North Canterbury News: August 06, 2020

New parents ... Lucie and Theo Sneek, of Cust, with their newborn son Douglas. The wooden stork Theo built to mark the arrival of Douglas
is at left.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Stork announces arrival of newborn
By SHELLEY TOPP
ACustcoupleused atradition
popular in The Netherlandsto
announce thearrival of their
firstborn.
Lucie and Theo Sneek’s
newborn sonDouglas, who
arrived two weeksearly, was
borninthe RangioraHealth
Hub’s birthingunit on Friday,
July24, at 7.44am.
To celebrate theoccasion,
Theo, whowas born in The
Netherlands,installedalargerthan­life
hand­made wooden
stork,carrying asmall teddy
bearwrapped in ablanket, on
the pavementoutsidetheir
homeonCustRd.
Theo, adairyfarmer,who is
the NorthCanterbury Federated
Farmers’ sharemilkers’ section
chairman,sworetheir friendsto
secrecy aboutthe installation, so
it wouldbeasurprise for Lucie
when shereturned home with
Douglas.
However, he inadvertentlylet
Lucieinonthe secret himself
whileshowing her some other
photographs taken on hisphone.
Nevertheless,the stork was still
a‘‘lovelysurprise’’, saysLucie,
whowas borninWales.
Sheisnow on maternityleave
fromher jobasalarge­animal
veterinarian withthe Rangiora
Vet Centre.
In TheNetherlands, the stork
is recognisedasaluckycharm,
symbolic of childbirth.Itis a
long­held tradition there for
peopletoinstalltoy storks,
carryingsomethingresembling a
newborn in swaddling, outside
their homestoannounce the
arrival of anew baby.
NEWS
The North Canterbury News, August 6, 2020
Festival
planned
9
Kaikoura is set to celebrate
winter. The inaugural Kaikoura
Winter Fest is comingonAugust
21 to 23, and locals and visitors
are encouraged to wrap up in
their best retrowinter gear.
Confirmedevents so far
include storytime in the
Kaikoura library and the Great
Kaikoura Road Trip.
Taranaki entertainers Erika&
CoCo Flash will bring their
children’s Rainbow Storytime to
the Kaikouralibrary on Friday,
August 21, from 11am to 12pm.
Rainbow Storytime is aimed at
toddlerstointermediate age. It
encourages childrentoread
books about acceptance,
diversity, inclusion and being
kind, as well as playing some fun
games.
The Great KaikouraRoad
Trip will leave from Bernie’s
Diner in Beach Rd, Kaikoura, on
Sunday,August 23, with
registration from 10am to 12pm.
It will involve driving to
different activities within the
Kaikouradistrict, with prizesup
for grabs.
Participants will need a
cellphone, are encouragedto
dress up themselves and their
car, and stop at some of the
locations forlunch.
The event will finish at
DonegalHouse for the prizegiving
from 4pm. Contact Toni
on (027) 438 2678 for more
information on the road trip.
More details on the Winter Fest
will be available soon.
342 Oxford Road
Fernside
03 313 6465
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carl@vallance.co.nz
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