Visited Kaitaia on Bell’s Tour

Mr. L. D. Field, of Nelson, looked Kaitaia over on Wednesday and recalled his first visit when he was 14 years of age, and one of the youngest members of the Parliamentary party which toured Northland led by Colonel Allen Bell.

He was not, of course, a Member of Parliament, but he had been brought by his father, Mr. T. A. H. Field, the Member for Nelson.

“I wonder whether the trip did much good,” he said. “I know it was very hard going in places, notably the stage through the Herekino Gorge where we were stuck in the mud and 60 Members of Parliament, including the Speaker, had to get out on to the ropes to pull the cars out.

“We four boys were sent down the bank to get nikau pith to eat. We had no food with us, and when we arrived at the hall we found that the reception committee had eaten up the spread and gone home!”

His section of the party was billeted at Awanui, and he remembers looking with great interest over the paddocks toward the giant radio mast at Wireless Road. Rather surprisingly, there was no provision in the itinerary for a visit to the

station, which in those days must have been Kaitaia’s equivalent to Cape Kennedy.

But it encouraged a life-long interest in radio, so the trip had some effect.

Mr. Field is a brother of Mr. A. N. Field, an author of notable books on economic problems, including “The Truth about the Slump.” Some still sell, to Mr. Field’s benefit, for his brother left him the copyrights. He presented many of his brother’s papers to the Turnbull Library, and when he returns to Nelson he will go through his collection of articles and photographs covering the parliamentary tour, and will forward them to the Kaitaia Borough Council for its museum or local history archives.

If mud and rain are among memories of his first visit, his latest one will recall the fierce sunshine of the north, for he is recovering from a heavy dose of sunburn suffered when he was out from Whangaroa in the deepsea fishing contest.

He caught more than sunburn, for he landed one of the big ones, a 560-pound thresher shark.

— February 28, 1969 The Claudettes, of Kaitaia, made a clean sweep of the Northland

sections junior and midget events at the Whangarei Marching Association’s competitions held at Hora Hora over the weekend with ten awards.

In the senior division, the Claudettes also won the display event.

The Juniors topped the list with five awards. The cup they won for the aggregate is a particularly striking trophy, made of inlaid N.Z. woods with paua shell insets.

The Midgets followed with four awards, and the newlyformed Seniors won the display cup.

Twenty-four teams took part in the competition, which was split into two sections for Northland and visiting teams, and which was only marred by the heat of the day.

Four girls fainted – three just managing to make it through their paces before falling at the sideline.

Another girl toppled and fell in the middle of the judging ring, while a combination of the heat and nervous tension caused one leader to break down after successfully taking her team through its routine. Nevertheless, standards were high throughout the day as the girls – some 300 in all – went through their manoeuvres.

The day could mark a milestone in the resurgence of the sport in Northland.

In the past, any marching competitions in Whangarei have always been organised by the Auckland Centre. Now the newly formed Whangarei Marching

Association hopes its application to become a centre will be accepted before the end of the season.

The Far North, Northern Wairoa and Whangarei Associations will comprise the centre. Already it is expected that more teams will be registered next year as a result.

— February 28, 1969

Papers for Kaitaia

“Members of the newly formed Kaitaia College Council will continue to carry the responsibilities formerly belonging to prefects. This is not a radical departure, but with each house group it will be more democratically based and members will be able to express the view of their group at the weekly council meeting,” said the principal, Mr. J.M. Mitchell, yesterday.

“The council will be divided into committees with responsibilities for various areas of school activities.”

The Community Service committee will look for opportunities to further relations with town and country, to assist in projects for the good of the community, to organise appeals within the college for CORSO, Poppy Day and other worthwhile causes.

The Social Committee will organise inter-house and interform games in the College, and be responsible for assisting in the various sports meetings held with other schools.

— February 18, 1969

High standards