You are invited to join the
Paeroa Santa Parade
Friday 2nd December 2011 at 6pm
Entertainment, quick fire raffles outside Post Office from 5pm
Float winners will be announced there after the parade, then games & races will commence.
Fun for all the family
This year sees a change from the usual Santa Parade, as we have decided to hold it on a Friday evening instead of on a Saturday morning. There are several reasons for this, the main one being that the Pipes & Drums of TV were not available for the Saturday morning and I feel that a parade is not a parade without them.
The evening will run as follows:
The main road will be closed for the purpose of this parade from 5.30pm and will re-open at 7 pm. Wharf Street will be closed from 5.30 till 9pm as this will be where the games, races & activities will be held.
Float vehicles can gather in the Princes Street, Queen Street area from 5pm. There will be marshals present wearing hi-viz vests who will assist with parking and information. I have enlisted the help of the Paeroa Lions Club for this job and to run quick fire raffles, a sausage sizzle etc outside the Post Office where there will be live entertainment before the parade as well as games and races after the parade.
The Parade will step off at 6pm led by a Police Car and the Pipes & Drums of Thames Valley. It will turn left onto the main street at the Father’s Tavern, make it’s way down to Marshall Street where it will turn and come back up the main street to turn right at the Father’s Tavern where the trucks and vehicles can then park up and unload their passengers so they can all gather outside the Post Office
to hear the announcement of the float prize winners.
Everyone is then invited to stay and join in the fun, enter into some races, games and activities. Tirohia School PTA will be fundraising by providing an opportunity for children to have photos taken with Santa at the Co-operating Church Hall and the Paeroa Toy Library will be doing a sausage sizzle and bake sale for their fundraiser.
Float categories:
Best Business float
Best School float – sponsored by the ANZ Bank
Best Non-Profit Organization float – sponsored by Ray White Real Estate
Each float category winner will receive $150 in prize money – judging will take place before and during the parade, and the judges decision will be final.
Competition & Prizes for:
Best decorated wheelbarrow – $50 cash prize donated by Ray White Real Estate
(then there will be a wheelbarrow race up Wharf Street).
Best decorated bike – $50 cash prize donated by Ray White Real Estate
Best Christmas Fairy
Best Christmas Elf
All enquiries to Positive Paeroa 07 862 6999
Last Years Paeroa Santa Parade
What a fabulous time it was at the
2010 Paeroa Santa Parade
Friday evening 3rd December 2010
6pm
Paeroa Town Centre
The weather gods managed to please everybody on Saturday 6th December. The heavy rain that kept the farmers happy, stopped right on 9.00 a.m so that the floats for the Santa Parade could be set up and then it stayed away right through the parade and lolly scramble.
In lovely sunny weather, the parade was a colourful exciting spectacle for the children and parents that gathered along the side of the road to see it. Floats from the schools, businesses, sport groups and organisations were filled with happy people dressed in Christmas themed costumes. There were smiling clowns with balloons and enthusiastic story book characters walking along throwing lollies to the crowd. All this contributed to a very successful parade.
Most of the floats turned up at the assembly point at 9.00 with two hours to make the final adjustments to the decorations. At first tarpaulins and plastic were the most obvious decorations but as the work progressed and the weather improved, the floats took on the theme and look that their creators had visualised. With some last minute adjustments made to stabilise the Christmas tree on the Hikutaia School float and some cajoling with lollies and kisses to get a tearful snowflake back into the snowglobe on the Playcentre float, the parade was ready to start.
Sue Austen, who was one of the judges commented that “although it was only a small group of floats entered this year they were a of a very high standard and the enthusiastic group participated with great spirit.”
The float that won the Non Profit prize belonged to the 8th Grade Rugby Team. This team was celebrating having won the Rex Holden Cup and their enthusiastic haka and cheers rang out all through the preparations for the parade and during the parade itself. Their manager Cindy said that this was the first time the Rex Holden Cup had been won by a Paeroa team for seven years and the parents were very proud of the work and effort the team had put into winning it. One of the interesting things about the win is that some of the team members are brothers of some of the team members who won the cup seven years ago.
Two other non profit organisations received Highly Commended Awards for their floats. The Girl Guides, whose float unfortunately disintegrated in the storm on Friday night, so they had to march in the parade instead of riding on their float, was one and the other was Gracelands Insight who were celebrating the success of their graduates.
The prize for the best float entered by a business was won by Agrisea. Their float was a colourful vision with elegant mermaids, fierce pirates, and an elf, a fairy and wonder woman. Paeroa Playcentre was first in the preschool section with a snowglobe theme. The snowglobe was filled with snowflakes and snowmen, sitting under the decorated arch.
Finally Netherton and St Joseph’s Schools were first equal in the schools awards. Their floats represented quite different aspects of Christmas. Netherton School’s float was filled with elves and fairies by a Christmas tree and St Joseph School’s had a group of children dressed as the characters in a Nativity Scene.
The “Pipes and Drums of Thames Valley” lead the parade up and down the street and then on to the domain for a lolly scramble. With a pipe band, lots of floats, Father Christmas on his Sleigh, the Fire Engine and the classic cars and BMX riders in their racing gear, the Paeroa Christmas parade had everything including the unexpected good weather.
