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.

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.

If this is your first visit to the LDO website you may notice that the “home” page keeps changing. This is because the entire site is built using a blog based system. Here are 5 quick tips for getting around the site quickly now there are 30 “plus pages” live. Enjoy.

1. At present home is set to display the last 10″ posts” and a post here is a shorter news item or more detail for say the performers, media (video & sound files) , gallery (photos)

2. You may also just look at the performers related stories by clicking on that category. Sometimes a “post” is in more than one category.

3. The menu items at the top of the page mostly link to “fixed” web pages although some of them like the Auction page have changed quite often so that page should have been a post “category” but we have made it easier by noting the last edit date at the top of that page.

4. If you want to find things really quickly you can use the google this website form on the right hand sidebar of this page. You can check out the Gold sponsors there as well.

For example you can also see the last 15 “posts”on the sidebar like this

• LDO TV Ad in the news Wednesday Herald & Auckland City Harbour News stories
• LDO Radio Ads with Dave and Don There are 3 radio ads for LDO – featuring Dave McArtney, Don McGlashan and Jordan Luck
• LDO Tshirts for the Kids Tshirts – sorry orders all closed now!
• What is all the fundraising actually for? Most important – some background objectives and plans
• Kai Time at the Little Day Out Quick update on food items
• TV Ad for LDO by kidpower The famous TV ad on Triangle, online here elsewhere
• Latest Auction List – Download now The auction list has changed quite a lot check the auction page for the latest version – (poster link) also
• AD/BC – Classic Rock for the New Curriculum High School band AD/BC
• What a Line Up! Performers summary
• LDO on the radio (Jordan Luck) The first radio ad
• The Bads Brett Adams and Dianne Swann
• Do Good and Feel Great. Helpers needed. A newsletter
• Steve Abel Confirmed for LDO Performer background and media links for Steve
• Dave McArtneys Pink Flamingos Performer background and media links for Dave
• The Darlings Performer background and media links for Darlings – Jackie Clarke, Callie Blood, Wayne Bell

5. If you really want to keep up with the website – use the Entries RSS at the top right or the or read this note first * What is an RSS feed and why would I use one?

The quick answer is here or click the link for more detail then click on the orange icon.

“RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document (which is called a “feed” or “web feed” or “channel”) contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text.”

Sorry bout that last tip, but RSS is the way of the future, now and it is the easiest way for you to see the latest updates when they happen – like the next newsflash which will be in less than an hours time. (And many of you already use RSS which is great.)

T-shirt Update: 1st of April

Shirt orders closed now- some 200+ sold – thanks to everyone who got their orders in on time.

Feel free to wear them on the day!

Due to huge demand adults sizes are now
available at $30 each.

Closing date for orders has to be 31st March
to have them ready for Saturday, LDO Day.

Westmere style Queen, Sarah Kaye and her band of stylists have been scouting the city for this season’s latest look – and in preparation for the Little Day Out have sourced just what your kids need.

And for those of you who know Sarah, no, they’re not orange. (Actually coloured logos on white cotton.)

So if you want a fun T-shirts with the Little Day Out theme for your kids and help support the school at the same time…..we are taking pre-orders only.

The deadline is Thursday 20th (Extended to 28th of March by popular demand!)

The T-shirts will be delivered to your child’s class as they arrive. There are likely to be multiple batches printed.. Look out for our “models” in them around the school next week.

Read more information and order form- in case you missed the school newsletter.

In case you have been wondering what all the fund raising activity is for; here are a series of questions & answers that we trust you will find useful.

There will also be more information available on the day at the event itself. (Click on concept image to view medium size.)

To read all the questions and answers go to the fund-raising Questions and Answers page.

Here is another “seriously yummy” reason for you come to the Little Day Out for lunch, afternoon tea or dinner.

The latest food selection is from ka pai mussels, who provide:

• bbq flamed wok mussels, prawns,
• scallops, in their shell, with sauces, garlic & sweet chilli,
• coconut cream curry with fresh coriander,
• wine cream & spring onions, garlic and butter
• bbq flamed grilled mussel fritter,
• the ka pai burger, fritter in a bun with sauces.
• There are two types of fritters, watercress & mussel. Garlic, coriander, spring onion, an a touch of curry, and mussels.”

If you do feel like cooking, make sure you get a copy of the Westmere Home Kitchen which is the recipe book as contributed by parents, students, staff and friends of the school.

Copies will be available on the day

And don’t forget the other food items like this popular selection:

• Hot Hungarian Bread and Dips – hugely popular everywhere they go
• Fruit Kebabs
• Hot Chips
• Sausages & bread
• Hot ham rolls
• Freshly made Pizza from an earth pizza oven sorry this one has been cancelled
• Salads from Meola Kitchen
• Vegetarian burgers
• Sushi
• Ice creams
• Fresh Fruit

There will also be beer, wine and other drinks for the adults to wash it all down.

