little DAY OUT

Hi everyone,

The event was held in April 2008 and the site is now in archive mode for you to enjoy. Hoping to do it all again in 2010. There is no event planned for 2009.

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On the day there were hundreds of great photos taken of the performers by Jason Hailes of nfocus. Thanks to all for the brilliant support. The fundraising target was achieved and then some.

Here are just 9 which all expand to medium and large sizes. Still sorting through the others.

Note: Fixed Gallery feature by updating to Cleaner Gallery Plugin

Possibly due to underlying version changes the gallery feature stopped working correctly so we have recently updated the photo set on this page.  Apologies if you visited earlier and noticed the display gremlin before we did.

We had an absolute ball, and hope you did too. It would be great if you could give Westmere School your feedback – letting us know what was best for you and what you’d like to see more of.

You can use the comments form at the bottom of this section.

For example – did you make it to the back field or were you too captivated by the action on the main stage to move?

I’d heard about the hair braiding entrepreneurs and the nail bar proved a big hit but I totally missed the water bombs and the cream pie throwing. What would it have taken for you to get over there?

What did you think of the second stage? How did the kids manage activities and should it be a total kid zone or now that the event has grown should it be more professional?

Should Dancing With the Stars have been on the main stage or could we have done with more big acts on the second stage?

Did you place a bid or buy a raffle ticket? How could we give a greater profile to the raffle and Silent Auction? Are there any new money spinning ideas we could adopt from other similar events?

What did you think of the food? Did you see the way the kids munched into the fruit kebabs in pursuit of the marshmallows! Did we have enough food?

Could you get what you wanted? Could we have managed the drink any differently / better? A lot of people seemed to be imbibing in a safe environment where they could relax while the kids were entertained.

It seemed like there was different style for everyone there but my personal favourites were Steve Abel and The Bads. You also couldn’t deny the sheer star power of Jordan’s performance – brilliant!

And the dancing – was there enough room for you to kick up your heels?

I heard from a couple of outside visitors how they “had never seen anything like it before!”( in terms of scale, organisation and presentation.) The two people I’m talking about get to most of the kids events in Auckland and so that is high praise indeed.

Or the parent who took a look around during the finale and said they’d need to find a way to move to Westmere so their kids could enjoy such the a school.

What comments did you hear?

It seems there was so much on that everyone could do something completely different and still have a great time. There must be a dozens of stories out there.

Over to you for your thoughts, impressions, feedback and reviews. Just jot us down a few lines would to get the ball rolling, or longer if you feel inspired.

What did you see, hear or get excited about? What did you like the most? Maybe we need some more of those fruit kebabs to get the juices flowing

Note: to read or write comments click on the comments title

:)

The 2008 Little Day Out has been a great day. More great photos to come soon.

Thanks especially to the 150+ more than 200 parents, performers, teachers, kids, and other friends of the school who worked so hard behind the scenes to make it happen. Not forgetting the clean up on Sunday..

A fantastic start to the event.

Part of the welcome from the school.

Here is shot from the stage in the first 10 minutes with one of the school marimba bands.

The LDO is live now. Not too late to get a ticket. Must dash myself, Don McGlashan on now.

Steve Abel coming up 2pm, The Bads, Dave McArtney and Jordan Luck still to come on, and we still have 5 4 hrs to go. Time to logout and enjoy the music.

Here is a quick shot of high school band AD/BC by photographer Jason Hailes of nfocus. In this shot – Vocalist Moira Jones, Guitar: Miller Christensen-Yule, Drummer: Thomas Alexander and Bassist: Chris Tan.

They were great!! See you soon. Lots more great photos soon.

Update: Actually this shot misses 2 members who were there! and here they are. Keys: Adam Fuhr and Louis McGlashan.

The latest MetService forecast for the Little Day Out in Auckland today is 23 degrees, mainly fine with some cloud and northeasterly winds. No significant rain till late tonight or Sunday morning and then it clears for most.

There had been reports we might get a few showers, in which case event production manager Robbie Barclay says the show will still go on unless the weather makes things dangerous..

The volunteers are finishing the set-up at the school. The food is being made and delivered. So bring your sunscreen and look forward to a great day.

9 great performers / bands + Peter & Hayley+ Monty & Nerida off DWTS ! Programme is immediately below this update. Get your tickets now!!

Stay tuned to Classic Hits and this website for any late, late news.

Note: And to volunteers – it is not too late. Just a few more people would see everybody doing short shifts. We would be grateful at this stage if you would take the job you are given.

Also please remember to be security conscious on the day – read the tips in your school newsletter or on this website.