News

Obituary: Kester Macfarlane’s lifetime of adventure, enterprise and activism
‘Stuff’ Obituary printed in the Dominion Post, Nelson Mail, and The Press on 19 November 2022
By David Young
Click here for Kester Macfarlane’s You Tube channel with his Doco on Underwater World, and slideshow ‘Memories of Neen’

“Ruby Bay gets new gem”
by Catherine Hubbard
‘Stuff’ 21 July 2022
Photo by Martin de Ruyter / Stuff
It’s been a dairy, a wholesale plant store, tearooms and a florist’s, and it’s now getting a new lease on life as a venue, complete with red velvet curtains, 100-year-old seats and plenty of elbow grease from community volunteers. The Ruby Bay Store, the area’s new theatre, gallery and tearooms, opens on Friday with a trilogy of gigs from the Warratahs’ Barry Saunders and Alan Norman over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.The brainchild of longtime Ruby Bay locals Kester Macfarlane, his wife Carol Cromie, and Chrissie Small, the venue was given a boost from a Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage grant in April this year. A work in progress for over a year, Small says a lot of people have really stepped up to help. “We’ve got a really limited budget, so we’ve had a lot of things kindly sold to us at a reduced rate and things like that,” says Small. They’d also been “collecting bits” for some time from various different auctions. The venue was donated seats dating back from the 1900s from the Theatre Royal in Timaru. Among other reno jobs, the toilet had to be completely refurbished after it was decimated during ex-tropical Cyclone Fehi. Small works for a radio station, and gets the heads-up about artists who are coming through while she is on the job. She then gets in touch to let them know about the venue and to flesh out possible dates. “People are jumping on the bandwagon, so to speak,” she says. Hopefully the venue will fill a gap in the community. Small has great memories of coming out to see bands play at Māpua Hall as a teenager on her TS185 motorbike. “They were great fun. Everyone was up dancing. It was just wild,” she recalls. “But since they’ve refurbished the hall, there’s no stage. It’s more geared towards sports and Pilates and all those sorts of wonderful things.” Small says the venue has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response from the community so far. “What really gets me is the delight and the surprise on people’s faces,” she says. “I’m looking forward to the school kids of Māpua coming and enjoying a movie or a show.” The Ruby Bay Store is already open for functions, and its owners have been happy to accommodate a quite unusual request: a local man, who lived in the store as a boy when his mother ran it as a tearoom, has asked for the venue to host his funeral. This weekend the venue will get off to a cracking start with a trio of gigs from singer-songwriter Barry Saunders, a co-founding member of the Warratahs, with Alan Norman on keyboard and percussion. Norman plays with the Warratahs and Americana band the Rag Poets. Other upcoming performers include Albi and the Wolves coming in December, alt-folk artist Greta O’Leary, folk duo Laldy, Canadian harpist Josh Layne, and legendary caver Kieran McKay. The Ruby Bay Store opening music gig launch features singer/songwriter Barry Saunders, with Alan Norman playing keyboard and percussion. There will be three gigs, 7pm Friday, July 22; 7pm Saturday July 23, & 3pm Sunday, July 24. Doors open 30 minutes before music starts at 7 or 3pm. Tickets $30. 174 Stafford Drive, Ruby Bay, Māpua 7005

“New venue opens this weekend in Ruby Bay”
Article from
“The Guardian; Motueka, Māpua, Tasman & Golden Bay”
by Fiona, 20 July 2022