Christmas tradition restored
Pamela-Anne Simon-Baragwanath wanted her mokopuna to enjoy the kind of community Christmas celebration she remembered as a child growing up in Moerewa, and because no one else was going to organise it, she did it herself.
More than 600 people, including hundreds of children, turned out for a day of games, entertainment, kai, and a visit from Hana Ko¯ko¯, who arrived in a Cadillac convertible and had a gift for every child.
And everything was free, from the icecreams to the Harley Davidson rides to the sausage sizzle, to make sure no one missed out.
It was such a success that it is to become an annual event.
When Pamela-Anne was a child Moerewa was thriving, with a big Christmas parade down the main street, but for the past four years there hadn’t been any Christmas events there at all. She had wanted to restore the tradition, her mokopuna giving her the passion to make it all happen.
Eight trophies had been donated for competitions ranging from giant chess to eating pies and the biggest tuna (eel), and would be on display all year in a bid to keep the kaupapa alive and start a new town tradition.
Organising the event had been “a massive task”, she added, complicated by a last-minute change of venue when Otiria Marae was needed for two tangi, but while it had been stressful it was the Ma¯ori way to adapt.
She was grateful to the Moerewa Christian Fellowship for making its premises available at short notice, and to the many generous sponsors who had ensured everything could be free.
She planned to set up a committee to help organise next year’s event. The venue has yet to be decided.