Win thanks to hoarding of forebears

Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton gets into the swing of Totara Estate's Harvest Home festival with ...
Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton gets into the swing of Totara Estate's Harvest Home festival with (left) Lynda (Camp Mother) and Jools (Camp Leader) Topp. Photo by Sally Rae.
It was fortunate for Greg McEwan that his father and grandfather were both hoarders.

That, coupled with very dry conditions on his Corriedale farm, meant there was no problem finding old bits and pieces to create an entry in the inaugural Steam Junk competition.

"There's never been anything thrown out on the farm," a delighted Mr McEwan said yesterday, after winning the adult section of the competition at Totara Estate's Harvest Home festival.

His winning entry comprised two creations - The Seed Sucker - "a cunning and devilish creature capable of sucking a freshly sown field of seed in one evening" and The Blade Runner - designed to rid farmers "of the devastating plague of seed suckers".

Mr McEwan was inspired to enter the competition after seeing last year's Steam Punk exhibition in Oamaru.

It was the first time he had ever built such a creation and he had enjoyed it, although he never expected to win.

He has been working on it for the past few weeks.

Virtually all the parts he used, including plough and grubber points and a hurdy-gurdy, came from his farm and there was no shortage of "stuff", he said.

There were 66 entries in the Waitaki District Council-run competition, which challenged entrants to create something with only recyclable material or scrap.

One of the judges, motor body builder Rod Tempero, said the quality of entries was "fantastic" and judging had been difficult.

Highly commended awards in the over 18 section were made to Dawn Ellis, Andrew Bean, Iain Clark and Dugal Armour.

Adam Thompson won the 12-18 year section, with Maisie Robinson highly commended, while Dylan Fuller won the under 12 section, with Fynn Houlihan and Shea Direen both highly commended.

A huge crowd attended the annual festival and organiser Scott Elliffe was "ecstatic" with the turnout.

The Topp Twins proved a major drawcard, with Camp Mother (Lynda Topp) saying the festival was a great way for young people to see how things used to be.

She managed to cadge a piggy-back from Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton and Mr Familton was also drawn on to the stage as a "contemporary exotic dancer", performing alongside the twins to Da Do Run Run.

There were displays of crafts and traditional trades, home gardening, preserves, vintage machinery, horse-drawn vehicles, storytelling, a lamburger competition and the annual Swaggers Race to the Brydone Monument.

The event also incorporated the North Otago Farm Day.

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