Working bee has been postponed due to a tangi, will update as soon as we have new dates confirmed.

Working bee this weekend was VERY successful. We had a lot of whanau show up with equipment and enthusiasm. The main job was to fix rotten boards on the Wharenui and then prepare and paint it. We got most of this job done on the Saturday, and then the rain closed in on Sunday, so this will have to be finished off either at the next working bee or before (if we get some volunteers).

Big thanks especially to the following people:

Jimmi Ngati for the water blaster

John Palmer for the paint sprayer

Alec and Tareka Ratcliffe for all the building tools

Tavake Ngati for the scaffolding

Sonny Tahere, Phyllis Tahere, Mel McKenzie, Chris McKenzie, Nova McKenzie, Carolyn McKenzie, David Thompson, Lorna and Ross Pope, and all the other whanau who came and helped and made it such an enjoyable and productive weekend.

Next working bee to be in March, date to be confirmed with the agenda for the next meeting.

Jobs to do at next working bee:

Fix up the septic system with a grease trap and drainage field

Touch up paint and any minor maintenance

Clean the windows and fix any that need it

We may also start looking at the contents of the storerooms to see what we have that we can use, fix or throw away, but that will depend on time and number of helpers.

OK, so the working bee was a great success, and we got a lot done, but we are planning another. The weekend of the 17th and 18th January will be dedicated to continuing the great work we started in November. I will post a list of jobs that need doing up here, and a contact for you to email and volunteer for a job or 2!

You can stay on the marae (bring your bed linen please) and I reckon there will be a few people there from Friday evening.

We had our big working bee on the weekend, and we got LOADS done. BIG THANK YOU to all the whanau who came to help, everyone did their bit and I think we’re well on track with our plans.

The old chiller came down with a LOT of effort, and it’s been cleared away; some of the rotten boards on the wharenui have been replaced; the kitchen has had a good clean out, stock take and a lick of paint. More painting and general clean-up is planned for January. I think a list of jobs will be circulated before then.

Big thanks to Chris McKenzie for organising this, and we have another planned for the weekend 17th and 18th January 2009 – keep it free! We’ll also be having our committee meeting on the 18th at 11am, please come along and let your voice be heard!

I’ll be uploading some photos and maybe a video soon, so watch the photo pages.