Western News: December 16, 2021

Thursday December 16 2021
Love of carting rolls on
MALCOLM Johnson is keeping
the wheels turning on a hobby
that has interested him since
childhood.
The Kevin Hickman Retirement
Village resident supplies
charities with handmade racing
carts for kids.
He has already built 17 of
them in the past five years, the
more recent models made in the
garage of his retirement village
townhouse.
In Taranaki, where Johnson
grew up, he remembers every
kid had access to a cart.
Races were a regular feature
in a youngster’s summer, and
also a hobby encouraged by
the scouting movement, which
both he and wife Margaret were
involved in.
“All country kids had carts,
even though they were depleted
looking structures,” Johnson
said.
“We couldn’t get wheels
. . . we used to pinch the
wheels off lawnmowers and
later put them back on.”
Now his search for
modern-day equivalent
parts usually takes place in
secondhand goods stores,
such as the EcoShop on
Blenheim Rd.
He buys pushchairs and
toddler’s buggies, so he can
utilise the wheels and frames
with other components to
make a quality cart.
Charities that have benefited
from his work include the Cholmondeley
Children’s Centre
and the Women’s Refuge, as
well as children’s fund-raising
efforts.
To help pay for the ongoing
projects, Johnson relies on supporters,
such as fellow members
of the Pegasus Daylight Lodge,
which he belongs to.
The completed carts, painted
by a friend, Jimmy Roscoe, are
brightly coloured and solid.
However, given the enthusiastic
play of
HANDMADE: Malcolm
Johnson is keeping the
wheels turning on a hobby
that has interested him
since childhood.
youngsters, sometimes repairs
are necessary.
Johnson is enthused about life
and helping others, and one of
his retirement projects has been
to assist those less fortunate.
Overall, he feels sorry that
society is divided into haves
and have-nots.
“I’ve always wanted
fairness for all
people, coupled
with absolute
enthusiasm for
anything
I’ve believed
PHOTO:
STARMEDIA ​
in. That’s what our forebears
came to New Zealand for.”
In Brief
3
FATE OF WAR MEMORIAL
LIBRARY TO BE DECIDED
THe city council is likely to
make a decision on the future
of the Upper Riccarton War
Memorial Library in February,
head of facilities, property and
planning Bruce Rendall says.
The council may revoke the
reserve status of the site and
return it to the crown, although
the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton
Community Board has objected
to this. Demolition of the library
buildings is likely to be in the
first half of 2022, Rendall said.
PLAYGROUND
SUBMISSIONS
Sixty-six submissions have been
made by those keen to have
their say on the future of four
playgrounds in Halswell. Public
feedback closed on Monday
for opinions on Westbrooke
Park, Shamrock Reserve, Wales
Reserve and Ridder Reserve. A
city council plan will go to the
Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton
Community Board for approval
next May.
TREE FELLED
A 21m tree in Burnside’s
Crosdale Pl has been axed
following a push to remove it by
residents. The eucalyptus tree,
which dropped branches on the
sidewalk and posed a risk to
pedestrians, was removed by the
city council on Tuesday.
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