Strong Voices

Matthew Caldwell has been having his best time at work lately.

He is one of the team at Easy Big Trees in Makarewa, a tight-knit family nursery in a small community north of Invercargill that grows big trees and sends them all over New Zealand.

Jet boat and helicopter rides were part of the fun in October and then in November he and his workmates celebrated Matthew’s 20-year anniversary as an employee with a special lunch.

Matthew started at Easy Big Trees while he was still at school at Ruru Specialist School. He was 20 years old and his stint of work experience has lasted 20 years so far. He works there every Friday.

“I do like working there,” Matthew says. “Barney Harrison is very good to work with.”

Barney Harrison, Sales and Marketing Manager at Easy Big Trees, is one of the family that owns the nursery. He is a fourth-generation Harrison to be involved in the business.

“Matty has been assisting in weeding and general tidying and more recently potting small plants,” Barney says. “Matty is a real fun chap to work with and we all enjoy and value Matty’s frequent wit and humour.”

At the beginning of October, the nursery closed for the day and Matthew and most of the team had the day out “in their big backyard”. The day included a helicopter trip, jet boating down the Wairaurahiri River, a hike and a barbeque lunch on the shores of Lake Hauroko and fishing.

Matthew is very keen on native trees. “Rimu is a really good tree. It is a native tree. It takes a long time to grow.” He has been supported by IDEA Services since 2008.

Captions: Jet boat and helicopter rides were part of the fun in October for Matthew and the Easty Big Trees team.

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