Are you ready, are you steady, are you go? Hat, Shirt, and Jandals..

Tomorrow is the 3rd biennial Little Day Out festival so grab what you need and get down to Westmere school. Only 1 sleep to go now – here is last minute checklist:

1. Tickets
You will have already bought tickets for your family and friends at a discount right? …

C’mon, you can get them at the school office until Friday at $20, kids under 12 are free. 13yrs to 19yrs and senior citizens are $10. On the day it’s $25…

2. Cash.
Bring cash, HEAPS of it as we are not a bank. There will be a limited EFTPOS facility on the day and a coupon system for buying the tempting and delicious food and drink on hand. No one likes queues, so make it easy on yourself and raid the money jar for change in advance.

3. T-Shirt.
Go styleeeee, be there, wear the gear.

This is our big chance for Westmere school to grab the attention of the local community and have them engage in a debate about the hall.

We want people to come along and have their say, the more the merrier, so do your bit to promote the event.

4. All Weather Gear
Be prepared for the elements. Bring sun cream, jerseys, brollies and raincoats, who knows when the weather will change?

5. Possie
Rugs, cushions, deckchairs…Gates open 11.30. Come and grab a good spot early, but then you may want to move around and talk to your friends. Maybe grab a wee bit of space later for a lie down to digest the wonderful food and recover from all of those silent auction bids.

5. Voice
You can warm up your vocals in support of the School Choir, the first act on at noon. The Marimba Band follows and it’s all go from there. Remember the auction is “not-so-silent” – we expect loud involvement and hot competition at 2.45 for the Dancing with the Stars tickets and again at 4.45 for the vasectomy and private chef.

6. Dancing Shoes (Performers) – Mike McRoberts from TV3 will be the compere.
Bring these, or do your barefoot thing with:
The Bads,and The Darlings,
The Jordan Luck Band, and Dave McArtney’s Pink Flamingos
Don McGlashan and Steve Abel and friends.

Google the LDO website for links to sound or video files if you want to know more about individual performers. And especially don’t forget the legendary or, as well as high school band AD/BC performing their ‘Classic Rock for the New Curriculum’.

7. The Kids!
Oops, nearly forgot. There’s plenty of entertainment for all ages. Bring some gold coins.

For the littlies there’s a fairy grotto and the chance to sit in a real fire engine. Your children can cream pie or wet their teacher and Dad…you’re up for water bomb touch. Mum prepare for hair braiding, a face paint and the nails too….you will look loooooovely!

8. The Food
Need that one last reason to help you make up your mind? How about 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,

and much, much more, … along with hungarian bread, ice cream spiders, fruit kebabs, great salads and more.

And stay tuned for programme details or any other last minute updates like the Auction.

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.

If you would like to get a 2 page summary printout of all items which includes retail value and reserve levels we have included .PDF format auction list here that you may download. (178k in size) Note:UPDATED on 2nd of April (at 10:05pm – so if you downloaded it before that time – there may be some errors.)

As there may still be changes we may update this list before the event, in which case please note the latest date.

The PDF list is THE definitive version and although the main list on the auction page will be updated there may be small differences between web and PDF version updates.

Also in case you missed it here is the latest poster which can also be downloaded.

There are still many ways to help out on the day. Check with the school office or LDO contacts to volunteer for an hour.

Check your emails and newsletters on who to contact. (helpers@littledayout.co.nz)

At left is a snapshot of a poster that you can download and printout. It is a PDF of about 1mb in size and was updated on 25th of March.

Click on it to see the the actual full size version PDF and then save it somewhere so you print from it later on if you would like.

Confirmed acts for the 3rd Little Day Out, so far include: The Bads, aka Brett Adams and Dianne Swann who formed The Julie Dolphin band in London. Steve Abel will be playing with Gareth Thomas (Goodshirt) on accordion and Geoff Maddock, (Goldenhorse) on electric guitar.

Dave McArtney’s Pink Flamingos are up for the gig, plus don’t miss The Darlings featuring Jackie Clarke, Callie Blood and Wayne Bell. Of course there’s the legendary Jordan Luck and Don McGlashan, as well as 6 member high school band AD/BC featuring Louis McGlashan and Miller Christensen-Yule.

Peter Urlich and Hayley Holt will dance an exhibition waltz and our fabulous compere, TV3’s Mike McRoberts will keep the show on the road.

You’re Invited for Lunch – Let’s Make it a Long One……
The Little Day Out gates open at 11.30 with the first act being the massive School Choir. So come for lunch and stake out a good spot for the day. We’ll have loads of tasty, kid and adult friendly food, including Westmere Butchery’s own super sausages, and fresh Meola Kitchen Salads. There’s everything from sushi to samosa to Hungarian bread so why not stay on for an early dinner too…

Poster Plug
If you know a place where a Little Day Out Poster would be effective, please print one out and put it up. The back of the car, the office, your sports club, local cafe, crèche are all good spots. We’d appreciate it. The poster file is on this page.

