Totara College gets ready for Dannevirke Garden, Craft and Food Expo

There will be plenty of garden products for sale at the Dannevirke Garden, Craft and Food Expo at Totara College on March 27. Photo / File

Totara College of Accelerated Learning is gearing up for its 26th Dannevirke Garden, Craft and Food Expo, which will be held on Saturday, March 27.

The expo is generally held early in November but, as with many events planned last year, uncertainty over Covid-19 saw the date pushed out to March.

Co-ordinator Hope Welsh said planning for the November expo began at the beginning of the year.

"The organising committee had started the ball rolling but then we went into lockdown. So we had to decide whether we waited a whole year to hold the expo or postpone it. We chose to postpone it."

She said a factor in that decision was that often the weather in November can be unpredictable, while the weather in March can be more settled.

"So we are trialling holding the expo this month. It's not set in concrete, we'll see how it goes."

The expo is a huge fundraiser for this small school, which has a roll of 62.

The event attracts stallholders from a wide area, from Hawke's Bay to Wairarapa and around 1000 visitors.

It raises around $8000, which is used to fund capital projects it couldn't otherwise undertake. The college's current projects are to replace some shade cloth and to build a covered walkway to the hall.

The theme for this year's expo is Over the Rainbow - the Wizard of Oz and there will be special competitions to reflect that theme. One will be to find ruby red shoes hidden around the college grounds, another is scarecrow making and there will be a treasure hunt, with prizes buried in the new covered sandpit.

The college runs a colouring competition in conjunction with the expo. The artwork for this is traditionally created by a Totara College student, with this year's picture drawn by Josiah Max.

The colouring competition is open to all children in the district and entry forms have been sent out to all schools around Dannevirke. They are also available from the Dannevirke Information Centre.

One of the most popular features of the expo is the mystery envelopes that can be bought for $2 and are filled with a variety of prizes and surprises that have been donated by sponsors, stallholders and parents.

However, the real drawcards are the stallholders who come from far and wide, offering something for everyone. Visitors will find there are hundreds of plants, garden art and furniture, bird feeders and planters.

All kinds of crafts will be on sale, from handmade jewellery to quilts, toys, books, woodwork, clothing and accessories.

Welsh said a number of contributors to The Craftery in Dannevirke will have their work for sale.

There are 20 new sites among the stallholders which so far number almost 60. In terms of food choices, Welsh said there will be plenty including fudges, preserves, gluten-free options, icecream and hot chips.

In the past, the expo has included a children's carnival but Welsh said this had proved hard to find staff for, so while changes have been made to this side of the expo there will still be plenty to occupy children. There will be a bouncy castle, a giant slide, a petting zoo and some games.

There will also be music and dancing, and the Dannevirke Art Society will be staging an exhibition.

Totara College's Cath Cameron, who has been organising the Dannevirke Garden, Craft and Food Expo since it began.

This is the first year Welsh has been responsible for co-ordinating the expo. She has been under the guiding hand of school administrator Cath Cameron, who has been the main organiser since the event began but will be stepping down when she leaves the school this year.