50 years ago
■ Thirty-one years after first racing in the annual mountain road race as an
18-year-old, Mr Brian Lambert was preparing for the same race again. The Waitara man, who is now nearly
50 years old, said despite his age he was feeling very fit, was still very keen on cycling and had high hopes of finishing the gruelling race. It will be the fourth time he has taken part in the race.
■ Heavy seas and winds blowing up to 40 miles an hour have seriously delayed by two full days the arrival of the oil rig Sedco 135-F at its drilling location, 24 miles off-shore from Opunake. Battling waves up to 15 feet high and making little more than one knot, the giant rig was last reported to be still slowly forging its way northwards from Golden Bay.
■ The Bowl of Brooklands could for the first time be featured in a film for television. The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation has shown keen interest in making a film of a live stage show, which is currently being considered for presentation for next year by the Bowl of Brooklands Trust. The show, which will be known as Starlift ‘70’, would bring together what has been described as the largest lineup of New Zealand pop talent to ever appear in a one-night performance. It would include such stars as Toni Williams, Sandy Edmonds, Maria Dallas and Robert Gennari.
■ The whole system of State education and the future of New Zealand education would be in jeopardy if the Labour party policy of providing more State aid for private schools was implemented, according to the Taranaki branch of the New Zealand Education Institute. The branch chairman Mr R. T. Hill said it opposed the proposal because of the great need for state education to be upgraded as it was already suffering substandard buildings and a poor amount of aid. ‘‘The days should have gone when teachers have to hold galas and bottle drives to subsidise what is supposed to be a free system.’’
■ Dr M. Mansouri, a wealthy Iranian lawyer-publisher and his New Plymouth-born wife, formerly Miss Suzanne Foreman, paid an overnight visit to New Plymouth last night. Dr and Mrs Mansouri will leave New Plymouth early today to return to Mrs Mansouri’s parent’s home in Ngaruawahia.
■ The world Jaycee president Mr T. E. Gates visited Ha¯wera as part of his New Zealand tour and said the introduction of junior Jaycee organisations in New Zealand and around the world might help to arrest the increasing incidence of juvenile crimes of violence. It was hoped the junior organisations would redirect and channel the apparent ‘‘abundance of energy’’ in young people into more resourceful avenues, like matters of citizenship, he said.
■ Movies: Che! starring Omar Sharif and Jack Palance (State), Buckskin (Everybody’s Opunake), The Day of the Triffids (Regent Ha¯wera), Sands of the Kalahari (Mayfair). ■ 35 Years Ago: It was a bumper day for the Taranaki Jockey Club at their race meeting in New Plymouth when several Taranaki totalisator betting records were smashed and two track records were broken. The feature event, the $50,000 Perry Dines Stakes, created immense interest, with more than $48,000 invested oncourse for the event, which is easily a record for any one race held in Taranaki. The event was won by race favourite Commissionaire while Kiwi produced a top trial for the Melbourne Cup in a month’s time when he unleashed another of his fast finishes to come home second.
■ 25 Years Ago: A telephone survey of people’s attitudes to the ownership and possible sale of shares in Taranaki Energy has opened a major spilt between the company’s management and its major shareholder, the New Plymouth District Council. New Plymouth Mayor Claire Stewart branded the survey as ‘‘absolutely inappropriate interference’’ in the council’s business. Taranaki Energy chief executive Simon Moutter said the survey was part of regular market research of customers.