Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer.
Boy who breaks ancient museum exhibit gets to see it restored
We’ve all done it – accidentally smashing something of value that belongs to somebody else. One young fella in Israel took that to a whole new level when he sent a 3,500 year old jar crashing to to the floor, smashing into many pieces at the Hecht Museum in Haifa. It’s every parent’s nightmare but this story has a very happy ending, when young Ariel and his family were invited back to the museum to witness the jar’s restoration.
“The bronze age jar that Ariel broke last week has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered. It was probably used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500BC.
“The jar was one of many artefacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbar Rivlin, the director of the museum.
“She said she wanted to use the restoration as an educational opportunity and to make sure the Gellers, who curtailed their initial museum visit soon after Ariel broke the jar last week, felt welcome to return.” (Source: “Boy, four, who broke bronze age jar returns to museum in Israel,” by Sammy Gecsoyler, 31st August, www.guardian.com).
5 stars – what a great ending to what would have been a pretty harrowing experience for the family! Good news indeed.
100 year old postcard brings distant family together
Over a century ago a brother in Swansea, Wales sent a postcard to his sister. That postcard then ended up recently in the hands of someone who decided to trace any surviving family members through genealogy site, Ancestry. She connected with a great-niece of the sender, Ewart and that led to a meeting between her family and the family of the postcard’s recipient, Lydia.
“The postcard is understood to have been sent by Ewart to his sister while he was staying with their grandparents in the coastal town of Fishguard in Pembrokeshire. ‘It’s been great meeting up with Nick and Faith [Lydia’s grandson and great-granddaughter] who’ve got knowledge of their own families, and they’ve gained knowledge from our aspect as well,” Ms Roberts [Ewart’s great-niece] said. ‘And we are keeping in touch, we’ve exchanged emails and we just hit it off straight away.'” (Source: “Swansea: Woman meets relatives after 121-year-old postcard finally delivered,” by Tomos Evans, 30th August, www.news.sky.com).
5 stars – I love stories like this, where accident and coincidence connect, resulting in life affirming encounters.
Well known Christchurch burger bar closes down
Hospitality businesses all over the country are struggling. A cost of living crisis and changes in how we purchase food, have resulted in lean times for those who feed us. When businesses find they can no longer carry on they also break the connection between the business and their many loyal customers who have frequented it for years.
One such business is a takeaway in Riccarton, Christchurch, called Big Gary’s, whose owner is calling it a day after the business has been in operation since the 1980s.
“Big Gary’s Facebook page has 4000 followers and would post birthday messages to customers and good luck messages to students before exams.
“Tom McKenzie lived near the burger shop when he was a student several years ago. It was so special to him that he got a graduation photo outside it while wearing his regalia. McKenzie told The Press the store was ‘littered with students all hours of the weekend’ and sold merchandise like T-shirts and hoodies that would now be considered ‘vintage’.
“‘Former University of Canterbury student Forester King told The Press ‘Big Gary was the knight in shining grease armour to all students’.” (Source: “Iconic Christchurch burger joint Big Gary’s closes its doors,” by Ripu Bhatia, 26th August, www.stuff.co.nz).
5 stars – whilst it’s sad to see a business close down, it’s sobering to see the connection that so many of its customers have to it. Let’s do our best to support our local hospitality businesses – we don’t know what we miss until it’s gone!
Note: image of jar is not of actual 3,500 year old broken and now restored one but a stock image of a broken jar – that’s probably a year old, at most.
