It is impossible not to come away feeling uplifted and inspired after talking to Tuapeka West farmers Mark and Marjorie Hay.
The hardworking couple were nominated for their all-round commitment to their farm, the surrounding environment and the community they have called home for more than 30 years.
Marjorie, from Boston, met and married Mark, a farmer from New Zealand. The couple have enjoyed an "enchanted" life together at their Glenayr Farm; raising two children, farming sheep and beef, establishing pine, douglas fir and macrocarpa plantations on their less productive land and many hectares have also been planted in native bush, now a haven for birdlife.
Growing up in Motueka, Mark’s father was a dentist and bought Glenayr as an investment in the 1960s, and Mark’s grandfather, who had always dreamed of farming, worked it alongside a farm manager.
Mark remembered coming to the farm as a young boy and spending holidays cutting gorse. The gorse is now all but eradicated; a gorse seedling was an unwelcome guest that was quickly evicted.
The couple are both heavily involved in the Lawrence community. Marjorie, with a background in art and design, has been influential in many projects. She was instrumental in the preservation of the Lawrence Arches, which turned the wooden beams of the original Lawrence pool into a sculpture and community events space, a trustee of the Lawrence Heritage Trust as well as a trustee of the Lawrence Athenaeum Mining Institute. She has also been involved in the marketing of many events and does logo designs for local businesses.
Mark is chairman of Tuapeka Health Incorporated and project manager of a community-owned retirement village that is being built. That project is creating purpose-built units next to the health centre.
"A survey in the local community showed that many felt it would be a shame to have to leave the area when the need came for rest-home care. It has certainly taken me out of my comfort zone being part of this project and sometimes I wonder what I have got myself into, but it is hugely satisfying," he said.
He is the president of the bowls club, golf club and the South Otago branch of New Zealand Farm Forestry Association.
Being involved in the community has been an "easy choice" for the couple.
"It’s just a brilliant group of people that love living here and we all want to stick around and do our bit," Mark said.
The couple have also enjoyed creating a beautiful garden setting at their farmstead.
"I am an artist, so I love to make things pretty and I love to inspire other rural women to think about their home as something that reflects who they are and really make it somewhere they want to be. It doesn’t need to cost a whole lot, but it can make such a huge difference to their happiness. Mark has been one hundred thousand percent behind me and my ideas," Marjorie said.
While Mark grimaces at that comment and laughs that he is "going to get enough grief from the guys at golf already", he agrees with Marjorie’s sentiment.
"Most farmers live a long way out of town, so we tend to spend a lot of our lifetime around our home. You’ve got to create a space that you enjoy being in," Mark said.
— Alice Scott
