Massey Birdwood Settlers

Representing Massey Residents and Ratepayers

Massey Birdwood Settlers Association

The Massey & Birdwood Settlers Association always welcomes new members.

As a resident and ratepayer group we represent the views of the community to the local Council and Government, ensuring adequate resources are spent in the community that will benefit the whole community.

We have been doing this since 1925.

Fitness League Fridays at 9.30am

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Every Friday between 9.30 and 10.30am in the morning a group of ladies meet in the hall with the aim of getting fit  and having fun. They would love you to other Massey Ladies to join them.

2013 was a good year for them and Brenda the Fitness League instructor  is looking  forward to another year of classes and social activities year.

The Fitness League believe the Massey Birdwood Settlers Hall’s facilities are excellent and Brenda loves taking classes in our hall.Fitness Xmas luncheon

It is not only the classes that are themselves but the social chat the ladies enjoy  have over tea coffee & biscuits

(or if lucky some home baking) in the hall after the  class.

During the year the Fitness league also has get-togethers outside of class, and the  class has  organised to go to Blossoms for brunch on one occasion, however for Brenda the highlight of the year was the Christmas breakup when she  got to put on her Antlers and play Xmas music while exercising, after which their was lots to eat.

Events on the calendar this year include : A weekend retreat of exercise and fun at Vaughan Park, to be  held in March, and a Spring Luncheon at Rose Hotel Parnell, with a  trip out to Waiheke Island for the  Christmas breakup.

These activities gives members a chance to socialise as well as exercise with others.

This year planning  will also start for a trip to the UK as next year is the Leagues anniversary which they

hold at the “Royal Albert Hall”. Those that go will get a chance to stand on the hallowed floor of the

RAH. Brenda has been  their twice and believes there is  such an amazing feeling  and would like to see a

great turnout from New Zealand and Friday MBSA class.

Drop in and meet the ladies  at the Fitness League classes on Fridays between 9.30am and 10.30am.

nb – click on Fitness – third paragraph and you will go to the Fitness League website, or you can click on their link under Hall users links on the left side of the page.

More about the Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and how to get involved.

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What is Relay For Life?

Relay For Life is an inspiring community event that gives everyone a chance to celebratecancer survivors and caregivers; remember loved ones lost to cancer; and fight back by raising awareness and funds to support the work of the Cancer Society. Relay For Life is for people of all ages and fitness levels – anyone can take part!

What happens at Relay For Life?

Relay For Life begins with a moving Opening Ceremony, with cancer survivors and caregivers leading the first lap of the event. Next, team members take to the track. Most walk, while some prefer to jog or run. When they’re not on the track, teams enjoy a festive, family-friendly environment with heaps of activities and entertainment. Later in the evening, aCandlelight Ceremony is held to remember love ones affected by cancer. Personally-inscribed candle bags are placed around the track, and their light emits a warm glow throughout Relay venue. Team members continue to walk or jog through the night. In the morning, teams come togehter for an inspiring Closing Ceremony.

Why is Relay For Life held overnight?

Team members walk and jog through the night, symbolising the fact that cancer never sleeps. However, people taking part may come and go as they like.

When and where are Relays held?

Relay For Life events are usually held on weekends throughout the summer and early autumn months. While most Relay For Life events are held at local parks and reserves, some take place at universities, schools, jails and on corporate campuses. (In 2014, staff at New Zealand’s Scott Base will hold a Relay For Life in Antarctica!)

Relay For Life in New Zealand

The Cancer Society’s first Relay For Life was held in Palmerston North in 2001. It was a great success, and other communities around the country soon followed. Year after year, people of all ages and backgrounds take part in Relay For Life. Teams come from local businesses, clubs, families/whānau, friends, hospitals, marae, schools, churches and service organisations.

Relay For Life across the globe (1985-2014)

Relay For Life began in 1985, when Dr Gordy Klatt of Tacoma, Washington completed a 24-hour walk/run in recognition of all those affected by cancer. He asked friends and family to walk/run with him and to make a donation to the American Cancer Society.

As he circled the track, Dr Klatt thought about how other people could take part. Months later he and friend Pat Flynn organised a volunteer committee to plan the first Relay For Life event. In 1986, 19 teams took part, and an indescribable spirit filled the stadium as teams walked and ran through the night.

Since then, Relay For Life has grown into a global movement. In the year ahead, over four million people will take part in 6000+ Relay For Life events in the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Denmark, France, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia.

If you would like to sponsor the MBSA Secretary, John Riddell,  and help raise funds for Cancer, just follow these simple steps.

1. Click on photo which will take you to the page https://aucklandwest2014.everydayhero.com/nz/john-2. Auckland-West-Relay-Supporter-Header-c8f7e37cc77935fd148c0c0139af88b9[1]

2. Click on Give Now

3. Fill out the form and follow the remaining instructions, including making payment using your credit card.

I have been promised some money but want to out do the other team members of Mix It Up. Each of the team members has a $500 target and my personal target is $1000.

