Latest news with #Dickie
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Producing port with a smile
What started as a small hustle on the side of her wine-making business has grown to be the main focus for Bannockburn's Debra Cruickshank. Business editor Sally Rae pays her a visit. She is the undisputed Queen of Port. Not only in her adopted home town of Bannockburn but now also nationally as New Zealand's largest producer of port. Debra Cruickshank is a force of nature; the one-woman show behind Tannacrieff Wines, producing port with a smile in the heart of Central Otago. Behind the smile has also been much pain, with an eventual diagnosis of the chronic inflammatory bowel condition Crohn's disease in 2021, and fears she might have to close her business. But being accepted for a Singapore-based clinical trial has seen her regain her life and allow her to continue to operate her boutique winery. An undisputed work ethic and life skills had its roots in her childhood on a farm in the Catlins where Ms Cruickshank, 45, would help her father with lambing, milk the pet cow before school, make hay huts for pregnant pigs and then stay up all night to watch the sows deliver their piglets. The farm was named Tannacrieff, after the ancestral Dickie farm in Ayrshire, Scotland — Ms Cruickshank's maternal great-grandmother was a Dickie — and several members of the Dickie family emigrated to the lower South Island in the early 1860s. In 2000, Ms Cruickshank caught the eye of the winemaker at Akarua Winery in Bannockburn and started her winemaking journey, working from the bottom up initially in the vineyard and then into the winery. That culminated in formal recognition from the Eastern Institute of Technology and Massey University. She spent eight years at Akarua and, after a year in Western Australia, she returned home to make wine for a very small winery in Cromwell. Never particularly keen on working for others, the time finally came to open her own boutique winery. She started a small contract winemaking facility in March, 2012, which was the start of DC Wines Ltd, and later moved to Bannockburn where she also produced her own wines. A pivotal moment came in 2017 when she won the supreme award in the Rural Women New Zealand Enterprising Rural Women Awards. It thrust her into the spotlight and the resulting publicity ensured people knew exactly what she did — "not just a chick who makes wine for everyone". It was also a turning point for her to concentrate on her port and slowly phase out the winemaking, where she was making up to 30-odd different wines for small-batch wineries. People started to know her for her port and yet she did not have enough time to make it. It was January, 2018, when Ms Cruickshank got her first "painful tummy" and knew something was wrong. Initially, having been recently to Samoa, doctors thought it was parasites. Both her parents had bowel cancer, yet she said it took three years of pleading with doctors for a colonoscopy. "I knew something was wrong. My motto is always the squeaky wheel gets the grease." By the time she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease three years later, it was severe. "The pain and fatigue and brain fog really did stop me being a normal person," she said. Around the same time, she needed back surgery and much of 2022 was spent in bed. Through the public health system, she was unable to access funded medication for Crohn's disease. In September that year, she was accepted for a clinical trial and "instantly felt like a new person". "I had my life back." Since then, she has travelled to Dunedin every two months for treatment and she has a colonoscopy every year. Ms Cruickshank knew things had to change — stress was the main trigger — and the decision was made to concentrate on port, keeping it manageable and what her health would allow her to do. Tanacrieff specialised in small-batch, handcrafted ruby, white and tawny ports which had gone from "just a little hustle on the side" to now being the focus. She recognised her passion was making port, leaving winemaking to others. "There's some amazing winemakers out there making wine, so why not stick to a niche market that's doing really well?" Port had shrugged off its old-fashioned image and had become a very popular drink, particularly with young people. It was also versatile and could be used in cocktails. The process of making it was also more fun than making wine and it was easier on her body. Her port was stocked throughout the country, and often sold through word of mouth, and her aim was to continue to grow the domestic market. "I don't want to go overseas, there's enough people here. I want to keep it big enough to handle," she said. While there had been offers of investment in Tanacrieff Wines, Ms Cruickshank preferred to keep total control, saying she had worked too hard to give it away. She particularly enjoyed having a stall at the likes of Wānaka A&P Show and catching up with customers and seeing people enjoy her products. She also did tastings by appointment and enjoyed showing people what she did. Even horses were welcome at her rustic base while their riders sampled a drop. That was the beauty of Bannockburn and open spaces, she said. A rose port was scheduled for release in October and, by the interest shown already in it, she expected it would sell out quickly. During the winter — her quieter time — Ms Cruickshank enjoyed travelling and she had been to Porto, Portugal, from which port wine was named. Port was one of Portugal's most famous exports and it was an "eye-opener" to see the home of port and also the quantities produced, making her contribution just a drop in the ocean.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Not just any port in a storm: trials, success for port queen
