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Kapiti News
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Blacksmith honoured The local blacksmith who handforged the Memorial Gates in Paraparaumu after the First World War — and lost a son — will be remembered for his selflessness more than 90 years ago. Work has just started on a shared $270,000 project to refurbish the gates as part of the First World War commemorative programme and it’s planned they will be rededicated early next year. In a story of extraordinary commitment in the early 1920s, George Baucke spent hundreds of hours, free of charge, handmaking the gates, including the detailed fern leaf attachments His 88-year-old son, Edward Baucke wrote to Paraparaumu RSA & Community Club to tell the story of his father who, medically unfit for service himself, made the gates “as a memorial to all who gave their lives and to his two brothers (John and Cornelius) who were both wounded.” He never expected them to also be a memorial for his son, Fred who was killed in Italy in the Second World War, with another son Harold captured and held as a prisoner-of-war. Remembering his father’s workmanship, Edward Baucke says “there was no such thing as oxyacetylene welders and the end of all the metal parts were heated in the forge to melting point, then moulded on the anvil by hammering them together”. He and his 85-year-old sister, Miriam will come down from Hamilton to be present at the rededication ceremony, together with daughter Shona Nash and husband Ken, and grand-
DEDICATED: George Baucke created the Memorial Gates, in Paraparaumu. PHOTO: KAP141114SPLGATES
daughter Mary Manderson and husband Peter of Rimu Rd, Paraparaumu. Paraparaumu RSA president Chris Turver says the Bauckes’ contribution to Paraparaumu, both in war and peace, was outstanding and the family will be honoured guests at the rededication ceremony. “He set an example which epitomises the spirit of selflessness and compassion.” Kapiti Coast District Council received almost $63,000 from the Lottery Grants Board to undertake the refurbishment as a listed World War One commemoration project and is contributing almost $200,000 to upgrade the precinct, including paving, floodlighting, and bollards. Local electricity lines company Electra and Vodafone are contributing by replacing
some of the overhead lines with underground cabling. The current gates are not entirely original. They were extensively repaired and refurbished about 25 years ago by a local specialist fabricator, Joseph Jaeger, who also made the original wrought iron gates for Marine Gardens. Jo is still living in Paraparaumu, is well into his late 80s and is unique in his own right as being specifically recognised by both the New Zealand and American governments for specialist welding assignments for which nobody else had expertise, including in Antarctica. Also to be recognised will be the Beckett family whose relative, Peter Beckett, “a Paraparaumu builder who always seemed to be working free for others”, undertook the concreting on the main archway. Mid Beckett, a grandson, had a local dive shop and fishing accessory business for some years at Paraparaumu Beach. Councillor Diane Ammundsen, chairwoman of the regulatory management committee, and organiser of a recent art auction to raise funds for the Memorial Gates, says the council’s commemorative project is something the district can take pride in long into the future. “The story of the Memorial Gates shows just how much can be achieved by people who not only honour those who did not come home but illustrates the spirit of a community which is prepared to contribute without seeking reward.”
Show our pride in our district On a fleeting day trip to the mountain recently, and after a somewhat out-of-control icy descent, I came to a standstill to enjoy a spectacular vista over Rangitikei that stretched as far as the eye could see. Though a beautiful scene it was, it was the bloke in front of me, who was proud to be from Taranaki, that focussed my attention. I knew he proud of his origins because he had a hoodie that told me so, “Proud to be from Taranaki!”. It’s not the only example I’ve seen of people from that neck of the woods wearing their pride on their sleeves, who could have failed to notice the thousands of cars that display the ‘Taranaki Hardcore’ sticker in the rear windshield. So what’s so special about The Naki, and more importantly, why on earth, as a Kapiti Coast district councillor, am I harping on about it? Well, it’s not Taranaki that I’m interested in, it’s the pride of the people who live there that is the real pearl that I’m keen to examine. So how does the Kapiti Coast stack up for collective pride? I believe we’ve got it in bucket loads, but I’m not sure that we’ve bought into that ‘We’re from the Kapiti Coast, and we’re damned proud of it’ thing yet, and if we have, I don’t think we’re that great at telling people. The beaches, the arts, the music, the coffee, the sport, the fishing, the walks, the fun, the sun — it could be all or none of the above but whatever makes
View from
the Chair
Cr Gavin Welsh
Corporate Business Committee
this place special to you, it is just that . . . special, and we should all be really, really proud of our district. It’s that collective pride that we’ve attempted to capture and perhaps even stimulate within the soon-to-be-published economic development strategy. To be fair, it’s marginally more complex than this, but if we want better wages, more jobs for our children and a 10 minute drive to work in the morning, then a good place to start is by telling the world that the Kapiti Coast is a great place to be. Increased connectivity through the expressway, ultrafast broadband, and the Auckland and Christchurch air services have stimulated interest in the district. Many of our local businesses have risen to the challenges of an expanding, often global market; they are seeing marked improvement in their operations and confidence is high. Our district is poised for growth and success. By working together we can all help to position our district to realise its full potential . . . a thriving economy, a vibrant culture, and a diverse community. The Kapiti Coast. Be proud of where you live. . .and don’t be afraid to show it.
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Maclean Street Paraparaumu Beach