Barry Gibb's emotional powhiri before Mission show

Barry Gibb's emotional powhiri before Mission show 11:05 AM Friday Feb 22, 2013 For this year's Mission Concert artist Barry Gibb, the moment was clearly enchanting and emotional. Three members of a powhiri group which put on a welcome and a cultural greeting for the Bee Gee in Hawke's Bay yesterday stepped forward and sang to him, delivering a beautiful rendition of How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?, one of the many songs he and his brothers Robin and Maurice gave to the world. It came at the end of a Maori welcome which transfixed and delighted the Gibb whanau and their friends. The song was perfect for the occasion, after they were welcomed by Ngati Kahungunu's Hunni Williams who after greeting them explained that after Mr Gibb had accepted the traditional challenge he had been welcomed ``into our hearts.'' "Barry, welcome ... welcome ... your people are all with us today spiritually," Mr Williams said. Mr Gibb stood and returned the greeting. "We love you and thank you all for your incredible love," he told the members of the welcoming party, which included students from Karamu High School who delighted their guests with their traditional actions and songs. And Mr Gibb returned their welcome with a beautifully sung Words. The final line ``words are all I have, to take your heart away'' left the hosts spellbound. "So beautiful ... so very special," powhiri organiser, Rebecca Kamau, said. Mr Gibb and his son Stephen were both adorned with korowai (cloaks) and were later presented with a taonga of a carved mere and bone and greenstone pendants. They were overcome. "This has just been so powerful. I love it," Stephen Gibb said. His father agreed. "What a wonderful ritual," he said. "That war chant is something else." With a proud smile he said: "I have to give the cloak back but I get to keep this [the carved mere]". The powhiri group of about 30 was put together by the charitable trust group CLOSENZ, formed by Ms Kamau about four years ago to bring all walks of life together through a Maori cultural experience. She said it was sparked in the wake of the arrival in Hawke's Bay of the many Motown artists who arrived to put on the 2010 Mission Concert. She brought together a welcoming group of Ngati Kahungunu who captivated the visiting singers and musicians. "We were inspired by that," she said. "It is all about bringing people together from all cultures and all walks of life and sharing a breath and moment in time,'' Ms Kamau said. She said Barry Gibb had shared his gifts of music with them, and everyone in the world, and they wanted to share their gifts with him. "Maori are known for their hospitality," she said. "So we hope the powhiri will provide hospitality that the artists would long remember. "It's about manaakitanga and maintaining our traditions to keep them alive and pay tribute to Barry for his gifted voice and contribution into the music industry that at some point in our lives, we've all felt a connection to his songs." Mr Gibb said he would remember and cherish the memories of the occasion forever. - HAWKES BAY TODAY http://www.nzherald.co.nz/maori/news/article.cfm?c_id=252&objectid=10866986

Paul Holmes

A cheeky trailblazer who talked to the nation 5:30 AM Saturday Feb 2, 2013 Broadcasting legend's old school and workplace lower flags to half mast as NZ mourns his passing. Plans for a funeral and public tribute to Sir Paul Holmes will be announced in the next day or so, says the broadcaster's family. Sir Paul died early yesterday at his Hawkes Bay home, Mana Lodge, surrounded by family, after battling aggressive cancer and a failing heart. Admirers and some former adversaries say a hole has been left in New Zealand media. A statement from his family said Sir Paul was more than just a broadcaster. "Paul was a loving husband and father, as well as a generous friend. He loved people and people loved him. "Information on how the public can pay tribute to Paul will be announced in due course." News of his death sparked an outpouring of tributes. Flags were lowered at Television NZ and at his former Hastings school, Karamu High, and TVNZ screened a special half-hour tribute show. Prime Minister John Key said Sir Paul's death signalled the end of a broadcasting era. "He was a trailblazer in New Zealand journalism with a style that was all his own." Sir Paul rose through the ranks of the media in NZ, and not long after starting his eponymous TVNZ current affairs show, he became as much a celebrity as those he interviewed. As his popularity grew, his personal highs and lows also made headlines. Every twist and turn in his life became public property, including a battle with prostate cancer and a near-death experience in a helicopter crash. More recently it was again his health that made headlines; his career was put on hold when his cancer returned early last year and he underwent open-heart surgery in June. He briefly returned to the country's screens and airwaves, but in December announced he was retiring from broadcasting because of poor health. An unexpected phone call from Prime Minister John Key on Christmas Day ended Sir Paul's "annus horribilis" with an "unexpected, wonderful" gift in the form of a knighthood. His career in radio, print and television was dogged with controversy and he often butted heads with politicians, sportspeople and celebrities, but many have expressed their admiration for his feisty style. Former Television NZ colleague Susan Wood said Sir Paul "led the revolution in communication ... he was a man for the times". Fellow broadcaster John Hawkesby recalled a quick-witted, "one-off"' trendsetter who had an "action-packed career". Sir Paul was lauded for being able to speak with every type of person, and that has been reflected in social websites, with hundreds on Twitter paying tribute. Sir Paul and his wife of 10 years, Lady Deborah, lived at their Hawkes Bay farm surrounded by gardens and thousands of olive trees. Following his open-heart surgery in June, Sir Paul wrote a personal account of what he had been through. "... I've written it in good health, full of beans again, looking out on a golden spring day, the cold wind has gone and there is so much love in my life. What more could a man want?" - APNZ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/radio-broadcasting/news/article.cfm?c_id=263&objectid=10862975

