Wednesday, 01 September 2010
THERE might not be many links between the United States and the Eastern Bay – but a visit to this area last week by the US consul general might precipitate an increase the number of connections between the two.
Randy Berry came to Whakatane on Thursday as part of his duties at the US consular office in Auckland.
First on his itinerary was a visit to the Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Glass Awards at the Whakatane District Museum and Gallery, where he also received a briefing on the arts and culture redevelopment project from arts and culture manager Wayne Marriott.
Mr Marriott, himself an alumni of the US State Department’s International Visitors Programme, also discussed the connections between the Morpeth family of Whakatane and the Canaday family of Toledo, and the possibility of touring a Molly Morpeth Canaday exhibition to Toledo State University, where the Canaday Archives are held.
Mr Berry, who has a particular interest in tourism and cultural development, later met with Ngati Awa chief executive and Toi-EDA chairman Jeremy Gardiner and looked at economic and cultural opportunities the two organisations are developing.
He then met with Whakatane mayor Colin Holmes and council chief executive Diane Turner, followed by a visit to White Island Tours.
Mr Berry, a native of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains where his family have a cattle ranch, also experienced milking time at the Bull family’s dairy farm in Braemar Road.