Reign on: Our parades hold value

‘‘If anything, southerners have at times been guilty of under-reacting, at least en masse. For many years Invercargill was so parade-averse that we even stiffed Santa.’’

Celebrations are not necessarily an indulgence. There are times a collective acknowledgment of excellence isn’t only justified, it’s important.

Not just for the gratification of those we’re making a fuss about, but to remind ourselves – and especially our kids – that the pursuit and achievement of high goals is something that matters. And that successes are within reach from the south.

Tomorrow’s ticker tape parade for the triumphs of the south’s national champion Steel netball and Sharks basketball teams and the Hawke Cupwinning Southland cricket team is an opportunity to declare such messages.

Which is no small thing, and no less virtuous or important for being, potentially, a bit of fun to boot.

Granted, you could suggest a host of different, more modestly-scaled social or ceremonial events.

But come on. Parades are so inclusive. If anything, southerners have at times been guilty of under-reacting, at least en masse. For many years Invercargill was so parade-averse that we even stiffed Santa – not as an act of will, so much, as mere inertia.

Many a child will attest that Santa does a tip-top job and is fully deserving of a parade, but he was denied one until the turn of the century simply for lack of local initiative until that point.

The late 1990s also brought the start of a string of Southland-specific heroics from the Sting netballers, national champions for season upon season. The story is commonly told of how the sizeable crowds were initially so unused to how ticker tape unfurls that the netballers had to test their own reflexes anew to avoid, as best they could, being hit by face-stinging still-rolled tapes.

Further successes required further other parades including the Stags’ Ranfurly Shield victories – the first of which was well timed for a downbeat province – and the achievements of Southland’s Olympians, spearheaded by our first gold medallist, Nathan Cohen.

Now Invercargill is back in the zone. And what a zone. A trifecta of triumphs that fully deserves to shoot adrenaline through not only the sporty types among us – who are legion – but any who appreciate the notion of just reward.

If parades are starting to feel familiar, well, that’s just outstanding.

Perhaps we should also remind ourselves that success comes not only in the sweatier pursuits. At a time when those who undertake different cultural endeavours have been doing it tough with the closure of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery and Anderson House, it’s heartening that Riverton’s Pauline Smith has won the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults first book category for Dawn Raid, which is set during the notorious mid1970s overstayer raids. We don’t generally parade our literary champs but the day may come when we figure something out.

Speaking of which, the key to the city presented to the Steel’s Wendy Frew was nicely symbolic as a gesture, but the wooden construction was a tad unprepossessing. Surely there was scope for something a little more visually arresting. There’s a lot to be said for simplicity but shouldn’t the key to a city be at least a little bit ornate?