March comes round really quickly each year for those Rotarians who commit to helping with preparation for the annual Book Fair. After months of preparation it’s always good to see the sun rise and know that, once the doors open at 9.00 am, it will be all systems ‘go’, as you can see from the video (at the end of this article) that Graham Craig shot as the doors opened.
The first few hours are manic as the crowds flock in to see if they can get the books they’re looking for or if they can pick up some real bargains.
This year there was a visit from Harold, The Life Education (LET) mascot, and a few of the team took a moment for a photo shoot with him and the LET Educator who came along.
And the Book Fair wouldn’t be the same without the wonderfully willing members of Plimmerton Inner Wheel who keep the ‘punters’ well looked after with an endless supply of food and drink and fundraise for their special causes at the same time.
It’s always a joy to see hordes of excited children rummaging through the shelves. It’s probably their only experience of being allowed to fossick, choose and discard with gay abandon! And there’s clearly no age restriction. Even the very youngest want to get their hands on a book.
And some can’t wait to start turning the pages.
Soon we will know how much money we’ve been able to raise. The proceeds are shared equally each year between Life Education Trust, a charity that teaches health and nutrition to 245,000 kiwi kids each year, and a variety of community projects sponsored by Plimmerton Rotary, mostly for children and young people in Porirua.
Meanwhile, there’s no rest for the Rotarian workers, very ably led by Allan Nichols and his band of merry men. Although there were in the region of 40,000 books on offer, the team have already had 140 boxes delivered with another 140 due at the end of next week. Although they don’t have to deal with this number every week, they tend to get books dropped into one or other of the outlets throughout the year, especially in the month leading up to the Fair itself. For the last month, sorters and collectors work every day of the week to make sure that everything possible is on display and the high standard is maintained.