Thursday December 6, 2018
11
Kingston pays tribute to lovable ‘bus stop’ cat By Jamie Adams
A community is mourning the passing of a cat that touched the hearts of so many people. Snoopy, of Kingston, died after being run over by a car last month. She was 16 years old. What made Snoopy special was that she became known as the “Kingston Bus Stop Cat”, as for almost all of her life she would sit at the Kingston bus shelter to greet waiting commuters. Owner Wendy Riley says Snoopy walked and sat at the bus stop every day for 14 years. “She would sit at the bus stop
from the first bus in the morning until I brought her in each evening. Whilst out there she would greet everyone catching a bus and get many pats and would sit on laps if a bus was cancelled. “In the late afternoon she would still be there to see the people off the bus and get more pats and cuddles,” Wendy says. “She would brighten up the lives of most daily, almost skipping towards them when they approached. “She followed people because she loved people.” Snoopy was so well-known to the regular bus drivers that she boarded their buses on occasion, once
LETTERS to the editor
even going for a ride all the way to the railway station and back. “The driver knew she was on board but got the driver on the returning bus to take her back.” Wendy says the outpouring of sadness from the Kingston community has been overwhelming. Tributes were placed on the Quebec St bus shelter following Snoopy’s death, including a handwritten ode written on behalf of the people of Kingston. Part of it reads: “Hope we meet again Snoopy At that great bus stop in the sky Where cats can catch buses As clouds float by.”
Snoopy (aka the Kingston Bus Stop Cat) has died aged 16. PHOTO: Supplied
Continued from page 8.
Cyclists not using cycleway that replaced multi-use car parks
Council candidate should check out state of Kilbirnie
I live in Constable Street and the lost eightplus parking spaces have been replaced by buffers and plastic flags. [Another newspaper] article suggests that between 111 and 605 more parking spaces will disappear, depending on the future cycle plan. Affected people are business owners and residents. A car park is more than a place to park a car – it is a space for a visiting tradesman; putting a child in the car; having a rubbish skip or visitors; dealing with groceries etc. Side streets have been recommended for parking but they are often narrow, well parked and in Newtown. One of the side
Dear Editor, I see Terri O’Neill (age 20) is seeking a Council seat for the Labour Party next year. I invite her to visit all the business houses of Kilbirnie and the local community when representatives attended Council calling for a liquor ban in Bay Road so that all customers including families and elderly want to go about their lawful shopping business in Bay Road but face the daily aggressive drunk and disorderly behaving persons who are chasing off the music buskers and shoppers! She advocates against a liquor ban (just like the narrow minded Council Officers, Director of Community Centres) in saying the problem is complex yet must be solved
streets is also part of the cycleway with loss of parking. Council needs to come up with a win/win solution. The cycleway in Constable Street has also made many cyclists more unsafe than before. I am now seeing more cyclists at our end of the street which is a good thing, but very few have identified the elaborate ‘thing’ as a cycleway. Cyclists have either continued to go illegally up and down the footpath or choose to ride in the line of traffic which has become narrower because of the buffers and flags on both sides of the road. Ferne McKenzie Wellington
Carols, gifts promised for Seatoun Christmas celebration By Jamie Adams
Carols by candleilght are returning to Seatoun, with the Christmas spirit of giving set to be alive and well. Organisers are inviting the local community to attend next Friday’s carol service, which will be led by Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge. The event won’t just be about singing, as there will be a Christmas tree with participants encouraged to donate non-perishbale food items or other gifts for those less fortunate during the festive season. This year will be the fourth in recent time that St Christopher’s Church will be holding a carol service, and the third in support of the Wellington City Mission. Earlier in the evening the neighbouring Seatoun Village Hall will host a gift market for the second time after last year’s proved a success. Organisers Gillie Coxill and Elaine Newson say the carol service has become a huge event, with the church fully packed last year. “It’s become a little tradition in its own right,” Gillie says. “The reverend will put his personality on it – the same story told differently.” “It will be Christmas with a twist,” Elaine promises. “It’s non-denominational and encourages people who might not
Gillie Coxill and Elaine Newson, organisers of this year’s Christmas Carol Service and Gift Market at St Christopher’s Church and Seatoun Village Hall. PHOTO: Jamie Adams
have sung since they left school, or who just don’t do it,” Gillie says. They hope to see plenty of gifts under the tree by the end of the night, though any that are wrapped should state whether they are for a boy or a girl. Cash donations are also welcome. The gift market promises a range of locally-made arts and crafts
along with Christmas cakes and mince pies. “If you’ve got an odd uncle and you can’t think of something to buy him, you’ll find it here,” Gillie says. The gift market starts at 6pm on December 14 at the Village Hall on Forres St. The carol service will commence at 8pm with refreshments at 9pm.
by the community. If the Labour Party wants to embrace them with aroha and help treat their drug and alcohol issues, well could Terri and the 1700 Council employees please take them to their homes for a week at a time, so in the meantime us rate-paying real voters can go Christmas shopping. Rose Wu Kilbirnie. PS: Oh dear, the new Kilbirnie Bus Hub is an accident waiting to happen! I have joined a local group to campaign against all Councillors to: “VOTE THEM ALL OUT!”