Rain puts camp back one day
Stormy weather delayed the start of the annual Baptist Youth Camp in Feilding.
Ex-tropical Cyclone Cook brought heavy rain and high winds for Manawatu over the first couple of days of the Easter break.
Hundreds of tents were erected at Manfeild on Wednesday, with 2000 attendees scheduled to arrive on Thursday. However, organisers made a last-minute decision to push the camp back until Friday.
Camp director Andrew Whitehead said there were contingency plans if the weather failed to clear which, fortunately, were not required after the camp resumed on Friday.
‘‘We’ve rung around churches in Feilding and Palmerston North in case we [did] need emergency accommodation.
‘‘It was never a case of cancelling the camp. As much as we would have loved to roll with it [on Thursday night], it would have just been irresponsible.’’
All tents were taken down on Thursday to keep them out of the wind.
The programme was targeted at high schoolaged students from the lower North Island and laid on several activities – a talent quest, sport, paintball and concerts every night.
The weekend was all about a celebration of Easter, Whitehead said.
‘‘It’s centred around Easter and what Easter means for us,’’ Whitehead said.
‘‘We’ve rejigged the programme because of the postponement.’’
Many activities were relocated to the Manfeild Stadium where camp goers would remain safe and dry, he said.
Whitehead said the event reached out to all religions. Participants are not necessarily church attendees and the Christian message is optional.
The remaining three days of the camp went smoothly as weather settled over the course of the Easter weekend.
Camp officials erected the tents for the second time on Friday and the schedule was returned to usual.
Children left Manfeild on Easter Monday and couldn’t wait to return in 12 months.