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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Bain's dedication, hours devoted to pipes recognised
Alexandra and Districts Pipe Band Drum Major Ken Bain, of Millers Flat, leads the band at the head of the Blossom Festival parade. Mr Bain has been made a life member of the pipe band. PHOTO: JULIE ASHER Joining a pipe band might have been a dream come true but the band was equally fortunate when Ken Bain turned up for practice at the Alexandra and Districts Pipe Band for the first time. This month Mr Bain was made a life member of the band, recognising his dedication and countless hours devoted to the pipes. Mr Bain, of Millers Flat, began playing the pipes as a young lad growing up in the Teviot Valley. In 1954, neighbour Arthur Frame, of Dumbarton, brought then 13-year-old Ken a silver-and-ivory mounted set of pipes from a trip to Scotland. Tutoring from Charlie Sutherland, at Ettrick, and then Alan Porteous while attending Otago Boys' High School set him on his musical path. Ken Bain playing the pipes in 2008. PHOTO: SUPPLIED However, farming and raising a family meant the pipes were put away for many years. It was not until Mr Bain and his late wife, Dawn, retired from their farm to Millers Flat that he began playing again. After tutoring from Roxburgh's kilted pharmacist, Alistair Forbes, who plays outside his shop every Friday afternoon, Mr Bain joined the Alexandra and Districts Pipe Band in 2002. "It was a dream come true," he said. For the next 23 years Mr Bain drove to Alexandra every week for band practice and spent many more hours travelling to perform. "I wore out a car with the travel," he quipped. Taking up the pipes again was hard as it was more difficult to memorise the music when he was older, he said. Presenting the life membership, pipe band secretary Barbara Blackler said Mr Bain was always ready with a joke or funny yarn. He was an enthusiastic member and always keen to put up his hand and be involved in a performance whether for the blossom festival, Anzac parades, fundraising or community events. Nominated drum major in 2021, a position he still holds, Mr Bain was also president in 2009-11. Mr Bain had always been very supportive of new members and had a vision for the future of the band, especially involving young people, Mrs Blackler said. He was also responsible for her holding the role as secretary. After so many years of driving an hour and a-half every week for practice Mr Bain now heads up the road every second week. "I've never been a great piper but I love it."
Otago Daily Times
13-06-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Obituary: dedicated doctor and military man
BRIGADIER BRIAN MCMAHON Brigadier Brian McMahon was an impatient man: he did not suffer fools gladly, nor did he appreciate obstacles being placed in the way of his vital work. His resentment of delay was not born of an inherently grumpy nature: it was driven by a desire to get things done. Brig McMahon achieved an enormous amount in his 95 years, and the number of people and organisations grateful for his efforts are legion. A devoted resident of Dunedin, he was always jetting off here, there and everywhere to help people, be it Vietnam, Fiji or all points in between. As a doctor, a military man and as an administrator, Brig McMahon earned the respect and the thanks of many. Brian Thomas McMahon was born in Dunedin on December 1 1929, the son of Thomas and Dulcie McMahon, and was brought up in Oamaru and Dunedin, attending four different Catholic primary schools. When he reached secondary school young Brian McMahon began to flourish academically and show great promise for the future. He thrived at Otago Boys' High School — perhaps unsurprisingly, given he had been born just 300m away. He never forgot what he owed to his school. As well as being a keen old boy, always available for anything the school needed, in later life he served as life governor of the OBHS Old Boys' Society from 2000 to 2017. "OBHS encouraged us to have ambitions and I am sure that most of us were ambitious," Brig McMahon wrote in 2018. "Most of the boys survived to acquire an education. They also acquired other less tangible things that were equally important and long-lasting. Making friends, learning to live a community life, retaining individuality, yet moulding it to harmonise with others. "Somehow we had to learn how to accept success with modesty, and defeat and failure with good grace." From Otago Boys' Brian McMahon ventured down the hill and enrolled at the University of Otago to study medicine. In 1955 he graduated MB ChB, having made many life-long friends while at Dunedin Medical School. It was during his time in placement on the wards he met the rock of his life, nurse Joan Margaret Palmer (known as Margaret). The couple married at St Bernadettes, Dunedin, the following year, and went on to have five children: Jennifer, Simon, Jeremy, Sean and Marcus. Margaret McMahon died in 2001: although Brig McMahon still had many productive years ahead of him, some of the light of his life left with his wife's death. After graduation the McMahons and their growing brood embarked on a peripatetic life as Dr McMahon took up a variety of placements in hospitals around New Zealand. Dr McMahon specialised in venereology but also trained in public health. His time in various New Zealand hospitals served him well as a military surgeon: he once said that dealing with the aftermath of road accidents when working in Hamilton was good training for many of the injuries he confronted when he served in Vietnam. The family found a stable base when they moved to Cromwell, where Dr McMahon took up a position as GP Surgeon at Cromwell Hospital. It was a position where he had to be a jack of all trades, ministering to any and all of the district's health needs. However, after five years Dr McMahon made a momentous decision which shaped the rest of his life. In 1966 Dr McMahon, aged 36, became Major McMahon as he enlisted in the New Zealand Army for an initial four and a-half years. Maj McMahon began a distinguished career with the New Zealand Defence Force as resident medical officer at Wakari Military Camp, before going to Terendak Camp, Malacca, Malaysia, in 1968. The same year he was asked to run NZDF's sexual health services. New Zealand had made a military commitment to the conflict in Vietnam, which included a medical unit, and a year later he felt it was time to do his bit. Serving with the Medical Corp in Vietnam was a formative experience. While proud of his time there, Maj McMahon grew cynical of the motives of those who had sent him and his comrades overseas: his cynicism for politics and politicians stemmed from his year in Vietnam. Direct combat injuries