Gayle and Ruben's Kiwi Blog: Christmas in Seddon Park, Waimate

Monday, 18 December was the Christmas in The Park event in Waimate. It started at 6:30 pm and ended with tree-lighting and Fireworks at 10:30 pm. It was really well attended. I'll be interested to see the local paper for the estimated attendance. For a town of 3,000 a large crowd shows up.

In line for hot chips

The large, grassy area of the park was edged by tents and coffee vans. The Rotary Club was offering sausage BBQ in a slice of white bread (in NZ, BBQ is anything that we would call cooking out) for a gold-coin donation (gold coins are NZ$1 and NZ$2). We had eaten a healthy-ish red lentil and kale soup for dinner so we did not partake in the BBQ, but Ruben mentioned several times that those sausages looked tasty. Local business Makikihi Fries (pronounced ma kiki) had a chips fryer going (also for a gold coin donation) and the line was long all night! Proceeds from the donations went to the Waimete District Food Bank. The Rotary and Mikikihi Fries gave out a lot of food; I hope people were generous with their donation.

Santa made an appearance, arriving in a police car following an ambulance. He had the beard and red suit, but short pants. We had heard that Santa arrives in NZ on a surfboard--he must have gotten a lift from the beach from the coppers.

A friend from the pool, Cat, who lives at 13 Studholme Street (we are at 3 Studholme) was one of the MCs. The MCs, Cat and Paul, did a great job. "Fantastic" was the word they used most. (Say it with at Kiwi accent for most accurate effect).

Many individuals and groups performed, including the Waimate Filipino Choir (one of the singers is a patient of Ruben's), and childrens groups from the local Centennial school. The kids did a fantastic job.

A hit of the night was the Santa 50, a play on a car race that took place in Waimate for many years (ended in the 1980s, I think I read). Three teams (Waimate New World, Glenavy Fire Department, and Waimate St John's Ambulance) had to dress a team member up in full Santa suit, have that member run up on stage to get a wrapped present from Santa. Upon returning to the team, the team members had to find an audience member who matched the description on the gift tag (eg, grandparent with grandchildren accompanying them in the park), deliver the gift, then the entire team had to run a 50-meter course with a team member in a Christmas sleigh (a decorated wheelbarrow). Then repeat it all a second time. The teams were "fantastic" sports and everyone in the crowd cheered and played along. "Fantastic"

There was a short presentation by a group of children of the biblical Christmas story. It was short, but we appreciated that it was there.