The Potato Festival ~ the dirt on it!

BIG thanks to the wonderful peeps who decorated St Luke's ~ Jenny & Peter Lodge & Sue Alderman

The day was a gorgeous warm autumn day...which meant produce was sold from a table under the trees, with Grace Dunstan holding fort.

KIDS STUFF: 

Kay Mannering and Carol managed the children’s games ~ Splat the Spud and Potato Arches which were popular, while Katrina arranged a treasure hunt.

 

Potato and Spoon races were fun in the church, with several families playing together. “Creeping Up On Granny” was extremely popular, and the children were obviously enjoying the adult participation.

Kaylene Worrall and Nerilee Ferrand ran excellent craft activity stalls: Kaylene helped the kids compose pictures with potato printing, while Nerrilee inspired the making of some very quirky and colourful “potato people.”

 

ON THE ADULT FRONT:

Cathy Sweet was present as a gardening advisor. One man came all the way from St Martins, hoping to find some Maori potatoes!

 

Stephanie Strahl, a trainee dietician, ran a cooking demo on stuffed baked potatoes, and answered questions from the 32 who attended, about nutrition and potato cooking methods.

She provided heaps of free samples for everyone present...which were, of course, enjoyed very much!

MUSIC

Kerry McCammon played the ukulele and helped keep the atmosphere jolly, especially before the band arrived.

 

The Irish band was lovely and much appreciated, both for dancing in the church and sitting around outside.

PRIZES:

The prizes of boxed Golden Gourmet potatoes, provided by the Potato Marketing Board, and the potato information posters, also from the board, were much appreciated.

ALL UP:

About 100 people attended the Festival over the 4 hours, celebrating in a simple, family-friendly, low-tech way.

The atmosphere on the day was really lovely......

SUPPORTERS:

We couldn't have held the festival without these contributors:

The HealthPromotion Agency

The Potato Marketing Board

What's Been Happening @ Te Waka Aroha...

....PANCAKE FUN!

Oh, yes, see how the folks at Brighton have celebrated SHROVE TUESDAY this year:

...& while some peeps were 'playing'...some were 'slaving' [well, not quite...LOL!!]

 REMEMBER! We hold COMMUNITY LUNCHES EVERY WEEK....all are welcome - see the side bar for details:)

Doesn't THIS look yummy???

...and whilst I'm loading photos.....another COMMUNITY SERVICE we provide is an on-site SOCIAL WORKER......Vanya, who has come to us c/- the Nga Mata Waka Social Service Educators.....

anytime you need any help whatsoever....you can ask any of the smiley faces around the Community Centre. Like Vanya here:)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REMINDEREMINDEREMINDEREMINDER!

Our POTATO FESTIVAL on MARCH 22nd.

 Click HERE for more details, or ask anyone at the Centre:)

Hope this finds you all well - blessings!!

A SHOUT OUT TO ALL FAMILIES!

Hey there! At St Faith's over the next little while, we have a PILE of happenings that will be heaps of fun. Check these out:

CHILDREN'S DAY ~ Sunday March 2nd

Yep, this Sunday coming at 10 AM!

We're holding a FAMILY SERVICE with a TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC THEME 

So bring those Teddies! We're having a sausage sizzle, hot drinks etc...

 

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT ~ Friday March 7th

Friday at 6 PM ~ BYO Picnic tea.....then......

MR POPPER'S PENGUINS  ~ starts at 6:30pm.

 

POTATO FESTIVAL ~ Saturday March 22nd  

Put it in your diaries!

1-5pm.

Some of the stuff that will be happening includes:

An IRISH band

Spud crafts & games

Potato cooking demos

FREE SAMPLES!!!!

Spud prizes

And in case of rain, keep MARCH 29th free!!!!!

 Hope to see you at some of these community events ~ all held @

 ST LUKE'S CHURCH 

212 PINE AVENUE

SOUTH NEW BRIGHTON

 

MARKET DAY AT BRIGHTON....

