Ruby Thomas. Photo supplied.Ruby Thomas may not get a chance to showcase her equestrian chops in 2020, but could yet cap the season on a high.

The 14-year-old is one of seven nominees vying for the Junior Sportsperson gong at the Rakaia Sports Awards.

A date for the awards is still to be confirmed, however the nomination was particularly gratifying for the hard-working Rakaia teen.

“It felt good because it felt like I had accomplished something by being recognised,” she said.

Thomas has been riding for five years after she got her first pony at the age of nine, gradually building her proficiency as she has gone along.

“It’s gotten more competitive,” she said. “I started out showing … and then I got a new pony and started doing some dressage.

“And now I’m doing different types of jumping.”

Thomas has competed across multiple equestrian disciplines, delivering impressive results across the board.

“I like that you don’t have to pick what you do, there are different disciplines,” she said.

The competitive spirit among other equestrian riders has offered further appeal within the sport, she said.

She feels her form in eventing has been particularly satisfying and was meant to have carried this form on into Cromwell at the weekend for the annual NZPCA Eventing Champs 2020 which had subsequently been cancelled.

Earlier this year she jumped 1.10 metres on her horse Chico at the National Show Jumping Championships in Christchurch and also won one of her classes.

In 2018, she was also part of the Ashburton/South Canterbury/North Otago outfit which came third at the New Zealand Pony Club Association Dressage championship.

At the moment, she is doing her best to sharpen her skills during lockdown, running her horse through free running and free jumping sessions.

However it remains to be seen what events Thomas will be involved in for the remainder of the year in what would usually be a busy period.

Equestrian Sports NZ (ESNZ) announced on March 18 the cancellation of all ESNZ events in jumping, dressage and para-equestrian, eventing and endurance for a three-month period.

The decision was expected to be reviewed at the end of this month.

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 21 April 2020

Alan receiving his QSM from the then Governor-General, Jerry Matepare. Photo supplied.Alan McQuarters was one of life’s quiet achievers, a man who would far rather do the doing than collect the accolades.

He died earlier this month at the age of 91 and left a legacy that stretches across the worlds of music, theatre, Fire and Emergency NZ and Ashburton’s retail scene.

Alan was truly a son of Ashburton.

He was born in the old Malvern Maternity Hospital on Peter Street, went to Hampstead School and Ashburton Tech and spent his working life in Ashburton’s retail businesses. He was a stalwart of the Ashburton Silver Band, Ashburton Fire Brigade, the Ashburton Operatic Society (now Variety Theatre) and was a key member of the small team of locals who fought to build the Ashburton Trust Event Centre.

His life story is one of giving to his community, participating in community events and activities and working for community causes.

His life story is of a man who was happy to be the person on the ground, hands on the tools, but never the boss.

His love of music and the fire service started during his primary school years.

Brass band music appealed to Alan even as a young boy.

Mum Ida and dad Joe were happy to foster that love, with his mother having his own miniature band uniform made.

And when the band played or marched, Alan trotted alongside in his uniform.

But just being there wasn’t enough.

As a primary school boy, Alan joined the band, starting out on the cornet and later moving to the tenor horn before finally settling on the trombone.

His gift of a great ear for music meant his was the instrument used to tune the rest of the band.

During the war years in his early teens and with many of the town’s older musicians away serving their country, schoolboy Alan was sitting in with a local dance band and that started a lifetime of dance band work with Ray Daybourne, Chloe Gordon, Taylors Band and several others.

If music was his passion, it was to have a rival, the fire brigade.

And his association with the local volunteers began early, during his days at Hampstead School.

When manpower was in short supply during the war years, the brigade wanted two young lads to act as runners between fires and base during an emergency.

Alan volunteered and became the envy of his mates.

They would bike to the station when the fire siren sounded, help load up fire wagons, throw their bikes on board and head for the Allenton fire base where the two boys would act as runners between the two stations.

In 1954 Alan decided to turn his hobby into a commitment and joined the Ashburton Fire Brigade.

That posed one large problem, however.

Band practice was the same night as fire practice.

The fire service won and he signed on for what was to be a 25-year stint as a volunteer.

In 1979 Alan called time on fire service and retired with his gold star.

A few years later he was tempted back, this time as station keeper to fill in for a couple of months, but it was a position he held for 23 years, finally signing off at the age of 83 after giving 47-and-a-half years’ service.

His working life was spent in retail and his first job was with Heffords, a drapery and general store sited where today’s Heartland Bank is based.

He had been lining up at the store door for some time while he was still at school, hoping a job would come up.

His areas of expertise became ticket writing and displays.

Those skills caught the attention of South Island chain store Hays when they decided to set up a store in Ashburton.

They were determined to bring Alan on to their staff.

