This year I was asked to be a judge of the Walking Parade at the Huge Day Out as part of the Golden 50th Kowhai Festival in Warkworth. As the biggest event of the festival, the Huge Day Out showcased many talented local artists and businesses. There was a great turnout and I was proud to support this event that has taken place every year since 1970. As part of the Kowhai Festival, I also attended the Warkworth Great Debate at the Town Hall, which is always a great night and a lot of fun. Murray Chapman gets better each year. Being a politician, I know that I can always rely on copping a lot of good humoured flak from the highly energised debating teams. I wasn’t disappointed again this year. It is a great night for a great cause, and I would encourage people to get out and support the event next year.
Events like the Kowhai Festival would not be possible without a group of dedicated volunteers. Working behind the scenes, these people make up the fabric of our community. They are there for us on the frontline when we need them. Whether it be the volunteer fire brigade or St Johns, Rodney’s volunteers help keep us safe. As we come into the busy season, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteers for making Rodney such a fantastic place to live.
Speaking of volunteers, this year I took part in the 2019 Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge to raise money for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand. In preparation for the climb, our firefighters from the Manly and Silverdale brigades helped me train. This month, it was a huge honour of be made an honorary member of the Manly Volunteer Fire Brigade and have the privilege of presenting long service and good conduct medals to two of our outstanding Manly firefighters – Clint Robinson and Mike Williamson. The event was a special opportunity to acknowledge and thank our volunteer firefighters for their hard work and the sacrifice both they and their families make in the service of their communities. Some of our local firefighters did respond to the Sky City fire, and I would like to thank and acknowledge them also.
I also recently attended the 50th anniversary of our Silverdale Ambulance Service. It was a great evening with past and present officers coming together with friends and family to celebrate 50 years of service. It was interesting to hear anecdotal stories of our single ambulance responding with one officer to serious accidents with multiple casualties, and the way they just got on with the job at hand. We live in a golden age of technology and medical science, and it is sometimes good to be reminded how, not so long ago, our first responders relied on resourcefulness and our famous number 8 wire attitude to get the job done. We should do all we can as a country to retain these qualities, as they are just as important in a modern world as they were 50 years ago.
Mark Mitchell, National MP for Rodney
https://markmitchell.national.org.nz/
Whangaparaoa MP
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