For 35 years the Rotorua Weekender has been helping to keep the community in the know and celebrating local successes.
From sporting achievements to school holiday activities, Pink Walks to career expos, fundraisers to 100th birthdays, student achievements to event previews, and much more, so many local stories have been told.
The first Rotorua Weekender was printed in 1988 as part of the Rotorua Daily Post. In 1993 it became a standalone publication.
Although I have only been part of about five years of the paper’s 35-year history, it has been the biggest privilege and so much fun to meet many amazing local people and share their stories.
It would take an endless number of pages to look back on all of them, so here I’m sharing some of my top highlights from over the past few years.
One of my favourite initiatives to have been involved in with the Rotorua Weekender, alongside the Rotorua Daily Post and The Hits, is the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal.
The six-week appeal, run each year in the lead-up to Christmas, puts the call out for people to donate what money or food items they can afford. These donations go to the local Salvation Army foodbank to help their work during the Christmas season and beyond.
Rotorua’s generosity to the appeal is incredible and heart-warming each year.
So many businesses, organisations, schools, families and individuals get involved in different ways to help others in the community struggling at an especially expensive time of year.
Big or small, every donation makes such a difference.
And I’m sure most of you have heard of The Hits Fill the Bus - an absolutely awesome day held each year as part of the appeal.
Scion employees Cameron Lucich and Sarah Davies, alongside The Hits Rotorua's Paul Hickey and the Grinch, with Fill the Bus donations last year. Photo / Mead Norton
This is a day full of action and generosity as schools, ECEs, businesses and public stops are visited by the team to pick up non-perishable donations for the foodbank.
I’ve been lucky enough the last couple of years to spend the majority of the day on board, chatting with people and taking photos at each stop as they contribute to filling the bus.
It is always special visiting the schools - seeing their faces light up as the bus approaches, the excitement of filing out with all their donations and loading them on, plus the smiles and laughs when the Grinch makes his appearance.
Another local fundraiser I have thoroughly enjoyed covering over the past few years is Harcourts Dancing for Hospice.
Harcourts Dancing for Hospice 2022 winners Talor Kahu and Mahia Keepa-Hale. Photo / Andrew Warner
The event pairs 20 Rotorua people with little or no dance experience into 10 couples for a one-night-only performance. Four celebrity judges join on the night to decide the overall winners.
It’s a fundraiser for Rotorua Community Hospice, which needs to raise $1 million each year to operate.
It is always exciting to announce the 10 dance couples taking on the challenge each year, and then help the community get to know a bit more about them and why they are getting behind the cause with fun profile stories.
Not to mention announcing who the celebrity judges are, and then following up with the winners after a spectacular night of seeing all the dancers’ hard work and practice come to fruition.
The dance couple profiles have been some of my favourite stories to write, and I’ve loved how it both builds excitement for the event while also helping to raise awareness of hospice and its amazing work.
Logan Nathan and Nadine Katene won Harcourts Dancing for Hospice in 2021. Photo / Andrew Warner
Keep an eye on the Rotorua Daily Post in coming weeks, which will soon begin to share the profiles of this year’s dancers.
One of the many fantastic events on Rotorua’s sports calendars each year is the Rotorua Marathon.
Thousands of people gather to take on the full marathon, half marathon, 10km or 5.5km runs/walks, with some aiming for personal best times while others just want to get out there and participate.
While the energy on the day is always infectious, I’ve really enjoyed getting to meet people each year in the weeks leading up to event and sharing their stories.
Whether they were participating in their first event to raise funds for a cause close to their hearts, or it was their 30th time making the lap around Rotorua Lake to complete the marathon, it has been special to share their journeys.
Rotorua's Max Bragg took on his 30th Rotorua Marathon this year. Photo / Andrew Warner
And speaking of amazing sports events proudly hosted by Rotorua, Crankworx has been another highlight.
Crankworx Rotorua sees an impressive line-up of international athletes, as well as some of the best local and national mountain bike riders from New Zealand, compete in a range of events.
A couple of my favourite Crankworx stories over the years have been centred around the awesome volunteers who put their hands up to help make this massive event run smoothly, and encouraging other people to get among the action.
A rider up high in the sky during a Crankworx Slopestyle practice session. Photo / Andrew Warner
Although it was for a short period, another highlight was the Rotorua Weekender Gives Back segment.
It was both fun and eye-opening to visit local charities and give some of their volunteer roles a go throughout the day.
The aim was to raise awareness of the organisations, and encourage others to offer their skills and time if able to.
It really is incredible how many generous volunteers we have in our community, taking up all sorts of roles to help others in different ways.
Rotorua Weekender reporter Shauni James volunteers at the Rotorua SPCA for Rotorua Weekender Gives Back. Photo / Andrew Warner
Other fun segments that you might remember from editions throughout the years were Artist Q&A and Where Are They Now.
It has also been very special the last couple of years to run the Rotorua Young Achievers photos in the Rotorua Weekender.
Created in 1991 by Owen Howard, and now run by a group of local organisations, the photographic exhibition recognises local secondary school students for their talents, including cultural, sporting, academic, music leadership, school and community involvement.
We have been very grateful to the Rotorua Trust for allowing us to help acknowledge these wonderful youth in the publication.
Speaking of youth doing awesome things, another highlight has been celebrating local kids achieving some pretty cool things in the realm of television, such as Tiare Savea landing a main role in the television series Duckrockers, Teiringatahi Webster-Tarei being in the K-Pop Academy series, andStevie Makiha’s segments on What Now, to name a few.
Teiringatahi Webster-Tarei featured in two seasons of the television series K-Pop Academy. Photo / Andrew Warner
There have been an abundance of wonderful events I’ve been able to go along to through this work, and a unique one that stands out in my memory is the tournament hosted last year by the New Zealand Lightsaber Guild’s Rotorua branch.
Despite my lack of knowledge around all things lightsaber related, I had a blast watching the quick foot/arm work and slashes of light as competitors brought their best moves, and got to chat with some awesome people from around the country visiting for the tournament.
There are so many other events and stories that come to mind, I could go on for hours.
Lightsabers of all colours were wielded by competitors at a tournament hosted last year by the New Zealand Lightsaber Guild’s Rotorua branch. Photo / Shauni James
Anzac Day ceremonies, 100th birthday milestones, Lakeside Concerts, Supper Club fundraisers, citizenship ceremonies, Miss Rotorua pageants, the annual roller derby event Slam Rock, and countless theatre shows/productions/exhibitions are just a few more highlights off the top of my head I’ve enjoyed sharing.
A big thanks to all the readers who have been on this incredible journey, enjoyed and shared people’s stories, and have supported the Rotorua Weekender all these years.
