Bruce Bay Sports Day
It was a stunning South Westland day to bring the folks out to the Annual Bruce Bay Sports Day on 23rd October 2022.
The Village Green was set up with activities for the kids to let loose. There might have been a stray wet sponge aimed at brothers, a colourful Bouncy Castle and of course, gorgeous face painting among the activities enjoyed.
Surrounded by spectators, the wood choppers were keen and competitive. Chips were flying from both young and older, heaving their sharpened axes with amazing accuracy. Great entertainment for all.
By midday, the crowd were enjoying a great steak sandwich from the BBQ or a bite to eat from the kitchen. A number of cakes in both the adult and kids’ Cake Baking Competition showed how creative the community are and all cakes and cupcakes were sold off at the Auction (before they melted in the sun).
This year, we were kindly sponsored by Te Whatu Ora, Community & Public Health. The last few years have been less than easy for a number of locals and businesses. So instead of asking for donations from our loyal sponsors, we were able to ‘give’ this year and offer them a koha. The infamous raffles were drawn, with many people winning fantastic prizes from Fudge Basket to Adventure Packages.
The crowds left and as it turned to evening the band turned up and started tuning in. The bus arrived from Fox Glacier and the party started! ‘Undercover’ kept the crowd going all night, thrashing out popular songs with a variety of instruments… the Sax and Flute were amazing. Once again, a lovely supper was provided by the kitchen helpers to keep everyone nourished.
A huge thank you to all that organise, rally together the impossible, make, bake and give of their time to make the event possible for all those children & their families to enjoy spending time together.
Text and Images: Wendy Hines, Bruce Bay