Good Sorts: Graeme Pearce Thames

Good Sorts: Graeme Pearce Published: 7:43PM Sunday November 15, 2009 Source: ONE News This week's ONE News Good Sort Graeme Pearce, has an unusual calling - he helps the living remember the dead. His efforts at an abandoned cemetery in Thames have given the men and women who founded the town a grand room with a view. Pearce is an appliance repairman by trade but in his spare time, likes nothing more than donning the gumboots, grabbing a weed whacker and heading to the cemetery. "No one coerced me into doing it, I just thought you have to give something back" he says. Tararu Cemetary was closed to new burials 40 years ago and became overrun with weeds. That was until seven years ago, Pearce saw the mess and made a decision. "(It was) one of those moments in your life where you look out and say okay, it needs to be looked after, no use talking about it, pull your finger and do something," he says. The council doesn't pay for his efforts, but he's not worried. He says Thames has been good to him. Forty years ago, he stopped by, met his wife at the bakery and stayed. Andrea McCartney wrote to ONE News about Pearce. She first brought her father to the cemetery ten years ago, when it was still an overrun mess. "I'm not sure what his wife thinks of all the time he spends up here. You can now drive up if necessary, certainly walk up the paths, you can see all the names and he's just done a marvellous job," she says. Do you know someone who is a "Good Sort" that ONE News should talk to? Click here to nominate them. Share your thoughts on the series and the people featured on the messageboard below. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/good-sorts-graeme-pearce-3145217

Remembering broadcaster Kevin Black,

Remembering broadcaster Kevin Black,a funny guy who was always gracious By Mathew Dearnaley 5:30 AM Saturday Feb 23, 2013 Broadcasting legend Kevin Black, who endeared himself to tens of thousands of listeners with his madcap antics on Radio Hauraki in the 1980s and died this week of a suspected heart attack aged 69, will be farewelled at a requiem mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in central Auckland at 1.30pm on Monday. His former friends and colleagues share some of their fondest memories of Blackie with the Weekend Herald. Tony Astle, Proprietor of Antoine's Restaurant, Parnell "He was larger than life, one of life's characters - you got what you saw, straight down the line. He was one of our longest, shall we say, sitting customers - he had an amazing constitution and it didn't matter what he did, we forgave him every time. "We loved him as a customer and as a friend and it's all a bit of a shock for us. He will never be forgotten and he holds many records." Mr Astle, who knew Black in Wellington before establishing Antoine's in 1973, recalled sharing a regular radio spot on which the DJ would call him for recipes. "I was called Hints with Mint - he used to wake me up in the morning and we'd talk absolute crap. Every Friday we'd do recipes that were absolute hogwash." Alan Whetton, Former All Black - co-hosted breakfast show with Black on Solid Gold FM for several years until their mutual retirement from broadcasting in 2009 "I finished at the same time as him because we were a little team. I had the latest part of his career - only for two or three years, but what a two or three years they were. "He was such a funny guy - anyone who said they couldn't get on with Kevin Black, well, you're in another world. "I just loved him to bits and he was an extremely generous man with his time, especially for a rugby jock like me. "He just took the piss out of me all the time, saying I was just hopeless and soft and how could I be a rugby player, I was too good-looking? He wanted to rough me up to make me look more menacing." Barry Jenkin, Aka Dr Rock - former Radio Hauraki DJ "I never ever heard Blackie lose his temper - I'm not even sure he had one. I've got a fairly short fuse but Blackie, whatever happened he just let it roll over him. He just went through life with a sort of equanimity if you like. "He was just a joker - if Blackie was in the room there'd be a lot of laughing - that was a given. He was an entertainer, funny as a fight. He was a great guy and it's been a hell of a shock." Phil Yule, Former Radio Hauraki breakfast show producer from the mid-1980s with Black, aka Boy Bob "If we came up with a good idea, he could take that and go anywhere with it. "He would ring people up and have them on, but it was all fun - there was no meanness at all. "It was quite kind of ironic that his heart got him because he had a lovely, big heart. He seemed like a tough street guy but he was a lovely, gracious guy. "One time he rang up a hair salon pretending his home-dyed hair had gone wrong - it was all henna-coloured but when he tried to wash it out it had all gone green and orange. You were thinking it was the hair on his head but it slowly evolved that it wasn't the hair on his head - the woman at the other end [of the phone line] just cackled her head off." Phil Gifford, Broadcaster aka Loosehead Len - sports-casted for Black at Hauraki in the 1980s "One of the great charms of Kevin Black was that he always had time for everybody and he actually enjoyed it. It wasn't a chore. If he hadn't been in radio he would have made an amazing barman - he was everybody's friend. "He always seemed on the verge of a party and if you had the stamina to tag along with him you were going to be part of that as well." Gifford revealed he did not tag along as often as radio listeners may have been led to believe "because I didn't have the constitution that Kevvy had" but recalled one outing which began at the former Gluepot pub in Ponsonby before gravitating over several hours to an upmarket club in High St. "There didn't seem to be a person we came across who Kevin not only knew but was mates with and had a joke with." John Hawkesby, Radio Hauraki breakfast show newsreader with Black "Kevin knew everybody in radio and touched a lot of people's lives - people loved him." Hawkesby recalls how station manager John McCready campaigned to move Black from another slot to the breakfast show in 1982 because "he thought he was so zany," but may have wondered what he had got himself into after a celebratory lunch at Antoine's Restaurant. Black chose the venue as it was the top restaurant at the time. Mid-way through the afternoon McCready said he had to get back to work and gave Black a taxi chit. At about 6.30pm he received a call from Antoine's proprietor Tony Astle saying he was sorry but Black was slumped asleep at a table which had to be re-set for dinner. McCready returned to collect him. Black, standing there, looks at McCready, then looks at his watch, and says, "you are very late for our lunch, I'm sorry but I went ahead and ate anyway". By Mathew Dearnaley Email Mathew http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10867156

Hobsonville Farmers Market