Christmas is more than six months away, so understandably it might be the last thing on your mind. This is not the case for Tanya Colyer.
Christmas is all she can think about.
The Riverton resident is determined to raise enough money to purchase a community tree for her town.
In the seven years she has lived in Riverton, the only Christmas decorations she could remember going up in the town’s streets were banners supplied by the Riverton Community Board.
The banners were nice but they didn’t scream Christmas, Colyer said.
She was hoping for a 4-metre high fake tree that the community could reuse each year.
The tree would double as a memory tree, where people could pin notes of remembrance for loved ones who had died.
Although Colyer admits to being “Christmas mad”, the idea for the tree was not hers.
While working at Riverton Community House in 2015, she received a letter from from a resident pleading for her to organise a community Christmas tree.
“It was just bad timing.”
Due to a lack of funding, Colyer was in the process of finding and training for a new job as well and raising two small children.
But after two years of keeping the project on the back burner, she was ready to take on the project and help the community get the Christmas tree they wanted.
Residents were constantly asked to dig into their own pockets to fund different projects, Colyer said.
“I didn’t want that to happen here.”
Instead of applying for grants, selling cheese rolls or passing around a collection bucket, Colyer organised a series of quiz nights to fund the community Christmas tree.
The quiz nights gave residents something social to do and encouraged community spirit, while raising money at the same time, she said.
“It’s a win-win for the community.”
No tree had been purchased yet with Colyer looking into local suppliers first, she said.
Colyer was still liaising with the Riverton Community Board and local businesses about where they would put the tree to keep it safe from vandals and Riverton’s varied weather conditions.
“We have a few ideas but nowhere is settled yet.”
Southland District Council committee advisor Alyson Hamilton said Colyer’s idea for a community Christmas tree was wonderful.
Each year the Riverton Community Board put special Christmas banners up in town and stores decorated thier shop windows.
A Christmas tree would be a nice addition to the festivities, she said.
– Stuff