Congratulations to our 2023 Citizen Award recipients

In 2013 Barrie was presented with a Citizen Award for his community service, and 10 years later we’re pleased to be able to acknowledge Barrie’s continued service to Stratford with an Outstanding Citizen Award in 2023.

We’d need to write a novel to cover off everything Barrie has been involved in over his lifetime here in the Stratford district. Luckily for us, Barrie is a keen writer himself and has jotted down much of the highlights in his own memoir. We’ll give you a quick-fire round of the level of dedication Barrie has given to the community since a young age:

• Cardiff Young Farmers Club 1949 – 1971 from age 15, eventually becoming club chair and then chair of the Central Taranaki Young Farmers.
• Barrie is Cardiff born and bred and has probably been involved in every Cardiff club or committee known to man: Cardiff Hall Committee; Cardiff Home & School Association; Cardiff Tennis Club; Cardiff Entertainment Club; Cardiff Scouts and Guides; Chair of the Cardiff School Centennial Committee; Chair of the Cardiff Federated Farmers branch for 17 years.
• Federated Farmers has been a huge part of Barrie’s life and he’s seen it evolve since first joining in 1958. After Cardiff he went on to be the Central Taranaki sub-provincial Chair, the Taranaki Provincial President, a Dominion Council Member, Chair of the National Transport Committee. Of course, all of this has led to him being acknowledged as a Life Member.
• Farming was Barrie’s destiny from a young age, he took over the family farm in Cardiff which is still in the family now with his son Dean. So, it’s not a surprise that Barrie involved himself in groups like Federated Farmers and Young Farmers, nor is it a surprise that he spent time with the Farm Cadet Scheme from 1963 – 1974 and was Taranaki Chair for 7 of those. He was also the Coordinator for the Rural New Zealand Trust in the late 80s, on the Taranaki Marginal Lands Board, and Taranaki Land Settlement Committee from 1972 to 84. Barrie was also a key player in the Taranaki Disaster Relief Scheme in the early 90s.

Take a breath at this point, we’ve got more to come.

• Beyond his farming accolades, Barrie has been an active member of the Stratford Savage Club since the 1960s, the Stratford Rotary Club, Stratford Shakespeare Society, Stratford Positive Ageing Group, Taranaki Pioneer Village and Central Taranaki Employment Trust which placed 200 people into employment over 10 years from 1998.
• It makes sense that Barrie would move into a political role, being elected to the Stratford County Council 1973-77 & 1983-89 and the Stratford District Council 1989-98. Barrie held the role of Deputy Mayor from 1992 to 1998.
• During his time on council he was also a member of the Taranaki Area Health Board, Stratford District Core Health Group, and Taranaki Healthcare Ltd Stakeholders Group.
• Since 1991 Barrie has been a Justice of the Peace, holding the role of chair for the Stratford branch in 2004/2005 and going on to become President of the Taranaki Association for 2 years. Barrie was integral in setting up the weekly JPs service desk in the Stratford Library, organising the roster for that service for many years as well.
• Barrie’s passion for writing landed him an opinion column in the Taranaki Daily News from 2016, and he has researched and written 4 historical stories of early Taranaki which have been published.
• Perhaps most importantly to our district’s children at the time, Barrie kindly volunteered in the late 90s to early 2000s to share the role of Santa Claus for the Stratford Business Association Santa’s Cave – a local tradition that is continued today.
• One of the biggest honours of Barrie’s life to date, was being acknowledged as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003 for his commitment to community services.

Phew! We know we’ve probably missed something here; Barrie’s community spirit is no short of amazing and while he’ll be the first to tell you his age and health is getting in the way of some of these commitments today, it hasn’t stopped him just yet. In fact, after our interview, Barrie was heading off to the Rotary AGM!

Barrie says none of this would have been possible without his family, “family are your backbone”.

We’re very grateful for you Barrie and pleased to celebrate your decades of continuous work for our district with an Outstanding Citizen Award in 2023.

If you’ve met Allen Topless, you’ll understand why he’s one of our 2023 Citizens Award recipients. His kind, gentle nature, and unwavering love for his community has been on show since moving to the Stratford district in 1974.

