July 25, 2024
Community Planting and Kae Miller Trust Founder’s Day
Sunday July 28, 10 am – 1 pm
Planters have been racing through the stock of 2,000+ trees ordered this year and this will be the final community planting session. After 2 hours planting out the remaining light wells at numerous sites across the reserve we will also celebrate Founder’s Day at the Alice Kreb’s Lodge.
Founder’s Day celebrates Kae Miller, who built the lodge on the headland to honour her friend Alice Krebs. Their amazing story is here. You can come up just before midday if you prefer, the lodge will be open for visitors.
Planters will meet at the Alice Krebs lodge at 10 am and return there afterwards for tea and biscuits. Digging tools and gloves are provided but bring your own if you can. In the event of bad weather forecast, the day will be brought forward to Saturday.
For more information about Te Ohu o Te Raekaihau and weather postponements, go to their Facebook Group. To find out about their off season weeding programme sign up for their Newsletter.
Koha Coffee
Saturday August 3, 10.30 am – 12.30 pm Andrew is hosting Koha Coffee this month. Come to the Houghton Valley Hall (80 Houghton Bay Road). Bring some kai or a koha and chat with neighbours. Winter may not be over yet, but there is plenty in the pipeline for spring and early summer. Come and find out what will be happening!
Celebrating a new name
The Houghton Valley Progressive Association voted in a new Constitution at their last AGM, and with that a name change. Whilst the word “Progressive” was apt for the time nearly 100 years ago, we felt that it didn’t fit in with today’s aspirations. So our new name is Haewai Houghton Valley Community Association.
Whilst the new Constitution is not yet officially ratified, we have approval for use of the word Haewai, so we have decided to start using the new name around the community to tie in with our plans to increase the Association’s profile, boost its membership and promote the use of the hall. Once the Constitution is approved, then we will change all the formal parts.
Ceilidh at the Community Hall
Saturday August 31, 7 – 11 pm
Dust off your dancing shoes, we are having a ceilidh at the Community Hall to shake off the winter and welcome in the spring! A ceilidh (kay-lee) is a fun family Scottish dance evening. We will have a live band – Schiehallion – who will call the dances, and an awesome supper to keep you going strong.
This is the sort of event the hall hosted for the community when it was first built, 95 years ago. It’s time to bring back the fun again!
It’s an event for everyone, young and old, and open to friends and people outside our community as well. Only 60 tickets available. Tickets are $25 per person, with children under 10 free. Save the date and lock in your booking now. You can get your tickets from Humanitix.
Hiring the community hall
Did you know that you can hire our community hall? It is mainly used as a Dance Studio, but it is available at other times for hire, including Saturdays after 10 am, Sunday afternoons, and weekdays until 3 pm. Sunday mornings are available by special arrangement and weekday evenings during school holiday periods.
The hall can be used for recreation classes, workshops, rehearsals, recitals, talks, exhibitions and meetings, or even if you just need a large indoor space for a bit. It can also be used for community or fundraising events and quiet private events. We have a no-alcohol policy, so you need to factor that in!
Our hall hire rates are:
- Community / Non-profit users: $15 per hour
- Private event / Commercial users: $25 per hour
Stone Soup funding for our community gardens
Both our community gardens applied for some bonus funding from the WCC Stone Soup Fund. The HV Community gardens received $250 for an upgrade to their water supply system, and Te Kawakawa Commons also received $250 towards putting in more steps up their main path to make access easier for everyone. Many thanks to Wellington City Council for the grant.
(165 recipients, 119 opens)