From creek find to charity gift
Family's labour of love inspires community
When Thaddeus Parker and his mates were playing in the Weka Park creek one day, in Raumati Beach, one of them discovered something stuck deep in the stream bed.
It was a children’s tricycle that had been there for a very long time.
With a bit of effort, they hauled it out, noting it was all black because of the ravages of time in an unforgiving environment.
Thaddeus, 12, told his father Jason Parker about the discovery when he got home.
Intrigued, Jason encouraged his son to go back to the creek and bring the tricycle home.
Thaddeus did, but given the tricycle’s sorry state of repair, it was placed under their house for a year or so.
But during the Christmas holidays, the family, including Jason’s daughter Amitiel, 14, were doing a bit of a house spruce up when they saw the trike and decided to give it a makeover.
The first task was cleaning it, before they could start sanding it, repainting, and more.
The tricycle only had one pedal so Jason fashioned another one out of driftwood.
There were no handlebar grips so two were created out of driftwood too.
Other key parts of the rebuild included a new leather seat created by a professional upholsterer free of charge, various stickers added, ribbons attached and a new bell.
The wheels were in good condition.
“We’ve taken them to bike shops who hadn’t seen wheels like them before, and you can’t find anything like them on the internet.”
At long last, the rebuild was complete.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Jason marvelled.
“It was a piece of junk but we’ve transformed it into something quite special.
“It hasn’t been cheap but it’s not about the money.”
Keen on paying it forward, they will donate the tricycle to Ronald
McDonald House in Wellington during the Easter weekend.
“We’ve already made arrangements.
“I’d like it to stay in Ronald McDonald House if possible because it will give kids joy.
“There was talk of a raffle, which is fine, especially if they need to raise money.”
Thaddeus was very proud of the transformation.
“It’s amazing.”
And Amitiel said, “I’m surprised how well it has turned out.” Jason was proud of his children. “We all played a part.”