When Levin rock band Stampede were asked to perform at a disability dance, they decided amongst themselves not to charge a fee.
That was 10 years ago. Every year since, twice a year the band have hit the stage at Stairways, a fortnightly social evening held for a special sector of the Horowhenua community.
Stampede started out with a group of like-minded musicians who began jamming - and they haven't stopped. There have been personnel changes within the band along the way, but the spirit remains the same.
Stampede manager Boyd Cornell said everyone in the band looked forward to playing the Stairways gigs.
"When the boys first started doing it they got together and said 'we can't take any money. We'll do it for love'," he said.
"There is no way we could take money. We enjoy it. We do it for the love of it."
The Stampede lineup at the weekend was Jimmy Dwan, Dennis Roderick, Dan the Drummer, Shane Harvey, Paul Vernon, Paul Apatu and Tony Burgess, playing a range of toe-tapping tracks.
Levin band Stampede - Jimmy Dwan, Dennis Roderick, Dan the Drummer, Shane Harvey, Paul Vernon, Paul Apatu and Tony Burgess - perform at Stairways at the weekend.
They were all on hand to set up equipment when the doors to Levin Senior Citizens Hall in Cambridge Street Hall opened up, and were into their work by 7pm.
The music dies down around 9.30pm when everybody settles in for a cup of tea and some supper.
Horowhenua Stairways is a non-profit organisation that started in 1986, recognising it would fill a gap in the social calendar.
Some at the dance had known each other since childhood and were former residents of the now-disbanded Kimberley Hospital care facility in Levin.
Parents and caregivers of those on the dance floor either join in or relax with a cup of tea or coffee on long chairs around the edge of the hall.
Stampede played the Stairways mid-year gig and also the big Christmas gig later in the year, for which organisers were grateful. Other times there were disc jockeys who played at Stairways.
Cornell said band members were also involved in the Palace Players Club, which meets on the last Sunday of every month in Ōtaki, while every second Saturday was a jam session where youngsters were encouraged to join in with more experienced musicians.
Stampede often played at Levin Cosmopolitan Club, too.
There is always a good crowd at the fortnightly Stairways Dance at Levin.
Stairways president Margaret Cadman said the dance was for anybody with a disability and played an important part in their social wellbeing.
It attracted people from Whanganui, Palmerston North, Feilding and Paraparaumu, in the absence of similar social functions in those areas.
Stairways existed only through the hard work of the committee, and those who have been on past committees.
