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Gumboot Day - Media Releases
Gumboot day 08 – WOW
 Event organizers and stallholders were kept busy right from kick-off at Taihape’s Gumboot Day 08 celebrations. A booked out steam train taking passengers to Taumarunui pulled in to the platform just as Rangitikei mayor Chalky Leary was concluding his official opening speech. This caught some stallholders on the hop, but the visitors enjoyed their half hour stopover. It was thought this influx of people would dwindle once the train left but this was not the case. Locals and visitors to the town kept the Tui, Robin streets and Outback site humming.
Everything was up and running with the master of ceremonies Bob Barrell doing a top job when the second steam train arrived with 347 passengers. This train had a stopover of three hours before returning to Feilding. Main stage bands, a group of Inca musicians and another of American Indians filled the area with music throughout the day. Hundreds gathered around the main expo area to watch the excellent performance of the TAS Hip Hop dancers, the Gumboot Grans Marching Team and the Wearable Arts Awards.
Showers, some heavy, did not deter the hundreds of people from enjoying the day. Taihape’s Rotary Club were kept busy at the gumboot-throwing lane and the golf club’s putting competition proved popular. The stalls selling all kinds of wares were well attended and the food outlets were also busy. Stu Munro gave lessons on shearing sheep with an informative commentary by Bob Barrell, Ross Stokes had animals from his petting farm and the kids had O’Rileys’s bouncy castle to keep them occupied. At the end of a very successful day Mayor Chalky Leary thanked sponsors, the Taihape Community Development Trust and volunteers. He added, “We all need to give a vote of thanks and plaudits to the main organizer, Eva George, for the hard work in bringing this fantastic day???.
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Massive programme for Gumboot Day 2008
“Bigger and brighter than ever??? is certainly the catch phrase for this year’s Gumboot Day set for Labour Weekend’s Saturday 25th October.
Manager for the Taihape Community Development Trust Eva George said a lot of volunteers are busy behind the scenes preparing a mixture of events and competitions. “Without the help of these people, Gumboot Day would not be the huge event it is shaping up to be.??? The mixture of activities will offer a fun day for everyone with most of the action taking place in the outback and through Robin Street.
Vintage cars and Harley Davidson’s will line Tui Street up past the Majestic Theatre. The ‘Tui tent will dominate the area between the new toilet block and the throwing lane. Tui tastings will be happening along with wine tasting by Taihape’s New World supermarket. The gumboot throwing competition will continue throughout the day and the “O Taihape - Small Town Big Heart??? art exhibition will be on display in the Town Hall.
There will be a bouncy castle for the littlies, foot path art, colouring competition prizegiving, Hip Hop and dance demonstrations and shearing demonstrations. The Gumboot Grans marching team will be on show along with the Gumboot pipe band. There will be a ‘Fred Dagg lookalike’ and wearable arts competition. The Taihape Museum will be offering an historic walk and there will be a cake baking competition. The last of the Gumboot Day raffle will be sold throughout the day and drawn in the afternoon. There will be a wide variety of stalls selling all kinds of knick knacks and clothing. Food stalls, including hot dog stands will be dotted throughout the area.
Ceramic gumboots with your own artwork will be for sale and cartoonist David Henshaw will be demonstrating and giving tips on drawing. He will also be doing portraits on demand. Skellerup will be there to show everyone how they make the Taihape famous Red Band gumboot. Many pairs will be given away as prizes. Although not yet confirmed, it is possible More FM Manawatu will be there.
Gumboot Day Colouring Competition
Probably best known for his “Jock??? cartoons, David Henshaw has donated a drawing for the Gumboot Day 08 colouring competition. He will also be in attendance on the day, Saturday October 25th, giving tips on his craft and drawing portraits for one and all.
Categories and Prizes
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Pre-school. The winning entry will receive a set of crayons and a colouring/drawing book.
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5-9 years old. The winning entry will receive an activity set or an Army Museum family pack.
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10-12 years old. The winning entry will receive a ‘paint by numbers’ set.
All category winners will receive a pair of gumboots and every entry will receive a packet of 12 colouring pencils.
Entry details: Entry forms are as below, or copies may be obtained from the Taihape Information Centre or click here.
Entries close: Entries are to be returned to the Taihape Information Centre by 5pm Tuesday, October 21st. All entries will be hung in the town hall during the Taihape Art Exhibition, “Otaihape Small Town Big Heart’.