What started as a small hustle on the side of her wine-making business has grown to be the main focus for Bannockburn's Debra Cruickshank. Business editor Sally Rae pays her a visit. She is the undisputed Queen of Port. Not only in her adopted home town of Bannockburn but now also nationally as New Zealand's largest producer of port. Debra Cruickshank is a force of nature; the one-woman show behind Tannacrieff Wines, producing port with a smile in the heart of Central Otago. Behind the smile has also been much pain, with an eventual diagnosis of the chronic inflammatory bowel condition Crohn's disease in 2021, and fears she might have to close her business. But being accepted for a Singapore-based clinical trial has seen her regain her life and allow her to continue to operate her boutique winery. An undisputed work ethic and life skills had its roots in her childhood on a farm in the Catlins where Ms Cruickshank, 45, would help her father with lambing, milk the pet cow before school, make hay huts for pregnant pigs and then stay up all night to watch the sows deliver their piglets. The farm was named Tannacrieff, after the ancestral Dickie farm in Ayrshire, Scotland — Ms Cruickshank's maternal great-grandmother was a Dickie — and several members of the Dickie family emigrated to the lower South Island in the early 1860s. In 2000, Ms Cruickshank caught the eye of the winemaker at Akarua Winery in Bannockburn and started her winemaking journey, working from the bottom up initially in the vineyard and then into the winery. That culminated in formal recognition from the Eastern Institute of Technology and Massey University. She spent eight years at Akarua and, after a year in Western Australia, she returned home to make wine for a very small winery in Cromwell. Never particularly keen on working for others, the time finally came to open her own boutique winery. She started a small contract winemaking facility in March, 2012, which was the start of DC Wines Ltd, and later moved to Bannockburn where she also produced her own wines. A pivotal moment came in 2017 when she won the supreme award in the Rural Women New Zealand Enterprising Rural Women Awards. It thrust her into the spotlight and the resulting publicity ensured people knew exactly what she did — "not just a chick who makes wine for everyone". It was also a turning point for her to concentrate on her port and slowly phase out the winemaking, where she was making up to 30-odd different wines for small-batch wineries. People started to know her for her port and yet she did not have enough time to make it. It was January, 2018, when Ms Cruickshank got her first "painful tummy" and knew something was wrong. Initially, having been recently to Samoa, doctors thought it was parasites. Both her parents had bowel cancer, yet she said it took three years of pleading with doctors for a colonoscopy. "I knew something was wrong. My motto is always the squeaky wheel gets the grease." By the time she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease three years later, it was severe. "The pain and fatigue and brain fog really did stop me being a normal person," she said. Around the same time, she needed back surgery and much of 2022 was spent in bed. Through the public health system, she was unable to access funded medication for Crohn's disease. In September that year, she was accepted for a clinical trial and "instantly felt like a new person". "I had my life back." Since then, she has travelled to Dunedin every two months for treatment and she has a colonoscopy every year. Ms Cruickshank knew things had to change — stress was the main trigger — and the decision was made to concentrate on port, keeping it manageable and what her health would allow her to do. Tanacrieff specialised in small-batch, handcrafted ruby, white and tawny ports which had gone from "just a little hustle on the side" to now being the focus. She recognised her passion was making port, leaving winemaking to others. "There's some amazing winemakers out there making wine, so why not stick to a niche market that's doing really well?" Port had shrugged off its old-fashioned image and had become a very popular drink, particularly with young people. It was also versatile and could be used in cocktails. The process of making it was also more fun than making wine and it was easier on her body. Her port was stocked throughout the country, and often sold through word of mouth, and her aim was to continue to grow the domestic market. "I don't want to go overseas, there's enough people here. I want to keep it big enough to handle," she said. While there had been offers of investment in Tanacrieff Wines, Ms Cruickshank preferred to keep total control, saying she had worked too hard to give it away. She particularly enjoyed having a stall at the likes of Wānaka A&P Show and catching up with customers and seeing people enjoy her products. She also did tastings by appointment and enjoyed showing people what she did. Even horses were welcome at her rustic base while their riders sampled a drop. That was the beauty of Bannockburn and open spaces, she said. A rose port was scheduled for release in October and, by the interest shown already in it, she expected it would sell out quickly. During the winter — her quieter time — Ms Cruickshank enjoyed travelling and she had been to Porto, Portugal, from which port wine was named. Port was one of Portugal's most famous exports and it was an "eye-opener" to see the home of port and also the quantities produced, making her contribution just a drop in the ocean.