The good old Christmas Party took a promising new turn on Friday night as the Havelock North Business Association mixed its annual get-together with fundraising for the village's volunteer fire brigade.
About $4000 was raised, far exceeding the expectations of association president Sam Jackman, who conceded he hadn't really had any idea how generous everyone would be.
He reckoned all 270 members contributed, the pot including about $2000 in donations from members who couldn't get to the shindig at the fire station.
Villagers making their way home from work in Hastings were given plenty of warning as they passed signs along Havelock Rd, indicating which way prospective benefactors should go, and where the tighter-fisted might also go.
Most who headed into Karanema Dr near the station stopped to donate to the cause, with more than $2000 added to the pool.