Ken Lucas. Photo supplied.Speaking with Alister Perkins, member of the Ashburton Astronomy Group based at Ashburton College, and overseeing the observatory based there. The group is celebrating 50 years this coming Saturday 10 October.  Alistair sees the observatory as a “tribute to past and present members, especially Ken Lucas who, with the assistance of Max Colville, have put a great deal of work in to get the facilities up to it’s current state”.

When the group began setting up the College Observatory, it was “just a shell of a building with no means of moving the sliding roof”.  The telescope housed there is a 9.25inch With-Browning reflector about 140 years old that was previously housed in a small circular domed roof observatory at the Ashburton High School.  When the new observatory was built on the Ashburton site on Walnut Avenue in the mid 1970s, a new mounting was built for the old telescope and the observatory is run by the local group and has, since opening in early 1986, hosted many school, scout and guide groups etc and often a second telescope is set up outside the building to cater for larger visiting groups.

The local Astronomy group meet on the last Tuesday of each month (excluding December) generally in Menorlue and the observatory is open for public viewing nights on the first Friday (second Friday if cloudy) of each non-daylight saving month (April-October).

The group was formed in May 1970 when three local members of the Canterbury Astronomical Society (Bob Evans, Stewart Launder and David Bayne) called a meeting to gauge local interest and 18 people attended.  Fifty years later the group is still operating.

The observatory will be open for public inspection from 3 – 4.30pm this Saturday 10 October as part of the 50^th celebration.  Anyone interested in attending meetings and becoming acquainted with regions beyond planet Earth can contact Ken Lucas on 3089203 or Alistair on 3089219.

By Shirley Falloon © AshColl Alumni - 6 October 2020

Simon O’Neill. Photo supplied.Generally the drama unfolds on the stage for opera star Simon O’Neill, but this year it has unfolded in real life. Susan Sandys reports.

Opera star Simon O’Neill feels blessed for how 2020 has worked out.

The internationally-acclaimed tenor had to fly home prior to lockdown, as his performance calendar was laid to waste by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s been quite dramatic,” he said, when asked for one word which would sum up the year for him.

O’Neill was in his hometown of Ashburton this week as he and his family, today based in Auckland, took a road trip through the South Island.

O’Neill said Covid had slashed his income by more than 90 per cent in what would have been a phenomenal year in terms of the events which were initially scheduled.

This year altogether would comprise just two around-the-world trips, compared to about one dozen last year.

However, that one word, when he thought about it, was “grateful”.

“That we are safe, that we are healthy, that we have our country,” O’Neill said.

The year had given him time to be a dad, he and his family had done plenty of cooking and baking and indulged their new puppy Fritz the schnauzer.

“We loved lockdown,” he said.

And right now, they were doing plenty of singing, as he and wife Carmel and their three children Tom, Violet and Grace ventured on the road trip.

O’Neill is gearing up for a New Zealand show – Simon O’Neill, Jackie Clarke and Tim Beveridge in Concert on October 23 at 8pm at the Christchurch Town Hall.

This year the world’s performance loss has been New Zealand’s gain as O’Neill prepares to join with veteran musical theatre baritone Beveridge and much-loved pop diva Clarke for the sparkling evening of music.

While O’Neill is a German Wagner specialist, those considering going to Simon O’Neill, Jackie Clarke and Tim Beveridge in Concert can rest assured there will be very little of the high-brow on display.

Instead the world of opera will collide with the worlds of musical theatre and pop, as O’Neill, Clarke and Beveridge explore their shared love of great songs and each other’s company.

Nessun Dorma, The Prayer, The Music of the Night, Be My Love, Don’t Rain on My Parade, You Are So Beautiful, Danny Boy and Night and Day will be among songs.

It will be the first time since Opera in the Park at Rotorua three years ago that the trio have performed together.

They wish to tour the country with the concert over summer and O’Neill’s road trip this month is part of casing out potential outdoor venues.

“A lot of them have natural amphitheatres,” he said.

That includes the Ashburton Domain, which has its performance area surrounded by trees.

“We have had some lovely classical concerts there in the past, but I would love us to do a Tim, Jackie and Simon show there, it would be fantastic,” he said.