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Your reaction to Blades' first-leg win at Ashton Gate
We asked you for your reaction to Sheffield United's 3-0 win against 10-man Bristol City in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final at Ashton Gate. Here are a selection of views from Bristol City fans... Ian: The biggest football event in Bristol for 17 years, Ashton Gate rocking, two mins til half-time, penalty and a red card - City punished twice for a questionable penalty. Game over. 46 games all comes down to an over zealous referee! The decision decided the game! We will return stronger! Matty: Red card and the injury to Williams changed the game. Once Sheff Utd went 1-0 up it was damage limitation. Can't have any complaints about the result. Proud of what Manning & co have achieved this season. Jen: What ever happened to the double jeopardy rule? When the ref makes such a blatant error that potentially costs a club millions of pounds a post-match apology isn't really enough. What more can the FA do? Paul: Really good and competitive game up to the penalty/sending off. I'm old school and it looked like a red to me but Dickie does get the ball and I understand in the rules that exist now that should have been a yellow. It's done in my opinion. Do City have 11 fit players for Monday? Tim: Sending off and penalty changed the game but if it had been other way round we would have been fuming. After that it was going to be tough. Not sure subbing Nakhi was a great decision. Fair play to Blades they took advantage. We have overachieved this season. Board need to show real ambition now. Cameron: Never a red. Possibly a pen but Rob Dickie played the ball as well so for me and many others it's not a red. It's in the laws of the game. I think personally that cost us the game. It's best to just to go all out in the away leg on Monday now. Richard: The game was very open to begin with, the penalty and sending off killed this. It was disappointing as a Bristol City fan and it really spoiled the game and took away all the fun. I think, in that moment, Dickie could have and perhaps at this level, should have done better, given the guy was in on goal, better to let him go than risk the red and penalty. Tom: Everyone is saying how we were well beaten by the better team, but until the red card it was a close game - a classic Championship game that felt like it could go either way. Unfortunately, the sending off changed that completely, and regardless of whether it was right or wrong, it was silly to give the referee the decision to make in such a crucial game. I genuinely believe that at 1-0 down with 11 v 11 we make a real go of it in the second half and potentially get something from the game. Such a shame, but pressure is off, stranger things have happened in football, so bring on Bramall Lane and something miraculous! Blades fans also weighed-in... Lola: Brilliant professional performance from the boys with subs making an impact when coming on. Got nothing to complain about. First foot in the final! Rob: Brilliant performance. Moore caused them all sorts of problems. Even before the red card we had had the better chances. Has the playoff curse been lifted? Thomas: That second-half performance is how we should've been playing all season. If we played like that when we lost against Millwall, Oxford or Plymouth we probably had a chance for promotion whether it was automatic or as champions. Joe: Regardless of getting to the ball or not with his foot, the defender clearly had two arms pulling down the back of a striker that's one on one on goal 10 yards out. Even the most biased opinions can surely see this is a red card whether the Bristol City manager or fan base want it to be or not. Poor decision from the defender to get himself in that position knowing the costs of pulling down the attacker that would likely be at least a penalty. Steve: Good, solid performance. Chris Wilder got his tactics right, especially when he took the team off early at the end to manage expectations. This is not over until the final whistle on May 24! Alfie: I thought after the penalty and red card we showed how much we wanted to win and how much we wanted to end this play-off drought. If Wilder does do it it'll be his biggest achievement for us yet. I also think Andre and O'Hare were very big game changers for us when they got subbed on. Ryan: I thought the Blades performance was professional, especially in the second half when Bristol City sat back. The red card ruined it as a contest but the decision was correct in my opinion. Not getting carried away as there is still a job to do on Monday.
