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10<br />
Tuesday <strong>July</strong> <strong>26</strong> <strong>2016</strong><br />
Our People<br />
SELWYN TIMES<br />
Another project added to help benefit<br />
After moving to the other side of the world for<br />
love, Dee Innes has made Windwhistle her<br />
home. She spoke to Caitlin Miles about taking on<br />
a farming life and why she became a trustee on<br />
the Hororata Community Trust.<br />
Congratulations on becoming a<br />
trustee on the Hororata<br />
Community Trust.<br />
Thank you, yes it’s great to be<br />
on the trust and to continue to<br />
support them and the work they<br />
do in the community.<br />
Why did you want to become<br />
a trustee?<br />
The reason I became a trustee<br />
is because I hope to give my<br />
input and be as successful with<br />
the trust as I can be. I know a lot<br />
of people in the area since I have<br />
been here so long so, hopefully,<br />
that will help and they’ll continue<br />
to support me.<br />
Do you do a lot of work for<br />
the community?<br />
Ever since I moved here I’ve<br />
had an interest in the area and<br />
people, it was a great way to meet<br />
people and get to know the community<br />
and the area. I didn’t do<br />
so much when my son was small.<br />
Once he started at Windwhistle<br />
School I got more involved with<br />
the community and I continued<br />
to add more projects as he got<br />
older.<br />
Can you tell me about some<br />
of the work you have done<br />
within the community?<br />
Well, it has all been on-going<br />
over a few years now. I’ve always<br />
been interested in people so<br />
that’s why I like working with the<br />
community. We use to have ‘Dee’s<br />
Day’ where people in the community<br />
could come and sell their<br />
wares. It just started as a day for<br />
some friends to try and sell some<br />
items but it grew to 100 stalls. We<br />
would get 200 to 300 people<br />
show up at our<br />
property<br />
for it and it<br />
would turn<br />
into a big<br />
catch-up.<br />
I was also<br />
involved<br />
in the<br />
Northern<br />
Community<br />
Board<br />
when it was<br />
running. We got to travel around<br />
the area and learn more about<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong>, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I<br />
was also involved in the Northern<br />
Community Arts, Arts Canterbury,<br />
Malvern Community Arts<br />
and Celebrating <strong>Selwyn</strong>.<br />
Have you had a lot to do with<br />
art.<br />
Yes, I enjoy art and seeing it<br />
continue to do well in <strong>Selwyn</strong>.<br />
There are some people who are<br />
very good artists and it’s great<br />
to be able to support them and<br />
continue to work with and recognise<br />
their art. I was also the art<br />
teacher at Darfield High<br />
School.<br />
Are you an artist yourself?<br />
It’s just a hobby, it’s nothing<br />
serious. I dabble in painting and<br />
drawing. I’ve done patchwork<br />
for 40 years though, I learnt<br />
with my sister-in-law.<br />
How long have you lived<br />
in <strong>Selwyn</strong>?<br />
We’ve lived in Windwhistle<br />
for 31 years. We<br />
lived in the Mackenzie<br />
District for several<br />
years before we moved<br />
here. I moved from<br />
England to New Zealand<br />
when I met my husband so<br />
it was quite a big move<br />
but I was happy to<br />
do it.<br />
How did you meet your husband?<br />
Our family knew his family<br />
and my sister had worked on his<br />
family farm when she was<br />
in New Zealand. I went to the<br />
farm to say thank you for giving<br />
her work and a place to live<br />
while she was here. That’s when<br />
I met him, Gerald.<br />
Was your first trip to New<br />
Zealand the time you met your<br />
Gerald?<br />
I had visited once many years<br />
before with my grandmother,<br />
we travelled by ship that time. I<br />
was seven. That was very exciting<br />
as a young girl. I got use to the<br />
movement on the ship very<br />
quickly. I remember when we<br />
finally got off the boat I kept<br />
swaying for a while. We visited<br />
friends and then went back. It<br />
certainly was a long time on a<br />
ship to visit here but it was great<br />
fun.<br />
Did you travel all the way to<br />
New Zealand just to say thank<br />
you to his family?<br />
At the time I was visiting<br />
friends that were sprinkled<br />
around the globe. I went from<br />
Japan to China to Indonesia then<br />
on to Australia and then I came<br />
to New Zealand and met Gerald<br />
and stayed.<br />
That was a pretty bold move,<br />
did you have family here?<br />
No, I didn’t, it was just me. I<br />
had some friends I was<br />
travelling with but when I met<br />
Gerald I just decided to stay. His<br />
family were wonderful too, so I<br />
didn’t mind being here without<br />
my family because I had his. I<br />
stayed in New Zealand for as<br />
long as I could and then I had<br />
to go back to England because<br />
my visa ran out. We got married<br />
over there and moved back<br />
here.<br />
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