 Cecilia, the face of Mama Tahina Street food markets have taken off globally, and with night markets in virtually every shopping mall car park in the city, it’s fair to say Aucklanders love them. Cheap and cheerful food, lots of international flavours, they’ve become a regular night out for many families. But there’s a revolution going on - a food truck revolution, with a philosophy of quality, nutritious food and zero waste. We are fortunate to have one such group of revolutionaries in our locality – Green Bay Street Food. And more recently, Brunch (and Dinner) at the Bay has popped up in French Bay.  A beautiful night in French Bay for Dinner at the Bay Both these initiatives are the brainchild of insurance broker Marc Hershman, owner of Mama Tahina, a food truck specialising in healthy, fast, casual Mediterranean food. For years, Marc had a secret dream of owning a food truck. His early beginnings as a chef at age 16 came to an abrupt end when he was literally kicked in the bum by his boss, deciding in that moment to go to business school instead. 20 years later he finds himself back in hospo. With years of global wandering under his belt, Marc settled in Green Bay with his Peruvian-Japanese wife Cecilia and their two daughters. Life was good, but the food truck dream niggled until he finally shared it with Cecilia. He said to her, “We love cooking, we love Mediterranean food, let’s do this!” Marc laughs, “She thought I was nuts. She was like, ‘yes, you’re a cook, but it’s quite a shift in our world…’, and I was like, ‘actually I’ve found a truck’”. “And then it all started happening. Friends put us in touch with the Lucky Taco people, Otis & Sarah Frizzell - the nicest people you could meet and ‘street food royalty’. An hour and a half with them finally got me over the line. They told me everything about street food that I could possibly want to know and how hard it would be, but I needed to hear that.”  The Mama Tahina Family: (L-R) Cecilia, Marc, Otis, Bruce, Sarah and daughter. Marc was put onto Bruce from Custom Coach Building. “He’s the master,” says Marc. “He’s does motor homes and has done loads of food trucks now. I’d never have thought of the things he thought of to put in the truck. There’s not a lot he can’t do, and he’d tell you if your idea isn’t going to work.” Marc started off at No. 1 Queen St, and by his own admission he wasn’t that good on the first day. “I left a Sistema [container] on the grill. I opened the hood and all this smoke poured out, it was a big clean up operation.” Marc’s strongly held belief is that business should be a force of good. To that end they only use compostable packaging, source products locally where possible, use only free-range meat, and provide vegetarian and gluten free options. Marc now runs Green Bay Street Food, which was initially a collaboration between himself and Green Bay Community House. He wanted to create a model which is sustainable, which initially as a weekly event, it wasn’t. Now monthly it’s much easier to manage. “As a street food event we stay true to our ethos, we’d never move away from the quality of the food or the zero-waste approach that we have. That’s our thing. We’re not trying to compete with any other events out there, we’re all about community; We just want to create a place for families where you can walk down to meet your neighbours, have a glass of wine and get some of the best street food around.“  Cecelia and Sam, Green Bay Street Food event Mama Tahina is now fronted by Cecilia. Marc’s nephew Sam Lewis, who worked in Le Gavroche, Chef Michel Roux Jr’s 2-Michelin-star restaurant in London, has also joined the truck and has taken the food to another level. Marc still has day job and works from home. He says it’s hard to balance all that he does; events, food truck, full time job, kids and family, there’s not much life left after that, “But I love it. I’m very entrepreneurial and I really enjoy street food. There’s nothing better when you have a desk job. I love to be in front of people, I enjoy the interaction - nothing in the corporate world ever ticked that box for me. Whilst street food is hard work, it’s thoroughly rewarding.  Here's the line up for Green Bay Street Food - Foodie FEAST on October 26. Jump on the event page and let them know you are GOING!
