Fabulously old-fashioned, galas are still an important date on the school calendar, writes Gill South.
Every April on a Sunday, I dash to the Gala held at my sons' school, Gladstone Primary in Mt Albert, carrying a basket of scones and a freshly baked cake. I arrive at the school, which has been transformed into a wonderland of stalls, activities, bouncy castles, thronging with children, teachers, and families. I don my apron, freshly washed for the occasion, roll up my sleeves and start serving the waiting masses. People seem to like taking a breather at the Devonshire Tea stand, (it's the grandparents' favourite, exhausted teachers like to collapse there too).
School galas are great fun, there's something wonderfully old fashioned about them - when you think about it, they have been running for centuries around the world. And even in 2010, you can still arrive to find the familiar White Elephant stand, the book stall, the plate smashing stand, the lucky dip, the candy floss, all the old favourites. Admittedly these have been supplemented over the years by bouncy castles, the rather flash horizontal bungee jump and some pretty high profile entertainment, but the idea is the same.
As Meadowbank School Family Fun Day organiser, Kerryn Patten, says: "The Fun Day brings the whole school together. The school has a lot of events for the children during the year or for the parents - balls or quiz nights - but this is one thing we do for everyone."
The second round of school galas for the year has already begun as the weather improves running into December. Last weekend my boys went to the Hebron Christian College fair for a birthday party. The canny parents gave the partygoers $10 each to spend and they had an absolute ball splashing out on fizzy drink and sweets. All attempts to be PC about diet have to go out the window.
The grown-ups can indulge a bit too. Catherine, a mother of four children, who all attend Hebron, picked up some bargains at the fair when she was given some time off from the Devonshire Tea stall. She bought some large picture frames for $10 and a very nice vase for 50 cents. "You're meant to bring about three times as much as you buy," she says wryly. Unfortunately she was pipped to the post for a lounge suite which was snapped up for $95.
Trudi, a mother of two from Takapuna, is a school gala aficionado. She monitors the online Eventfinder to keep abreast of the upcoming fairs.
"I go as entertainment for the children and to hunt out a bargain," she says. "I am not restricted by geography." She always goes with a wallet full of cash. "Last time I went to the Vauxhall Primary School PTA Fair I spent $120."
If you think these are unambitious little affairs, think again. The parents who run these galas are a pretty competitive lot. Maungawhau School Fair in Mt Eden is perceived as one of the bigger fairs, raising over $80,000 last year. Balmoral School Gr8 Day Out co-organiser Robyn Cory-Wright keeps a close eye on these things. This year Balmoral is aiming to raise $40,000 for interactive whiteboards for the school and last year they raised $35,000 which helped pay for a spring floor in the new auditorium so they can use it as a gym too.
There are some upsides to taking on the responsibility of running a school fair. Cory-Wright, mother of year six pupil, Erin, and a project manager at Suncorp Life, has been hobnobbing with some big names. Last year she had to get permission from Big Day Out organiser Campbell Smith to use his event's name for her school fair. Co-organiser Sue King has meanwhile enlisted the help of Balmoral local Graeme Brazier for the second year, as well as a covers band CVE and The Danny McCrum Band.
Speaking of musicians, Vauxhall Primary School in Devonport is lucky enough to have Tim Finn as one of the parents who attends the fair held bi-annually with his family. Vauxhall is fitting for Finn - the school principal and a group of the teachers have a band which plays at every function.
The organiser of the PTA School Fair, Darel Worsnop, quite enjoys the pressure of running a fair. "You can have lists as long as your arm, but on the day a dozen people do turn up and it all comes together," says the former legal secretary.
Last year's fair helped raise $40,000 towards a new hall.
"I feel that I have had a real hand in building that hall," says the mother of Lucy, 10 and India 8. Her girls really like having her so involved in their school, she says.
For those wanting to re-enter the workforce after having kids, putting on your CV that you have run a few of these festive events can be a real asset. Helena Ujdur, the organiser of the Matakana School Gala, has that in the back of her mind. In her third year of running the fair, it's a way to "ease back into the workforce", she says. Held every year over Labour Weekend, it draws thousands of people to a school with a roll of just 300. And Ujdur manages a substantial "workforce" of 170 parents and grandparents to bring the event off.
"Last year we made $48,000, the year before it was $38,000. We've started to realise it's not just a small fair," says the mother of 5 and 7 year olds. Money raised from this year's event will go towards an information centre in the library.
One of the visitors at the Matakana fair may well have been Christine Landers, organiser of the Titirangi Primary School Gala to be held on November 6.
"For us as a family - we will sometimes travel to obscure places to another fair. You get ideas for your own one," she says.
Landers highly recommends the Titirangi Rudolf Steiner Advent Fair held on November 21. They will hand paint snail shells.
"All these things people put effort into," she says.
That's going on my list of school fairs to visit. I've never been handy enough to make my own Christmas wreath. But now I know where to find one.
Tips for fairgoers
* Take plenty of cash, most schools won't have Eftpos.
* Get there early for the best stuff.
* Bargain hard at the end of the day, you'll end up bringing boxes of stuff home.
* Take bottles of water - fairs can be hot work.
* Don't worry about being PC - let the kids have candy floss and Fanta for one day, and it's your chance to relieve your youth and do that too.
* Take a trailer in case you see some furniture you can't resist.
* Organise for a group of your kids' friends to meet there - give them their money and send them on their way. They'll have a ball in a safe environment.
* Don't forget to put "organising school fair" on your CV - they are big businesses these days.
* Think of the school fair as a good excuse to get to know your kids' teachers in an informal setting.
* Do volunteer to go on a stall - you might just meet another very nice parent.
Tips for organisers
* It may be painful, but start thinking about next year's fair about two weeks after the last one. Learn the lessons from the gala while they are fresh in your mind.
* Put a survey out in the next newsletter and get people's feedback on their favourite stands - use that school database. Then you'll have a good idea of what worked and what didn't.
* Give each classroom the responsibility of a stand or ride and assign one parent to work with the teacher and to organise a group of parents to help. Ask the parent in charge to draw up a roster for the gala day. Try and provide hourly turns so the parents have time to go and look around and buy things too.
* Send a form home to parents asking them about their skills which might come in handy for the school fair. Musicians, chefs and builders are always popular.
Spring Fair Calendar
* Titirangi Primary School Gala, November 6, 12-4 pm
* St Leo's Catholic School Fair, Devonport, November 6, 11am-2pm
* Maungawhau School Fair, Mt Eden, November 7, 11 am-3 pm
* Hauraki Primary School Twilight Fair, Takapuna, November 12, 4-8 pm
* Balmoral Gr8 Day Out, November 13, 2-7pm.
* Freyberg Community School Gala, Te Atatu South, November 13, 11am-2 pm
* Alfriston School Wild West Gala 2010, Manurewa, November 13, 11am-3 pm
* Glamorgan Twilight Christmas Market, Torbay, November 14, 2pm-7 pm
* Gladstone School Christmas Market, Mt Albert, November 18, 5pm-9 pm
* Whenuapai School Gala, November 20, 10am-3pm
* Meadowbank School Family Fun Day and Christmas Market, November 21, 11am-3 pm
* Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School Advent Fair, November 21, 10 am till 3 pm
* Glenfield Primary School Family Fun Gala, December 10, 3-7 pm
