Names for the Flaxmere Honours board called for!

It’s time to update Flaxmere’s Honours Board which hangs on the wall in the Flaxmere Community Centre.

During a renovation of the centre – quite some years ago now – the existing plaques were removed and over time some have ‘wandered off’. Despite an extensive search they have not been found. It is believed they may have been delivered to a business for cleaning, however all those that might have received them have been contacted without success.

With no staff now at the centre who were there during the renovation, the hunt for the parcel of plaques has come to an end.

So now we need to add to the plaques that do remain – replacing those missing and adding new ones – with our community coming up with nominations.

The criteria for nominees are:

· Flaxmere born and/or raised (10 years or more living in Paharakeke)

· Have achieved international success or recognition in their sport, cultural, artistic or educational endeavours.

Nominees can be solo performers or part of a team – or it might be a whole team of Flaxmerites.

Flaxmere Planning Committee chairman Traci Tuimaseve says celebrating our heroes helps remind our people, especially our tamariki and rangatahi, that they can “aim for the stars”.

“Our Paharakeke people are enormously talented with incredible successes across a whole range of sports, cultural, artistic and educational fields. We want to keep the field as widely open as we can, so we can capture international success as broadly as possible. It might be a member of a winning international sports team, someone who has danced on the international stage, or a scientist who has been recognised for a breakthrough in their field.”

Final decisions on additions to the board will be made by a subcommittee of the Flaxmere Planning Committee.

You can register your nomination (include the name, connection to Flaxmere, successes and contact details for both yourself and the nominee), by emailing joycecomms@outlook.com, with ‘honours’ in the subject line, or drop your nomination into the ‘Honours nominations’ box at the Flaxmere Community Centre. Please make sure you have the permission of the nominee to forward their name.

Of course, if you know where the previous plaques might be hiding email that information to: joycecomms@outlook.com.