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At the very elegant Ikaroa Maori District Debutante Ball, held in the Wellington Town Hall, and graced by the presence of Te Ariki Nui, Queen Te Atairangikaahu, D.B.E., Atamoana Kerekere, daughter of former Gisborne residents Bill and Mihi Kerekere, was presented. All told, thirty-two debs made their curtsey to the guest of honour. Atamoana, who was born at Waihirere, is now a senior student at Wellington Girls' High School. She was a young member when the Waihirere Maori Club performed before Queen Elizabeth II in 1963, and has performed with such distinction in the interim that she was named the most outstanding young member of the Ngati Poneke Club for 1970. In 1972 and 1973 she performed with the TeKahui Rangatahu Group at the Polynesian Festival of Arts. For what is thought to be the first time, debutantes were presented at the ball in semitraditional Maori dress, with a full-length kaitaka cloak covering their ball gowns, the tipare (or feathers) replacing the usual flowers or tiara, and the meremere replacing the customary posy of flowers.

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Mrs Barbara Kissock, Stout Street, has taken up the position as Field Officer for the Gisborne Branch of the Crippled Children Society. She replaces Mrs Olive Hale, who vacated the position recently. Mrs Kissock, who formerly lived on a farm at Waerenga-o-kuri, believes her years spent in the country will give her an appreciation of the difficulties faced by country parents when their children have medical problems. Her past two years in the city, however, also give her an appreciation of the problems facing city people. Mrs Kissock's area extends from Wairoa up to East Cape.

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Joe Hapi (second from right), son of Mrs Rahia Hapi, Temple View, Hamilton, and formerly of Gisborne, and the late Mr Hapi, has recently returned from the Philippines after fulfilling a two-year Procelyting mission there for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Joe is an old student of the Church College of New Zealand. At the college he gained the David O. McKay Award, along with other awards in the sporting field, and was twice president of the student body of the college. From left, Mr Bill Enoka and his wife Whaiora (Joe's sister) of Dalton Street, Joe Hapi and his mother, Mrs Rahia Hapi. Joe leaves for the Church College of Hawaii in September.