150th Jubilee Celebrations

Friday 30 June to Sunday 2 July 2023

children and their parents welcomed me with open arms and have helped to build and constantly recreate this caring and inclusive school. Walking into the playground each day being hugged, given a fist pump or a high five and seeing the smiling faces is so rewarding.”

“We are proud of the history and legacy of St Mary’s School Blenheim, and we look forward to continuing to provide exceptional education and nurturing environments for our students for many years to come.” St Mary’s School Blenheim is excited to celebrate its 150th jubilee, a significant milestone in its rich history. The celebrations include a multicultural festival, guided classroom walkthroughs, a special jubilee dinner, and a mass. It is an opportunity to honour the past, celebrate the present achievements, and look forward to the future.

During the jubilee celebrations, there is plenty for pupils past and present to look forward to. Friday,

June 30, will see a Multicultural Mass at 10:00am before Open Day celebrations kick off the following day. Saturday July 1 guided walkthroughs of the school grounds will take place from 10am to 2pm, with plenty of fun activities, games, and food to enjoy for all who attend. Pre-dinner drinks will take place between 5pm and 6pm at the St Mary’s Hall, before a ticketed seated dinner. Sunday July 2

The Jubilee Mass will begin at 10am and the official opening of the Lenora Freeth Outdoor Learning Space and the Freeth Whānau Room with Archbishop Paul Martin will take place. “The spaces are dedicated to enhancing the educational experience for students. These additions to our school symbolise our commitment to providing a holistic learning environment.”

For Paddy and St Mary’s School the weekend is about reconnecting, reuniting and re-envisioning.

“As we commemorate this milestone, we extend an invitation to all members of the community, including past and present students and supporters, to join us in these celebrations. For more information and to book tickets for the jubilee dinner, please visit our website.”

The Jubilee celebrations are free events for the community with the exception of the Jubilee dinner. Contact the school office on 03 578 9494 or email lisa@stmb.school.nz for more information. Tickets for the Jubilee Dinner can be purchased at eventbrite.co.nz.

Driving along State Highway 6 between Blenheim and Renwick you can see some great examples of vineyard redevelopment in progress, with old vineyards cleared out and new plantings established. These have been complete redevelopments for the most part, with the old vines, posts and wires all being removed, effectively back to bare land. It also usually means that the irrigation systems are getting a re-work as well.

From a waste point of view, there’s posts and wire to be disposed of, leading to new business opportunities such as “Repost”, aiming to recycle vineyard posts into farm fencing posts. Wire and irrigation lateral can also be recycled. Some of the plastic “Future Posts” seen on some vineyards in the region may actually contain old irrigation lateral reincarnated for another use.

The pace of redevelopment is certainly picking up within Marlborough driven by three main factors: removing blocks affected by Grapevine Trunk Disease (GTD), changing varieties (usually from something else to Sauvignon Blanc) and reducing row width to make more efficient use of available land. Right now, I suspect that the main driver for redevelopment is to change varieties as no other variety can match the return back to the grower that Sauvignon Blanc gives at current grape prices. Soon, that may change as replacement of existing Sauvignon Blanc blocks due to GTD gathers steam. Reducing row width is not likely to become the main reason for redevelopment but will be an opportunity that some growers will take advantage of, as they redevelop blocks for either of the two previously mentioned reasons.

Grapevine Trunk Disease (GTD) is a relatively slow moving, at least in its early stages, wood infection made up from several different fungi that infect the vines especially through pruning wounds made into older wood. Often, infection can occur early on in a