Hamilton Model Engineers Inc will be hosting the Steam N Steel international model engineering convenion from 10 to 13 January. In this special episode of WTS, host Gary Farrow visits the site at Minogue Park, to hear about the club and the upcoming festival.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

Freemasonry is one of the world’s oldest and largest fraternal societies. It is an organisation of men who strive to live by the fundamental principles of integrity, goodwill and charity. It is a non-profit organisation that is heavily involved in supporting charity and community service. Some people hold the preconceived notion that the Freemasons are an underground cult, like the Stonecutters in The Simpsons, but in fact, the very opposite is true. Freemasonry is inclusive and open to all. WTS producer Gary Farrow had a chat with two Freemasons about their experiences of the society.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

Renters United has collaborated with the Lawrence & Gibson publishing collective to produce thousands of copies of the great New Zealand novel Rat King Landlord to share across the country for absolutely free. Go Eco in Kirikiriroa Hamilton will be holding a launch event, and author Murdoch Stephens agreed to speak to us on WTS via Zoom.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

It’s robot fighting time! Tronbots is Kirikiriroa Hamilton’s very own robots fighting club. On Thursday evenings, they get together at the University of Waikato School of Engineering, for some quality mechanical carnage. Tronbots takes every child's loves of robots and introduces real engineering processes. WTS went to talk to Shannan McPeak, the Tronbots organiser.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

We hear from Patricia Rocha, the owner of Dog Minds NZ, a dog training and owner coaching service based in Kirikiriroa Hamilton. Patricia also hosts the Boozehounds Society educational sessions at her local, Breweaucracy in Te Rapa, on the second Wednesday of each month.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

At the end of pool season, it’s time for the Ngaruawahia Pound Pups Pool Party! Ahead of the event on Saturday the 1st of April, WTS producer Gary Farrow spoke with Zoey Jackson and Tracey Oakes, who work in various roles at Waikato District Council animal control. They brought an adorable little pup along to the interview too.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

Award-winning poet and University of Waikato senior lecturer Dr Tracey Slaughter has spent the last nine months reviewing more than 1000 poems for this year’s Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2023: After-burn. WTS producer Gary Farrow visited her at the university to hear about the annual anthology.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

Know Your Stuff is a community organisation of volunteers. They are part of Aotearoa’s legal and publicly-funded drug checking programme, to reduce drug-related harm in a non-judgmental way. Emma Carroll is the Waikato regional lead for Know Your Stuff, and she joined producer Gary Farrow on WTS to discuss what the organisation does.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

The Refugee Orientation Centre Trust was opened in Kirikiriroa in 2005, by former refugees for former refugees. To talk about it, Sandya Rajapakshe joins WTS producer Gary Farrow for this episode.

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.

Waikato arborist Pete Assen climbs and prunes trees in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. He's had plenty of work following two cyclones. In this episode, Pete speaks about his years in the trade, and why he's still doing it

Telling the hyperlocal, controversial and quirky stories of the Waikato region under the new normal.