"Chills Off" meet

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 45, 28 April 1987, Page 1

"Chills Off" meet

What began as an 18 month project to raise money to enclose the Raetihi swimming baths is now two years down the line, with the project committee considerably the worse for wear. Appropriately named 'Chills Off, the project aims to raise $120,000 through various fund-raising activities to enclose the pool and thereby lengthen the swimming season in Raetihi. The Chills Off project is in jeopardy at present due to lack of support from the committee members. A recent public meeting held to rally more support was attended by five committee members and just four members of the public. A last ditch attempt to salvage the project by way of another public meeting to be held 6 May will determine whether it will continue. If there are insufficient numbers of people willing to become involved with organising future fund-raising activities the committee will go into recess and the project will be shelved. A sub-committee of the Raetihi Swimming Club was the original Chills Off committee formed in April 1985. A 9-month feasibility study by various local bodies and construction experts ensued resulting in written quotes and provisional plans for the complex. Early in 1986 the original committee broke up. A public meeting in March of that year saw the

formation of a new 9member community committee disassociated from the swimming club who almost immediately launched into a fund-raising campaign. Pledges of goods have also been received from a number of major manufacturers with more expected. Chills Off committee chairman, Lance Langdon is an original member of the committee and has followed the project through from the beginning. Mr Langdon said he is not sure if he is prepared to pursue the project if it does not receive substantial support from the community. Mr Langdon said trying to organise fund-raising activities with a hardcore group of just three committee members has been very ifrustrating and a problem was a lack of dedication to the project. "Any idea can be implemented if there is sufficient manpower," he said. Mr Langdon said he forsees the Raetihi swimming baths serving the entire Waimarino area considering the somewhat limited access to the pool complex at Waiouru. Since the initial launching of the campaign in the form of a cabaret the committee have undertaken a variety of projects in the community including a King and Queen Carnival, casino evening, a major softball tournament combined with a gala day and two major raffles with prizes of overseas trips. For various reasons

including a lack of manpower, none of those projects went ahead. A raffle with a first prize of a trip for two to Tasmania had to be cancelled at the last minute because there were not enough people to sell and distribute the tickets.