) students rocked out to a sell-out Lipsync 2023 crowd, over two nights last week.

The annual event was held in the newly refurbished school hall. As its title suggests, Lipsync is a production comprising a series of student and staff lip-synched dances and skits –forming a night of hilarious and spectacular entertainment. The event is organised, produced, and hosted by the Year 13 students alongside Jan Stark (head of English). Jan has run the event since 2004, picking up the reins from the original founder, Neil Wilson.

Jan is thrilled with this year’s performances and said, “The biggest thing is this has been a really hard year for the kids, with no hall and practice space, and disrupted weeks. Yet they have still managed to get those acts together. I was impressed with what the kids pulled together, especially the senior school – I was impressed with the actual standard of the acts.” Jan sends a special thank you to GBHS Home and School for providing new hall lighting – “It was lovely to have the new LED lights and they looked great.”

There were many highlights, like the standout performance from the talented Maya Lampen-Nigl, who took the stage by storm with a hip hop solo. A new genre emerged with a “wearable arts” performance by the Year 7/8 group, with a special mention going to the toast and avocado. The teachers were a hit with a highly original punk rendition of “Hand in Your Assignment” with the catchy chorus of “stop looking at your phone” – drawing a chanted response from the audience of “no”.

Another crowd-pleaser was the Year 11/12 dance group who won the People’s Choice vote and brought down the house with an encore.

A final word from Jan: “Mums and dads, grandparents, whānau, and teachers – we need to have a proud moment together looking at what our kids have done. This [Lipsync] is about giving our kids a moment to be brave, and to get up on stage and be silly.”

DOWN TO EARTH: Creative corrections

SOL MORGAN, GROWISE CONSULTANCY

As July is typically the coolest month it is a great time to reassess your garden and plan changes, while staying warm around the fire. Questioning how the previous growing season went in terms of food production and functioning of the property will help you and your family make creative corrections in the coming months. The following may act as a useful checklist:

How did the vegetables and fruit grow? Did you have enough? What varieties would you like to try? Checking out both fruit and vegetable catalogues can offer new options. For vegetables, take a look at Kings Seeds, Eco Seeds, Setha Seeds to name a few. Or come to the 29 July workshop on “Seed Saving For Resilience” at Tākaka Library and get your handsome locally-saved seeds.

Create or update your planting plan: Consider integrating crop types, numbers and succession planting.

Get fruity: visit local plant shops or search online. Plan according to size and site preferences.

Review tools and equipment: Clean, sharpen, fix, and oil wooden handles. Purchase new gear that will improve your food growing and property maintenance. For example, invaluable hand tools include Niwashi, Shark, loppers and good secateurs. If cloches, hothouses and raised garden beds are on your list, get ideas from https://redpath.co.nz/home-andgarden/ and https://birdiesgardenproducts.co.nz

Redesign garden: Perhaps the layout needs an upgrade so the vegetables get better sun, fruits are integrated into hedgerow offering shelter and food, making space for a new outdoor entertainment area with pizza oven, fire pit and seating area? Considering infrastructure changes now, especially observing issues like drainage, shelter, sun and access, creates future plans for property improvements. I am about to shift my worm farm so the fertility flows into my

Vegetable care: garden beds for example.

Consider gardening as a shared activity: Maybe you want more socialising while producing food? Or wish to share some of your fertile land with others? Why not consider joining forces with other like-minded people and create a growers collective?

Reflecting on what you have and want makes room for creative corrections for the betterment of your situation.