Ashburton Courier: May 14, 2021

NEWS
8 Ashburton Courier, May 13, 2021
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Variety theatre plans60th jubilee in July
Members of Variety Theatre
Ashburton­originally known as
the Ashburton Operatic Society
­are having abelated jubilee
get together in July and are
casting acall for people
involvedwiththetheatre
company to attend.
It includes past andpresent
members as well as anyone
involvedwiththeshows over
the years such as stagehands,
wardrobe supportand band
members.
Jubilee committee member
Elaine Vallender said the
societywas born more than 60
years ago whenagroup of
mums decided to form a
musical theatre company in
Ashburton.
Nowrenamed as Variety
TheatreAshburton themusical
company is still going strong
performing quality showsto
peopleinthe district.
Plans for the jubilee lastyear
were stoppedbycovid but
members werekeenfor the go
ahead on July 3this year.
“One year laterand we are
determined that this will be a
great day of reminiscingand
renewedfriendships,” she said.
Denesa Chan rehearses for Variety Theatre Ashburton’s up coming
production It’s Only Rock nRoll Baby.
“Wehave tried very hard to
track down past members but
we are getting somereturned
mail.
“Wealso knowthat many
people were involved in shows
–onstage, backstage,technical
and wardrobesupport,
orchestraorband, andfront of
house –who didn’t actually
become paid­up members.
‘‘Wewould love to extend an
invite to them as well.”
Thejubilee will startwith a
“mix andmingle” in the
afternoonatthe Variety
Theatre Ashburton rooms and
dinner at the AshburtonTrust
Event Centre in the evening.
Elaine saidthe jubilee had
also beenthe perfecttime to
updatethe theatre company’s
Performing in Mamma Mia in 2018 were (from left) Brent Gray,
Aaron Boyce and Chris Woods.
historywithan new book on the
Variety Theatre availablefor
purchase, or as partofthe
event’s registrationfee.
She, andhusband Glenn,
have written andcompiledthe
newbook, which records the
last10years of VarietyTheatre.
It follows on from their 2009
book, In the Spotlight –
celebrating 50 years which was
acomprehensive book of
history, photos and snippets.
People keen to registerfor
the jubilee, or wanting to
purchase acopy of the jubilee
book, can contact Elaine on
0212348102 or Faye at johnston.
fam@xtra.co.nz
RegistrationscloseJune3.
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Helping families keep
warm this winter
Around amillion New Zealanders will be
warmer in their homes now that the winter
energy payment has resumed.
The Government introduced this payment
as part of our Families Package, to help
seniors and families with the cost of heating
during the colder months. It’s simply about
being able to run the heater when you need
to.
Too many New Zealanders are
hospitalised because of cold, damp homes.
The winter energy payment sits alongside
our Warmer Kiwi Homes insulation
programme, as well as new healthy homes
standards requiring the insulation of rental
properties –all part of our plan to ensure
every Kiwi home is warm and dry, and to
ultimately keep people well.
I’ve had many people here in Rangitata
tell me what adifference the winter energy
payment makes, grateful for the support
with their power bills.
Our Government is committed to boosting
the incomes of Kiwi families, so everyone
can afford the basics.
Closing the gap between rich and poor in
New Zealand will take time, but there are
plenty of things the Government is already
doing to tilt the balance in favour of our
lowest paid workers.
To increase household incomes, the
Government has rolled out the Families
Package, including the winter energy
payment and best start.
We’ve also steadily lifted the minimum
wage, invested heavily in employment
support, made targeted training and
apprenticeships free, indexed main benefits
to wage growth so families aren’t left behind,
lifted abatement thresholds for working
people on benefits so they can keep more of
what they earn, and increased main benefits
by $25 per week.
We’ve eased the financial pressure on
families by funding the removal of NCEA
fees, making doctors’ visits cheaper for
nearly 600,000 New Zealanders, and putting
fuel and power companies under the
microscope.
New Zealanders have shown
extraordinary resilience and compassion
over the past year, and the Government is
doing all it can to support Kiwi families
through these uncertain times.
The winter energy payment kicked off
again at the start of May, and will provide
some relief over the colder months. But we
know there is more to do to lift the incomes
of hard­working New Zealanders.
I’m proud to be part of agovernment that’s
stepping up to tackle long­term challenges
like this one.
‘Fairity’ sought for town’s east
Formermayor Donna Favel is asking the
Ashburton District Council for more public
toiletsand parks on the east side of town.
She said the east sideneeded‘‘fairity’’, a
combination of fairnessand equity.
Mrs Favelhas lived on the east side for 25
years andsaidthe area needed more
recreation space, publictoilets and
improvedfootpathsand gutters.
‘‘The whole eastside lacks in some basic
infrastructure thatisrepresented well on
the west side.’’
Mrs Favelwas making submissions on
council’s 10­year plan.
Mrs Favel also asked council to create an
arts and culture strategy,similar to other
councils. There waspotential to collaborate
with other bodies in the space to create
events likeOamaru’ssteam punk festival, or
Hokitika’s wild foods festival or Selwyn
Sounds.
She congratulated council on its
Welcoming Communities initiative and said
Ashburton wasgrowing in diversity. The
Ashburton Collegeroll reflected that: 60 per
cent of students were European, 15 per cent
Maori,11.5 per cent Pacific Island, and 11.5
percent Filipino.