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At 96 years young Rangiora’s Milly Ward is loving life and about to become a film star.
On February 23 Milly will be guest of honour during a film evening at the Rangiora Museum featuring a film about her life growing up on the Chatham Islands.
Willie Fraser, a tour guide and fisherman who lives six months of the year in the Chathams Islands, and six months back on the mainland at his home in Ohoka, will be a guest speaker at the film evening.
The Life Adventures of Milly Ward is the latest in a series of films made for the museum by Tom McLaren, of Rangiora.
Tom, whose wife Norma McLaren is patron of the Rangiora and Districts Early Records Society, decided to make the film about Milly after friends told the couple about her interesting life.
Milly was born in the Chatham Islands where she was raised by her maternal grandparents and a large extended family, before coming to New Zealand as a 12-year-old to live with the Holyoake family for her high school education.
After finishing her schooling she left the Bay of Islands and headed south where she met her husband Frank Ward, in Ohoka.
The couple had two children and bought a farm in Ohoka where they remained until Frank’s death. Milly then moved to Rangiora.
Although Milly has idyllic memories of her early childhood in the Chatham Islands, growing up on the sheep farm owned by her grandparents in their huge family home, her early teenage years living with the Holyoakes in the Bay of Islands ‘‘were not such a good time’’. However, the vivacious, energetic, nonagenarian, who now lives solo in her tidy Rangiora home, chooses to focus on better memories. ‘‘I love life and try to make the most of every day,’’ she says. Her daily ritual begins with a bowl of porridge and ends most nights ‘‘if I remember’’, with a small glass of sauvignon blanc. Music is also a source of joy for her. She can play the piano accordion, guitar and piano. She has an antique Stroud Pianola Player in her lounge and playing it is a favourite past time. ‘‘I give that piano hell,‘‘ she says. She also loves baking, particularly sponges filled with cream and jam, and rock cakes. Gardening, another skill learnt at her grandmother’s side, is also a passion. Her grandparents had a huge vegetable garden and orchard where Milly spent many enjoyable hours with them, learning their gardening skills. She still loves getting her hands in the soil and maintains a small garden, including her favourite vegetables, runner beans and silver beet, at her home. ‘‘I love silver beet,’’ she says. ‘‘I even drink the water it is cooked in.’’ The film evening featuring The Life Adventures of Milly Ward begins at 7.30pm on Thursday February 23, at the Rangiora Museum. Entry is free but donations to the museum would be appreciated.
By SHELLEY TOPP