TE NUPEPA O TE TAIRAWHITI FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2021 HOME-DELIVERED $1.90, RETAIL $2.20 BASKETBALL STARS OPEN NATIONAL POP-UP EVENTS ELGIN HOOPS VOLUNTEER TO MARK PAGE 2 WEEK MATARIKI PAGE 3 PAGE 5 FAMILY FLEES FIRE: A family fled a burning house on the Queens Road/Karaka Street corner in Elgin this morning. Firefighters say they got out in time thanks to the early warning provided by smoke alarms. One family member was taken to Gisborne Hospital for a check-up. Firefighters estimated the house was 70 percent damaged while the rest of the property was severely smoke-damaged. STORY ON PAGE 4 Picture by Paul Rickard by Andrew Ashton in six months and will take about 20 months to complete. GISBORNE is the centre of a “This is fantastic,” Mr Nash told ‘REVOLUTION’ potential $200 million “revolution” in The Herald. wood processing and New Zealand “We are building more houses than house-building after the official any other government ever. We have opening of a world-first technology a lot more we need to build and we plant. have a new wood-first policy that Economic and Regional says any new build that is built for Development Minister and Forestry the state sector or by the state sector IN WOOD Minister Stuart Nash was in must be built out of wood. Gisborne yesterday to open Wood “This is really strong wood. It Engineering Technology’s Optimised has a structural integrity that is Engineered Lumber (OEL) probably better than concrete and production line. steel. The plant is the only one of “This is really important in terms PROCESSING its type in the world. It produces of driving the sort of homes we Wood Engineering Technology’s want to build. They will be working breakthrough product OEL, which is with Kainga Ora, no doubt, and one of only seven engineered lumber other contractors because if you are products ever commercialised. building for the government it has to Mr Nash also turned the first sod be built out of wood, and this fits the Gisborne plant a world-first on the company’s second production spec.” line, construction of which will start CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 need SuperMans! SuperGrans has fi rewood that urgently needs to be delivered to families 40573-01 in need this winter. We need your help. Please call 868 3571 for more info. GISBORNE RUATORIA WAIROA Local News ...... 1-5 Business ............11 Literature ..........16 Television ...........23 Births & Deaths ...4 Opinion ..............12 Racing .......... 17-18 Sport ............ 24-28 9 771170 043005 TOMORROW National .......... 6-10 World............ 13-15 Classifieds .........22 Weather .............27 > 2 NEWS The Gisborne Herald • Friday, June 18, 2021 HOOPS AND DREAMS Basketball stars here for Elgin School hoops opening TIPS FROM THE TOP: Tall Black international and New Zealand Breakers player Tom Abercrombie at the opening of two new basketball hoops at Elgin School yesterday. Abercrombie has made well over 100 appearances for his country and is one of only three players to have played for the Breakers in all four of their Australian National Basketball League championship wins. Shooting for the stars is Rangituia Walker. Picture by Liam Clayton by Jack Malcolm groups and trusts helped lower the cost of the playground to the school. TALL Black Tom Abercrombie and Tall Fern Elgin is the second Gisborne school to receive a Charlisse Leger-Walker were in Gisborne yesterday state-of-the-art hoop. Cobham School opened theirs to open two new basketball hoops at Elgin School. in October last year. The hoops are part of Basketball New Zealand’s Following on from the visit by Abercrombie and Hoops for Schools programme and have been Leger-Walker, Basketball New Zealand director of installed in Gisborne in association with Turanga coach development Natu Taufale is in Gisborne over Health. the weekend to run workshops for local coaches. Elgin School principal Janet Collier-Poi said they As of yesterday, 20 coaches had already signed were “very fortunate” to receive the new hoops, up for the sessions which will focus on secondary which she believed would help promote an active school and representative basketball. and healthy lifestyle for the students. “We can’t coach them (children) like you did 20 “I think it’s going to make a huge difference years ago. we’ve got to improve the quality for the primarily with their behaviour (in school). It’s going participants,” Mr Taufale said. to create opportunity for the tamariki and the other “Our goal is knowing all kids are going to play members of our school community.” different sports, and to love sport for life. It is such Also attending the opening were members of the a unique connector and is going to help them Gisborne Basketball Academy squad and students through life. There are a lot of transferrable skills. from