Born and bred Kaikohe Celebrity Returns Home

Born and bred Kaikohe Celebrity Returns Home

Kaikohe holds a special place in the heart of International Conference Speaker/ Author Allison Mooney who will be coming to Kaikohe on Saturday 23rd November as part of the SHINE Kaikohe festival.

She has just returned from a 44 city speaking tour around the world, only to say ‘yes ‘with heaps of enthusiasm to the invitation by Celebration Trust for her to come to Kaikohe.

Allison was born in Kawakawa and lived her first 11 years in Kaikohe. Her family were well known in the late 50/60’s as her parents had the NAC (National Airways Corporation) agency when the airline flew into Kaikohe. John (Jock) and Grace Downie also owned and managed the old Theatre Milk Bar. Allison was to enjoy having a dad for only 10 years of her life as he suddenly passed away in 1959. Grace was left with 7 children to raise on her own. Both her parents were community people and they modelled very much an attitude of service to others. Both are interned in the Kaikohe cemetery.

John (A broad Scotsman) served alongside the Maori Battalion with the YMCA Supplies truck in North Africa and Italy . The truck was returned back to New Zealand after the war and is currently held at the Military Museum in Waiouru. It was during the war years that he learnt to speak fluent Maori and in the post war years spent much of his time amongst the people of Te Iringa and Moerewa.

A year or so after Mr. Downie died, the family shifted to Auckland.

Allison’s memories of Kaikohe have remained all good ones, and she still hankers for the community that she experienced as a young child and has many reflections of her early life in Kaikohe. Especially the people that left an encouraging mark on her to push through some of her own self limitations.

As part of her service to others she is delighted to come back to Kaikohe to share with others a powerful tool that will help us all get closer to our families.

Allison worked in the Airline Industry in Auckland both for Ansett New Zealand and Qantas International. It was there that she learned to read people. Not to categorise them, but to relate to them according to how they viewed the world.

Allison, married, mother of two daughters and a grandmother has won many prestigious speaking awards and is one of New Zealand’s busiest in demand speaker on the professional speaking circuit.

She now presents to thousands of people here and overseas each year on this subject and continues to be sought after as a speaker for her relevant, easy to understand, message “Pressing the Right Buttons”

The Celebration Trust and the Kaikohe Business Association are partnering to host this event.

ENDS

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