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Renwick 150-year school jubilee

Memories were shared and created at Renwick School on Saturday as former pupils gathered together to celebrate 150 years since the founding of the school.

About 340 former pupils from as far back as 1919 travelled from around Marlborough, New Zealand and the world to go back to the school they hardly recognise, but have fond memories of.

Gathered in their decade groups, they marched through the school gates and were welcomed by two lines of applauding students. They stood in perfect rows in their groups for a school picture which would have surely taken them down memory lane.

As part of the celebrations, a plaque was unveiled at the Upper Wairau Cemetery on Friday in a simple ceremony commemorating the first principal of Renwick School, William Moore, who was buried in an unmarked grave.

Among those revelling in the festivities was Colin Miller who started at Renwick School in 1939.

He remembered his time at the school as "lovely" and his teacher Miss Panting as "motherly".

Mr Miller later owned the Blenheim Transport Company, bought his first 27-seater Bedford bus around 1958 and did the school bus runs around Rapaura, Renwick and Havelock.

He would pick up the school children from their farms and should they be late he would wait for them.

If they had a really bad morning he would pick them up on the second run – if they missed that bus then "we stiffed you".

"[The students] would have the day off," he joked.

He said it was good to see his old classmates and students he used to take to school – "they still call me Mr Miller".

He said it was "very moving" walking through the gates with the students applauding.

Another former student Bill Nicholas remembered when the school was just two classrooms near the community hall.

Mr Nicholas began at Renwick School in 1948 and said construction of the rest of the school had just begun.

He remembered getting "six of the best" straps across the hand for a prank in which he and a few mates blocked up the boy's toilet with toilet rolls.

"It was pretty hard, but we knew not to do it again," he said.

Jubilee committee chairwoman Angie Holdaway said it was a fantastic weekend.

"All the hard work paid off," she said.

- The Marlborough Express

SIMON WONG

Last updated 11:05 31/10/2011

Last updated 16:00 31/10/2011

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Last updated 16:00 31/10/2011

Last updated 16:00 31/10/2011

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Last updated 16:00 31/10/2011

So good, they're too good to eat

The cakes on display at the New Zealand Cake Decorators Guild conference in Blenheim at the weekend were so good you wouldn't want to eat them.

Besides, some of them were not even cakes.

The 25th annual conference drew about 300 cake decorators from around the country to the Marlborough Convention Centre to talk all things cake and fondant icing.

Guild president Joy McKenzie, who was replaced by Jane Sparnon at the annual meeting on Friday, said most of the cakes on show were judged on their intricate decoration rather than what lay beneath. "You'll probably find most of the cakes aren't actually cakes, they're polystyrene dummies."

The world of cake decorating is inhabited mostly by women, although the guild had one or two male members, Ms McKenzie said.

Most decorators used gum paste or fondant icing to create their works of art, which included flowers, mice, fish, fairies and wizards.

With 17 years' experience in cake decorating, Mrs McKenzie still considers herself fairly new at the game and said there was always a technique to master.

"A lot of the ladies here have been at it for 25 years. There's always learning to do. Once you know it all, it's time to give up."

The conference also included workshops with master cake decorators, including Institute of Culinary Education cake decorating and design master chef and instructor Toba Garrett, of New York.

Mrs Garrett said the calibre of cake decorations on display at the conference was extraordinary.

A 30-year veteran of the cake decorating industry, she said cakes were becoming a fashion item, especially for brides, who often wanted their wedding cake to match their dress.

Reality TV shows such as Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, which are set in bakeries specialising in cake decorating, had grown its popularity, she said.

"The shows at least educate the public that cakes can be a work of art. If people are buying what they see at their local bakery, they can tell it's very expensive because it takes a lot of time and artistry to put it together."

Despite the hard work that goes into decorating, it was equally important that what lay beneath the fondant icing was good enough to eat, she said.

- The Marlborough Express

SIMON WONG

Last updated 16:00 31/10/2011

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