Other Updates
You may also notice a constant stream of updates to the Tickets, For Kids and Not so Silent Auction pages as well. Do keep an eye on them for specific updates like the Stacey Jones ticket sales competition…Also please note that the Tshirts order deadline is now 28th of March (Extended by popular demand!) -TShirts

Speaking of merry helpers; can we have some more please? Do your bit for the community early this year, feel virtuous and cross it off your New Year’s Resolutions list.

There’s so much that needs doing there’s bound to be something you’d enjoy, for example:Help run a food stall, cook sausages, make ham rolls – Jessica Chapple needs around 40 people, including some to set up from 0930 and then run the stalls throughout the day. If everyone chips in (tee hee), your stint need only be for a couple of hours.

Here’s your opportunity for a work out. Bryce Solomon is grounds and logistics guy, and it’s going to be a big event, so please give him a hand. If you can set up in the morning from 0800 you’ll be free to enjoy the day, alternatively try out your meet and greet persona and do a session on the gates from 1100 onwards.

If you’re keen to escape the house on Sunday morning, there’s always the clean up from 0800-1200.

Email helpers@littledayout.co.nz with when and what you would like to help with.

Go on, fulfill your personal triple bottom line; and no we are not talking about your aging figure!

Kids Space
We think that your children will enjoy some of the activities especially for the kids. We’ve just heard there will be a fencing exhibition and roaming entertainers including a fairy and:

• - pony riding
• - tennis serving
• - putt’n win
• - Newfoundland dogs
• - bouncy castle
• - fluffy bunny competition – marshmallow eating
• - face and hair painting
• - fairy grotto
• - waterbomb touch

Check here for more of the latest kids activity updates..

New Performers Announced.

Here is the latest list of performers for the event:

• Dave McArtney & The Pink Flamingos
• Jordan Luck
• The Bads – Brett Adams and Dianne Swann
• The Darlings are Jackie Clarke, Callie Blood and Wayne Bell
• Steve Abel with Geoff Maddock and Gareth Thomas
• Don McGlashan
• Peter Urlich & Hayley Holt “Dancing with The Stars” exhibition.(Updated link to DWTS)
• And more to come…Keep and eye and an ear on the performers section of the website for new announcements closer to the event.

Silent Auction
Anna Miles needs your sales skills to help with our fantastic “Not so silent auction”… you will have a ball getting those bids going!

For more details on the silent auction – check this page for the latest updates. This is the busiest page on the website so far with many potential bargains to bid on. (33 and counting!) Latest items are a Fairy shop voucher, a digital camera and Mp3 player. Check the rest.

Westmere’s Little Day Out, Westmere School, Garnet Road, from 12 noon to 6pm Saturday 5th April. Further information and updates are here at www.littledayout.co.nz

Ticket Sales now Open
Tickets will be $20 for adults for presales and $25 on the day. Ticket order forms are available at the school now. Eftpos will be available from Monday 17th of March at school for ticket payments.

We will also have tickets NOW available online for credit card purchase. Online ticket sales attract a booking fee and delivery fees. See the ticket page for more details.

Calling all Westmere school parents, their mates, rellies and neighbours….. Saturday April 5th is Westmere’s Little Day Out, so diary it and ask a friend along NOW.

In fact ask 3 friends – that’s the call from organizer in chief, Sheryl Hickey. “It’s all (fundraising) for the hall folks, so I urge you to invite as many people as you can to join us and make a real party of the day.”

There’s literally something for everyone. Items up for auction include a pair of boxer shorts signed by Dan Carter for Mum, a bike* for the kids and well, a vasectomy for Dad. (*A 20 inch multi geared bike for boys or girls)

There are also many other generous items kindly provided by local businesses including clothing (for Dad, Mum and kids), a property valuation, an architectural consultation, DVD’s, music tuition and two tickets to the “Dancing with the Stars” final in Wellington.

For more details on the silent auction – check this page for the latest updates. The 1st twenty two items are now up.

There’ll also be great food like this popular selection:

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

There will also be wine, beer and other drinks for the adults and a host of children’s activities. Unmissable!

Westmere’s Little Day Out, Westmere School, Garnet Road, from 12 – 6pm Saturday 5th April. Further information and updates at here at www.littledayout.co.nz

If you would prefer to use the RSS feed its at LDO RSS /feed/ just click on this orange icon or the one at the top right of your web browser.

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.