"50th Year Garden Beehive Stone"

Posted 4 Apr by Ngatai S.

 

 

Hi Alumni Family
Courtesy of the current Church College Administration, Maintenance and Grounds Crew, we have a beautiful garden feature situated on the lawn area outside the auditorium windows.

This section is an article submitted explaining it's creation and meaning. Happy reading:

A Beehive Stone was ceremoniously installed as a landscape feature at the Church College of New Zealand on Wednesday 26th March. After a special assembly where the students were addressed by Cairo and Taylor Tarawhiti and the Principal, Lloyd Keung, the students, administration, teachers, selected guests and friends gathered around the landscaped garden to witness the ceremony. Alena Matenga and Hemi Arthur, the Student Body Presidents, uncovered the yellow Oamaru beehive-shaped stone.

The stone is part of a special landscaped garden planned and designed by Joe Hay, Landscape Supervisor with the assistance of a hard working Landscape Crew. The Beehive Stone was Joe’s vision of a commemorative feature in the garden as part of the 50th Jubilee Celebrations.

The stone is about a metre high and stands in the middle of a circular landscaped garden set on the lawn alongside the David O McKay Building. In front of the Beehive is a flat semi-circular shaped area of concrete divided in to five segments that represent each decade from 1958 to 2008. At the back of the Beehive is a raised garden planted with pansies that spell out ‘CCNZ 50th”.

The stone is sited so that when you stand in front of the stone and look straight ahead, you can see the temple on the hill. It was assembled in three parts and weighs a tonne and a half. The base was prepared by Koro King, Director of Maintenance and is a polished wooden stand with the words “Build Now For Eternity” inset in shiny brass-plated metal.

Joe Hay noticed the gardens even as a student at Church College from 1966 to 1968. He has worked at Church College since 1999 and his dream was to create beautiful gardens that carried a message of high standards and excellence. Jo Hay, with the assistance of a dedicated Landscape Crew, has a commitment to craft garden surrounds of great beauty for all who enter Church College.

Because the College is closing there were questions about what will happen to the Beehive. If the stone needs to be relocated, some options have already been considered. One relocation option is alongside the Kai Hall and the GRB. Another location could be the Temple grounds where the Beehive Stone will commemorate The Church College of New Zealand and its main objective to build now for eternity.