04/12/2023
Santa Claus has amended his GPS so that he doesn’t miss Hawke’s Bay’s largest Christmas event this year. Property Brokers Christmas at the Park will be held at Park Island Napier on Saturday 9th December.
The Kaisen Charitable Trust, that has organised this event for the past 16 years, is in the final stages of making sure next weekend’s Christmas celebration is a time to remember that we are connected as a community, no matter the year we may have had.
The Trust, like many, also suffered from the cyclone as their containers that stored approximately $20,000 of event gear was stored in Eskdale. “the container was fully submerged and was moved about half a kilometre by the flood water” said David trim, trustee and organiser of the event.
“The sad part was that a lot of the gear has been accumulated over the 16 years we have been doing this and included the mural boards that we have had painted during the actual shows over the years. We are trying to save as many as we can, however expect they will deteriorate very quickly now” trim said.
“The container was so full of slimy mud that the Hiab truck sent to pick it up couldn’t lift it”, Trim said.
To add an extra blow, the Trust’s insurance company refused to pay on the policy covering the loss of the gear, siting an interpretation of the policy as their reasoning. “As I was throwing trailer loads of gear off at the dump, I felt a real sadness, not just for the actual loss, more for the years it took to accumulate the gear along with all the many people that contributed to it and all the donations over the years that we used to build up our resources
After removing all the mud from the container the job became a task of saving what they could. Help was forth coming from the Rotary Club of Ahuriri, tasked with cleaning, scrubbing and assessing what could be saved. “it was a big job, with over 50 mural bboards and many signs that all needed cleaning. “The silt just found its way into absolutely everything” trim said.
The trust is focused on creating a great event this year and the longer term task of rebuilding the resources.
This year’s headline act is Cassie Henderson. Cassie toured here earlier this year with Kaylee Bell. Local artists to also take to the stage include, Killer Queen, Ampt up, PPV and Carols on Tour. Dancers and Star jam will complete the artist line up for the 4.5-hour concert. Santa will make his appearance while on his travels through Hawke’s Bay and the night concludes with a unique signature fireworks show.
The event attracts around 10-15,000 per year is free to enter and has free entertainment for the children. Leap Education and the Air Training Cadets will be running the children’s arena, where they will have over 20 face painters and a Team of Cadets putting children through a fun confidence course. “Each event in our Childrens arena will be churning out 100 children per 10 minutes, it’s fun crazy in there!” said Trim.
Food, coffee, drinks, glow and sparkly merchandise can be purchased at the event and picnics are welcome, David said.
“Property Brokers Christmas at the Park is a great gift to the city from Kaisen Charitable Trust and from all the sponsors, who together contribute to ensure the night becomes a great Community experience” says David. Both the Hastings District Council and Napier City Council support this event as it’s a significant community event for our region.
The weather forecast is looking fantastic, with day temperatures predicted of 25 degrees.
Gates open at 3pm, with the stage starting at 5pm. Carparks along Clyde Jeffery Drive will be available and street parking around the park.
The night concludes at 9.45.
