Carrot still fresh after 10 years

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 555, 27 September 1994, Page 7

Carrot still fresh after 10 years

Ohakune 's giant carrot is 10 years old on Thursday. Theconcept of constructing a large carrot to put Ohakune*! market garden ing focus on the map started in 1982, with the final unveiling of the orange marvel, by the then Ohakune Borough mayor Bill Taylor and King Coontry member of parliament Jim BoJger, on Saturday 29 September 1984. PeterHammond, the then president of the Ohakune Vegetable and Produce Association, was onc of the". major driving fbrces which saw the erection of the monument to Ohakune's most famous product, as well as the development of the Rochfort Park landscaped area that we see today. At the opening he thanked the whole community for their support in bringingthe project to fruition. "The development around the Carrot is a tributetous all.ashowofgood faith in our community and

an attraction which will be the rival of many towns around New Zealand," he said at the time. "We have proven to ourselves that we "have the capability to work together and pool our talents for the good of our, community." Mayor Bill Taylor said he admi red Mr Hammond' s efforts. "That 1 didn't quite be- ; lieve him three years ago, and remained unconvinced that such a thing was viable, marked the start of his persistent carnpaign — one maywellsay amagnificent obsession! Saving carrots 'The Ohakune carrot has its roots as the starf of a television commercial," wrote the Waimarino Bulletin (now the Ruapehu Bulletin) ih 1984. The fibreglass model was originally a prop for an ANZ Bankadvertisement.lt was built by two Australianl model makers. Aftcrthc ad was made they were at a

loss as to what to do with the model. "We grew extremely fond of the carrot and didn't have the appetite to see it diced and destroyed," said ANZ' s marketing manager PeterHa/ael. "Then weremembered that Ohakune was raising funds for a carrot to display in the town." j Thus the carrot found its § way to its rightful home in Ohakune. The advertisement promoted the ANZ's 'Incentive Saver' scheme and showed a group of customers walking towards a crane as it Hfted a carrot from the ground. Theshot of thestart of the lift used the model that is now the carrot-go-round. which flowed to a | shot of the whole carrot hoisted from the ground by the crane. The grand carrot project After much debate over j where (andindeedwhether) to site thecarrot, ittookjust 25 days to convert the site to a park and hoist the carrot. ssw Many people v.olunteered time and effort for the project, with special mention at the time given to Chris Lyon who designed the landscaping for the site, Council reserves supervi- j sor Grant Drabble who J worked on the planting (a job that still goes on today

I: :: " ; . V — partly tocontinuetoctevelop the site and partly to Ireplace plants that are len).The foundations for the site were laid on Wednesday 5 September 1984 by Chris Lyon, Graeme Murdie and others, but it was not until the following Sunday that a committee was fonnedto schedule the development of the site. By the next. Thursday the moat |tarted to take shape as Eri o I \ Sue and his excavator and others laboured furiously against time. Through to the weekend the rocks were : placed and the moat areas planted. The following Thursday the decking around the foundations began to take shape and the bridge was bui lt on the Friday. The car-rot-go-round was installed on the Sunday. Despite rain all the following week work carried on. On the Tuesday the carrot was picked up from PeterHammond' s carrot shed atnd delivered to the site, where it was installed in less than two hours, using a crane. It was bolted onto ! fthe foundations by Graham Dixon and his team of engi-

neers whoalsohadtoclimb the carrot to mduntthe green fojiage on top of the edifice. A cover, made up of carrot bags from the local growers, was put over the carrot until the unveiling on Saturday 29 September. The unveiling was carried out in "spectacular fashion" by hclicopter pilot Lisa Patterson. The previous day. the notice board and welcome sign, carved by local craftsman Paul Beckett {in a mammoth four-day and three-night effort) out of three totara planks donated by Winstone Afforestation, went up, and people worked through the day and some

ofthe night to have the area ready for thc festi vities. Grand carrot-cade Just getting the giant carrot to Ohakune from Wellington was turned into a I public refatioris boon. with the carrot mounted on a traifer behind grower Frank : T aylor' s carrot-laden truck, accompanied by various vehicles. They assembled in front of the M iehael Fowler Centre before setting off through the city streets for the Carrot Cavalcade. They stopped atvarious shopping centres along the routc through the lower Nortbls-

f land, attracting crowds of i; curious spectators. ' 'The streets of Ohakune were lined with wellwishers who welcomed the returning vehicles with a rousing receptiori," wrote theBulletin after the eyent. Front page The giant carrot project "J made Ihe front page of the Bulletin almostevery week for several issues leading up tothe grand unveiling. On one cover, a photograph appeared showing the carrot on a truck aTTts secret site somewhere in the Waimarino". The truckcarried a sign at the front bearing the words "Caution — * Heavy Plant".