The 6th Annual Hospice Charity Petanque Tournament was held at Maidstone Park on 6th February. The weather was brilliant and the full capacity of the terrain was used with 56 individual entries. Sadly Graeme Morris was unable to attend on the day but Michelle Maxwell kept in close contact with him with videos and photos of the occasion, whilst also assisting with collecting and entering scores, entrance fees and other tasks. Entrance fees, raffles, sausage sizzle, sale table, auctions and cash donations all contributed to a sizeable donation to Te Omanga Hospice from the UHPC, all helped by very generous donations by several companies who donated goods or money towards the occasion.
We were able to hand out some good prizes to the top 15 places, one to the least lucky player, over 25 smaller spot prizes, and of course the prized trophy donated by Michelle Maxwell, to the overall winner Adrienne Gwerder. The melee consisted of five completely random games where the computer software selected who partners whom, and against which team, including which pistes to play on. The software also ensures that no-one plays with any partner more than once. This makes it a very social game, and the 60s/70s music provided by Seymour and Theresa Harawira had most players humming, singing and even dancing throughout the day, making it a very festive occasion.
The top 15 winners were:
- Adrienne Gwerder
- Dave Gwerder
- Debby Butler
- Claire Bradburn
- Cheryl Juno
- Derek Worsley
- Seyjay Harawira
- Kevin McFagden
- Julian Teni
- Karen Muir
- Bob Horton
- Val Clark
- Bruce Stephenson
- Kathy Taylor / Judith Wood
- Denise Bramwell
The total amount raised after all collections and pledges was over $9000 and we would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the following businesses for their invaluable support in the way of donations.
In no particular order: Resene, McDonalds, Monterey Cinemas, Woolworths, Unichem Pharmacy, Lagan’s Pharmacy, Queen St Pharmacy, Pertronic Industries, Mitre 10, The Warehouse, Southebys, Summerset, Dough Bakery, Super Liquor, Repco, Supercheap Auto, Columbus Café, Domino’s Pizza, Tree Gifts, Menz Shed, All Secure Storage, Burgess Trust, Alison Zuppicich, and lastly Flo Madgwick for her very generous donation of a large gift basket for the main raffle. Many other individuals assisted to make the day go smoothly and we thank them all for their efforts.
Graeme Morris is now looking for a club to volunteer to host next year’s tournament, preferably outside the Hutt Valley since it has been here for the last two years.
Source: Upper Hutt Petanque
17/02/25
The Upper Hutt Connection 