BBAMD had a big presence at the Villy Day Out on 23 November in Te One reserve. Villy Day Out is designed for tamariki/young people as a celebration of the positive aspects of village life, but there were hundreds of people of all ages from all over the region—some came from Auckland and communities throughout Northland. Firefighters showed young people just how hard it was to hold a
hose with water blasting through it, the Police had a canine team, and Bike NZ was there with a track. There were craft stalls, a bouncy castle, a huge slide, bumper cars, and good eating from the
many food trucks and stalls. The main performance stage featured local groups of tamariki dancers, musicians and other performers. Although the day was scheduled to begin at 10:00, there were
already people circulating by 9:15, and heavy crowds moved through until closing at 3:00 pm.
The photos here were taken early in the day (before things got really busy!). Sue Hancock, Mary Wilson, Liz Rawhiti, Jacky Ancliffe, Linda and Norm Cave all contributed significant time during the day.
Many thanks to Ray White Realtors who loaned the gazebo at no cost to the church (and to Aaron Ratcliffe, who dropped it off and collected it!). The theme of our stall was ‘Planting seeds’, and
our parish volunteers had over 100 encounters with young people and their families. Each visitor had an opportunity to plant a vegetable or flower seed or two (or a kumara shoot) in egg crates and seedling pots donated by BBAMD members, and each adult received a page listing BBAMD Christmas services, website and Facebook sites, and support the church offers the community. The seed planting was well received by the community, and volunteers experienced both the practical and metaphorical side of the seed planting.