Christmas Tree and Santa parades!

It felt like Christmas in Mercury Bay, in Coromandel, in Thames, and I am sure if you went to Whangamata for their Christmas parade, it would have felt like Christmas there too. The photos you see are of Whitianga’s Christmas parade at 12 noon on Saturday (after a drive-by one last year due to Covid), the Coromandel Parade on Sunday at 3pm and the Christmas tree lighting in Whitianga Town Square. A good crowd gathered to see the parade in Whiti and the Business Association was pleased with the response of fl oats after Covid halted festivities 2020/21. I missed some of the bigger businesses in town and let’s hope next year they can lead the way more. In Coromandel the fl oats were creative and fun - the police car wore tinsel and was in front. Lighting The Tree on Saturday night at 7.00pm in the Whitianga town plaza centre was a very enchanting event. People came from 6.00pm to enjoy the music and the balmy evening.

The Big Band played (Mayor Len was on the banjo), a community choir sang carols, the Lions Club sold sausages and organised a very busy outdoor Santa wonderland for everyone to get that special photo with Santa; Ritchie Neighbours made all kinds of fi gures and shapes out of balloons for the children. People talked and smiled a lot. Thank you to the Menzshed and the Whitianga Lions Club for all the work to repair the tree, set it in the square and organise the lighting ceremony. Huge job and several businesses assisted. The Lions Co-ordinator was John Pedersen. Great work. Thank you to Stephan and Petra Bosman and Espy Cafe for organising the signage from business sponsors