...I'm sure you know next Saturday, NOVEMBER 2nd, is our local MARKET DAY here in Brighton.....but did you also know this?

The TALK TENT will be there....with parenting advice from tots to teens....

So pop in for a PRIVATE CHAT with Alice Tickell, a childhood educator of many years standing.

Craft activities & care are provided for your children while you have a FREE 15 MINUTE consultation.....

just one of the many reasons to support our local market:):)

.......& while I'm here, don't forget THIS EVENT:

NEIGHBOURHOOD WEEK GET TOGETHER
AN EVENING GATHERING

AT ST FAITH’S HALL, Hawke St, New Brighton
 ON 30th October, 6.30-8.30pm.

ALL WELCOME! Come on your own or with a group of neighbours.

Explore the idea of starting a neighbourhood support group.

Speakers: Neighbourhood Support
              “Off The Wall” Graffitti Response

Free! Please bring something simple for supper
Hot Fair Trade drinks provided.

Neighbourhood Support Group Get Together...

...don't forget! It's on 6:30 -> 8:30pm OCTOBER 30th at St Faith's. 

Who do we turn to when disaster strikes?

Our shared experiences of the past 3 years have given us all some views on that question.

How do we pull all that together?

Our first and most vital source of help is our immediate neighbours.

There are so many inspiring stories in our recent history about neighbours helping each other through the shaky times, especially in the early days when we had no power, water, shops or public transport.

The Neighbourhood Week Get Together will be a chance for Dave Wilkinson, of Neighbourhood Support, to tell us how to form a Neighbourhood Support Group, to link in with a city wide network.

 

We hope you can join us! Dave's talk will be followed by a discussion & a shared supper.

DEALING WITH FUTURE EMERGENCIES IN OUR LOCAL AREA

There is going to be a really interesting workshop given by social researcher SARAH WYLIE who has spent the past 2 months collecting info about how our community responded to the earthquake.
THE IDEA?
To draw up a workable plan for any future emergencies, so that ALL our community can be prepared.
STUFF LIKE?
Like who's offering what help & where it'll be available.....key people to contact & what equipment is available & where. This is an 'organic' plan that will belong to the whole community, & will be updated regularly....
WHEN & WHERE?
24TH OCTOBER @ ST. FAITH'S @ 10:30am

We're hoping that we can use Sarah's findings to discuss & develop a simple but effective EMERGENCY RESILIENCE PLAN for New Brighton.......

CAN'T MAKE IT?
Never fear, the day of our evening NEIGHBOURHOOD GET TOGETHER, we're holding a repeat session from 1-3pm, OCTOBER 30.

Hope you can make it to one of these sessions, & have an input into what we, as a community, need to focus on in times of emergency:)

 

I know it's an old photo....but it's sort of what we're on about........

FOOTLINE CLINIC NEWS!

We were thrilled with our first FOOT CLINIC....an amazing success, due to our INCREDIBLE volunteers, which included SEVEN nationalities. It was great to have a male volunteer too, as many of our clients were men. 

EVERYONE enjoyed it so much & we're really looking forward to our next clinic, to be held on November 6th. At this stage it's FULLY BOOKED - that means the volunteers will be attending to 20 clients; 2 every 15 mins!

It would be fabulous if volunteers could let us know how long they can spare on the day of our next clinic.....any time is a bonus, so just let us know so we can sort out how to manage the day.

ALSO....Mirinda would be available for a SECOND clinic, as long as it's on a Wednesday - so that would mean there would be a clinic every 3 weeks AND we could help more people getting their feet attended to! 

WOULD YOU BE ABLE to VOLUNTEER? We would LOVE your feedback on this idea....no pressure...just let us know if you're interested...

OH! And we hope you saw the pic of FRED RUMPH in the mail...having his feet massaged by FRANCES! If you missed it, we've got it up on The Lounge notice board:):)!!!!!