Column: Our generous spirit still shines

Last week saw another milestone in the first birthday celebration of the Night Market in the heart of Tutanekai St.
The night was something quite special as we added more activities for kiddies and families, coupled with live music.
I must admit I was blown away by the versatility of Rotorua Girls High School's Alyana Powley (another Rotorua talent emerges).
I was on the collection buckets for the Red Cross Appeal with  a Rotorua District youth councillor and a council community services officer and once again the generosity of both locals and visitors was fabulous.
I approached a family obviously enjoying the Night Market fanfare having a meal and a quiet drink outside Hennessey's Bar and enthusiastically asked if they would like to contribute to the Christchurch relief fund.
With a wry smile the husband responded: "my friend we have already, we donated our house in Christchurch last week".
He added quickly he was humbled by the generosity of Rotorua people and those around New Zealand that were doing their bit, no matter how small.

 As we  dig deep to help Christchurch, I must also remind you that our city retailers need you more than ever.
The discretionary household spend must be kept local if possible as money leaving our city is essentially net loss on the whole. I implore you to shop local, trade local and hire local as much as possible in the next year.
One outcome for hiring local workers is that they further enhance the local economy  with their own discretionary spending and the value chain goes round once again.
Talent ID's Director Kelly Hamlett's excellent column last Friday accentuated the benefits of the tacit knowledge and skill of the older generation of willing workers and I would support this because  stability is a core value employers are looking for when hiring new staff.
I heard a shocking story last week where an employee fresh from school after a few weeks of employment decided one day not to go to work, not to phone in to explain why and  when spotted a few days later could offer only a weak excuse for not being at work.

 But the part that had me rocking off the chair in disbelief was that this employee expected to be paid, even for the three days she had off?
My darling ... this is called abandonment and the piece of paper you signed is called an Employment Contract.
In the famous words of Donald Trump ... You're fired!
Here's a message for those younger ones reading this. There's five others lining up behind you so if you do gain employment treat this as a privilege not a right.

 - Grant Kilby is the general manager for Destination Rotorua Economic Development