Music and dance at Mercury Bay Club.
By Pauline Stewart.
All the way from Calgary.
Some years ago, a group of kiwis visited their good friends in Calgary, Canada.
A special treat of their Canadian holiday was to have their hosts take them to the famous Calgary
Stampede, and as part of that special event, their host purchased as gifts, Calgary cowboy hats for each of their kiwi guests. On Easter Sunday Night, this group of friends, some from Auckland, came together at Mercury Bay Club, wearing those cowboy hats to celebrate a country music night dancing to the rhythms, enjoying the food and playing a game of snooker. Well done to the Manager, Steve Andrew, and staff for what you offer at Mercury Bay Club.
This past week, Mercury Bay Club’s dining and entertainment space has been busy providing great music and dance opportunities for a large number of Mercury Bay residents as well as visitors from Auckland and the Waikato. On Easter Sunday evening, it was country and rock dance music with Honky Tonk Playboys, James Ray, Kevin Greaves and Brendon Ham, backed by Honky Tonk Rockers Band. Then a full house with 18 teams at the Wednesday Quiz Night hosted by Vegas and Liz Brown. On Friday night just past, it was the Smooth and Groove Duo, with pop music covers excellent for dancing and on Saturday night Marilyn Kingi and friends were the feature entertainment - Marilyn, Ali Flavell and Lawrence Keremana oozed harmony and an easy style which brought everyone out on the dance floor. A range of ages from 35 to 85 were enjoying meals, having a drink while swapping stories, celebrating birthdays and dancing the night away. It was a good place to be. People had travelled from Auckland to enjoy Marilyn who for years has graced the professional music scene at some of New Zealand’s biggest club venues.
WHITIANGA’S VENUES:
The township of Whitianga has a number of well-resourced dining and entertainment venues many open seven days a week; Smitty’s Sports Bar N Grill, Monkey House Theatre, Whitianga Town Hall (much less resourced). Some venues have outdoor dining, dance and entertainment areas well as indoor, such as Whitianga Hotel and Mercury Bay Club. Hula Cafe has a smaller outdoor area, and the Whitianga Bike Park has a new garden stage with considerable seating (but not dining). Grace O’Malley’s sometimes erects a stage for their guest feature artists. Whitianga does well on this score of and deserves the patronage of people from the big towns and cities. Locals are very well served.
Caption: Dr Anne Terry, Cindy Thomson, Stan Terry, James Terry and Jannelle Terry.
Caption: Honky Tonker's