The road trip has given many opportunities for exercising his vocals and in companionship with family members he has been playing Caraoke, which is Tesla’s version of karaoke.

Requested songs play, complete with text for lyrics.

The greatest hits of both Queen and Billy Joel have featured, alongside New Zealand’s own Six60.

Even nine-month-old Fritz enjoys the singalongs, being in his element as he listens intently, O’Neill said.

He was a “cultured dog” after all, having been used to performers coming to his home for rehearsals.

“He’s been around music since he was eight weeks old.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill has masks, gloves and hand sanitiser at the ready as he prepares for his next overseas jaunt.

He goes to Berlin for three months next month, for a new production of Siegfried.

By Susan Sandys © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 October 2020

Shania Harrison-Lee has an eye for the future. Photo Adam BurnsShania Harrison-Lee certainly found her niche – like a shot.

Within a couple of years since she first began getting involved in the local smallbore rifle scene in 2016, she would be representing her country.

The results, milestones and trophies have continued to flow towards the Ashburton College senior, however there is a bigger bullseye in mind as far as the 18-year-old is concerned.

Right now she is gunning for selection towards the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“I’m definitely embracing it but it’s absolutely terrifying,” she laughed.

Now in her fifth year, Harrison-Lee has continued to operate at a pre-eminent level as a master grade shooter, where she has emerged as one of the best in the country.

And it has been a marked rise, considering she first became interested in the sport from a humble starting point when she was a Year 9 pupil.

She said her interest was first piqued when she stumbled across a smallbore table, set up by teacher Stephen Millichamp, during a school orientation day.

“I walked past all these activities and then stumbled across smallbore rifle shooting,” she said.

“I signed up and wrote my name down.”

Even after receiving an e-mail reminder a few weeks later, she was still hesitant about tackling the sport.

“At that point, I had completely forgotten about it,” she said.

However it was local master grade shooter Steve McArthur, who is a good friend of her dad’s, who persuaded her to give it a go down at the Coronation Target Shooting Club.

“I went down near the start of the season and absolutely fell in love with it.”

The following year she was shooting competitively when she competed in the Inter-School Match for the South.

However it would be 2018 before she really staked a claim, by making the New Zealand women’s and junior teams after shooting the second top score in the New Zealand women’s match (296/300) during the New Zealand team postal shoot against the British Home Counties.

She admits she was star-struck when she first donned the silver fern as a 16-year-old.

“You always have the goal to get these things, but it’s quite breathtaking when you actually get there and you get to take home this silver fern pocket to put on a blazer.”

These moments will only become more profound for the Mid Canterbury teen.

A pinnacle showing at the Oceania Championships in Sydney ensued last November, where she scooped a gold as part of the 50m Prone B Team grade and an individual bronze, knocking off two Oceania records in the process.

Her biggest shooting moment thus far, she was also preparing for NCEA Level 2 exams at the time.

“Thinking about that now even though it was a year ago seems like such a silly concept, to not even be at the end of your high school education and you’re already overseas representing your country,” she said.

“It was very exhilarating to stand up on a podium in Sydney, at a mostly Australian event and be standing with my two senior team members (Rachel McLaren and Kirsten Birrell).

“It’s like you’re going completely against the grain.”

Having led the way for her school, region and country, a thriving smallbore talent pool was now following in her footsteps.

Pre-Covid she believed she was in peak shooting form, before lockdown prevented any live firing.

She bounced back to come second in the overall individual category in the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ competition, whilst leading the top AshColl team to a record breaking win.

“The other day Charlotte (McKenzie) beat me by one point in a club match and that’s quite a big thing,” she said. “She’s two grades below me and she’s one of the next ones who is going to come up.

“It’s a really proud moment to see her doing so well.”

Her source of motivation comes from a very subjective place, where she strives to better herself each time.

“It is definitely the enjoyment of the sport, but also trying to beat the person you were yesterday,” she said.

“My biggest competitor is myself.”

Next year, Harrison-Lee will be at the University of Canterbury studying a Bachelor of Commerce but has every intention of going full noise towards the Commonwealth Games.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” she said.

“But it (shooting) can’t take too much of a backwards step.”

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 October 2020