402 days ago

'The Stevie Wonder of Silverdale': Retired piano teacher plays for commuters

Melanie Earley Reporter from Rodney Times

Kia ora neighbours, every Thursday Lorraine Sampson makes the 40-minute bus trip from Silverdale to Auckland’s Britomart Station to play the piano for commuters.

The 75-year-old, who is legally blind in one eye and has cataracts in the other, can no longer read music due to her poor vision, so she plays all her music by ear.

There was a time Sampson, a retired teacher, believed she would have to give up playing music altogether due to her eyesight, but she said she found her fingers remembered songs she thought she’d forgotten.

When Sampson discovered there was a free piano for the public to play at Britomart Station she began making weekly trips there to play and raise funds for St John in Silverdale, where she lives.

Read the full story at the link below.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Who am I?

Riddles from The Neighbourly Riddler

I help you in reading and writing but I am neither your book nor your pen. Who am l?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed? Head here and hover on the Following button (and it will show Unfollow) on the top right of the page and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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5 days ago

Could the jury service process be improved?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Every year, thousands of New Zealanders are called up to serve as jurors in the High and District Courts, and it's an important way to contribute to your country.

But for some, jury service can be a huge disruption and a financial burden. Do you think changes could be made to our jury service system to address these challenges?

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3 days ago

We're starting a podcast

The Team from Whangarei District Council

We're starting a podcast: Whangārei Matters. What topics would you like us to explore?

Once or twice a month we'll take a "deep dive" into a local issue and the experts questions from our listeners. What's the story with parking? Storm-water? Road maintenance? We can ask all this and more.

We've recorded a first episode - "Dogs in our District" which will come out in the next few days. Tell us below what you'd like to see next.

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