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This year he brought along his five-year-old daughter, Eva McNeil. Ronnie featured in this Big Dig story in The Coaster, in 2000. Marc Johnson and his four-year-old daughter Jemma find their first prize stick. Cory Hebben spent the Big Dig having water balloons fired at him as the human target in a slingshot game.
The turnout at the Big Dig was a little light this year, according to Orewa Lions project director, Mandy Hebben, but the charitable event still raised around $5000.
The Big Dig, which began as a fundraiser for Orewa Lions in 1980, is now a community classic – many families come year after year. It has only been cancelled once. This year’s event was held on January 13 in hot, sunny conditions.
A simple formula is the key to its longevity – coloured sticks that earn prizes are buried in fenced off sections of Orewa Beach for children to dig up, using hands only.
Sponsorship from local businesses is also key – this year Mike Pero Orewa and More FM were among the supporters that made the Big Dig possible.
In the months before the event, and on the day, volunteers from Lions and other local groups such as Orewa Sea Scouts, put in hours of labour to ensure things run like clockwork.
The money raised, which is always returned to the community, will go towards purchasing another piece of outdoor gym equipment for Orewa Beach Reserve.
