It's Christmas and Rotary helps bring smiles to many

What a great time Santa’s little helpers had last Saturday!

The Manurewa Christmas Parade was the best we have had in ages, with 50 participating groups and floats.  The Rotary Club of Alfriston had 5 floats entered.

Thousands packed the streets to watch the annual parade.

The parade was led by Sir John Walker as the Grand Marshal, with an onslaught of clowns handing out balloons.  Smiling children’s faces were the one thing that stood out on the day.

Ray Parkes handled the competing interest of Rotarians, participating groups, dignitaries, and road marshals.  Ray coolly sorted it out getting the parade organised and moving.

Janet Igrisan and her crew battled with umpteen elf costumes, and other pieces of paraphernalia.

Santa’s car was mislaid for a bit, but none of this was evident during the parade itself.

Thanks also to all the club members for a fantastic effort in making this a happy and memorable occasion.

Clevedon Guy Fawkes Fireworks & Bonfire.

From the Rotary Club of Alfriston:

It was in the early gloom of a Friday night that the members of the Rotary Club of Alfriston gathered on a dusty gravel lane, on a windy hillside in Clevedon. They donned high-visibility jackets and proceeded to set-up a roadblock for the purposes of demanding money.
Yes, it was the time for the annual Clevedon Guy Fawkes Bonfire Night. This is an event run by the Clevedon Residents’ Association.

Out of the watery sunset came the sound Rolls Royce Merlin engines and we were swooped-upon by an elegant Mosquito bomber. All the soundtracks of old WWII movies were recreated as the plane made a number of passes over the gathering crowd.

The traffic into the venue was steady, and efficiently dealt with by the Rotary team. As the light dimmed the huge bonfire was lit and formed a bright backdrop to the stream of cars. We packed-up shop a few minutes before the pyrotechnics started as the traffic jams after the event are legendary.

We find that this annual event only takes a few hours, and is just as much a fellowship occasion, as it is a fundraiser.  This year’s funds will be going towards our youth programmes. At the moment we are sponsoring students to the RANZSE programme, the National Science and Technology Forum, RYPEN. We hope to have a RYLA candidate, and will host a RIYE student, as well as the inbound GSE crew next year.