This was one of the 4 pieces I did for family treasures.



Grandad Tony

 

My great grandfather was amazing. He was born in Taupapa 1923 which is located on the banks of the Wanganui River. He was named Edward Tony Stanton Workman but was known as Tony. With only one sibling (an older brother named Ray) his mother had five stillborns. He was raised in Taupapa by his Mother Edith Mary Workman (maiden name Cole) and Father Tom Workman. When he was young to get to school he rode his horse but when he broke his arm he was taken by canoe.

My Grandad had great ancestry. His Great Grandmother was a Maori Princess who was from the Ngatie Kahunganua Tribe that originated in the Waiarapa. Raephanga (the Maori Princess) married a Scottish man and that Scottish man was the first man to introduce horses to New Zealand. That makes Grandad Tony one eight Maori.

As years crept by Grandad Tony decided he wanted to be a teacher. But when war broke out it destroyed any and every chance of him becoming one. So with no backup plan he made the leap and lied his way into the army. After a short period of serving them they found out he was too young and he was quickly removed.

Soon after getting married to Nolene they sealed a deal with the Maoris. They had just gained a ninety nine year old lease for the Mangohie farm. Mangohie is a 2000 acre dry stock farm down in Pipiriki. With four children, Garrick, John, Linda and Marie living on Mangohie was a dream, but that dream was about to be crushed. Grandad Tony and Noelene (my Gran) could no longer afford to keep Mangohie up and running, so in 1967 they sold the lease.

Grandad Tony was a very successful man. He won the first calf roping title in Raetihi. He was one of the original founders of the Waimarino Rodeo, and he wrote the first rule book for Rodeo’s all over New Zealand. Sadly on September the 8^th 1991, two weeks before his birthday, at age sixty seven Grandad Tony lost the battle against second degree spinal cancer. Grandad Tony had a remarkable life. He worked hard, he was successful, he never gave up and he loved his children dearly.

This piece of writing was for an 'I Remember' Competition

It rained and rained on Sunday afternoon,

Cleaning up my room pictures tumbled out,

One photo caught my eye,

Warkworth beach 2003 a family day,

Silky golden sand spreaded across the shore,

Tall dark green trees waved in the breeze,

White puffy clouds floated in the baby blue sky,

Immense rough rocks sat against the bank,

Extended wide islands sat in the middle of the sparkling blue ocean,

Miles of crystal clear waves crashed against the shore,

My little blonde curls blowing in the wind,

                                                          A cheesy smile stretching from ear to ear,

Seagulls squawking as they flew in the sky,

Waves crashed against the moist shore,

I could hear people laughing and talking,

The sun lighted up the sparkly sky,

I could hear the humming of the birds as they sat in their nests,

Dad said ‘smile’ as he pushed down the camera button,

The hot sun beat down on my back,

Mums sliver bracelet shimmered as the sun shone on it

I could feel the crumbly sand between my tiny fingers,

I remember seeing people cracking up laughing as they fell off their boogie boards,

I remember swimming in the refreshing ocean with mum and dad,

I remember running up and down the beach like a excited puppy,

Pretty white shells sat on top of the scorching sand,

Kids drenched each other with buckets, filled of sea water,

But the thing I could see the most was the happiness that glowed in my green eyes on a perfect family day.

風箏-Kite

Our topic this term is flight ( to infinity and beyond ). I chose to write a report about the kite because it was made over 2000 years ago and there is a lot of history and interesting facts about it.

A famous Philosopher, Mo Di was inspired by the effect wind had on leaves, which helped him created the first man made flying machine.

In 468 B.C, Mo Di spent three years in China, carving an eagle shaped kite out of wood. After three years of effort and dedication Mo Di managed to fly his kite for one day.

As Mo Di’s invention quickly spread across the world, it was decided that kites would be used for military purposes. Firstly it was used as a S.O.S message. However this plan failed when the kite was brought down by the enemy. Historical records say they were large in size; some were powerful enough to carry men up in the air to observe enemy movements, and others were used to scatter propaganda leaflets over hostile forces. Some old Chinese prints show warriors flying over their enemy’s territory.

When Mo Di passed his skills onto student- Gongshu Ban, Ban improved on the design. Ban made a kite in the form of a magpie out of bamboo and silk. With this improved design, Ban was able to fly his kite for three days continuously. Later on when paper and plastic was made these materials were used.

Kites are also thought of as superstition. It was believed that flying a kite and letting it go would send off bad luck and illness. Consequently it would bring bad luck to who ever found the kite.

Kites are also apart of traditions. In Korea you write the names and birth dates of male children on the kites and fly them. The line is then cut to ensure a good year by taking all the bad spirits with the kite. In Japan windsocks are flown on May the 5^th (children’s day) in the shape of a carp, a symbol of strength, of will and fortitude. This inspired all Japanese children.

It is said that the kite was the original inspiration for man to fly. That inspired the aeroplane, rocket, glider and other flying machines. They also were used for scientific experiments mainly in 1782. Benjamin Franklin demonstrated that thunder clouds are highly charged electorally, by flying a kite into the storm clouds with a conductive wire. This leads to the invention of the lightning conductor.

Kites come in a range of sizes, from as small as an A3 piece of paper to as big as the size of a pool. The biggest kite ever flown had a total of 1019m2 in area, 25.475m in length and 40m in width. This extraordinary kite was made by Abdulrahman Al Farsi and Farsi Al Farsi. This kite was flown by the two men at the Kuwait Hala Festival, in Flag Square.

In conclusion, I find that kites are an important part of the flying machines because they were made over 2000 years ago. They inspired us to build aeroplanes, helicopters and other very important flying machines, and all different cultures use kites traditions, festivals and celebrations.

 

PARIS