such as bullet wounds were a rarity: Maj McMahon mostly treated people injured by shrapnel, land mines or booby trap injuries, plus the aforementioned road traffic injuries. Many of his patients presented with shredded lower limbs, meaning little could be done for them other than amputation. Confronting work, but "you just had to get on with it", he said. Maj McMahon developed great affection for, and life-long commitment to the Vietnamese who lived near Bong Son. As well as treating locals while stationed there, he returned to the country several times and was at the reopening of the local hospital in 1998 under the auspices of the New Zealand Vietnam Health Trust, which he played a role in establishing and chaired for two years. Maj McMahon loved army life, and that initial enlistment was regularly renewed: when he left the army after 19 years it was purely because he has reached compulsory retirement age. As well as his tour of duty in Vietnam (a year which earned him the respect of all the veterans he served with) he also served in the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Fiji and Singapore. Ultimately he rose to the rank of brigadier, and from 1980-83, he was director-general of Defence Force Medical Services and an honorary surgeon to the Queen. He was appointed to the honorary role of colonel commandant of the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps in 1992 and held that role until 1995. He reprised the role from 2005-08. Despite being officially "retired" Brig McMahon kept on working in military hospitals, and in particular forged close links with Fiji, another country he grew to love — he organised a family reunion in the Pacific nation shortly before his death and was determined to play a full part in the event despite suffering poor health. Notably, Brig McMahon became involved with the Pacific Leprosy Foundation Trust, serving as its chairman for a time and regularly offering his services in its facilities in the islands and South East Asia. The foundation now offers a scholarship in his name. Brig McMahon's service was well recognised with medals and awards, including being named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1983. St John, which Brig McMahon was closely involved in, recognised him by making him a knight of the order. Perhaps the most prestigious and satisfying recognition came in 2011 when Brig McMahon was presented the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association Anzac of the Year Award. He had the rare distinction of receiving two independent nominations for the award, which then Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand said reflected the esteem with which he was held in the community. In part, his citation read: "He is a dedicated professional whose commitment and compassion shows through in his care to his fellow servicemen and women and their dependants, for those he has touched in his profession as a doctor, and for those he has touched in aid activities in Vietnam and the Pacific Islands." After retiring from the defence force Brig McMahon returned to Dunedin, to work initially as medical superintendent at Wakari Hospital, before moving to the same role at Dunedin Hospital. Colleagues said that Brig McMahon's no-nonsense approach and wealth of knowledge was second to none. Being a great advocate for health and a highly respected person, he was perfect to have at the head of a team. Brig McMahon was also a senior lecturer at the Medical School before retirement from academia — but, again, he remained involved long after as an adviser and mentor to the next generation of doctors. Several academic scholarships have been established in his name. He was regarded as a superb doctor and clinician with a work ethic to match, as well as being a gifted medical lecturer and a great raconteur. He blended a wealth of knowledge and a faith in basic common sense as tools to get things done. Health issues everywhere mattered to Brig McMahon, but particularly in the South. He was the inaugural patron of the University of Otago Medical School Brain Health Research Centre, and was the chairman of the campaign which helped raise $3 million to establish a neurosurgery chair at the university — he had been a surgical registrar at the Dunedin Hospital neurosurgery unit in the late 1950s. Brig McMahon, who had always loved music, was an enthusiastic member of the Dunedin RSA choir. In his final years, as well as being involved in many voluntary organisations, Brig McMahon took great delight from his daily attendance at the Moana Pool gym: he exercised there for 28 years, until he turned 95. A sharp wit with a wonderful turn of phrase, Brig McMahon touched the lives of all those he came into to contact with. Brig Brian McMahon died in Dunedin on March 13, aged 95. — Mike Houlahan
Otago Daily Times
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Students abuzz after topping NZ schools in cancer fundraiser
Otago Boys' High School students rub their freshly shaved heads. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH When a group of boys at a Dunedin secondary school decided to shave their hair for a cause they did not expect to be leading the country with their fundraising efforts. Otago Boys' High School has raised more than $21,000 for Shave for a Cure this year and leads schools across the country in the collection effort. Over 45 boys had their heads shaved at the school last Friday. The fundraising effort was organised by service prefect Flynn MacGill-Brown, 17, who was shocked when he found out they had raised more than double their initial target of $10,000. He said it felt good to be the top school in the country for funds raised for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand. "It's a pretty amazing achievement. "I didn't think it would get anywhere near this big at all. It was so good to see the all the boys get involved." The boys got their head shaved in the school's open-air theatre as it was pouring with rain. "The weather was really against us," Flynn said. Nonetheless, the atmosphere was great and there was a lot of support from peers. "Some guys got involved on the day just because they could which was nice to see. "Everyone seemed like they were having a good time." Flynn said he had a few family members affected with cancer and wanted to make an effort to do something about it. "I know it is so prominent in the community today so we just wanted to help out and put some support and awareness around it. "We participate in this cause because too many people have to deal with blood cancer and leukaemia. "All the boys involved will now live out the next few months with minimal hair on their head because it is only a fraction of what people suffering have to go through."
