Raglan Bands had a great night at the Waikato Rockquest finals this Saturday with Abstract Fish Lungs repeating their 2nd place performance from last year. For that they’ll get $400 in music equipment and a chance to enter into the National Finals to be held later in the year.
Wavy State of Mind had a great first trip to the Waikato finals being one of 2 bands to get the Tunes of Waikato Award which includes $1200 of studio time to record one of their original songs, the opportunity to play in 5 shows around the Waikato and the inclusion of the track on a Tunes of Waikato album to be released next year.
Matariki celebrations in Whaingaroa are kicking off on June 26 at 11am with a shared kai at the library.
Community celebrations will continue over the weekend of June 29 and 30 in the Town Hall. On Saturday there will be activities, music, crafts, weaving and workshops with a shared hangi. Sunday will be dedicated to Te Tiriti with a mini exhibition, screen printing and korero about the origins of the treaty.
If you’re a movie buff, look out for Matariki ki Whaaingaroa, a programme of film, art and korero which celebrates the power of indigenous knowledge. Running from June 28 until July 7 at the Raglan Old School Arts Centre, there will be a selection of films, a multi-medium art exhibition, and inspirational speeches.
Xtreme Zero Waste is recruiting again - this time for their board of directors - if you feel that you have something to offer there is info on their website and also ads going in the Chronicle and on Seek.
In local sport it was an eventful weekend with defender Gregor from the Raglan Rooster Football team breaking his leg in an incident that brought the game to a sudden halt while the Whaingaroa Whai men's team made a stunning comeback to draw their game.
In the football; the game against QTM United was stopped for an hour while they waited for an ambulance to take Gregor to hospital. Eventually they were able to finish the match where the Roosters beat QTM by 4 goals to 2 with Felipe, Marti and Fraser scoring goals. The result leaves the Roosters in second place of Group C in the Scottish cup - and without one of their key defenders for the rest of the season.
The Whaingaroa Whai league team had a bad start to their last home game of the season against Hamilton City Tigers, letting 3 tries through in the first few minutes. In a testament to the spirit of the team this year they fought their way back to finish 20-all with Tim Aitken Reid scoring a try in the dying minutes of the game. The result leaves the team just outside the top 4 on the leader board with players of the day; Dion Wereta 1 point, Mark Heta 2 points, Tohi Maniapoto 3 points.
The Whaingaroa Whai Wahine had another close loss this weekend 18 - 14 to Taniwharau