IT HAS sometimes struck me that there are people in Whanganui who have an inferiority complex about their home town.
As if they need to be slightly apologetic about it.
And maybe there are others out there in the rest of New Zealand who don't think very much of theRiver City. But one senses that is changing and our reputation is getting rosier.
Increasingly the place impresses -- and that is often down to the people rather than the physical environment, beautiful as it is. Saturday night's Great Ball at the War Memorial Centre was a gilt-edged opportunity to be mightily impressed with Whanganui and its folk. It was a "wow factor" event in aid of Women's Refuge.
"Wow" because it raised more than $90,000; "Wow" because it was superbly organised and delivered by a hard-working committee; "Wow" because the main hall at the centre had never look so stunning; "Wow" because it was a classy -- even opulent -- affair; "Wow" because the women dressed to the nines (or even the 10s) looked like something out of an F Scott Fitzgerald jazz era tale.
Whanganui pulled off something special on Saturday, with its generosity, community spirit and sense of fun to the fore.
There are hopes it will become a regular event, with the committee -- hint, hint -- looking for a local business to be naming rights sponsor and help take the event to the next step.
To echo the comment of committee chairwoman Sharon Warburton: "I am humbled by the generosity of this community. If giving is an indicator of the health of a city, then Whanganui is alive and well."
