Bringing the past and present together
Past and present came together for the 60th Alexandra Blossom Festival.
More than 15,000 people celebrated the long-time community event on Saturday, lining Alexandra’s main street for the grand parade which was led by the Central Otago Vintage Car Club driving the festival’s former queens.
Alexandra volunteer fire brigade life member Keith Nichol’s idea of creating a past and present Otago Central Rail Trail float was a winning concept and won the People’s Choice.
Chief fire officer Russell Anderson said the brigade was ‘‘stoked’’ with the win. The float had taken its members countless hours after shifts in the evening to complete.
‘‘We don’t count the hours but it is a heap of work.’’
They made the float from scratch using a car damaged in an accident and donated for the brigade to cut up.
Caitlin Turfus, 17, was another winner on the day. The year 13 student, representing the Men’s Shed, won the festival queen title.
‘‘I’m still shocked really. With being with the girls for the past two weeks you start to create an idea in your head of who is going to win and who is the biggest competition ... I wasn’t expecting it at all.’’
The princesses had spent the past two weeks being judged and attended festival events.
Sarah Vilela,16, came Kylie Wilson, 18, third.
Event organiser Martin McPherson said a crowd of about 15,000 attended the event, which he described as ‘‘the best day ever’’.
Vicki Richards, of Roxburgh, said it had been a fantastic day while
Myah Richards, 12, also of Roxburgh, second and said the best part of the day was the food, while Kees Richards, 7, thought the rides were the highlight.
Police reported a relatively troublefree weekend throughout Central Otago during the annual Blossom Festival weekend.
Three arrests were made over the weekend. Two Alexandra locals, a 23-year-old and 16-year-old were dealt with for fighting. The 16-year-old was released to his parents and the 23-yearold received a pre-charge warning. An 18-year-old Alexandra man was also arrested for disorderly behaviour but was given a pre-charge warning.