Te Kai Whakarongo 2 September 2025 | Proudly locally owned and operated Issue 1173 Circulation 9800
theinformer.co.nz
Sunday, 7 September
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CONNECTING COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COROMANDEL PENINSULA
BASKER ROAST NIGHT Every Wednesday night from 5pm Pork, lamb, chicken or beef Buffet salad and sauce bar Bookings recommended
(07) 866 2090 info@theinformer.co.nz
3A Reweti Drive (opposite Mobil) www.basker.co.nz info@basker.co.nz Phone: 07 866 0645 Hours 8.00am to late
A man who loved his community through music and his bass BY PAULINE STEWART
”I
was there at the beginning of the Kerepehi Brass Band. Now I am the only one left.” That was what Rowan Garrett said in July this year. And
now he is no longer. The last of the founding members of the Kerepehi Brass Band was farewelled by a very large crowd at Twentymans Chapel in Thames last Saturday, 30 August. He died in Ohinemuri House, Paeroa on
LOU SIKKING page 2
www.theinformer.co.nz
26 August, in his ninetieth year after seventy years of providing the gift of brass band music to every town centre on the Peninsula, Hauraki Plains and across the Waikato. He was a giant in brass music
especially for this region. With 79 years of membership of the Kerepehi Brass Band, he filled every role – Chair of the Board, Band Leader, Tutor, Secretary, Conductor, Librarian. Continued on page 7
GRASSY MANGIN page 3
The Coromandel Informer – 2 September 2025 | 1