Welcome to TAURANGA Village Radio MUSEUM INCORPORATED SOCIETY

MAYOR JAMES DENYER INTERVIEWED

George Stewart’s Studio Guest last week was the Mayor of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, James Denyer. He is married to Victoria and has two children. He lives in Katikati, Waihi Beach originally from London. He is a supporter of the Katikati Bypass, having been a member of the bypass action group.James and his councillors and staff look after a huge expanse of the Western Bay, stretching from Otamarakau to Waihi Beach, an area covering 212,000 hectares....The last census of 2020 it had a mainly rural population, of over 54 thousand.  James and his council are managing with the growing pains of towns, including Omokoroa and Te Puke, and the grid locked roads and highways in his area.    

CONCERT MASTER - REBECKA BEETZ

George Stewart's Studio Guest this week was the Concert Master of the Bay of Plenty Symphonia, Rebecka Beetz.   Rebecka, was born in Germany, and came to New Zealand 17 years ago. She was only 6 years old when she decided that she wanted to learn the violin.     She told George and our listeners how she became involved with the Symphonia, some 14 years ago, and how important it was to be able to hear all the other sections of the orchestra, from her position as Principal Violin, alongside the Musical Director/conductor.  Her other role is that prior to every performance she will stand up, strike an "A " on her violin, and listen to every instrument, to make sure they are all in tune.     The guest at Sunday's concert is Andrew Beer, Violinist/Concert Master with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.  He has been described as a “virtuoso soloist” . The Conductor will be Euan Safey.   The Concert will be held at Holy Trinity Church, Devonport Road on Sunday 19th November, 3pm

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST ANNOUNCER

Tauranga Village Radio would llike to welcome Penny Vaughan. Penny has undertgone training and passed with flying colours.   As she has said in her bio for the website "Thanks to my daughter Kate who was a volunteer here on Village Radio I am now loving being part of The Team, bringing all the wonderful music we have at our fingertips into everyones' homes during my show on a Monday".  Kate left Village Radio a few months ago to live in Ireland for a while.       See more about Penny under the Our Volunteers icon.        

HOW WOULD YOU COPE IN A DISASTER?

Are you aware that if Tauranga was hit by a disaster as powerful as the recent cyclone, that struck terror in the lives of the people living in Tairawhiti (Gisborne) and Hawkes Bay, you may have to take care of yourselves, for up to three days? That is the advice from the Community Response Team, that is looking after your welfare in the Otumoetai, Matua and Bethlehem suburbs. The Chairman of that team is Richard Kluit, who was our studio guest during George Stewart’s programme this week. In 2005, and again in 2008 a number of homes in Matua, Otumoetai, the Minden and Omokoroa were severely damaged, during a massive downpour of rain, that penetrated the foundation soils of our area and also created massive slips on the hills. There were more downpours of heavy rain in 2021 that created surface flooding.   Richard explained that if residents were unable to stay in their homes, during a similar natural disaster, they should head to their nearest school, or church, the Huria Marae, Fergusson Park or the Matua Bowling Club, which would have volunteers ready to help with food and accomodation.   Village Radio is also part of a network of local radio stations that would be able to keep listeners informed on what to do and where to go, if a disaster struck.

KIND WORDS FROM VISITOR

Neil and Tony had a lovely visitor from Auckland in the studio this morning during their broadcast. Her name was Shirley Barker-Kirby and after she signed the visitors book and gave us a donation she vowed to encourage her family including grandchildren to visit next time they are in Tauranga.  She described Village Radio as an amazingly serendipitous trip down nostalgia lane. She congratulated us on keeping this history alive. Photo of Volunteer Neil with Shirley in Studio One

SUNLIVE HELPS WITH GETTING VOLUNTEERS

This article was published on SunLive website on 3rd October 2023 by Juan Cortes.  It has been edited to 'fit' onto our website you can see the full article on https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/328360-volunteers-needed-to-keep-radio-magic-alive.html    The volunteer is perhaps the most valuable asset of many non-profit organizations. And in the case of the Village Radio, it is these committed and passionate people that keep the magic of Village Radio classic music alive. But they need more volunteers.      “I listened to the station for quite a while but never saw myself volunteering,” says Penny Vaughan. “Then my daughter make me realize how much I love the station and here I am.” She is now a volunteer announcer, doing something she has discover to be really enjoyable and “super satisfying.” “I love it, it gives you a really good feeling to bring enjoyment to people at home.”  It is the passion of people like Penny that has driven Village Radio since weekly broadcasts began in 2004. The announcers, technicians and support staff at the station are all volunteers from different backgrounds and from all around the world.  The thing that binds them is a love for tunes that no other radios stations play, music from last century, nostalgic music from the 1940s to the 1990s.  It is not easy to survive when you are a non-commercial radio station but our sponsors, the community and all our volunteers have done a great job all these years,” says Village Radio station manager Tony Rhind. Tony also says that the station has made great changes to keep the magic on air, and now to an audience beyond New Zealand.  “I am happy and proud to say that thanks to our sponsors and a group of volunteers who set everything up, we are now transmitting to the world.” The stations AM signal barely covers Tauranga, but with streaming, Village Radio has been receiving feedback messages from listeners in Australia, England, USA and Canada. “That make us really happy”.      Village Radio will be celebrating its 40th birthday on April 13, 2024.    If you want to become a volunteer at Village Radio, offer them your financial support, or just tune in, you can find them at   www.villageradio.co.nz