Masked ball for Poppy: Canada or bust

MASQUERADE: Year 13 Kuranui College student Poppy Millar, 16, is launching a fundraising drive to help get her on a student exchange trip to Canada in January next year.

A masquerade ball in the wilds of South Wairarapa on Saturday will launch a fundraising drive to help get Kuranui College student Poppy Millar to Canada.

Poppy, 16, was yet to discover where in Canada she will be heading in January next year as part of the Student Exchange programme, but she was hopeful her first choice of Vancouver will be her destination.

Her family will be hosting the masquerade ball at the Kahutara Community Hall on Saturday night - with prizes for best dressed and refreshments available - as a launch of her fundraising campaign to gather the thousands of dollars she will need for her three-month exchange to Canada.

Poppy said she chose Canada, as it was a country she had been keen to visit for some time, particularly the capital city of British Columbia.

"I've wanted to go on an exchange to Canada for ages - you hear about it through school - and my friend went to France last year for nine months. She loved it."

She chose the three month programme, as she was planning on starting work as well as her college studies next year to get a head start on costs to attend university, and had selected a city for the change of pace and lifestyle.

Poppy said she had already started selling raffle tickets at the Fresh Choice supermarket in Greytown and there were other fundraisers on the horizon including a quiz night later this year. She said tickets had sold well at $20 a head for the Masquerade Ball, which will also feature DJ Cyclops, raffles, and prizes for the best dressed party-goer.

The ball runs from 7pm to midnight and while pre-event tickets are available at $20 each through Lisa Yule at 06 307 7812, tickets will also be available on the door at $25 apiece.