THE STREET FOOD DREAM TEAM Mama Tahina - Mediterranean Deliciousness Hapunan - Gourmet Filipino Food The Rolling Pin - Sexy Modern Dumplings Brooklyn Dogs-Free Range Hot Dogs Pūhā & Pākehā- Modern Maori Kai Besaha- Moroccan Crumpets and other treats The Marilyn- Some of the best ice cream around. Juice it Fresh Juices made in front of you WE HAVE A LICENSED BAR (NO BYO) Te Rata at Free Range Wine Co.. - Organic Wines, Beers, Ciders and more Our friends Child Cancer Foundation will be joining us again. Please give generously on the night. In memory of Hine Cook. 🙏
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 Glenavon Early Childhood Centre had a fantastic turn out for their Dad’s Day Café, to celebrate Father’s Day. The idea grew out of the children’s interest in making, baking, selling and serving playdough food from their play shop.  The Imagnz Café shop front was constructed by the children and supported by Teacher Anu. The children took orders from their fathers, served them and washed the dishes themselves. A small gift made by the children was presented to each Dad.  The Café menu included grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, chocolate muffins, celery and sweetcorn muffins, cookies, hot beverages and smoothies.  Jocelyn's story Jocelyn Price For nearly three decades, Jocelyn Price has been looking after several gardens around the Blockhouse Bay village, including the Community Centre gardens and pots, the Senior Citizens’ Hall gardens, the pots in the main street and the gardens at her church, Church of the Saviour. A familiar figure with her gardening tools and watering can, Jocelyn always has time for a chat with locals as they admire her work, which has been entirely voluntary.  These freesias were originally donated and planted by Gwen Annan, and have been maintained by Jocelyn for many years. It all began in 1991 with Jocelyn’s husband Albert, who had sadly developed dementia. Although he was still physical strong, his memory was affected, forcing him to give up his pamphlet delivery rounds which kept him fit and active and gave him an interest outside the house. Jocelyn recalls an old gentleman who used to tend the gardens before her, but after he died no-one cared for them and they grew shabby. She decided that this would be a great activity for Albert who missed the exercise from his pamphlet rounds. After Albert passed Jocelyn continued the gardens on her own.  The big tubs and pots from outside the community centre now reside in Henderson near the train station. Although the big tubs from the Community Centre now reside in Henderson and some of the other tubs in the village are now largely planted in succulents which require less maintenance, Jocelyn still has plenty to take care of and has no plans to ‘retire’ from her passion.
The Blockhouse Bay Community Centre, along with the local community and Business Association, would like to thank Jocelyn for her self-less contribution to the beautification of the Bay. by Anne-Marie Coury, Auckland Grey Power Association Seniors are a vital part of the volunteer population The International Day of the Older Person – The challenge this year is to encourage our seniors to open up and explore how they could become their own champions, in other words, getting in touch with their hopes and dreams, and setting goals that motivate them to achieve.
Sitting and listening to them tell about the challenging times in their past takes time and effort, but is rewarding. It’s an opportunity to learn about the stories of a bygone era and connect to the amazing strengths of our elders. Make sure you also gain a picture of what barriers they face; real or imagined in taking on new challenges. Our task is to show gratitude for their sacrifices, their hard work, and dedication to building the city. With their labour and heavy taxes paid to ensure infrastructure was built, we should not find this a struggle. Our seniors are practiced at seeing and meeting the needs of others, but these days their needs and even contributions are hidden from view and often go unnoticed. Society relies heavily on their voluntary unpaid labour, whether in childcare, home based care, or running essential services like manning hospital reception desks. While only making up 14% of our volunteer population, they are providing over 50% of the voluntary hours worked! So, let’s celebrate and salute our elders, as they carry our resilience genes! Walk for Kids, Sunday 11 November 20186-year-old Matteo first came to the Blockhouse Bay-Lynfield Lions Child Mobility Clinic in 2014. With persistent research, love and caring, and with the support of the NZ Lions Child Mobility Foundation (CMF) who assessed him and fitted him with a Hart Walker, Matteo has now taken his first steps on his own. Here is his story, as told by his mother, Tina:
