Recent news article states:
Manawatu District Mayor Ian McKelvie presented three Manawatu District Community Honours Awards at a ceremony in Feilding last Thursday.
The annual council-sponsored awards recognise significant contributions to the community by individuals or groups, and nominees must have carried out meritorious service in the fields of community service, welfare, sport, culture, the arts, recreation or education.
The awards were initiated in 1991 and 65 district residents have been honoured over the intervening years.
This year's recipients are Pat Ashton, Eric Brew and Ivan Mandahl.
Ivan Mandahl
A dedicated 50-year service to Rotary as a member of the Feilding Rotary Club has enabled photographer Ivan Mandahl to spread the word about the community in which he has lived and worked all his life, far and wide and earn recognition at the highest level.
A dedicated 50-year service to Rotary as a member of the Feilding Rotary Club has enabled photographer Ivan Mandahl to spread the word about the community in which he has lived and worked all his life, far and wide and earn recognition at the highest level.
Among the many outstanding projects in which Mr Mandahl has been involved was a multi-lingual slide programme sent to a number of countries highlighting the activities of Rotary in Feilding and the district's various industries. The response was amazing with many of the overseas clubs circulating the programme among members. Mr Mandahl set up a sound-slide presentation using four projectors, sound equipment and two large screens that featured photographs of overseas travel, complete with music and sound effects. Donations from viewers went into a Rotary fund to establish student exchanges.
He also initiated a programme to help 19 Chinese-Malaysian children receive education at Feilding High School and Massey University.
All the students returned home with agricultural and/or horticultural honours and forged successful careers. Assisting abandoned half-caste Portuguese children in Malaysia to receive books and schooling was another Ivan Mandahl-driven initiative that proved extremely beneficial, many of these "outcasts" earning high level qualifications and positions and the local Rotary club taking over the programme.
His community involvement also encompasses 32 years as secretary/treasurer of the Patriotic Council in the Lower North Island, founding member of the Feilding Camera Club and regional chairman for the Professional Photographers Association. He was also the first Feilding Rotary Club member to receive the prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship.
Mr Mandahl's work as a Rotarian and for the community at large is immeasurable.
It was with regret he was unable to share the award with his wife Blanche who died this month.
More links here ...http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/feilding-herald/2855325/The-final-frame-after-67-years
