Christmas is coming - time for compassion

Stuart Whitaker. Photo/John Borren

There's no doubt about it - the whole city is getting ready for Christmas. There's a palpable sense of anticipation, tinged with a mild sense of panic, at the approaching big day.

Anyone in the CBD on Saturday would have no doubt about Tauranga's ability to celebrate, with each and every one of the entries in the Trustpower Downtown Tauranga Christmas Parade a masterpiece of invention and effort.

This week we look back on the vibrancy of the parade with a picture spread.

Congratulations to everyone involved in creating such a spectacle.

As much as it is a celebration, Christmas is also about giving and about showing compassion for those who are less fortunate than we are.

Someone who has been showing that spirit - and not just at Christmas - is longtime Tauranga Community Foodbank volunteer Maureen Paterson who features in our cover story.

Maureen's generosity is matched by her empathy for those who fall on hard times and are forced to turn to the foodbank for help in their time of need. Not only does she help make up and hand out food parcels, she also has a tendency to give hugs to those who visit.

Her story is a chance to remind you of the Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Foodbank appeal-details of how to help are on this page.

For those living in the Lakes, Matua and Papamoa, there will be street collections of non- perishable food tonight, next Thursday and the following Wednesday.

Of course 'normal' life goes on and, as a port city, Tauranga welcomes thousands of visitors each summer aboard the cruise ships that berth alongside Salisbury Wharf. Few can have had such an impact as the largest to ever arrive, Explorer of the Seas, that visited earlier this week, drawing the crowds to Pilot Bay to watch the ocean-going monster depart.

If you missed the spectacular sight, she is due back in Tauranga on January 12. Check out the Port of Tauranga website closer to the date to find out when she is due to arrive and depart.