City dancers bring home medal haul
The Invercargill Rock ‘n’ Roll Club has returned from the Junior Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Nationals with a haul of awards.
During Easter Weekend, the club took part in the nationals held in Howick, Auckland, with a dozen clubs from throughout the country competing.
At the end of the three-day event, the club had picked up seven first placings, 10 second placings and 11 third placings.
Club president Karl Herman said the parents and coaches were blown away by how well the junior dancers had done.
In the lead-up to the competition, the dancers were looking good but, when they hit the dance floor at the nationals, they pulled out all the stops, Herman said.
The Invercargill club fielded the most entries out of all the clubs in the country, he said.
Being so far south, the club did not have the luxury of working with others like the clubs in cities such as Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, Herman said.
So when it came time for the nationals, they put no pressure on the dancers and told them to give it their best, he said.
Dancers Quinn Robins and Caitlin van Miltenburg picked up first place in the senior section finals, which was the first time the club has picked up the award since 1995.
Robins also collected another win when he danced with Isabella O’Donnell in the restricted finals.
Robins, who had been dancing with van Miltenburg for only a year and a half, said the win had still not sunk in yet. ‘‘I’m pretty stoked.’’ Robins’ brother Joe had also competed in the junior nationals a few years ago and placed second, he said.
Other winners included Megan Phillipson, 9, Hunter Harris, 10, and Briarlee Devery, 10, who danced their way to a third placing in the junior triples section.
Next year, the Invercargill club will host the 2019 Junior Nationals at Stadium Southland.
It would be a great opportunity to showcase the club and show off the city and the stadium to the visiting clubs, Herman said.
Hopefully, the dancers would be able to defend their titles and make it two in a row, he said.
Holiday programme attendance on the up
A Venture Southland report into Southland District’s 2018 Holiday Programme, has shown an increase in attendance of more than 150 children from the 2017 event. A total of 656 children attended the programme, which ran throughout January, compared to 501 in 2017. The report states 50 per cent of the families involved had not attended the programme before. Six hundred and ninety-eight children attended the programme in 2016.
Fire destroys shed
A fire investigator has been called in after a fire destroyed a shed at the Te Anau Golf Club. A fire communications spokesman said firefighters were called to the golf club shortly after 3am yesterday. The large shed was well involved when firefighters arrived at scene, the spokesman said. Firefighters from Te Anau and Manapouri responded to the callout. A fire investigator had been requested to examine the scene, the spokesman said.