Latest news with #TaieriCollege
Otago Daily Times
19-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
‘Father of gardening' puts away his trowel
Nichol's Garden Centre Dunedin senior shop assistant Davie Dijker holds a garden mum plant at the store in Timaru St yesterday. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN Dunedin's "father of gardening" is hanging up his gloves after almost 50 years. Nichol's Garden Centre Dunedin senior shop assistant Davie Dijker, 65, is retiring after working as a shop assistant in gardening shops for 48 years. Mr Dijker said it felt "a bit weird" to be retiring. "I think I'm going to miss the people after seeing all the things on Facebook." A post on Facebook about Mr Dijker's retirement had attracted more than 100 tributes in the comment section appreciating his work. He said he knew a lot of people and it made a difference in his role. He had served some customers for more than 40 years. "A lot of them are my friends. "People remember me from back when I was at Arthur Barnett and that was over 30 years ago. "That gives me a bit of a buzz." He loved solving people's gardening problems and was referred to as "Dunedin's favourite father of gardening". People often showed him photos of their successes gardening using his tips. Every now and then there were photos of their disasters as well. Mr Dijker said not much had changed with gardening in all the years he had worked in the industry except there was a lot more variety in plants these days. He said gardening was in his genes because his father was Dutch. He got his first taste of it doing horticulture at school at Taieri College and started a job at Arthur Barnett's garden shop in George St when he was just 17 years old. Mr Dijker said he had never wanted to do anything else. "I find gardening quite relaxing." Mr Dijker said he loved planting vegetables, especially potatoes. He was looking forward to helping people in their gardens, fishing and offering his services to the Dunedin City Council to maintain its walking tracks after retirement. "I want to put something back in the community." His last day at Nichol's will be on Wednesday.
Otago Daily Times
16-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Last year's Octacan effort caned
PHOTO: SUPPLIED Taieri College students stand around a New Zealand made out of cans the school collected for the annual Octacan appeal. Teacher Gerry Fuss said the school collected 3200 cans, smashing last year's effort of 2800. Just over 500 cans would go to the Mosgiel foodbank, and the remainder would go to Presbyterian Support Otago, he said.
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
All abilities whānau day
The Halberg Foundation and Parafed Otago are holding an All Abilities Dunedin Whānau Day on Sunday, from 1pm to 3pm at Taieri College. There will be opportunities to try out powerchair football with members of the Dunedin PFC Dragons or hungerball with Hungerball Otago. Email zoe@ for details and registration.
Otago Daily Times
05-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Wetland wins $50k boost for education
Recent visitors from Taieri College volunteer at Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau — Sinclair Wetlands, which has had a boost of almost $50,000. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Clutha Eco-attraction Sinclair Wetlands has just received a $49,800 top up to help manage its growing stream of visitors. The wildlife swamp-sanctuary, formally known as Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau — Sinclair Wetlands, was a successful shortlister for this year's Otago Regional Council (ORC) Eco Fund. "The grant will be to used to help with our education programme," Sinclair Wetlands chairman Ian Bryant said. "We have several schools and volunteer groups already visiting, our aim is to increase the number of schools coming to the wetlands and create a resource to cover our history and restoration, and the role of wetlands, birdlife, aquatic life, native plantings, pests and predators and weeds." He said the resource would likely be a photographic guidebook-style publication — tailor-made for accessibility — and the funds would also help establish a regular, dedicated guide-person role to add to the volunteers promoting and working for the wetland reserve. As well as schools, more businesses and community organisations were scheduling time for staff to volunteer at the marshland, learning how to plant appropriate flora properly and raise awareness of pest control and the environmental value of swamps. "Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau — Sinclair Wetlands once encompassed the whole Taieri Plain from Mosgiel to Waihola and beyond," Mr Bryant said. "Over the years stop-banks have gone up and pumps have gone in and and it's been drained. "Most importantly, they filter sediment, then they provide a healthy food-chain base and environment for whitebait spawning, eels and a wide variety of fish and aquatic bird life, and enable that biodiversity to thrive and spread." He said education on kai gathering, from whitebaiting to duck-shooting was also enabled by the flourishing fenland. "We're very grateful to the council as well as the volunteers, schools and business who come and do so much and Ngai Tahu, who lease us the land." Sinclair Wetlands has received Eco Funding in the past and My Bryant said he found the application process straightforward. "[This] proved to be a worthy community-led environmental project which has been through [our] rigorous selection process," ORC's manager environmental delivery, Libby Caldwell said.
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Miss NZ finalist ‘never thought' it would happen
Mosgiel-born, now Auckland-based, student nurse Emily Faulkner has been named one of the finalists in the Miss New Zealand 2025 pageant. Photo: supplied A former Taieri College student never thought a Mosgiel local would make it on to the stage of New Zealand's premier pageant. Now Auckland-based student nurse and part-time rest-home healthcare assistant Emily Faulkner has been named as one of the Miss New Zealand 2025 finalists. She will compete for the crown in Auckland on July 11. Miss Faulkner said she was feeling a mix of emotions. "Coming from Mosgiel, I never thought this would actually happen to me." There were 10 finalists in the competition and the women were on "quite a fun little adventure" together, she said. "It's so exciting, but at the same time, it's quite a time-consuming competition." Miss Faulkner grew up in Mosgiel and went to Taieri College before making the move north. She said she had a lot on her plate to juggle. She was at the point of her nursing studies at the University of Auckland where she was doing eight-hour placement shifts four to five days a week in hospitals, all the while going home to complete assignments. On top of that, she was also working part-time in a rest-home as a healthcare provider. "I've had a lot of people ask 'how do you manage it?'. And I'm like, 'ah, I don't, I just kind of do it'." In the lead-up to the competition, she and the other contestants would be supporting two charities, the Girls Brigade No 1 Squadron in Auckland and Canine Friends Pet Therapy, Miss Faulkner said. She would be running a charity event for Canine Friends Pet Therapy in the coming weeks. She had a soft spot for the organisation as it often brought dogs into the rest-home where she worked. When they brought the dogs in, you could see the happiness on the faces of the residents, she said. "Something so small goes so far for them because I've watched the everyday pattern in rest-homes, and people can get bored." She said many in rest-homes could forget they still had a life they were living, and the smiles on the residents' faces when the dogs came in were "honestly priceless". As part of the pageant, she was raising awareness and supporting three more causes. They were mental health, diversity and awareness around the "pink tax". "When mental health is talked about, I don't see it carried through enough — even though there's so many of us around, people are still feeling alone, and I don't think that's noticed enough." She said mental health was related to everything, including diversity. "Whether it's cultural, physical, personal, we're all different, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing to be different." She also wanted to see the end of the pink tax — she said the purple women's disposable razor with fewer blades than the men's equivalent had no business being more expensive. "A lot of people do think pageants are just about the glitz and the glam, but it's so much more than that." Miss Faulkner said Mosgiel and Dunedin gave her the strength and foundations to go for her goals. "Growing up in this beautiful city surrounded by nature, strong values and a caring community has shaped me into the person I am today. "Now I want to make our community proud by using this platform I've been given for good."
