Community Groups & Economic recovery

This weekend has highlighted how important Community Groups are to our local economy. On Saturday the Thames Genealogy group held an expo at the Thames Civic Centre. With genealogy groups coming together from all over New Zealand there was an impressive turnout of stall holders and an equally impressive turnout of visitors taking the opportunity to research family connections. Many of these people came to Thames, stayed overnight in motels, ate dinner at restaurants, brought coffees and lunches and at a time when every dollar counts I can only thank the Genealogists for having the inspiration to stage this event. It is only the second one for Thames, and is set to grow rapidly. The additional good news of this event is the newly restored Carnegie Building saw an unprecedented influx as the attendees of the expo took the opportunity to visit The Treasury, home of 'our stories', which is within the Carnegie Building. Council long deliberated over the expenditure on this project, and the option of closing the building permanently was favoured by some, however the decision to proceed with restoration was made and I am sure one that all can be very proud of now.

The other event I attended was the Coromandel Peninsula Coastal Walkways AGM. With attendees from Kuaotunu and Whangamata as well as the core members from Tairua and Pauanui it was again awesome to see what this small group of dedicated volunteers are doing for our community. All around the Peninsula this group are working side by side with DOC and landowners to create walkways for all to enjoy throughout some of our most scenic places. The volunteers who are out there working on the tracks are reporting that not only are there a huge number of residents taking the opportunity to enjoy these assets but they are seeing more and more visitors on the tracks stopping to ask them questions and even take photos of our volunteers! We even heard of a couple enjoying a cycleway so much they are going to move here so they can enjoy it more often, and you just can't beat that kind of endorsement!