NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Rites of Passage Foundation - Spring 2014 Newsletter

Kia ora friends of Tracks and Tides,

It's about time for an update of what's been happening here in Golden Bay. As you may have heard, our April Tides Rites event was cancelled due to yet another weather event. A massive storm took out a substantial number of big gum trees at the tree field and as a result we were left with a big mess of fallen and damaged trees.

Many of those big trees have had to come down, leaving a mountain of firewood to be processed, land needing replanting and repair and all the usual pre-season tasks to be tackled, before that first circle fire is lit.

We also said good bye to Maria Koch, our long time financial manager, who has left for a two year working stint in Samoa. I have adopted the role of financial administrator and I am grateful for all the work Maria has done and the systems she has set in place. We wish her all the best on her new adventure.

Arohanui,

Stef

Adge & Gabbs Update

Greetings whanau,

Yes, spring is coming, time to ease from hibernation as our event season approaches, kicking off with a Good Men Make Tracks (GMMT) weekend on the 19th September. We're excited that the 2014/15 schedule is our most ambitious yet and packed with events. So now we need your help.....

Each event needs its team and participants. So Gabbs and I are asking the community to have a look at the upcoming events and be in touch if you'd like to be involved. Elders, facilitators, Trainees and Trackers, please see if you can fit an event into your calendar, but also let us know if you can think of people who'd be interested to get involved;

New Boys, Fathers and New Girls and Mothers?

Men and Women who'd like to train as facilitators and elders?

8-10 year old boys and their dads for the Rising Sons weekend?

Also if there's news you'd like to circulate, an event you'd like to call or host, then please be in touch with those too.

Thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you.

Naku i runga i aku mihi ki a koe, yours with thanks,

Adge and Gabbs

YOUR TREEFIELD NEEDS YOU!

Pre-Season Working Bee

Saturday 6^th & Sunday 7^th September

It’s been a big, Big! winter for your Treefield.

This year more than ever, we’d really appreciate your support in getting everything ready and set for a packed season of events.

If you can spare any time, whether it’s a couple of hours or you’d like to make a weekend of it with some mates, we’d really love to see you. Please bring enough food for yourself/to share, we’ll provide some staples and the Treefield and kitchen is yours, for folks who’d like to stay over.

Also if you have tools and gear that you know will come in handy please bring those along too. If you have any questions or need help with transport etc. please be in touch.

Fundraising Dinner – Treehouse - Saturday 6^th September

Alongside the working bee, for those who choose, we’ll be offering a catered dinner as a small fundraiser.

It will be a two-course dinner with a choice from two mains. Tickets have a base line price of $20 and we’re happy to receive additional koha from those who’d like to contribute more.

If you fancy coming to dinner, you must make your reservations in advance, as we will need to know numbers and any specific dietary requirements.

To make your reservation:

03 525 8778
03 525 9641
info@tracks.net.nz

Look forward to catching up.

Community Stories

John and Linden spend a month in UK...

With camp fever pressing, we headed off to Heddon-on-the-Wall; about 12 miles west of Newcastle. From there we spent 5 days walking through to Carlisle, following Hadrian’s wall. We came back to N’castle for a few days and then up to Lewis for 5 days. We visited the Callanish stones a couple of days short of the summer solstice. There are 3 sets of stone circles at Callanish and as early as 5000 years ago they were raised by those that lived in the area. The main circle has over 40 stones, the second one about 12 and in the last set only 5 remain. Sometimes I think about '7 generations' forward and back, these stones have been there for 250 generations! Quite overwhelming to think that 5000 years ago kids had run about the stones and others walked those circles. A magical place to be….

Thomas Heath Davidson - 1993-2014

Thomas was a pioneer at Tracks, coming along to one of our first rites in 2005 and returning as a young leader in 2006, he was also one of the team on the now fabled, Anatoki Adventures.

During this Autumn's Tracks, Antony received news that Thomas had had an accident on his motorcycle and was in intensive care.

Sadly, two weeks later, Thomas passed away at Wellington Hospital on May 21st, he was 21 years old.

We pass on the news of Tom's death and celebrate his life. In particular celebrating what he and his family gave and brought to Tracks, Tides and our Rites of Passage Community.

We continue to appeal for donations

ROPF is a non-profit organisation who for many years have successfully applied to a wide range of national and regional funding organisations to fund our rite of passage work. Over the last two years some of these sponsors have fallen away, due to either funds drying up or changes in criteria and priorities.

As a result, last year we started asking people who value the work if they'd like to support us with a monthly donation, the cost of a tank of fuel for example. It was heartening to see people's response.

However, in spite of these donations, we once again have a shortfall in our budget for the year ahead. So if you are a Tracks and Tides supporter who can spare a little (or a lot), we'd invite you to consider setting up an automatic payment? One off donations are always welcome too of course.

Account name: Rites of Passage Foundation

Account #: 03 1354 0298064 00

Bank: NBS Takaka

A Big Thank You to all the supporters who've helped us with their monthly pledges over the years.

Your generosity continues to make a huge difference!

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