It was a beautiful sunny day on Sunday 15 October 2022 for the Māngere Pony Club Show Cross Event. Riders from all over the Auckland region converged on the club with floats, horses and supporters for a big day out. In Show Cross events the competitors ride through an arena of show jumping and continue on without stopping to a cross country course. Heights of jumps are adjusted between different classes (from low to high jumps), and the riders are scored on the success of jumping the fences as well as the time to complete the course.
“What a wonderful day” enthused a Friends of the Farm (FoF) member. “It’s great to see all these people engaged in this sport and competing and looking after their horses. I’d normally never get to see an event like this up close and even the maunga looks quite different from this western view, compared to the view I see everyday as I exit the motorway at Mahunga Drive.”
There were over 80 entries, a successful achievement for the club, and the day ran smoothly with the club receiving many compliments from the visiting competitors. Always popular too was the food stall provided by the club with tasty home baking and hot food.
To assist the food stall, FoF organized a recycling bin station to ensure rubbish and recycling were correctly sorted, including a soft plastics bin and a compost bin. Due to choices of food provided to reduce waste and recycling, the bins ended up with very little contents, which is one of their goals.
The bin toppers, Zero Waste aprons and caps were supplied by Auckland Council and delivered by Clean Event Onehunga, and FoF members were present to monitor the bins and talk about recycling. Due to the recycling industry changing over the years, it is challenging to know what is current practice for correct recycling, and this is where FoF aims to be in the community to assist and promote how to recycle and reduce waste.
You’ll see FoF members helping at the Ambury Farm Day on 30 October 2022 and also at their next Repair Café to be held in the Māngere Bridge Library on Saturday 12 November from 10.00am – 2.00pm.. Experts on recycling will be there at the Repair Café to answer all your questions about correct recycling and reducing waste.
