Jono Naylor THE Mayor!

Jono Naylor is the current Mayor of Palmerston North and loves this city more than a dog loves his bone! He is aware that Palmerston North residents aren’t always positive about their home; and knows of outsiders who talk this city down. Like us, Jono encourages everyone to make the most of this great place! We had a chat to him about what he likes best about this city and how he does his part to spread community spirit...

Fred Dagg: A Kiwi icon and a Palmerston North local

In the early 1970s the Palmerston North local satirist John Clarke invented the comic figure of the black-singletted, gumboot- wearing Fred Dagg. 

He was instantly a hit with the New Zealand public and sported a look that is still recognisable to New Zealanders. Fred wore a crumpled hat, black singlet, ripped shorts and gumboots making him a celebration as well as a mockery of the typical “kiwi bloke”. 

He appears to be simple but held a charming, humorous and fantastic view of the world. With his subtle humour he wowed the audiences, making such an impression with New Zealand that he has been an icon ever since. 

He only ever recorded three hours of television time but

that was enough to charm a nation. The Fred Dagg character allowed John to venture into song with The Gumboot Song, and We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are, just to name a couple. Both songs remain two extremely well known kiwi anthems.

John Clarke moved to Australia in the late 1970’s, but Fred Dagg lives on as an enduring Kiwi icon in New Zealand, even inspiring an annual Gumboot Festival in the farming town of Taihape. Since moving overseas John Clarke has gone on to establish himself as a top script writer and personality and has been involved in film making. He still appears regularly on Australian television doing political satire sketches with actor comedian Bryan Dawe. In the process of this blog we had the awesome opportunity of grabbing John Clarke’s opinion on Palmerston North from when he lived here. And this is what he said...

I was born in Palmerston North in 1948. We lived in Milverton Avenue and I went to College St School. I remember PN with great fondness. Kids developed a sense of independence, possibly because each kid had a bike and you could be part of a squadron or fly solo. There were fewer cars on the road then and I rode out to towns like Ashhurst and Bunnythorpe with friends. I played sport with kids who went on to represent the country. There was a sense of connection with what New Zealand was about because the Manawatu was a rich farming area and the city was growing. It was a fair and even place. The rich did not live on a hill overlooking the harbour, nor the poor in a sunless valley. I hope I still carry the values I developed there.

All best,

John

Spoken by a true icon! His words should encourage any one living in Palmerston North today to be proud of where they are and remember that; until you go elsewhere in the world we often don’t realise how lucky we are!

Dom Harvey

Dom Harvey is a well-known radio personality in New Zealand. Much of the nation wakes up to his show, 'The Morning Madhouse' on The Edge 93.0FM.

Dom Harvey is proud to call himself a "Palmerstonian" and he finds himself "defending it at least once a week to people who screw their nose up at the mention of Palmy."

To begin his radio career he worked at local radio station 92.2 as Mike West and Baldrick (Dom), they worked together for 11 years. Dom says that "some of his best friends and fondest memories come from Palmy." At the moment Dom only visits for short periods, and he mainly spends the time in town to visit friends and when in town he will go to his favourite cafes including Stage Door and Cafe Cuba.

Community spirit is high in Palmerston North also. "As for the people, well the locals were great and with the uni there was a nice regular turn over of fresh faces in the city." Dom thinks the city has a lot to offer residents, with Massey University and UCOL bringing an influx of youth to Palmerston North.To create more pride in Palmerston North Dom believes that there needs to be a prominent tourist attraction, a reason for people to visit "something like a luge could possibly work" as we have many hills and ranges around the city. When asked if he would ever move back to Palmerston North he described how his work at the moment was very important to him so he'll go where ever work takes him; "...if that's Palmerston North that'd be awesome."

Often on air in the mornings we can hear Dom promote his home city or discuss his relationship with the city which is usually positive. He also likes how the square now looks and he recently walked through it on a friday night and was extremely happy, stating; "nobody beat me up or stole my shoes".

Dom will always have a soft spot for Palmerston North as this is where he grew up and started his successful broadcasting career.

Website - www.theedge.co.nz

OBO- Taking on the sporting industry

OBO is a Palmerston North based company that makes world class Hockey Goalie gear. OBO saw a gap in the market and created revolutionary new lightweight products that gave goalies flexibility and agility they had never had before. The range is also available in a wide number of styles and colours. The Hockey world has spoken and OBO now have 60% of the market. 80% of Olympic hockey goal keepers wear OBO gear.

Simon Barnett, the entrepreneur of OBO, took some time out of his busy day to share his thoughts on Palmerston North with us...

Simon agrees that Palmerston North is a great place to live, and to bring up children; "It [Palmerston North] has been very kind to myself and my family". Simon stated that; there are many good things about Palmerston North- the people, the ease of accessibility, the parks, sports grounds, and business opportunities. He also believes that Palmerston North needs more self belief, and needs to appreciate all that Palmerston North has to offer its residents. He is of the opinion that Palmerston North is a great place to start a business, as there are committed people, plenty of resources, and great accessibility.

OBO is a prime example of a Palmerston North business succeeding in the cutthroat arena of international sporting apparel.

www.obo.co.nz