Community Leaders' Column

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 40, 26 March 1985, Page 3

Community Leaders' Column

I can sympathise vvith Bill Taylor, Mayor of Ohakune, when he said a couple of weeks ago that he found his inaugural 'Community Leaders' column an extraordinarily difficult task to get started. Added to the fact that I have never counted writing among my more favoured pastimes, is the point that a significant part of my day is spent reading what could at best be termed officialese or. army jargon — not the sort of thing that would be either relevant or of much interest to residents of the Ruapehu region!

By its very nature as the equivalent of a 'company town\ Waiouru no doubt tends to be regarded as a somewhat inward looking community, and that impression is probably reinforced by the fact that the greater proportion of its nearly 4,000 residents regard it as a rather temporary home. Nevertheless there are a range of activities in the region which interest many of our 'temporary residents', and a number of activities in Waiouru which involve outsiders coming in. The most recent of the latter events was of course the 1-985 Desert Fair.

In spite of an unkind southerly and low cloud, the Fair managed to attract a good crowd, and exhibitors and visitors were to be found from as far afield as Taupo,

Wanganui, Palmerston North and points in between. Needless to say the greatest support was from the Waimarino, Taihape, Turangi, Waiouru area, and that is the area that will benefit most from the proceeds. Our thanks to all those who supported the Fair, and in particular to Ivan Carswell and his team who devoted much of their spare time over the past few months to the organisation and preparation of the event. The Desert Fair, as a local once-a-tyear occasion on the wider scene, however, has become an attraction for the nearby communities. The Army Memorial Museum continues to increase its patronage and has now become a mecca for tourists, and an important part of the tourist industry in the central region. Readers may be interested to know that visitors to the museum are now arriving at the rate of around 140,000 per year, but perhaps more about that subject in a later column.