Certificates of Recognition 2023
Certificates of Recognition were presented to:
Felicity has lived all her life in the Horowhenua and was a well-known resident of Shannon and now Waitārere Beach. Felicity is described as humble, tireless and always putting others needs first, often ahead of her own.
In the earlier days, Felicity was a volunteer with the Shannon Fire Brigade, Shannon Young Wives, Plunket Young Mothers Group, Shannon Saturday morning rugby and Variety Players. She was also a volunteer at Shannon School and an active volunteer for the Plunket Society fundraising through catering, concerts and theatre events.
Felicity is well known for her generosity and kindness and is aware of anyone who is unwell or in need of assistance. Because of this she has become very well known throughout the community.
Felicity is very skilled at weaving together many community groups; her impact and influence on our community is far reaching as are her famous chocolate eclairs and baking which she delivered to groups such as the Shannon Fire Brigade and Shannon School. With that baking went care, kindness and practical advice.
Felicity is described as a positive and exuberant team member of the Levin Anglican Parish and St Aidan’s Waitārere Beach Parish. She is the first person to arrive at church to ensure that everything is ready for the Sunday Service and organises rosters efficiently and with enthusiasm.
Felicity chairs the Pastoral Care Team for the Levin Parish which ensures that Parish and community members are well cared for. In addition, Felicity enjoys visiting rest home residents to provide a friendly visitor and support. She also cooks and bakes for church, and creates flower arrangements for funerals and the church when required.
Felicity is a current member and treasurer of the Waitārere Beach Progressive and Ratepayers Association where she has been an active member for over 10 years, and has provided support for many community events.
Felicity, your community work is extensive and your dedication is impressive, congratulations on being awarded a Certificate of Recognition.
Bill Harvey
Bill has over many years, turned his personal love of three sporting activities into genuine social good for his community of Te Awahou Foxton: these being karate, boxing and rugby.
Bill received his Black Belt in karate in 1978 and started his own Dojo in Te Awahou Foxton. It continues to this very day, some 45 years later. Although his son Matthew is now the main driver, Bill continues to be part of the club both at the personal level and as a trainer. Not bad at the age of 68! Time has erased any possibility of counting the scores of people, particularly youth, in Bill’s community who have grown under his tutelage in physical skills along with mental and psychological discipline.
It is sometimes said that when taught correctly, martial arts can be the most peaceful approach to conflict resolution, bullying and violence and this appears to have underpinned some of Bill’s other community contributions. Some of the young people who are Karate students at present describe Bill as still fearsome as an opponent, but have a great respect for his ability to make them extend themselves and achieve goals that are beyond what they believed possible.
1982 saw Bill obtaining his boxing licence and over eight years he gave hours of his time training many men and women. Subsequently, in 2015 Bill breathed life back into boxing in Te Awahou Foxton, supported by his son Matthew. Bill’s dedication in this code produced many skilled and confident men and women – a number of whom fought in tournaments with great success.
The third arrow in his quiver has been rugby – in 1996 Bill began refereeing for the Horowhenua/Kāpiti area which he continued for over a decade. He also volunteered to referee games on numerous occasions for Manawatū College.
It is about more than physical skills. It is also about psychological resolve and resilience. And it is about building confident and positive members of society. When we combine his contributions through karate, boxing or rugby it is impossible to count the hours Bill has volunteered to his community. The common thread throughout, for over 45 years, has been this: Bill’s infectious love of physical activity has combined with his love of people along with a strong conviction that these codes, done well, develop the whole person.
Derek Prior
Derek is a Te Awahou Foxton resident who has given his heart and soul to a range of organisations, over many years.
The Foxton Little Theatre is a small group of active members who work hard on keeping Community Theatre alive in Foxton. Since Derek joined the committee, he has undertaken nearly every role in the theatre. He is described as a man with many skills who is often the person the group turn to when tasks crop up at short notice.
Derek is totally reliable, if he says he will do something, it is carried out in a timely fashion and always to a high standard; and in addition, he has made improvements to the theatre to enhance the experience of patrons.
Derek has carried out tasks such as doing dishes for hours on end when there has been dinner and show evenings; he has managed front of house doing the myriad of tasks designed to make the theatre’s hospitality legendary; he has helped construct and deconstruct the sets, the gardening and general maintenance – Derek has even been reserve minute secretary and held the position of Vice President. There has also been the occasion where the director has been short a male actor, who do they turn to – Derek.
Derek is an active member of the Manawatū Estuary Trust where he joined the committee and took on the role of minute secretary. He is responsible for maintaining the birdwatching scopes and having them prepared for visiting groups. Derek is a member of a group of committed people who spend their Wednesday mornings doing pest tree removal and weeding of the estuary area which is a RAMSAR site of international significance.
Derek also volunteers for the Levin Riding for the Disabled organisation. Soon after he joined, he became as a volunteer and joined the committee. He was acting president during the time they had to move premises 2022-2023. He is presently a volunteer with the riders every Thursday and also Vice President. Derek looks after policy, Police checks and also fills in wherever there is a gap.
Derek has volunteered for Riding for the Disabled for the past five years and is particularly active in supporting the committee. Derek has been described as being a huge support as Vice President – he has worked on updating the policy and national qualifications required for RDA, and manages the Police check process.
Derek, there are a number of organisations who are lucky to have you – congratulations on being awarded with a Certificate of Recognition.
In Foxton, Tony is a rock-solid community man who has given incalculable hours of his time, using his love of sport for the betterment of others. Specifically, his passions have been karate and rugby.
For over thirty years Tony has been a karate enthusiast and has used his knowledge to train many others, growing them through his influence in the physical, mental and social skills that martial arts provides.
Over many years, week after week, Tony has given an extraordinary amount of his time to mentor and train participants of all ages, ranging from five years old through to adults.
Every week, training is held over two nights and often in the weekends gradings are held. Tony has continued over these 30 years to be totally committed with his time to ensure club members and individuals reach their potential and achieve the highest skill level and grading that they are able to. Tony has also assisted the Levin Karate Club over a number of years lending his skills and experience to the assist the club and its members to achieve their very best as well.
Tony has also over many years given freely of his time to his other sporting passion being Rugby. Tony began coaching the Manawatū College under 15s in the early 2000s before going on to coach the College 1st XV for a number of years. In this time the 1st XV grew into a powerful force earning the respect of the many other teams they played against in the schools competition, and continually performed to a high standard throughout Tony’s coaching tenure.
Tony latterly went on to coach at Senior Club level achieving excellent results with both the Foxton Senior A and Shannon Senior A teams, with the Shannon side making the Horowhenua-Kāpiti Senior Competition final in 2016 under his coaching and leadership.
We also must acknowledge Tony’s late wife Raewyn, who alongside Tony formed a powerful coaching team, as at the same time Raewyn coached the Manawatū College Senior Netball Team, who also always performed to a very high standard through Raewyn’s passion and knowledge for the game.
Tony also served on the Coley Street School Board for 9 years from 1999 - 2007, the last three years as Chairperson.
There is no doubt that the Foxton and wider Horowhenua community have been huge beneficiaries of Tony’s passion, skill, and personal commitment to both Karate and Rugby.
Tony, we thank you for going above and beyond, over many years, congratulations.