Templeton Mill Heritage Museum Trust chairman Des
Templeton, of Riverton, with fibre made from local flax.
Photo supplied.
For their services to a wide range of community areas,
five Southland people have been awarded Queen's Birthday
Honours.
Keith Neylon is an Invercargill-based farmer who was
made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services
to agriculture.
He recognised the potential in large-scale sheep milking and
his company Blue River Dairy Products now milks 12,000 sheep
and is forming international export markets for its products.
David Adamson, of Invercargill, received a Queen's
Service Medal for services to the New Zealand Fire Service.
He has been the local government representative on the
National Rural Fire Advisory Committee for 11 years and led
the establishment of the Southern Rural Fire Authority.
The Southland District Council chief executive officer has
served as chairman of the Fire and Rescue Services Industry
Training Organisation and helped develop the National Rural
Fire Authority's strategic plan.
Irene Barnes, of Manapouri, received a Queen's Service
Medal for more than 40 years of community work in the
Fiordland area.
Along with being part of the Manapouri and Te Anau local
governments for 30 years, she is ambassador of the Kepler
Challenge Mountain Run, and patron of the Fiordland Athletic
Club.
Mrs Barnes was a founding member of the Guardians of
Fiordland Fisheries and Marine Environment which received the
Green Ribbon Award from the Ministry for the Environment in
2005 and helped pass the Fiordland Marine Conservation Act in
2005.
George Brown was honoured to receive a Queen's Service
Medal for his work as a Cook Island kaumatua in Invercargill.
He is an active member and assistant chairman of the Pacific
Island Advisory and Cultural Trust and is the longest-serving
member of the Mangaia Club.
Desmond Templeton, of Riverton, was awarded a Queen's
Service Medal for services to flax-milling heritage before
his death last month.
He worked at the Templeton Flax Mill, built in the 1800s,
from 1947 to 1972, formed a charitable trust in 2001 to
restore it, and established the Templeton Flax Mill Heritage
Museum in 2004.
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