by susanne websterOne of Iona Scouting Group’s highlights this term was visiting Extreme Edge, a large indoor rock-climbing centre in Glen Eden. Having been on this experience many times before as an annual Scout event, you see the kids gain more confidence every time. It’s amazing to see kids who were at first scared to climb eventually get to the top, and some even start racing their mates to see who can get to the top first.  Braden and Aden race each other to the top On the way home in the car my kids kept asking when we’d be going back. They obviously loved it which got me thinking, had we not been members of Scouts we never would have come here. Why? Because I’m scared of heights. I guess I just assumed that if I couldn’t do it then my kids couldn’t, but I was really projecting my personal fears on to them. The idea of climbing a wall that high terrifies me so I never considered it as an option for my kids, but there they were climbing up those walls like monkeys with no fear. The kids were relaxed, exercising, having fun and learning a new skill whilst hanging out with their friends. My oldest son calls it exercising in disguise because it’s so much fun you don’t realize you’re exercising. The group atmosphere makes you push yourself. You see your friends doing it and having fun and you give it a go too. Having been on this experience many times before, as it has been a yearly event for our Scout group, you see the kids gain more confidence every time and it’s amazing to see kids who were at first scared to climb eventually get to the top or even as confident to start racing their mates to see who can get to the top first.
Church of the Saviour celebrated its 120th birthday with two former vicars returning to speak at the event, in what was a packed-out party! Rev Bob Barrett and his wife Margaret travelled by camper van all the way from Nelson to be part of the celebrations! Also joining the celebrations were locals Rev George and Janet Stonehouse.  Kids enjoyed a bouncy castle, face painter, balloon artist, crafts and play area, and there was a photo display spanning the 120 years, as well as an historical treasure hunt around the church premises. A little-known fact is that there is a time capsule buried somewhere in the ground in the outdoor storage area although no one knows exactly where! A spit roast kept everyone well fed, and music from Shane and the Shazaam band meant toes were tapping until the very end of the evening.  Some former parishioners commented they were sorry they missed out on the sold-out event and so if any of them would like to arrange a reunion, we are happy to provide the venue for it!
Following last month’s article in the Beacon, Auckland Transport (AT) has reported back to the Puketapapa Local Board on a proposal to extend the concrete island on Griffen Park Road in place of the yellow hit sticks which were installed earlier this year.  Car making an illegal right turn from Griffen Park Rd. The report concludes that extending the concrete island within the existing edge lines would cost up to $19,000 and may not provide a greater deterrent to illegal moves. Taking it further might provide a deterrent but would make it difficult for drivers doing a legal left hand turn into Hillsborough Road to see vehicles coming down the hill.
AT has therefore stated that its traffic engineering team "will be carrying out a review of this intersection in the near future to identify possible solutions to reduce crash risk and severity". Wednesday 31 Oct 2018, 5:45 - 8pmAfter 16 years of throwing the Hair Raising Hat Party we know how to party. Blockhouse Bay Baptist Church provides the event as a safe, fun and creative alternative to ‘trick or treating’ and offers a night full of fun, games and lollies  After 16 years, we know how to throw a party! Each year prizes are given out for most amazing creations of crazy hats and wacky hair and the family costume section is highly competitive.
The giant horizontal bungee was a hit last year and the photo booth capturing everyone’s costume is always popular. With two areas of games we create suitable and safe spaces for younger and older children. Everyone has a chance to play, everyone goes home with a loot bag of lollies, full from the sausage sizzle and exhausted from all the fun. You are most welcome to come along and experience all the fun for yourself:
A gold coin donation per child would be appreciated towards costs. Recommended age 4-12 but all are welcome. Enquires, please contact the church on 626-6980  DP Mrs Crisp makes sure the safe doesn't contain anything dangerous It was not the pirate gold that some students predicted, but a special treasure nevertheless found recently at Blockhouse Bay Primary School.
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