7/30/2019 Travelling Books in Wanganui

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Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Wanganui Chronicle 3News

Phone: 0274 423 071

Home: (06) 345 0735

LICENSED Under

WREL 2012 LTD - REAA

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BrieflyBNZstaff volunteer

StafffromBNZsWanganuibranchwill do their bitfor thecommunitywhen thebankcloses branches across thecountry todayfor itsannualClosedfor Good initiative. It isthefourth year thebankhasheld theone-day volunteerevent.Wanganui branchstaffwill join their 3500colleaguesintackling450differentprojectsnationwide. Local staffwill beatUpokongaroSchool helping thestaff atthe library upgrade theirbooks tothe newcataloguesystem justinstalled. Anothergroupwill getstuck into thegardens aroundSt JohnsHillkindergarten aswellas helpingoutin a general tidy-up. A thirdgroupwill beat theLauraFergussonRehabilitationregional centre, water blastingandhelping to trim andcleangardens.

Council surplus grows

TheSouthTaranakiDistrictCouncil isdue todeliver a $12million surplus for the2012/13

year compared toa budgetedsurplus of $1.57million,according to its InterimAnnualReport presentedat Mondayspolicy developmentmeeting.Thebulkof thesurplus comesfromstrong earnings fromitsLong Term Investment Fund. Ithas returnedalmost $8millionmorethan thecouncil budgeted.ThefinalauditedAnnualReportfor 2012/13 isdueat the end ofOctober.

Coldweather due

MetService is warning of severegalesin Wanganui from thisevening and intotomorrowmorning.Thewindsare likelytobe strong, bitterlycold

southerliesand will beaccompaniedby snow inhigherinlandareas.Snowis expectedto fall to500mon theCentralPlateau and400m inTaranakitonight. The stormyweather iscausedby a vigorous coldfront sweeping up theSouthIslandand on to thelowerNorthIsland. Farmersarewarned totakeappropriate action to carefor theirstock, andmotoriststravellingare advised to takecaution.

Correction

Anamewas spelled incorrectlyinMondays storyaboutthe StJohncompetitions. The correctspelling isNatalieBurns.Weregret theerror.

Covers comeoff books project

ONMOVE: HamishMcDouall, author,lawyerand politician, holds hisdictionary of 2200 pages, watchedby adult learnersfrom LiteracyAotearoa. PHOTO/STUARTMUNRO

By Merania Karauriamerania.karauria@wanganuichronicle.co.nz

Wanganui was among the citiesand towns throughout thecountry yesterday to launch theTravelling Books project thatwill see another 7000 books onthe move.

The project was launched atGovernment House by Sir JerryMateparae and involves leavingbooks in public places for othersto find, read and pass on.

Now in its third year, theTravelling Books project wasinitiated by Literacy AotearoaandNew Zealand Post, to fosteralove of reading.

Kindergartens joined the Ta-whero School community yester-day to hear local politician, law-yer and author Hamish McDoualland Whanganui Learning Centremanager Gail Harrison talkabout the importance of reading.

Mr McDouall held up hisdictionary with 2200 pages: Itsall about words . . . all aboutlanguage.

Travelling Book hunters will

recognise the new releases by adistinctive sticker on the cover.Inside the cover they will find

easy-to-follow instructions onhow to pass the books on oncethey have finished reading.

Leave it in a dry place for thenextperson to pick it up and takeit home to read, Mrs Harrisontold the children.

Each book has a unique codeinside the front cover, so anyone

who picks it up and reads it isinvited to log on to the LiteracyAotearoa website and record itstitle and location.

Everyone who reports a booksighting goes into a monthly

draw to win one of two $50Prezzy Cards donated by NZPost.

Huia Publishers, RandomHouse, Gecko Press and Scholas-tic all offered generous discounts

to support the project.Among the childrens selec-tion of 11 books are DinosaurRescue Stego Snottysaurus byKyle Mewburn and DonovanBixley, Ta Tarau o Papa Koroua

by Joy Watson, and MargaretMahys Organ Music.

Seven books are in the youngadult fiction category, 10 in theadult fiction, and nine in theadult non-fiction, which includesJulian Arahangas Born to Fly the Story of John Pohe.

MrPohe grewup inPutiki andTaihape and was one of the 76Allied air force officers whoescaped from a WWII prisoner ofwarcampin Poland. Thefilm TheGreat Escape was based on theirexploits. Mr Pohe and two otherNew Zealanders were amongthose recaptured and who wereshot on Hitlers orders.

Lite racy Aote aroa chi ef executive Bronwyn Yates saidthe aim of the project was tomake books readily available toNew Zealanders everywhere.

It highlights the power ofgiving, builds community and isa practical, grassroots approachto promoting literacy, Ms Yatessaid.

The ultimate aim was to raisepeoples awareness that adultliteracy was a major national

issue.We are celebrating literacyin a way that focuses on thepositive and fun aspects of read-ing, learning and expanding ourworlds,she said.

MerchantNavysailors honouredBy Daniel Jacksondaniel.jackson@wanganuichronicle.co.nz

BobGibson

More than 30 people turned out

to the service to mark MerchantNavy Day at the WanganuiCenotaph yesterday, much to thedelight of Bob Gibson.

Mr Gibson, 87, sailed all overthe globe as part of the MerchantNavy in World War II and lostmany friends. He was a drivingforce behind gaining recognitionfor the service and a memorialday was finally granted in NewZealand in 2010.

The Merchant Navy hasalways been the bridesmaid tothe other armed forces but welost more men per capita thanany of the other armed forces.

The Merchant Navy carriedessential supplies including foodand ammunition during the warand ran terrible risks of attackfrom German submarines and

ot her enemyships.

September 3was chosen as,

while it is the an-niversary of thes tart of WorldWar II, it is alsothe day on whichthe first Merchant

Navy ship the SS Athenia was sunk in 1939. Representa-tives of conflictsincluding Korea,Vietnam and Crete were presentat yesterdays service, whichalso included a bugler andbagpipers.

We are very grateful to havethe full support of the RSA. Itsgood to see the boys here.

More than 50,000 allied sailorswere killed, including 150 fromNew Zealand, during the war.

Mr Gibson gave an emotionaltribute: This day is for thosewhose only grave was the sea.

Continued fromp1

Council lookingatwaysto plug our leaky pools

year, water consumption hadleapt to 17,849 cubic metres or17.8 million litres. That cost thetrust running the complex

about $15,400 in water charges.Then another reading, done

just 17 days later, showed an-other 1.7 million litres had beenconsumed, all of it pumped infrom the citys water supply.

Water has been leaking fromboth pools, but until they arefully investigated, officers donot know if the problem is leaksin the pools or from the pipesunder the pools.

Some minor cracks in thewall of the learners pool hadbeen repaired a number oftimes but had reopened afterthe July 21 earthquake.

Problems with cracks andslipping in the area were notnew, but the massive water lossis a major concern.

As the start of a new swim-

ming season draws closer, thecouncil will have to makedecisions.

Mayor Annette Main saidcouncil needed all the detailabout costs of repairs before it

c ou ld m ak e a n i nf or me ddecision.

Councillor Rangi Wills saidkeeping the pool open must be acouncil priority.

We trumpet the fact were afamily-friendly city, but at thefirst sign of trouble we run forcover, Mr Wills said.

Its an investment in ourchildrens future, because thereare people in Wanganui whocant afford to go to the SplashCentre.

Councillor Ray Stevens saidit was not a matter of councilbeing scared, but money isgoing to have to be thrown atthis, so how much will it cost?

The pool is managed andoperated by the Wanganui EastPool Trust.