Otago Daily Times
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Warm choral music well received
The Royal Dunedin Male Choir performs at St Paul's Cathedral yesterday. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON Dunedin weather was certainly chilly yesterday, but St Paul's Cathedral was filled with support for warm, inviting choral music from the Royal Dunedin Male Choir's midwinter concert. The programme was supplemented with items from Otago Girls' and Otago Boys' High School choirs, both preparing for the Big Sing regional event next Monday, and the Otago University Sexytet. John Buchannan conducted, pianist was Linda Folland and David Burchell provided organ accompaniment for some items. The concert opened with a bracket of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by Vaughan Williams, a pleasant choral arrangement of The Wild Rovers by Mark Sirett and Wide Open Spaces by contemporary Canadian composer Sarah Quartel, which showed some fine tenor timbre. Their other items included an arrangement of Canlon Lan with good harmony and dynamics, a relaxed delivery of Pacem with violin obligato by Dean Hollebon, who also joined for Abide with Me. If Ever I Would Leave You and Abide With Me were both highlights musically, but on the whole vocal diction from all choral items needed more attention. Sexytet contributed three numbers: Bugle Boy of Company B, Guadeamus Igitur and Kai Waiata. The secondary school choirs each sang two contrasting works. The girls' Nautilas Chorale opened with Britten's popular Deo Gracias followed by All That Jazz accompanied by Will Martin (whose strength as a jazz pianist was ideal), but the song required more animated delivery and stronger top soprano lines. Fortress is a 16-member combined choir. Their contribution was Solitude by Chris Artley and a well-balanced arrangement of Time After Time. Both items required more detail to vocal enunciation. The boys' 14-member Mandate choir (accompanied by Sharon McLennan) sang In Flanders Fields and Mambo Italiano, which was highlighted with choreography. Best wishes to these choirs in their forthcoming Big Sing competition.
Otago Daily Times
06-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Misplaced belt finds way home
The mystery surrounding a World War 1 soldier's army money belt has come full circle. It began when Oamaru genealogist Faye Ormandy found the well-loved belt at the Waitaki Resource Recovery Park shop last November. Two medals attached to the belt dated to 1904 and 1921. Along with the medals were pre-1936 coins, an Otago Boys' High School button, and badges for the Long Range Desert Group, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, the Ancient Order of Foresters, collar pins, and a New Zealand Army medic's badge. Mrs Ormandy donned her sleuth's hat and with the help of Toitu Otago Settlers Museum curator Sean Brosnahan, it was determined the 1904 medal inscribed to a G. Robertson (possibly Gunner Robertson) might be from an artillery shooting competition for army volunteers held in Port Chalmers in 1904. Last month Mr Robertson's granddaughter made contact with Mrs Ormandy about the soldier's belt, and her grandfather's attached medal, after seeing the story in the Oamaru Mail . The soldier's army belt, which they believe belonged to Mr Robertson who served in WW1, had accidentally been misplaced in a move and the family were happy to have it returned, Mrs Ormandy said. "They are thrilled to have it back. It's gone back to where it needed to go," she said. "The granddaughter was excited to learn more about the Robertson family heritage discovered in my research but preferred to stay anonymous," Mrs Ormandy said. A member of the Waitaki Society of Genealogists, Mrs Ormandy also traced the other medal to a Corporal Henry Percival Dickel (known as Percie) for the 880 yards relay race at St Bede's College in Christchurch in 1921. She returned the "priceless" medal to his son Noel Dickel and his family in Dunedin last Christmas, and saw a photo of Percie, in his 1921 sports relay team at the college. Percie had been a member of the Scottish Battalion and a quartermaster sergeant and served in Egypt in World War 2. Although questions remain about any connections between the two soldiers, Mrs Ormandy was satisfied with the result of her search. "It closes the story for me. "It's just good to know that one medal has gone back to the Dickel family, and I know how much it meant to them. "And the same, with the family, for the Robertson medal and belt," she said.
