Hokowhitu School students have their photo taken at the thank you ceremony for road patrollers in The Square on Friday. Behind the students is school community officer Constable Lewis Barclay. Photo / Judith Lacy
Hokowhitu School students have their photo taken at the thank you ceremony for road patrollers in The Square on Friday. Behind the students is school community officer Constable Lewis Barclay. Photo / Judith Lacy
Braxton Wright knows how to stop traffic. The 10-year-old Hokowhitu School student also knows how to get Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith’s attention.
Braxton asked Smith if his mayoral chain was real gold, and was told it was.
They met last Friday at Te Marae o Hine – The Square,when Smith was the guest speaker at a thank you ceremony for Palmerston North road patrollers.
Oscar Hansen-Wall, 11, said it was “so cool” to be able to touch the chain.
Smith told the Hokowhitu students his children had gone to the school when the family lived in Churchill Ave. He also served on the board of trustees.
Smith, who used to attend West End School, thanked the nearly 400 road patrollers from 17 schools at the celebration.
What they do to get their schoolmates to and from school safely across intersections and roads is important, Smith said.
Riverdale, Russell Street, Cornerstone Christian, Ashhurst, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal, West End, Terrace End, Winchester, St James, Central Normal, College Street Normal, Cloverlea, Parkland, and Hokowhitu schools all made Constable Lewis Barclay’s roll call.
They let school community officer Barclay know they were present with the call “signs out”.
He thanked them for patrolling the roads, and said the community always needs good people to volunteer to do things, especially when it comes to keeping people safe, which is what road patrol is all about.
Barclay encouraged the children to continue helping their community.
College Street Normal School students react to the people waving from English Teaching College's balcony in The Square. Photo / Judith Lacy
Police briefly blocked Broadway Ave as the children marched to Event Cinemas for their movie treat.
Along the way, the students were treated to waves from English Teaching College students and staff who watched from the college’s second-level balcony.
