RSA Life 23
RSA REVIEW • SUMMER 2013
Rugby success ensures memory
RSA SERVICE AWARDS PRESENTED
RSA national president Don McIver (striped RNZRSA tie) presents Hastings RSA president Trevor Hardie (left) with a Gold Star, and the club’s patron, Brian Bennett (right), with the District Long Service Award. The presentations were made at the club’s annual members’ luncheon .
Takapau gates dedicated
Above: Heather Vaile (left , immediate past president of the Whangarei RSA’s Waipu Women’s Section, receives her life membership certificate and 57-year, long-service award certificates and accompanying medals from RNZRSA National Women’s Association president Angel Erstich
Ten teams – five boys and five girls – from KapiMana high schools have ensured a rugby sevens tournament in memory of a police officer killed on duty becomes an annual event. The tournament – which was being staged for the second time – involved schools from Bishop Viard College, Mana College, Porirua College, Aotea College and Paraparaumu College (another two schools pulled out at very late notice). The event is organised by the Derek Wootton Memorial Trust, Kapi-Mana Police and the Porirua RSA. Derek Wootton was a Porirua police officer
who was killed in July 2008. His parents were returned service members of the Porirua RSA, and his late mother became a life member. One of the aims of the trust, set up on the anniversary of his death in 2009, is to support Porirua/Kapiti youth by helping improve their lives by sports, cultural or academic means. The tournament was sponsored by the trust, the Porirua RSA, and John Ryan Plumbing. Derek Wootten’s old school, Bishop Viard College, won the boys’ section, and Aotea College the girls’ event.
Around 100 people – a mix of war veterans, returned service personnel, military cadets and members of the community – gathered in the Gardens of Remembrance at the Whangarei RSA to commemorate Armistice Day. Whangarei RSA K Force Association president Chas Sibun officiated. The service began with the New Zealand national anthem sung by young soloist Claudia
Evans, followed by prayers of remembrance and thanksgiving by the chaplain, Rev George Nathan-Patuawa. Whangarei district deputy mayor Sharon Morgan described the sequence of events and their impact around New Zealanders when they received word of the armistice in 1918. Whangarei RSA executive committee member Richard Field, speaking on behalf of club president D’Arcy Bailey, paid tribute to the New Zealanders who served in World War 1, particularly the large number who did not return and those injured in action. He also recognised the significant efforts of all New Zealanders who made their contribution at home or abroad. Whangarei District Council, Whangarei RSA and Whangarei RSA Women’s Section wreaths were laid, Colin Rapana played the Last Post, the flag was lowered and the Ode was recited by World War 2 veteran George Barclay. The flag was raised as the Reveille sounded, and many took placed poppies at the memorial.
Whangarei gathers to commemorate
When Takapau & District RSA president Andy Kells approached the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council about doing something with the club’s rapidly deteriorating old gates, he sparked quite a community project. Central Hawke’s Bay College fifth former Matthew Wynne Harris was involved through his Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme community service; Taylor Made Gates crafted the design; Craig Sergeant Fencing installed the gates. Two swinging gates now address the cenotaph, and there is a single-entry gate to the expanded Takapau RSA president Andy Kells (left) and Central Hawke’s Bay College student Matthew Wynne Harris in front of the new gates. parking area.
Whakatane stones commemorate all of New Zealand’s conflicts From page 23 In another development, an outdoor area which houses memorial stones commemorating every conflict involving New Zealand service personnel, is about to receive a new plaque in honour of those who have fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia and the Solomons. A special blessing of the memorial was scheduled for December 14.
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