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Your reaction to Blades' first-leg win at Ashton Gate
We asked you for your reaction to Sheffield United's 3-0 win against 10-man Bristol City in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final at Ashton are a selection of views from Bristol City The biggest football event in Bristol for 17 years, Ashton Gate rocking, two mins til half-time, penalty and a red card - City punished twice for a questionable penalty. Game over. 46 games all comes down to an over zealous referee! The decision decided the game! We will return stronger!Matty: Red card and the injury to Williams changed the game. Once Sheff Utd went 1-0 up it was damage limitation. Can't have any complaints about the result. Proud of what Manning & co have achieved this What ever happened to the double jeopardy rule? When the ref makes such a blatant error that potentially costs a club millions of pounds a post-match apology isn't really enough. What more can the FA do?Paul: Really good and competitive game up to the penalty/sending off. I'm old school and it looked like a red to me but Dickie does get the ball and I understand in the rules that exist now that should have been a yellow. It's done in my opinion. Do City have 11 fit players for Monday?Tim: Sending off and penalty changed the game but if it had been other way round we would have been fuming. After that it was going to be tough. Not sure subbing Nakhi was a great decision. Fair play to Blades they took advantage. We have overachieved this season. Board need to show real ambition Never a red. Possibly a pen but Rob Dickie played the ball as well so for me and many others it's not a red. It's in the laws of the game. I think personally that cost us the game. It's best to just to go all out in the away leg on Monday The game was very open to begin with, the penalty and sending off killed this. It was disappointing as a Bristol City fan and it really spoiled the game and took away all the fun. I think, in that moment, Dickie could have and perhaps at this level, should have done better, given the guy was in on goal, better to let him go than risk the red and Everyone is saying how we were well beaten by the better team, but until the red card it was a close game - a classic Championship game that felt like it could go either way. Unfortunately, the sending off changed that completely, and regardless of whether it was right or wrong, it was silly to give the referee the decision to make in such a crucial game. I genuinely believe that at 1-0 down with 11 v 11 we make a real go of it in the second half and potentially get something from the game. Such a shame, but pressure is off, stranger things have happened in football, so bring on Bramall Lane and something miraculous!Blades fans also Brilliant professional performance from the boys with subs making an impact when coming on. Got nothing to complain about. First foot in the final!Rob: Brilliant performance. Moore caused them all sorts of problems. Even before the red card we had had the better chances. Has the playoff curse been lifted?Thomas: That second-half performance is how we should've been playing all season. If we played like that when we lost against Millwall, Oxford or Plymouth we probably had a chance for promotion whether it was automatic or as Regardless of getting to the ball or not with his foot, the defender clearly had two arms pulling down the back of a striker that's one on one on goal 10 yards out. Even the most biased opinions can surely see this is a red card whether the Bristol City manager or fan base want it to be or not. Poor decision from the defender to get himself in that position knowing the costs of pulling down the attacker that would likely be at least a Good, solid performance. Chris Wilder got his tactics right, especially when he took the team off early at the end to manage expectations. This is not over until the final whistle on May 24!Alfie: I thought after the penalty and red card we showed how much we wanted to win and how much we wanted to end this play-off drought. If Wilder does do it it'll be his biggest achievement for us yet. I also think Andre and O'Hare were very big game changers for us when they got subbed I thought the Blades performance was professional, especially in the second half when Bristol City sat back. The red card ruined it as a contest but the decision was correct in my opinion. Not getting carried away as there is still a job to do on Monday.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mesquite Council fires city manager for racist remarks
