My Account
Beth Houlbrooke,
Rodney Local Board
It is my absolute pleasure to be in this position to congratulate the Warkworth Kowhai Festival Committee on 50 consecutive years of running one of the most successful and long-held community events in the country.
I would have been five when the Kowhai Festival was conceived, however, I don’t personally remember attending until my late teens. Before I was 17, I hadn’t been a full-time Warkworth area resident, but I was soon to find out that Warkworth could be just as lively as anywhere in Auckland, on at least that one day of the year.
I have photos of the 1982 festival and they remind me of the street parade, complete with cars from the nearby dirt track racing club, of which my brother was a keen member, and business floats (read: a truck with some fernery and hay bales with kids on the back), names which are still recognisable – Masons, Rhodes and Wharehine.
Adults would watch from within the picket fence of the Establishment’s beer garden, glass jugs at white wrought iron tables. I entered the raft race that year with my work colleagues from Perry Dines – then one of the biggest employers in town with the construction of the dual gas and oil pipeline from Marsden Point to Wiri. Falling into the river was inevitable. I remember not wanting to feel the bottom with my feet, so scrambled back on to that raft as quickly as I could!
Life was less sophisticated then; we were proud of our country town and its kowhai tree-lined Mahurangi River, then capable of being navigated by flotillas of pleasure craft. None of that has been lost completely, but it requires a sustained effort to protect and enhance.
We are still blessed with a wealth of community spirit that has ensured the Kowhai Festival has gone from strength to strength. Of particular note, and knowing I risk missing someone’s name out if I even start trying, I tip my hat to Dave Parker, whose name is now synonymous with this festival.
I don’t think I’ve missed more than one or two Kowhai Festivals since that time. From casual attendee to kindergarten president, organising three consecutive years’ fundraisers, and now as an elected representative – I’ve been through all of them. I look forward to the day that I can just sit by the wharf enjoying the local wines and oysters, while watching my son’s band perform.
Congratulations, and enjoy!