Growing up in New Plymouth Allen and his wife Sylvia moved to a hilly back country farm in Puniwhakau where they spent 4 years taking good care of the land with a goal to eliminating the possum population. In 1978 they moved farms and became part of the Makahu family where Allen was quick to lend a hand wherever needed.

Already volunteering much of his time to supporting school initiatives, Allen joined the school committee in 1980 and was there in 1989 when “tomorrow’s schools” came into effect and Board of Trustees were introduced. He became chair of that Board and remained chair until 2002, only just leaving the Board last year in 2022 at age 71. His school involvement clearly extending well beyond the years that his 4 children went through school, in fact 7 of his grandchildren have been through the school during his time. And being the kind and welcoming people that they are, Allen and Sylvia opened their doors to foster 5 children in their time at Makahu too.

Allen’s dedication to the Makahu community doesn’t stop at the school. Allen and Sylvia have been well known for making new people to the community feel welcomed, and looking out for the social wellbeing of farmers through events in the local hall.

Allen is an active member of the Makahu Hall Society and has been at the centre of keeping the Hall in tip top shape over the years. He says the hall is the glue that holds Makahu together, it’s hosted weddings, birthdays, meetings, mums and bubs groups and more – it’s extremely important for the community. In the early 2000s he was a key player in the rebuild of the facility. The old hall was in a bad shape and something needed to be done. When meeting with Allen he was quick to pass on acknowledgments to the late Don Hopkirk who led the charge in administrating the rebuild, securing funding to make it happen. Allen of course was there through it all though, providing everything from ideas to labour, and continues to do so to this day.

Allen and Sylvia have “retired” (if you can call it that) to Toko now but remain a huge part of the Makahu family. It’s people like Allen who keep our district well known for the friendly, welcoming and community minded place that it is. Allen humbly says “he’s only all too happy to do it.”

We’re pleased to be able to acknowledge Allen’s community efforts with a 2023 Citizen Award. Thank you for everything you do!

If you want to take croquet up in central and south Taranaki, you’re in good hands with Eileen Judd. Her dedication to this sport locally in Stratford and further afield is inspirational.

Eileen says it was her mother who convinced her to join the croquet club and while it took a little bit of coaxing, she joined in 1992 and hasn’t looked back since. “I was hooked” says Eileen.

It didn’t take long for Eileen to get involved more than just playing the sport. She’s held almost every role the club has throughout the 30 plus years with the Stratford Croquet Club – club captain, vice-captain, secretary, treasurer, president, and coach. Alongside her club duties in Stratford, Eileen was quickly shoulder tapped to support at the associate level for south Taranaki – again holding roles across secretary, manager, tournament manager, umpire/referee, coach and the delegate to the Croquet New Zealand AGM. Throwing herself into the administration side of the sport, Eileen had to slow down her playing which had taken her around the country to New Zealand invitationals. But that hasn’t stopped her from being involved nationally, refereeing at tournaments for both croquet and golf croquet around the country, and even at the World Associates in Wellington.

Her devotion to the sport has seen her awarded life membership at both Stratford and South Taranaki clubs, as well as winning the Contribution to Croquet Award in 2022 at the Croquet New Zealand AGM. Her passion for croquet won’t be wavering any time soon, and she’s determined to ensure the sport continues to be well loved by all ages. Often encouraging our younger people to give it a go, she was one of the team to help coordinate having croquet as part of the secondary schools sports programme, which has seen positive results in Taranaki youth representing at a national level.

Outside of croquet, Eileen has been heavily involved in the Stratford Savage Club over the years, holding the position of secretary/treasurer since 2013. A popular entertainer as part of this club, Eileen plays the piano, piano accordion and has fond memories of performing skits for the Club around the country.

Eileen also has an administrative role with the Stratford Cage Bird Club – yes there is a club for everything! She joined in 1994 and has been secretary/treasurer since 2001 and helps organise the annual show. So if you have a question about a budgie, cockatiel or a canary, Eileen and her partner Len are your people.

To quote Eileen’s nomination form, she is ‘a lady with a heart of gold’. Congratulations Eileen, and thank you for your going support for our community.

