Bill Dalton

On the local scene, we are seeing yet another restructure of Venture Hawke’s Bay. This organisation has spent more time reorganising itself then it has in providing successful outcomes for Hawke’s Bay. It has constantly changed its name – Vision 20-20 – Hawke’s Bay Inc – Venture Hawke’s Bay and has had a regular turn-over of staff. Under its different brands, Venture Hawke’s Bay has, over the years, produced countless plans and strategies to boost visitor numbers to Hawke’s Bay but frankly the problem is a practical one not a theoretical one.

Venture Hawke’s Bays success can be partly measured in visitor numbers and we are one of the worst performing districts in the country in terms of visitor nights.

I just hope this latest restructure is not yet another re-positioning of the deckchairs on the Titanic and that at long last we might get the outcomes from Venture Hawke’s Bay that their budget demands.

I attended Doug Black’s funeral on Monday. It was a huge funeral and, despite being the longest funeral I have ever been to, it was a fitting send-off for a good sound citizen.

Doug served his community in a way that most people would never bother to do and he was a man I admired tremendously. However his time had come and in the end his death was a happy release.

As someone who served in the Pacific in the second world war, Doug was accorded a RSA tribute as part of his service and I have to say I was shocked by the small number of ex-servicemen who were there to pay their respects – and quite a few of them were ex the Malayan and Vietnam wars. It brought home to me how we are very quickly losing a valuable link to an incredibly important chapter in our history.

It is now 65 years since VJ day and inevitably the number of living veterans of the 39-45 conflict is declining. Even a young recruit of 20 in 1945 is now 85 years of age.

I suppose what it brought home to me more than anything was the fact that I’m getting old. I grew up surrounded by people I regarded as heroes – those who went to war and fought for my future. Now sadly, most of them are no longer with us.