Bright sunny duck shooting

Duck tallies on Saturday morning varied depending on where mai mais were located for the opening of the season. The fine weather was not perfect duck shooting conditions for any shooter and a bright moon probably didn’t help. The usual reports filtered in about tactics for the afternoon and they were heavily discussed. The annual duck shooters’ gathering at Cook’s in Marton produced the following competition winners: best Drake –Jason Wing, Best Spoony- Hamish Wing, Biggest and Banded Paradise Duck– Brayden Hammond, Most Unusual – Stu Smallbone with a swan. In the Duck Calling challenge last year’s reigning champion, Daniel Coleman defended his title to win in 2012, Brayden Hammond was second and Ben Morrison was third. Earl Wills played a song on his duck call just to brighten things up....more

Marton talent amazes judge

There’s a strong chance next year will bring the launch of a Rangitikei district talent quest following successful auditions for a Marton quest held last Saturday. Co-ordinator of Marton’s Got Talent, Toni Giddens said that while more than half the number of acts registered to audition at the weekend failed to show, the dozen who did were proof enough that the venture has promise. Rob Ormsby, a local musician and one of three judges who assessed last weekend’s audition told a near capacity audience of supporters at the Marton Players’ Theatre: “I’m amazed at the talent we have here in Marton”. Of the twelve performers whose confidence and commitment was equal to the challenge of public performance, half were selected to contest the final of the Marton quest scheduled for the evening of May 26 at the Rangitikei College hall. Mrs Giddens said finalists will compete for a cash prize pool of $500 and a trophy carving commissioned by the event’s principal sponsor South Rangitikei iwi authority Te Runanga O Ngati Apa. Finalists will perform two items in the context of a show featuring several bands and performance troupes allied to local schools. Mrs Giddens said ensuring an intensely local focus for the inaugural competition had forced her to “turn away a number of acts from Wellington, Wanganui and Feilding - I just wanted to trial it and get the framework right; ‘cos it could’ve got out of hand. Next year, I’d like to see a Rangitikei final.” ...more