HEAR YE, HEAR YE : Gore town crier Paddy-Ann Pemberton, resplendent in her new livery that has its first showing next week at an invitational cry in the United States.
Gore town crier Paddy-Ann Pemberton from New Zealand admits she has an ulterior motive when she heads off to the United States tomorrow to compete at an invitational cry.
While winning was her main aim at the Tulip Time Festival, in Holland, Michigan, she was also hoping to lure some of her fellow competitors to the Honourable Guild of Town Criers New Zealand national championship to be held in Gore next February 2008.
She said she had already convinced Holland town crier and competition organiser John Carson to make the trip down under and she was confident of getting more.
She would be the only overseas crier and one of only two female criers competing at the Tulip Time Festival and as such has meetings with the state governor and city mayor lined up.
To ensure she makes an impact, Mrs Pemberton has made a new livery that boasts a merino wool coat, velvet breeches and more than $50 of buttons.
She has chosen black and white for the livery. It reflected the source of the district's wealth – white for milk from the dairying industry and black for the coal resources, Mrs Pemberton said.
"It's (the livery) far more traditional.
When I'm dressed like this I really do feel like a town crier."
Mrs Pemberton made the livery with help from Faye Kennedy and Invercargill designer Bridget Wills.
A $600 grant from the Gore District Council was invaluable, she said.
She had financed the trip to Michigan herself and had managed to combine it with husband Rod's and her involvement in dairying. Visits were planned to dairy farms in Michigan, a state renowned for its dairying.