Former Mesquite Police Chief MaQuade Chesley gestures toward City Manager Edward 'Owen' Dickie moments before the City Council voted to fire Dickie for making racist comments. (Mesquite City Council stream screengrab) The expectation before Tuesday night's City Council meeting was that City Manager Edward 'Owen' Dickie would likely get a slap on the wrist in the form of a written reprimand for making racially insensitive remarks on three separate occasions. Instead, four of five Mesquite City Council members voted to terminate Dickie after a parade of residents argued during public comment for his ouster. 'We went from the safest city to the racist city,' said Mike Benham, one of the Mesquite residents who recorded Dickie's comments, which were first reported by the Current. '…Early on, I said 'guys, I'm going down to Louisiana, I'm going back to the back parishes and I'm going to find me a 6 foot 5 Black woman chief…'' Dickie is heard saying in one recording from February. In another recording, he asserts he'll bring back an 'Aunt Jemima' should the need arise to replace then-Chief of Police MaQuade Chesley. In a third recording made by Chesley, Dickie can be heard using the 'N' word. 'I stand against racism. I always have. I always will,' Chesley, the former police chief, told the council during public comment. 'And when it happened in the (police) department, I brought it forth and I was pushed out.' 'I said things that I shouldn't say at that time, trying to bring a little humor – poor taste of humor,' Dickie said in his defense, arguing that the offending comments were made in private. 'Mr. Dickie, you don't get it. You wouldn't say it in public, but you'd say it in private. So it's okay?' Mesquite resident Mitch Miller asked rhetorically during public comment. 'Our city depends on tourism. Our casinos, golf courses, businesses right now – we're a national embarrassment for even considering a written reprimand versus termination.' Miller went on to say city council members who vote in favor of retaining Dickie are 'part of the bigger problem. You're a closet racist in power.' 'This was not just a poor attempt at humor, this was a harmful, arrogant and dismissive remark that reduces black women to caricatures, stereotypes and political pawns,' said Dr. Theresa Woolridge-Ofori. 'I live here to be an example to people who don't know that there are Black people that are professionals that look like me, that look like my husband.' Her husband, Dr. Edward Ofori, is medical director of the Mesquite Women's Clinic. 'My greater concern is with the complicit behavior of those who stand by silently accepting, even enabling this kind of rhetoric,' Woolridge-Ofori added. 'Silence in the face of racism is not neutrality, it's complicity. So if and when our city officials try to use race to win a war, then shame on you.' Resident Eric Collings told the council his wife, a Black woman, deserved a personal apology from Dickie, and chastised the city manager for attempting to minimize his comments because they weren't made publicly. 'That's the point,' Collings said. 'I can tell a lot more about your character by what you do in private than what you do in public. This isn't some old guy yelling to get off the lawn. This is the city manager of the City of Mesquite.' 'What he said was awful,' Mayor Jesse Whipple said before the vote. 'He needs to be punished and reprimanded and possibly terminated.' Whipple questioned whether Dickie should be judged by one mistake. 'I'm offended. I'm not racist,' Councilman Paul Wanlass said, adding he agreed with Whipple. 'Do I judge a person by one mistake?' Councilman Kevin Parrish called the episode a 'PR nightmare' for the small city with a tourism-based economy. 'The buck stops here,' Parrish said shortly before the council's vote. 'Being a boss, I can't accept what he said. He will not be able to get a job in another city. Why should he be city manager here?' Councilwoman Patti Gallo noted a string of 'bad decisions' by Dickie, including firing Chesley at the behest of the local police union. 'It's time for this city to start healing,' she said before making the motion to terminate Dickie. Councilwoman Karen Fielding, who defended Dickie and blamed the public outcry to fire him on the individuals who recorded his comments, abstained from the vote. Chesley, in an email, called the meeting 'an emotional evening, filled with stories of pain, discrimination and lifelong struggle,' adding he spoke 'with many individuals who have long been marginalized and pushed aside in Mesquite, made to feel less than, unheard, and unwelcome. But for the first time in a long time, our city stood together to denounce racism and demand accountability firmly.'