He was a loyal man and reluctant to leave Heffords, but was eventually persuaded and in 1954 he became part of the Hays team as display manager, later becoming assistant manager and then, very reluctantly, manager.

Taking the top job did not sit easily with Alan, who preferred to roll up his sleeves and get the job done rather than being the person running the show.

He held that position from 1967 until 1989 when he retired.

Even as manager he continued fully in his former role, always up ladders, hanging signs, dressing windows, making showcards – whatever it took to make the place hum and look good.

He was a stickler for good presentation and he was a legend within the company who often used the Ashburton store as a benchmark.

During those years he was with the company as it moved from Hays, to Haywrights, when it merged with Wright Stephensons, through its merger with the Farmers Trading Company and a name change to FTC Farmers and later to simply Farmers.

He stayed the distance and effectively became the last man standing, having turned down out-of-town promotions to run stores elsewhere.

Although he had a full working life and unfailing commitment to the fire service, Alan never lost his passion for music, continuing to play in bands.

He also became involved in the Ashburton Operatic Society as one of its founding members.

He was part of the orchestra for its first show in 1961, The Boyfriend, and became the orchestra convener, assembling the line-up of musicians required for many shows.

He and his trombone continued to be part of the orchestra until he was 90.

At the age of 89 he became what is now Variety Theatre’s patron.

Alan was one of the small group of enthusiasts who dreamed of a performing arts centre in Ashburton.

From as early as the 1960s he would tell his family that what Ashburton needed was a decent theatre, with a fly tower and orchestra pit.

He was part of the team that raised funds to buy the Regent Theatre and part of the team that drove the development of today’s Ashburton Trust Event Centre.

He was there to celebrate the centre’s 10th anniversary two years ago, a dream fulfilled and a very proud moment.

He also found time to devote 73 years’ service to the Ashburton Savage Club, an organisation he joined as a 17-year-old and was a founding member of Ashburton Plains Rotary.

His wall is proudly filled with community awards presented by the Ashburton District Council, Rotary and Lions.

He was made a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary in 2009 in appreciation for making a tangible and significant difference in his community.

In recent years he was made patron of the Ashburton Fire Museum.

He was not a man to spend time relaxing and the closest he came to that was when he bought an old building and had it moved to a site at the Rangitata Huts where he spent many happy years with his family pottering around the bach and turning it into a second home.

As a man who wanted nothing more than to pitch in and be part of a team, Alan was humbled to receive a Queen’s Service Medal in 2012 recognising his long service to the community he loved.

His love of music was lifelong and he continued to play as part of the MSA orchestra until just two months before his death.

Alan was truly a son of Ashburton, an unassuming man who preferred to get on and get things done rather than talk about it.

He was a man with a fine sense of humour who liked to do things his own way. He remained fiercely independent until his death on April 8, 2020.

Alan is survived by his children Peter, Tony and Nicola and his four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 18 April 2020

Geoff Read clinched success at the recent national championships. Photo Adam Burns Age appears to be no barrier for a Mid Canterbury clay shooting veteran after savouring a memorable weekend last month.

Ashburton’s Geoff Read returned to a familiar setting at the New Zealand DTL Championships in Christchurch as he clinched the Single Rise Championships B Grade.

It comes more than 50 years after he won the overall national title at the same event, which remains a career pinnacle.

Based off a handicap system, Read won the New Zealand Single Rise Championship in 1964.

“That one stands out,” he said.

It was a weekend of milestones for Read, who turns 89 later this month.

The reason he travelled to Christchurch was because he was being inducted into the New Zealand Clay Target Association’s (NZCTA) hall of fame at a dinner presentation later that night.

“I was going up for the presentation and I thought I’d have a shot too,” he said.

“I knew I was in with a chance just like everybody else.”

It was also meant to be an overnight stopoff, as he and his wife embarked in their campervan to Hanmer for a getaway.

His overnight stint turned into a three-day shoot, as he found himself in contention for a championship win.

“I told her she might have to wait a bit.”

The event featured about 368 shooters and Read lined up with competitors nearly 30 years younger than him.

He was the only shooter in his grade by a clean 50/50.

“I’m quite happy to get to 50 at my age.

“I’m not a spring chicken,” he laughed.

After a successful day of shooting, the clay shooting stalwart was the 2020 recipient of the NZCTA Distinguished Service Award.

It is the latest accolade of a golden career which includes championship wins at national and South Island level, alongside four provincial and 72 club titles across several decades.

Read is a life member of both the Ashburton and Methven clay target clubs.

For Read it remains a fairly simple approach, one which continues to bring him further achievements.

“You have to have total concentration and forget about everything else around you.

“If you think about something else when you’re eyeing up the target, you’ll mess it up.

“You don’t go there with a defeatist attitude otherwise you’ll never win anything.”

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 6 April 2020