Manutuke, Waikirikiri and Te Wharau schools. Basketball is the second most popular sport The students completed drills run by New Zealand for secondary school-aged children, with 24,212 Breakers star and four-time National Basketball participants last year, according to New Zealand League winner Abercrombie and Washington State Secondary School Sports census results. University rising star Leger-Walker, the youngest Of the seven biggest sports in school — football, player ever (16 years, 202 days old) to play for the netball, rugby, volleyball, hockey, cricket and Tall Ferns. basketball — it is one of only two to experience SKILLS SESSION: Tall Fern and Washington State University freshman They then had lunch provided by Turanga Health growth in the last five years. Charlisse Leger-Walker shows young basketballers how it’s done at the and in the afternoon, learned about home gardening With a 4 percent increase in its player base, opening of two new hoops at Elgin School yesterday. Leger-Walker had an from Enable Grow. basketball is on track to become the most popular outstanding season with Washington, culminating in her being named the Pac- Along with the new hoops, the school also has a secondary school sport, overtaking netball, which 12 conference’s freshman player of the year and being named on ESPN’s list of new playground scheduled to open next week. Ms has had a 14 percent decrease over the same time the top 25 women’s college basketballers for next year. Picture by Liam Clayton Collier-Poi said funding from a raft of community period. LOOKING AHEAD Get your FOCUS ON THE LAND Gisborne Herald • The Beef and Lamb New Zealand ‘Roadshow’ home-delivered TOMORROW comes to Gisborne next Wednesday — George Tatham and Sam McIvor in attendance. • Prices and comment from today’s weekly sheep sale at Matawhero, with around 1000 head on offer. • Fieldays winds up tomorrow and the Mystery Creek site has been packed since the iconic event got under way on Wednesday. TOMORROW The Gisborne Herald, 64 Gladstone Road, P.O. Box 1143, Gisborne • Phone (06) 869 0600 • Fax (Editorial) (06) 869 0643 (Advertising) (06) 869 0644 Editor: Jeremy Muir • Chief Reporter: Andrew Ashton • Circulation: Cara Haines • Sports: Jack Malcolm/John Gillies To fi nd out more call 869 0620 e-mail: [email protected] • [email protected] • [email protected] • web site: www.gisborneherald.co.nz The Gisborne Herald • Friday, June 18, 2021 NEWS 3 GIVING BACK National Volunteer Week, June 20-26 by Murray Robertson ■ 21.5 percent of New Zealanders do volunteer work. A LONG-TIME volunteer firefighter ■ The value of formal volunteering is estimated at $4 billion says being part of a brigade is like a year. being part of a family. ■ New Zealanders contribute around 159 million hours of National Volunteer Week runs formal volunteer labour each year to organisations. from June 20 to 26 and among ■ 49.8 percent of people 15 years of age or older report the more than one million New having performed formal and/or informal volunteer work. Zealanders who volunteer for an ■ Of people who volunteer, 28.2 percent volunteerED through organisation is Doris Hill — a Fire an organisation and 36.5 volunteerED directly. and Emergency NZ volunteer station ■ This year’s theme for National Volunteer Week is officer for the past 20 years. “Recognise, Connect, Reimagine”. FENZ has 11,500 volunteers like — For more on volunteering, including stories of people who Doris throughout the country. mahi aroha (work for love), go to nationalvolunteerweek.nz “I always wanted to drive a big red fire truck and more than 20 years ago I took the first step,” Doris As well as being a volunteer, wanted to see his mother’s work. says. she has installed smoke alarms “I love that being part of the “I joined the Juken NZ industrial in some of the more remote areas brigade is something we can share brigade at Matawhero and then the in the community near the school and do together. Gisborne volunteer fire brigade. where she works and presented fire The pair recently completed BE IN IT: Gisborne volunteer firefighter Station Officer Doris Hill “You have to work your way up to safety programmes (Maui-tinei-ahi) the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair (left) encourages people interested in becoming a firefighting become a qualified brigade driver at schools. Challenge together, climbing the volunteer, or doing volunteer work in general, to go for it. She is and it felt like a big achievement “Sometimes I need to leave 1100-plus steps of the Auckland pictured with firefighters (from left) Gary Graham, Rob Graham when, after five years in the brigade, occasions suddenly, or cannot landmark in full kit. and Robin Sneddon. The group were collecting money for the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge in May and Ebony Kruft was I got behind the wheel.