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Shearing’s Big Day Out – Cutting Wool for Cancer

Shearing’s Big Day Out – Cutting Wool for Cancer

More than 20 of New Zealand’s elite shearers and woolhandlers will assemble at Waitara Station near Napier on Monday 4 January 2016 and take part in a typical day’s work aimed at raising more than $50,000 for the Cancer Society.

Dubbed ‘Shearing’s Big Day Out’, the extravaganza will feature a standard nine-hour day in the Station’s eight-stand woolshed, with more than 5000 full-wool sheep to be shorn by two teams of eight shearers, supported by teams of woolhandlers.

Waitara Station’s Lloyd Holloway says the organising committee has assembled a generous-hearted team of wool industry workers and supporters who have all agreed to donate their day’s labour to the Cancer Society. As well as the actual shearing, there will be numerous other fundraising activities taking place at the station on the day, allowing the public to contribute funds to the cause.

“While the shearers and woolhandlers will be seriously hard out shearing sheep and processing wool, we are planning lots of more leisurely activities that will appeal to town and country people alike – helicopter rides, dog trial demonstrations, guessing weights of animals and similar novelty events. There may even be some ‘wild food’ on offer. Plans are still evolving,” Lloyd Holloway says.

Mr Holloway says the idea for the Big Day Out arose earlier this year in a conversation with Hawke’s Bay shearing contractor Colin Watson-Paul and Pongaroa-based Heiniger representative, Tony Hoggard.

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“We found it astonishing that the Cancer Society receives no funding whatsoever from Government sources and is totally reliant on donations received from the public. Like all sectors of society, the shearing industry has lost many of its members to cancer over the years, so we decided we were in a position to do something about raising some money.

“So the idea of the Big Day Out was born and we are seeking support from everybody in rural sector industries to show solidarity with our shearers and woolhandlers.”

Mr Holloway says the day will be built around the primary task of the first team of eight shearers tackling 5000 woolly sheep between 5am and 5pm. If each shearer can produce an average tally of say 500, the remaining sheep will be shorn by a second team of eight, starting shortly after 5pm.

“This is not any sort of world record attempt because the strict rules surrounding record attempts will not be followed. But whatever the shearers get through in the nine hours will certainly be a shed tally.”

The main team of eight shearers will be current world and New Zealand champion, Rowland Smith (Hastings); former world champion Gavin Mutch (Taranaki); multiple Golden Shears winner Johnny Kirkpatrick (Napier); former New Zealand fine wool champion, Nathan Stratford (Invercargill); multi-stand world record holders, Eru Weeds (Ohai), Leon Samuels (Invercargill), and two rising stars, Aaron Haynes (Feilding) and Shaun Mathieson (Riverton).

They will be supported by former world champion Paul Avery (Stratford); past or present world record holders Justin Bell (Taihape), Doug Smith (Hastings) and James Mack (Weber); together with David Buick (Pongaroa), Paddy Mason (Masterton), Luke Mullins (Taihape) and Rocky Wegner (Australia).

“The only other place you could see the likes of that group of world-class athletes all on the same board together would be at Golden Shears, shearing a few sheep each. Add in our world class woolhandlers like Joel Henare (Gisborne), Sheree Alabaster (Taihape), Keryn Herbert (Te Awamutu), Ronnie Goss (Whanganui) and Tia Potae (Milton) - to have them all going hard out together with support from Colin Watson-Paul’s team for nine hours in a typical working woolshed is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Mr Holloway says the level of support from the Hawke’s Bay business community has already been immense, with Meridian Energy, Elco Direct Wool Buyers, Bayleys Rural Real Estate, Blue Water Hotel, Mountain Valley Adventure Lodge, the NZ Motor Caravan Association and Farmlands making substantial contributions toward financial, organisational, operational and accommodation costs.

“The generosity of those entities together with Heiniger (shearing equipment specialists) and Colin Watson-Paul (ShearingNZ contractors), in supporting the Big Day Out means that all other revenue raised on or before 4 January 2016 will go straight to the Cancer Society, Lloyd Holloway says.

“We also put the challenge out there for all other rural industries to support our shearers and woolhandlers by donating whatever they can to the cause. What if all rural workers could donate say an hour’s wages to the Society – wouldn’t that be a great way to support the Big Day Out.”

Footnote 1: Donations can be made directly into the Cancer Society’s account ANZ 06 0645 0235851 00 (Ref ‘SHEEP’)

Footnote 2: Waitara Station is located 10km off the Napier-Taupo Highway (496 Brooks Road, Te Pohue), approx 45 minutes from Napier and one hour from Taupo and within easy driving distance of many North Island towns. It was the scene of the present world two-stand record (eight-hours) of 1066 ewes established by brothers Rowland and Douglas Smith in January 2011.

ENDS

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