We will be combining to raise funds by holding a car wash for example at the Massey Birdwood Settlers Hall on the 1st of March. A few other projects are in mind as we head towards the 15th March Relay for Life event at the Trust Stadium in Central Park Drive, Henderson.

 

 

 

Everyday Hero:Relay for Life sponsors wanted

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Auckland-West-Relay-Supporter-Header-c8f7e37cc77935fd148c0c0139af88b9[1]

Running in memory of Lyn Riddell who died on the 30th March 1977.

https://AucklandWest2014.everydayhero.com/nz/john-2

Lyn (maiden name Jones) was mother to John Godfrey Riddell (our associations secretary) and died after a number of years of illness as a result of breast cancer.

At the age of 53, Lyn was to young to die,  most of her grandchildren missed seeing their grandmother. Lyn did however live long enough to see her eldest daughter marry and the birth of Nicolas, while her youngest child and daughter and her son (John) both turned 21 during the time of their mothers illness, memories and special moments in their lives that Denise, John and Delwyn will always remember.

John William, Paul and Glenn grew up with the love of Lucy Riddell, their step mother, and Jack Riddell’s second wife.

Jack and Lyn were married 30 years on the 30th March and Jack married Lucy 18 months after Lyn’s death. Lucy had herself lost her first husband to cancer six years earlier, and cared for and assisted the Riddell family through Lyn’s illness. Strangely years later Lucy held Hine Lyn Riddell, John Godfrey’s first grand child a day after Hine’s birth not letting on that she had herself been diagnosed with the same type of breast cancer as Lyn had.

Lyn Riddell knew that Lucy was lonely following the death of her husband and her friendship with Lucy led her to suggest that Jack and Lucy should form some sort of relationship in the event of her death.

In many ways the marriage of the Riddell and Garea family was the joining of two families who’s parents had known each other for years. Jack and Lucy’s husband, Roy, had fought together during World War 2, Jack being Roy’s platoon sergeant. Both families met socially, through the 24th battalion association and Avondale Rotary which Jack and Roy were founding members of as both had businesses on the Rosebank Peninsula.

Lucy however survived her battle with cancer eight years ago only to Sercombe to motor neuron disease three years later.

Jack Riddell, at 93, has had his own battles with cancer mainly melanoma  cancer.

The relay takes place on the 15th and 16th  March at the Trust stadium

Your Supporter page gives you the power to help in many ways:

 1. Tell Everyone! – By posting updates, images and videos of your journey and sharing on social networks like Facebook.

2. Inspire support – With a story about why you are supporting Cancer Society Auckland & Northland and how this support and the donations collected can change lives and make a huge difference in the fight against cancer..

3. Raise money – By asking people to make a donation to your page and help you reach your goal of $500. You can change your goal at any time by signing in to your page here:

https://AucklandWest2014.everydayhero.com/nz/john-2

 

 

Cycle safety what do you think? –

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It is great having cyclists and cars and buses all having their own lanes and sharing the road as the population grows, and our transport needs change.

However are we adding cycle lanes – and they are springing up all over Massey for people who travel to work or for recreational cyclists? General observation is that not many cyclists crowd the roads to travel to work, however many cyclists take up room on the roads in the weekends as they travel often in packs!

Is the cyclist paying anything towards the cost of the cycle lanes that are being created for them and do they use them?  General observation is that they don’t when you watch them racing down Triangle Road and crossing the bridge  near the totem poles. At that point the cycle lane seems to disappear.

And as you head up towards the motorway, motorists seem to be pinged if they attempt to cross the cycle lane before the break in the cycle lane, as they turn towards the motorway.

Cyclists are required to obey the law. Do they? For example how many run a red light or become a pedestrian when it is convenient. Do the Police give them tickets if they do not indicate that they are changing lanes for example?

To hear of the death of a cyclist at the start of state highway 16 in Parnell is sad. Knocked over by a truck  that had the green light in favour of the truck. So should we build off road bike lanes for safety sake, and who pays?

When I rode a bike to school you had a bell on the bike, you sat up straight, you needed a front white light and one red at the back, if you rode at night. You had to stop at traffic lights like a car and use hand signals. I can remember a traffic officer telling a friend of mine off for riding on a footpath although one should add I believe it would be safer for cyclists to share the footpath with a pedestrian than the road with trucks  – Don’t hear of that now days of cyclists being told off for riding on a footpath.

If we (I was a student at Rutherford High School) rode over  the Te Atatu bridge to school instead of walking our bike through the underpass/walk way under the motorway, we  would be told off by prefects and disciplined by school staff at Rutherford. In other words safety was in our hands – it was our attitude as a cyclist to take responsibility for our safety. It was unsafe riding over the bridge. You only did that when you were running late for school of course.

So should bikes  be registered to help pay for the cycle lanes that are taking over car lanes. And should the cyclist  be given a ticket if they do not use the cycle lane, if one is available to use.

by John Riddell

What do you think – check out our poll