Contract for rubbish nears renewal date
Congratulatory messages from the Queen, prime minister and governor general have arrived for Brenda Hicks’s 100th birthday tomorrow.
She was delighted to read a hand-written message from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, while the letter from Queen Elizabeth will be opened at a function in the Rowena Jackson Retirement Village, Invercargill, tomorrow. Brenda has lived there for five years.
Invited guests include her brother Noel Marshall, 102, who moved from his house into a Gore retirement home last month, and brother-in-law Cyril Hicks, 98, who still lives in his own home in Auckland. Both were in Brenda and George Hicks’s wedding party in Invercargill in 1946.
George died in 2017, two days before his 98th birthday.
When asked what the secret was to reaching 100, Brenda replied – ‘‘trust in the Lord’’.
Having positive thoughts and seeing her family and friends doing well in life also gave her pleasure.
Brenda suffered an injury at the age of 8 requiring surgery to remove an eye.
‘‘[The socket] had to heal for a year before they could put an artificial eye in,’’ she said.
The setback never held her back from creating artwork. Many of her pieces are on the walls of her unit at the retirement village.
‘‘I loved painting things.’’ Brenda and George’s courtship began at the Saturday night dances in a church hall.
‘‘He was no dancer ... he’d dance all over my feet,’’ Brenda said.
Both did service for the New Zealand Defence Force during World War II with Brenda being a dental assistant at a military camp in Wellington and George serving as a cook and anti aircraft gunner in Egypt, Syria and Italy.
The couple owned the Invercargill branch of Bernina sewing machines from 1950-1975. Southland District Council will decide whether to renew its waste removal contract for Stewart Island.
Rakiura Shipping Ltd has been responsible for removing waste and recyclables from the island since 2003.
The expiring contract was in a five-year roll over format. At a council meeting scheduled for today, councillors will vote to renew the contract.
The contract is worth a fluctuating amount, based on total waste transported. It is estimated at $2000 per month, and cost $360,000 for the past 15 years.
A report, prepared for the council, says there were no other shipping alternatives and recommended approving the Rakiura Shipping contract renewal. Seeking an alternative arrangement with another company would present a ‘‘risk of significant disruption to service’’, the report says.
The report also said seeking an alternative would lead to a ‘‘risk of increase of illegal dumping across the island’’.
If successful, Rakiura Shipping would continue to transport waste at least once every four days.