Prizegiving: Winners will be announced and presented with prizes by Rangitikei’s mayor Chalky Leary. This will take place at 10.20am on the main stage at Gumboot Day.
The competition is sponsored by Skellerup, Army Museum Waiouru, Take Note Taihape and Central District Times
Gumboot Day 2008 – Only one more month to go!
The new Gumboot Day banner is finally visible in the Main Street! It is bright red, it is big and when driving through Taihape you just can’t miss it. Another sign that Gumboot Day is not that far away!
On top of that, tickets for this year’s major Gumboot Day raffle are now on sale! The first prize is 1 year’s worth of free shopping at Taihape New Wold! Don't forget to buy your ticket!
The programme is nearly finalised and everybody is busy with the final preparations. Additional activities have been confirmed, one of which is the Gumboot Cake Baking Competition which is being organised by Fran Robertson. “We’re still working on the details but should be able to tell more next week???.
In addition to this event the Gumboot Day committee has confirmed a well known artist who will be attending the event, David Henshaw. David is known as a New Zealand farming icon and after 40 years of communicating to the farming industry through his cartoons he was the winner of the 2007 Landcorp Communicator of the Year Award. His main character “Jock??? appeared in the “New Zealand Farmer??? for 34 years and has become an instantly-recognised national treasure. David will be there most of the day demonstrating and teaching various drawing techniques. His drawings are likely to be auctioned and there might be some surprises! David Henshaw said, “Taihape has a special place in my heart and I’m glad that I can once again be a part of this wonderful family event!???
This year Taihape will also have two displays by the Gumboot City Grans Leisure Marchers. These ladies are well known not only in the Rangitikei district but throughout New Zealand. “Everybody always asks about our Gumboots??? says Barbara Anderson, the coach of the team. The Gumboot City Grans have been marching in Invercargill and will be competing in the North Island Nationals in Napier on the 26th September which is followed by a trip to Wellington in March 2009 for the New Zealand Nationals. “We are never home??? Barbara said. “We have great times though and what goes on tour stays on tour!??? The Gumboot Grans are a bit apprehensive about performing on Gumboot Day. They have recently lost a wonderful team member (Mrs Rita Kelly) who was a foundation member and her absence is being felt. “Gumboot Day is a wonderful way of showing what we do to the community and although a bit nervous we are very much looking forward to it.
Gumboot Day also includes sheep shearing demonstrations by Stu Munro. The event will have a trailer that has been built specifically for demonstration and teaching purposes. There will be a pen with around 20 sheep that will be shorn during the day. Each demonstration will be accompanied by some history about the wool & shearing profession and information on shearing as a career.
The wearable art competition has been advertised throughout the area. The Committee has already received the first entries and it is great to hear people whispering about their ideas and possible entries. The Gumboot Day market is also expected to be a success. So far the committee has received 22 applications for stalls and they are expecting many more. Stall holders that are part of the local produce market only pay $10 for a site (deadline 29 September). Prior to Gumboot Day everyone will be contacted with a site locations and further details.
Finally, Gumboot Day includes a children’s colouring competition. This competition starts on 30 September and finishes on 20 October. The drawing will be by David Henshaw and is available in next week’s Central District Times, the Taihape Information Centre and on the Taihape website.
Gumboot Day 2008 – Only 7 Weeks to go!
With Gumboot Day less than 2 months away things are really shaping up. The programme has nearly been finalised and is available on the Taihape website. People who are considering whether or not to attend the day should really come and have a look!
In addition to the Gumboot, Fred Dagg is an iconic symbol for Gumboot Day and this year’s event will of course include the Fred Dagg look-a-like competition. The Gumboot Police will be out there fining people that are not wearing their gumboots, so why not go one step further and dress up like Fred Dagg! The winner will receive a copy of the Fred Dagg DVD/CD signed by Fred ‘himself’!
This opportunity to dress up is part of this year’s Wearable Arts Competition. The competition is being organised by Christine O’Riley who is known in the community for her creativity and is believed to be the right woman for the job. The competition includes an additional three categories: pre-school, primary and open. This is an opportunity for everybody to be creative. Creations can be fun or cultural, they can take any shape or form. The only prérequisite is that you have to model your entry!
Finally, another activity that is expected to draw a large amount of interest is the Taihape vintage car display. A large variety of vintage cars will be displayed on parking areas in the main street of Taihape (SH1). According to Peter Wilton the organiser of this event, the display is bound to make people stop. It includes vehicles of varying ages (from the early nineteen hundreds right up to the mid sixties), restored vehicles and those still under restoration and owners will be in attendance to answer questions regarding the vehicles’ history.