Luciana Haami was described by her nominators as ‘the embodiment of a young person who is a true local champion’ and if you spend just a few moments with Luciana you’ll agree. Her enthusiasm and positive outlook on life is infectious.

Her list of sporting and academic achievements is testament to her hard work, self-motivation and determination. Without listing everything, some of Luciana’s biggest moments at Taranaki Diocesan over the last few years have included being first in her year for NCEA Level 2 English and Physical Education, being awarded the YMCA trophy for excellence in youth leadership, winning the Kapa Haka Contribution Award, winning the Mana Wahine Award for outstanding Māori student, holding the role of School Sports Captain for 2 years in a row, and being acknowledged as Sportswoman of the Year in Year 10 and Year 12.

It's clear that Luciana’s passion lies in a team environment, whether it’s leading her kapa haka roopu or giving it her all on the sports field, she consistently shows initiative and supports those around her to achieve. From a young age Luciana’s first sporting passion was hockey and over the years she progressed into club competition. She also volunteered endless hours to help umpire junior hockey games and tournaments. When she reached high school she took up rugby, being an integral part of setting up the first womens rugby 7s team for Taranaki Diocesan in Year 9, and encouraging some of her peers to follow her into 15s as well. While she loved playing hockey the time came when she needed to prioritise which code she’s pursue more seriously - and footy won on the day.

Since making that choice, we’ve seen Luciana represent at all levels of rugby, Central U18s, Taranaki U16s, Taranaki U18s, the New Zealand Māori Women U18s team, Premier Club Rugby and Taranaki Whio – our top regional women’s rugby team playing in the Farrah Palmer Cup. At just 17 years old, she’s easily on her way to reaching the top, “obviously the end goal is to play for New Zealand,” she says. Part of the Taranaki Rugby Academy she has huge support around her to make this dream a reality.

Luciana is unable to attend the awards ceremony on 1 August as she has been awarded a REACH Māori Scholarship to attend Otago University over that week to explore their health department. She’ll be presented with her award at Taranaki Diocesan at a later date.

It’s pretty obvious to us that Luciana will be one to watch. We wish her well with everything she pursues going forward. Congratulations Luciana!

For Matthew Jones, leadership comes naturally. Often the first to put his hand up to volunteer, Matt freely gives his time to many initiatives both at school and in his spare time.

His academic track record shows he’s excelling in his studies, across subjects like accounting, English, statistics and agriculture. But his achievements and energy to help where he can extend far beyond the textbook. Matt sits on the Student Council, Sports Council and outside of school he volunteers for Team Hope, where you can often see him manning the sausage sizzle at golf fundraisers. This year he organised a fundraiser at school for Relay for Life.

His passion for agriculture and farming will most likely take him to Massey or Lincoln to study AgriBusiness next year, however he isn’t waiting until university to scratch that itch. Recently helping to launch a Teen Ag group at highschool, he was elected to the role of secretary and they hope to plan field trips and other activity for students interested in Agriculture as a career. Growing up on a farm in Toko, he’s always had an interest in the environment and has spent much of his teen life taking on the duty of pest control on his family farm and neighbouring farmland. Matthew is a possum’s worst enemy!

His ability to lead follows him on the sports field too, captaining the Central 1st XV Rugby and co-captain of the Stratford High School Senior Basketball team this year. This responsibility comes after spending the last 3 years in senior teams for basketball and rugby. When he was younger he captained the Central Rugby Under 65s and walked away with the Best Team Man award to boot. Matt says he can’t choose a favourite sport between basketball and rugby, he values the physicality of both games and enjoys the variety. A true role model in the sporting world, he always gives it his best in any sports code, being actively involved across TSSA sports, cricket, athletics, swimming, you name it, he’s probably tried it. He’s more than happy to don the whistle too and volunteer his time to referee basketball.

It's no surprise then that Matt was named Head Boy of Stratford Highschool for 2023. Described as a young man who always leads by example, we don’t doubt that Matt will do well as he heads out into the world after high school. When asked if he has any advice for the next leaders, he humbly replied with, “Just go after it, don’t be shy, do your best – it’s all you can do.”

Thank you for being a strong leader for your peers and representing our district with your best intentions Matt. Congratulations!