Preparations are already underway for this year’s Howick Santa Parade which will be good news for the thousands of Howick district families who love this traditional event and keep coming back each year on this day of fun and entertainment for their children.
Run by The Howick Children’s Charitable Trust the parade is one of Auckland’s original Santa Parades and first appeared on our streets 70 years ago.
The Trust relies heavily on community help including grants from the Howick Local Board, charitable pub grants and many community led fundraisers every year to raise the $60 – $70,000 it costs to run such a large scale event. So the contribution this year by local Freemasons was gratefully received.
There is always a wish list on the Howick Children’s Charitable Trust agenda, from purchasing new characters, chilly bins, trolleys and much more and the latest wish was to get quality racking for their storage based in Howick to keep the characters and resources in good condition.
Parade Trustees, John Russell, Lorraine Jonson and, Pip Burns reached out to the local Freemasons who were delighted to support the cause.
The three Masonic Lodges in the area, Howick, Pakuranga and Wairoa, and their Charitable Trust combined to provide the large amount of storage racking and equipment to keep the valuable ‘character’ costumes and other resources in good condition adding another community cause to their long list of local beneficiaries.
Parade organiser Bo Burns was happy another item could be ticked off the Trust’s wish list, and is now asking for volunteers to join the fun by providing help with storage and other duties dedicated to the parade.
If you would like to join the parade event team or volunteer on the day, please submit your interest here: https://howicksantaparade.co.nz/volunteers/
The Trustees believe the parade should always be run ‘By Locals – For Locals’!
The 70th Howick Santa Parade has been confirmed for Sunday December 11.
