Kiwicoast Lions book fair a success

Janice Murray browsing through the books on sale at the Te Puke Kiwicoast Lions book sale. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Te Puke Kiwicoast Lions’ annual book fair was on at the weekend - but it only goes ahead with the help of the community,

Club president Maxine Shanks says the sale “went really, really well”, but without the support of the entire Bay of Plenty community, the event simply wouldn’t go ahead.

She says the sale drew people from far and wide including Taupō, Rotorua, Hamilton and Tauranga. She says that is usual as the sale is advertised widely.

“There are buyers who keep an eye out for all the book fairs throughout the country and know when they are all on,” she says.

The Te Puke Kiwicoast Lions book fair in full swing. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

The sale started at 8am on Friday and there was already a small queue at 6.45am.

As well as those who head along and spend their money, the club is reliant on all those people who make donations of books, magazines, jigsaws, DVDs, CDs and records.

Friday was the busiest day although, possibly because of the weather, Saturday also had people coming in constantly.

All the money raised by the sale goes back into the community.

“We don’t have one particular project that we are donating to at the moment - but people send in requests and we assess them and say yes we can help or no we can’t.”

Margaret Richardson travelled from Tauranga for the book sale. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Te Puke High School first XV help transport the books from the shed where they are sorted to Te Puke Memorial Hall, and Te Puke Scouts help clear up at the end of the sale, both in exchange for a donation.

Friends and family of club members also help to make sure the fair goes ahead.

The club’s next event is scheduled to be a mental health evening in late October.