Christmas in Park coming to Decks Reserve

November 30th, 2012
[by David Armstrong]

The Christmas in the Park event will be held this year in Decks Reserve, with new organiser Motueka Church of Christ promising a great family evening of food, games, carols and entertainment.

In recent years Christmas in the Park has been run by the Recreation Centre staff in Goodman Park, but they were happy to pass on the baton to the Church of Christ to provide a fresh approach.

And organiser Pastor Shane Murray says if it goes well the church will build on the event in future years as a great way to engage the whole community in a real Christmas celebration and coming together.

The evening will start at 7pm on Saturday December 22nd with a picnic dinner and fun activities for the children. As the light begins to fade, around 8.30pm, the entertainment and carol singing will commence, including a visit by Santa by helicopter to hand out glow sticks.

The principal sponsor is Birdhurst, with a large number of local businesses and individuals also helping with the finances and lending equipment. "We haven't had to apply for funding, we've had great backing from businesses and the community," Shane says.

Normally the Church of Christ has packed out its church on Christmas Eve with 300 or more celebrating Christmas. They decided to present their message to the wider community, through open-air carol singing and a Christmas message delivered by Shane.

Of particular note is that, after event expenses are paid for, all proceeds from evening's offering will go to supporting the ambitious Motueka High School 24-7 programme, which is in its second year of operation.

This programme, a joint venture of the High School, Motueka Church of Christ and Motueka Baptist Church, pays for two youth workers to help out full-time at the school, mixing with students and mentoring any needing help.

The event will use all of Decks Reserve, with the sound stage near the centre and facing the car park. For the picnic dinner people can bring their picnic rug and dinner, or buy food from one of several hot food stalls.

A Merry-go-round, ferris wheel, and two bouncy castles plus lots of games organised from the stage will keep the children occupied up until 8.30pm when the show will start.

The MC will be More FM's Katrina Smith, and there will be a live band for the carol singing. In addition there will be several performances including Vision Dance Studio, which will perform a children's Christmas dance programme, and opera singer Miriam Fraser supported by Paul Jeffries.

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