31 October 2011 – MONDAY MEMO

…from Heart of Gisborne acting city manager, Ken Huberts

The week ahead: Today is the last day of October, which means it’s just 33 days until the Christmas Parade and only 54 days until Christmas! With temperatures rising and sun hours increasing, summer is well and truly on its way. This is a gentle reminder that we need to get our CBD ready for the influx of visitors. I have already seen some businesses advertising “summer hours” which is great. The feeling from locals I talked to after the Wine and Food Festival weekend was that many visitors would love to come back – so send out an invitation to your friends to enjoy some more Gisborne hospitality and maybe a wine or two.

Changes in the CBD: It’s great to see buildings such as the Bain & Sheppard building finally completed. This heritage building now stands tall and proud in the CBD, so congratulations to all concerned. There is a lot more activity due in the CBD soon – I will bring you more details next week.

Christmas Parade: The parade is planned for Saturday 3 December at 4pm with the theme “Christmas at the Beach”. You can have a lot of fun with this, so get your team, business or group together and start planning now. Entry forms and rules are on our website www.heartofgisborne.org.nz or email Jade@heartofgisborne.org.nz for more details. We already have a lot of interest so don’t leave it until the last minute. We will also be delivering road closure notices to all affected businesses this week. This closure has been advertised in The Gisborne Herald and is the same route as last year.

Office Stars of the week: This week’s Office Star of the week is Mary Toroa of Addictions Services – Community Mental Health at Tairawhiti District Health. Mary was nominated for always being a calming influence in her extremely busy work office, dealing with clients queries and staff interruptions with ease, and being a pleasure to work with. Congratulations Mary! You can nominate someone for our Office Star of the week here.

Parting thought: “People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.”  — Bob Dylan,

START PLANNING FOR:

*** Heart of Gisborne Annual Children’s Christmas Parade – Saturday 3 December 2011 – 4pm

*** Late-night Christmas shopping – Thursday 22 December 2011 – until 8pm

On the Street – your news and views=========================

Glaucoma check: Specsavers would like to advise all readers of the Monday Memo and their friends and families that Glaucoma NZ is giving a FREE information presentation about Glaucoma on Saturday 12 November from 10am-11.30am at the Quality Hotel Emerald (Taruheru Room) on Gladstone Road. If you would like to understand more about glaucoma or have friends or family members who are affected by glaucoma, then come along to this free presentation by eye specialist, Dr Mike O’Rourke. All are welcome!

Christmas Function at the Grill Room: Enjoy our Traditional Christmas Buffet by Chef Stephan Kellermann with all the trimmings including roast turkey, roast beef, leg of lamb, fresh oysters, mussels, prawns, fresh fish as well as our famous desserts and much more every Friday and Saturday night starting on 11 November. For groups of 40 or more our events centre is available. For more information, visit www.emeraldhotel.co.nz or contact our events manager on 868 8055 orfunctions@emeraldhotel.co.nz.

Jo Seagar visits Gisborne THIS WEEK: See celebrity chef Jo Seagar at the Lawson Field Theatre, Saturday 5 November at 7pm. Tickets are just $20 from Paper Plus with all proceeds going to Gisborne Palliative Care. You’ll enjoy complimentary drinks and food samples from Jo’s latest book, Italia. Seats for this entertaining evening are strictly limited so get your ticket today!

Photographer Stephen Robinson at The Bookshop Café: Stephen Robinson, photographer for books such as Rural Delivery and New Zealand Artists @ Work, will be talking about his photography and books on Thursday 10 November at The Bookshop Café from 5.30pm. $5 cover charge for wine and nibbles.

Michael Cooper celebrates his new wine guide:  Wine writer, Michael Cooper, will be celebrating the release of his 20th Edition of Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines.  This will be held at the Gisborne Wine Centre on Monday 14 November from 5.30 pm. Tickets are $25 available from Muirs Bookshop. Tickets are strictly limited so be quick!

The Gisborne Herald Quarter Marathon and 5km Fun Run 2011: This event is on November 13, 8:30am at the Marina Park and Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti would like this to be the most colourful and vibrant community event ever! So we are encouraging everyone to round up friends, family and workmates and make it a challenge – it’s a scenic 5km or 10.5km course in the city and along our beautiful riverside walkways. There are entry specials for groups – individuals 16 years and over $20; groups of 10 people $180.  More information can be found at www.sportgisborne.org.nz or by contacting Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti, 74 Grey Street, First Floor – Post Office Building, 06 868 9943.

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