Town crier flies the flag for Tuatapere

• Published date: 10 February 2022
• Publication title: Southland Express

She’s always ready with a beaming smile and bucket-loads of infectious enthusiasm to share with people

‘‘I wouldn’t call myself flamboyant. I would like to think of myself as a purveyor of positivity and joy,’’ she said grinning widely.

‘‘I am grateful for that gift of joy.’’

Despite her ready smile, life has not always been easy for her.

‘If I look back on my life at all the experiences I’ve had, my childhood was not one of the good ones... Coming out of that lifestyle you have to remake your life. And remaking your life is not always easy.

You either failed or succeeded and for a time she succeeded at failure, she said.

‘‘That was the one thing I was good at — failure.’’

Despite the hardships, Ms McKerrow never gave up on the hope things would work out.

Even though the town crying skills are public, they are only one among many.

‘‘A lovely friend once said to me ‘Lynley, you’re a moving target’.’’

She agrees.

A stint at Toastmasters refined her public speaking skills and bolstered her battered confidence.

Her marriage and funeral celebrant licence has allowed her to officiate hundreds of weddings and funerals.

Born and raised in the Featherston region she lived for many years in the North Island. But after 23 years, she now considers Southland home.

There have been short periods away from the region as she looked for a place to put down roots or as different opportunities arose. But inevitably she kept returning.

‘‘Southland is my home. My roots run deep in the soil.’’

Time here and great friendships have made her ‘‘rich’’.

She fondly remembers one stint living in the city as a single person, securing a job in the newly opened Kelvin Hotel as one of its original staff members.

‘‘It was a lot of fun and we had some amazing times there.’’

But life called her out of the city for a season again.

Eventually she returned after being promised a management position with a social care organisation which was later reneged on.

‘‘I came in my car, with enough bedding, my son, two cats and a dog and the following year I lost it all.

‘‘I was in abject poverty. It wasn’t just a little bit of poverty, it was abject poverty.

‘‘I remember in 1999, standing in the Winz office, in tears, pleading, absolutely pleading with them, to give me something. I had nothing.’’

Despite ending up destitute and bankrupt, a gracious couple took her and her son into their home while she re-established herself.

She laughs about the Datsun 120Y bought for $150.

‘‘For all those people out...