The
Stewart Centre Christmas lunch for 2009 was celebrated in
style at Valentines Restaurant. The venue is popular
with several of us because it has a wide selection of good
food at a very reasonable price. Everyone I spoke with
said they had a wonderful time.
The
selection included soups, salads, hot meats and vegetables,
seafood dishes and desserts as well as tea and coffee.
We arrived back at the Centre with very full stomachs and
ready for a little sleep—which I think is a good indicator
that we all enjoyed ourselves!
In the
afternoon there were more Christmas festivities with some of
the family members joining us for afternoon tea and
sharing
Secret Santa
gifts together. I am very impressed with the sense of family
the Stewart Centre provides, especially at special times of
the year, like Christmas.
I was a
competitor in the Special Olympics Summer National Games,
that were held in Palmerston North from the 2nd to the 5th
December 2009. These Games are held every four years
and bring together teams from all over the country,
participating in a variety of events such as ten-pin
bowling, athletics, aquatics, basketball, soccer, indoor
bowls, bocce, golf, equestrian and power-lifting.
I
represented Manawatu at the Special Olympics Ten-Pin Bowling
Regionals in June, where I was able to win a gold
medal in the ‘Pairs’ and a bronze in the ‘Fours’, so
it was a real privilege to be able to represent Manawatu
again in several of the Ten-Pin Bowling events at the
National Games.
Our team
was given accommodation at Massey University, which became
our home during the Games. We stayed in Egmont Court along
with Manawatu Swimming and Ten-Pin bowlers from Howick/Pakuranga.
The
Opening Ceremony on the Wednesday night was an opportunity
to meet all the other competitors. Altogether there were
1085 athletes; 43 teams; 10 sports; 379 coaches and 967
volunteers.
We had an
early 5 am start the next day in order to get to Bowlerama
in time for the start of the day’s events.
My
bowling partner Hamish, and I played Counties in the
‘Pairs’ on the Thursday morning and we won all three games
that we played. On Friday we played in the ’Fours’
against Southern Tarakani who beat us in all three games.
On Friday
Hamish and I played Canterbury in the ’Pairs’ final and we
won 1 game and lost the last 2 games, but we managed to
achieve a silver medal for the effort and I am happy
with that.
I really
enjoyed Nationals even though I was nervous at the
beginning. There was a great spirit at the Games and I think
everyone had a great time. I look forward to competing again
in the future.
Clients
and Staff from the Stewart Centre recently went on an
Art Trip to
Wellington.
It was a
beautiful day that started off really well. On the way we
stopped at Lindale for morning tea which we enjoyed very
much. We then continued to central Porirua where we had
lunch sitting outside in the sunshine. We then went to see
the
“Mirrored Years’
exhibition by Yayoi Kusama at the City Gallery.
The
outside of the Gallery had been coated in multi-coloured
round dots which looked impressive!Inside, her art works
also used dots and one room appeared hallucinatory, surreal
and unique. It was all in yellow with black dots with large
inflated shapes!
One small
room was darkened with mirrors and small hanging lights and
gave the effect of space. The last room at the
exhibition showed several pictures each one showed a
repetition of black shapes on a white background. It was
very effective.
The whole
day was fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable.
Whilst we
were travelling back from the exhibition in Poneke
(Wellington), the Stewart Centre Art enthusiasts called in
at
Shona Moller’s Art Gallery
in Paraparaumu. The gallery couples as a working
studio which enables one to observe first-hand the various
stages in the lifecycle of a piece—from initial inception to
finished work. Shona uses a
visual diary to plan
and organise each project. She documents her ideas, draws
sketches, uses symbols and includes photographs in the
planning stage.
The walls
of the Gallery are lined with her works—predominantly the
theme being local flora and fauna, shoreline and distinctive
Kapiti landscape. The colours are vibrant and striking. Her
blending of shades and tonal variations enhance the
perspective, as does her use of texture to add a third
dimension.
I was
particularly taken with three of the pieces. One
captured the flow of the grass caught by the wind and
wonderfully highlighted by vivid flecks of sunlight on some
of the blades. Her self-portrait also inspired
me, particularly the way she had captured that inquiring
facial expression. Another note-worthy piece was of a
festive pohutukawa. The pallet work was stunning,
causing the metrosideros excelsa to leap out at one.
Awesome!
I
couldn’t remember a lot about the recent Stewart Centre trip
to Ashhurst Domain until one of the staff reminded me, and I
saw the photographs.
What did you enjoy most about the trip?
I really enjoyed preparing the BBQ. I took on the
responsibility of doing all the cooking for the group that
day, which included sausages, meat patties and onions. It
was also my job to see that everyone received their fair
share and that it was well cooked and nice and hot.
Why did you enjoy cooking the BBQ most of all?
I have always found great satisfaction in helping others.
Even when I was a young boy I was known as
a helper.
Helping others makes me feel really good about myself.
Is there anything else about the trip that you enjoyed?
I enjoyed visiting Te Apiti wind farm in the afternoon. The
turbines are a lot bigger up close. They are an amazing
piece of technology!
The
Stewart Centre Christmas lunch for 2009 was celebrated in
style at Valentines Restaurant. The venue is popular
with several of us because it has a wide selection of good
food at a very reasonable price. Everyone I spoke with
said they had a wonderful time.
The
Opening Ceremony on the Wednesday night was an opportunity
to meet all the other competitors. Altogether there were
1085 athletes; 43 teams; 10 sports; 379 coaches and 967
volunteers.
I
couldn’t remember a lot about the recent Stewart Centre trip
to Ashhurst Domain until one of the staff reminded me, and I
saw the photographs. 
Manawatu Stewart Centre Trust 2005,
All Rights Reserved