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Getting ready for haymaking? Planning Summer trips with the boat? WEL Networks says check the height of your load before making a move around power lines. “If you’re travelling to and from the water, especially on unfamiliar roads, always check the height of your boat mast,” says WEL’s Chief Executive Garth Dibley. “The same

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Home Range magazine out soon!

The next issue of our local magazine Home Range is due out next week. Launched last year, three issues have been delivered free to about 3000 rural letterboxes in the Gordonton, Puketaha, Orini and Horsham Downs areas, and dropped off in cafes and businesses. This Summer issue is packed with local profiles, articles, country

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Waikato-wide working bee for council staff

This Friday, 6 December, Waikato District Council is closing their doors and taking part in a Waikato-wide working bee. It’s been a busy year in the Waikato and staff are celebrating by taking the opportunity to give back, they say. Council’s 400 staff will be involved in the biggest working bee the district has

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Woodlands all ready for Christmas

Number 8 Network got into the festive spirit and took an early stroll around the Christmas-decorated historic Woodlands Homestead. Loved the little owl who popped up right at the start – This guy is such a star, too! The Woodlands staircase, always beautiful –

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Celebrations to mark completion of Huntly section of Waikato Expressway

Celebrations are underway to mark the completion of the Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway in February next year. The 15km four-lane highway takes State Highway 1 east of Huntly, across lowlands and over the Taupiri Range. It will bring improvements in safety and efficiency, taking traffic away from the congestion point through Huntly, which

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Two big Lotto winners bought in Gordonton

“We decided Gordonton had a lucky ring to it, so we made a beeline there,” said the winner of a $1 million lotto ticket to a news reporter from the NZ Herald. The winning ticket was bought from the Gordonton Superette, run by Sushant and Bharati Rajan last week. This follows another $1 million win

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Home Range

Waikato deputy mayor says farewell

Dynes Fulton has never wanted to make claims about his achievements, but 15 years’ service to the Waikato district deserves some recognition. This story first ran in N8N’s community magazine Home Range. He’s been called the voice of reason at Waikato District Council. Now, after 15 years—nine of them as deputy mayor—Dynes Fulton is stepping

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Footy champs of 1912

WHAT a grand looking team. The photo, supplied by Hamilton City Libraries Perry Rice, ran recently in the latest copy of Home Range magazine. The year, says Perry, is 1912 and the occasion is the senior team winning the Hamilton Rugby Union Championship. This team reigned supreme in 1912. Its record for the season was

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Out & About

Chasing storms – from Horsham Downs to the American West

“It’s an adrenalin rush, watching Mother Nature at her most spectacular yet dangerous state,” says Horsham Downs dairy farmer and serial storm chaser Jamie Haultain. “There’s nothing like it. The adrenalin has been pent up through the entire day and released over a couple of hours in the evening.” Jamie spent two weeks

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Gordonton School enjoys day at the Marae

Gordonton School visited Hukanui Marae recently. Gordonton principal Keith O’Donnell said students and staff were welcomed onto the Marae with a full Powhiri. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen ties between the Marae and the school and to bring the two communities closer together. There is some overlap in that relationship, he said.

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Country Cooking

Moon cake and gummy bears

IT’S just as well I wasn’t in charge of catering on the trip to the Moon 50 years ago. I decided to make a cake, to celebrate us getting to the moon in Apollo 11 all those years ago. And surely worthy of a cake, all these years later. Clearly, the cake would have to

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Beef cheeks by golly

A lesser-known cut makes classic winter comfort food, says Kate Wilson from Prof’s @ Woodlands Cafe. She writes about juicy, tender slow-cooked beef cheeks in the current issue of Home Range magazine. We also welcome Kate as our new food writer at Number 8 Network – here’s to some great cooking stories! Comfort food has

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History

Memories of Komakorau School

Seventy or more years ago, Alan Manning, got into a spot of bother at Komakorau School. He told the tale to Home Range magazine. Along with two other boys, Alan decided to brighten up the girls’ drinking fountain. “We filled the bowl with dirt and planted some daisies. Our teacher, Mr Broadbent, was very

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Waikato Times in the 1930s

ANOTHER good thing from the past – this from Alan Manning, a founding member of the Waikato Vintage Tractor & Machinery Club. Alan’s grandfather Arthur worked at the Waikato Times as a printing machinist from the early 1900s. He returned to his job after serving in the first World War, and stayed until

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