At this stage around 30 vehicles are expected to participate and they come from throughout the Rangitikei and Wanganui Districts. Owners are said to be very enthusiastic about the opportunity to display and some might be quite willing to take people for a ride (“for the right price of course???). We hope to have some old tractors from the Taihape Museum there as well, depending on whether they can be restored in time, so keep your fingers crossed!
For more information about the wearable arts competition, its rules and entry forms, please click here.
Gumboot Day 2008 – Already the anticipation is rising!
Preparations for Gumboot Day are in full swing. Organising the event started earlier this year in April and many people have been ‘lured’ into organising activities for the day. ‘This year we had a business plan to work from. It included many ideas that the various members of the community had communicated to me and it was very helpful in making the ideas come alive.’ says this year’s events manager Eva George. ‘It is very encouraging to see the spirit of Gumboot Day is already there and that people are keen for the event to take place’.
In 2007, the Taihape Community Development Trust had undertaken a survey regarding the date for Gumboot Day. As was reported at the time, the community agreed on one thing: the event should take place! Labour weekend just seemed too good an opportunity to miss. Eva explained that weekend will see a large group of additional people come to the town because of the final reunion of the Taihape College. In addition to that, Ontrack celebrates 100 years of the North Island Main Trunk Railway line. Together with Fielding it has organised a large event for that weekend which will see an additional 300 – 500 people come to Taihape on steam trains during Gumboot day.
The programme for Gumboot Day has not been finalised yet, but so far a large group of people have already offered their help to organise the various activities that will take place during the day. Eva said how much she valued the community’s input and the help she is getting. ‘It is a great way to get to know people and to work on something for the community together.’
Gumboot Day promises to become a very good event with activities in Robin Street, Tui Street and The Outback. Live music, dance demonstrations, foot path art, gumboot marching, shearing demonstrations, wearable art competition and the Young Farmers Gumboot challenge are only a few of the many activities during the day.
This year will also see the Major Gumboot Day Raffle. The main sponsor of this activity is the Taihape New World. ‘It is great to see local businesses supporting Gumboot Day. New World has put up a prize that his well worth the ticket fee. The first prize is 1 year of free shopping (max $100 per week)! Taihape New World who is a franchise of Foodstuffs Wellington Cooperative Society who are also a major sponsor of the event. ‘It is great to see these large organisations, that are known throughout New Zealand support an event like this’ says Eva. ‘It shows that Gumboot Day, which was initiated nearly 25 years ago, has risen to that National level of events!’
Gumboot Day wouldn’t be Gumboot Day without the Gumboot Throwing Competition. This year’s activity is organised by Taihape Rotary and Skellerup is back on board as well! Skellerup are well-known in Taihape, not only for their gumboots but also for their continued support of the event.
The Gumboot market also promises to be of high quality as applications for stalls have started coming in from as far away as Wellington. ‘We post all everything there is to know about Gumboot Day on the Taihape website and this includes the stall holders that have applied and been approved (www.taihape.co.nz). The latter is to inform potential stall holders of what stalls will be there which prevents double ups! The market is open to all voluntary groups and clubs that want to fund raise, however they do need to register and pay a small fee.’
New events this year are the Beer & Wine tasting under a large canopy and the art exhibition that will be displayed in the town hall. Both events are hoping to bring in a lot of people and raise the spirit of the event. Beers will be provided by TUI who is another sponsor of the event and various wineries are being contacted to provide the wines. Now we have to wait for some very essential permits from the Council! The art exhibition is being organised by Lianne Adams together with the Taihape Arts Society. It is called “O Taihape -Small Town, Big Heart??? and open for anyone to enter.
Finally, the event will be promoted not only through the local media but also by More FM who have agreed to sponsor the event through a 3-week promotion on the radio. Various businesses in Taihape have put up a prize and the winner of the radio competition will join us for the day in Taihape.
I am so looking forward to seeing it all come together’ says Eva. ‘Together with the Taihape community and the Gumboot Day sponsors it is going to be a great day’.
Finally, ‘there will be a Gumboot Day Meeting on Monday 18 August 2008 at Taihape REAP at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome, whether you are a volunteer helping out with the organising of the event, want to become a volunteer for the day or if you are just curious. Do let me know though so I have enough hot drinks & nibbles there’ (phone Eva on 06 388 1307 or e-mail info@taihape.co.nz).
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