While the Little Day Out is a major Westmere fundraising event there is also another way you can contribute to school fundraising. The recipe book is still available @ $25 per copy.

The Westmere Home Kitchen is the Westmere School recipe book as contributed by parents, students, staff and friends of the school to help with fundraising.

What makes this recipe book better is that every single recipe has been designed and tested in actual, real, life-sized homes. That’s right. Westmere Home Kitchen recipes can be made while your kids are having tantrums in the living room. Or there’s a three year old Batman wrapped around your ankle asking for one of those biscuits with the pink things on them…..

As you can imagine, it’s not easy creating the world’s finest cookbook. Most of our contributors have actually gone to the effort of having children, sometimes two, three or more to make sure these recipes can be made in ‘real-life’ circumstances.

To read more click here

The Westmere Home Kitchen recipe book is also available for sale at these locations:

• Meola Kitchen
• Garnet Rd Food Store
• Dear Reader
• Jafa
• The Garden Party
• Dalston
• The Wine Vault
• Glengarry Wines
• Landreth & Co.
• La Madu
• Reab

What do you do when your community outgrows its facilities? Throw an all day party! That’s just what Westmere Primary School has planned for April 5 this year, under the theme “It’s All for the Hall”.

It’s not just a co-incidence if you feel there are more mums out pushing strollers these days. The population growth in Westmere / Grey Lynn has been so great in recent years that the school is bursting at the seams. The suburb is in dire need of a community hall and classrooms are in such short supply that the school is converting its old dental clinic into two teaching spaces.

So the Westmere community is gearing up for this year’s “Little Day Out”. From noon until 6pm of April 5, the Garnet Road primary school will play host to some of New Zealand’s leading musicians and entertainers.

A confirmed supporter of the project is Jordan Luck, who’ll be belting out hits for his third successive LDO festival in an effort to raise money for the project. As the country’s first inductee into the NZ Music Hall of Fame, he’s conscious of the value of such public spaces.

“Westmere kids and the community desperately need a place they can call their own. I remember school assemblies being a huge amount of fun and a vital place for young ones to try their hand at the performing arts. I challenge my mates to join in and give a bit of their time for the next generation.”

Other performers already booked are Don McGlashan, as well as ex high school band AD/BC. Big Day Out production manager turned Little Day Out volunteer, Robbie Barclay has more acts to be confirmed.

There will also be a charity auction, with somewhat fittingly, vasectomies among the list of items up for grabs. “You might say we’re taking positive action to improve facilities” jokes School Principal, Carolyn Marino. On a more serious note she points out that at present the school meets once a week under a large canvas “supertop” and plans for a new building are hundreds of thousands of dollars away.

“As a primary school, we’re ideally placed to develop a hall the whole community can use.” she says “The Westmere Community Hall will be available to all sorts of groups after 3pm weekdays.”

Centre Manager for the Grey Lynn Community Centre , Tania Miller, confirms the desperate shortage of hall space in the neighbourhood. When the Grey Lynn Community Hall was closed recently for renovations she struggled to find alternative spaces for regular hall users. “My goodness it was hard – and in some cases, I just couldn’t get anywhere” she says.

The organizers of the Little Day Out clearly have a real need to meet. As well as a strong music line-up, and the auction, there’ll be fairground style events inspired by the kids with dunk the teacher and a talent quest popular last time around. So get along there, after all “It’s all for the hall.”.

Westmere’s Little Day Out, Garnet Road 12 noon – 6pm, Saturday 5 April.

Media:
For more details contact:
Anna Verboeket
Speak No Evil
Tel 027-220-7422

It is now only 51 sleeps till the Little Day Out…or if you check the countdown generator at right you can see exactly how many days to go.

Whilst enjoying the best summer that most of us can ever remember, the Little Day Out volunteers have been busy coordinating all the elements to make April 5th a truly memorable day. The senior school committee has just been set up and will be coming up with some great activities for the event.

We are now turning our attention to the silent auction and we need your help.

We are looking for all you talented parents out there to donate your skills and time to be auctioned on the day.

Are you a landscape designer, film producer, builder, massage therapist, hairdresser, barista, or have any other skills or products that you would like to donate to this worthy cause?

Please contact Anna Miles at amiles@littledayout.co.nz

Any offers would be gratefully received.

The LittleDayOut (LDO) is a biannual school fundraising event hosted by Westmere in Auckland. The LDO was first held in 2004 and again in 2006.

The next event is being held on April the 5th 2008. Organisation is underway to make this the best yet with exciting live music, food and other family oriented activities.

We welcome help from the community including from parents, sponsors, school students, staff and other friends of the school and Westmere community.

Westmere is a primary school for Years 0-6 located on the corner of Larchwood St and Garnet Road in Westmere.

Note: There is no actual street number (should be 59?) so SMAPs displays 57 as being on the corner.

There are around 485 students and 30 staff at the school which is led by the principal, Carolyn Marino.