Crowd soaks up festive spirit

Santa parade returns to Te Awamutu

A comment from a fellow member of the Te Awamutu Rod & Custom Club summed up Sunday’s Te Awamutu Rotary Christmas Parade — WOW!

In fact the comment was more about how the good-sized crowd materialised into the main street just minutes before the event started, making for a great day for everyone concerned.

I was hanging out with club members just 20 minutes before the parade got under way — where a display of cars was assembled in the centre of town — and the crowd was small.

“We cruised out of the main street to line up for the parade and when we came back and saw the crowd it was WOW!”

Following last year’s cancellation and a change of day, it seems the parade is back and the folk of Te Awamutu and surrounds are keen to get into the festive spirit.

Thanks to Te Awamutu Rotary for taking up the challenge over recent years and keeping the Christmas parade tradition alive.

And thanks to the hundreds of locals who put in the effort and take part to make it such a spectacular success.

Winners2022— Te Awamutu Rotary Christmas Parade Service Clubs and Community Groups: Te Awamutu Community Toy Library, 1; Te Awamutu Playcentre, runner-up.

Commercial/ Businesses: Best Start Te Awamutu, 1; Highfield Country Estate Retirement Village, runner-up. Family: Christmas Deere Tractor, 1; Luke East Elf , runner-up. People’s Choice: Cheer Addiction. Overall Winner: Te Awamutu Community Toy Library.

Te Awamutu Council Carpark Market last Saturday attracted an excellent number of sellers and buyers — and provided the chance for organisers to reward three community groups.

On hand were the Te Awamutu Volunteer Fire Brigade firefighters, Kay Walshaw from Waitomo Waipā Women’s Refuge and Jill Broom from Te Awamutu Citizens Advice Bureau to receive donations from market organisers.

The Council Carpark Market chose these local organisations as “they all do so much good work for the community,” said one of the market organisers, Pam Chitty.

Stallholders pay $5 a week to be at the market and Pam and her group donate the money each year to community groups.

Te Awamutu Volunteer Fire Brigade also brought a firefighting appliance to the market and helped make it a fun-filled morning for the whole whānau.

Lots of plants, baking, fresh eggs, flowers and various arts and crafts items were snapped up by keen shoppers prior to Christmas.

Photo / Dean Taylor A summery Santa Claus greeted the crowd at Sunday’s Te Awamutu Rotary Christmas Parade.

Photo / Dean Taylor Pam Howell hands over donation to Lochie Rollinson of Te Awamutu Volunteer Fire Brigade, alongside fellow Council Car Boot Sale committee members Keith Norris, Pam Chitty and Gaye Hutton. Other donation recipients were Te Awamutu Citizens Advice Bureau, represented by Jill Broom (in blue, centre) and Waitomo Waipa Women's Refuge, represented by Kay Walshaw (right).