Opinion: Paul Hickey - Fill the Bus spirit, farewelling Sky TV, Christmas giveaways

OPINION:
Every year, The Hits co-ordinates our Fill The Bus collection for the Rotorua Salvation Army Foodbank.

It is honestly one of my favourite work days of the year, as we see the true spirit of our city coming together for a great cause.

This year's event was just as good, despite the tough year we've all had, with a collection of 6597 items collected for the Foodbank, as I'm sure you would have seen by now, including earlier in today's edition of the Rotorua Weekender.

Image 1 of 17: St Michael's Catholic School pupils and principal Rachael McLanachan were all thumbs up as they brought the school's donations

From me, just a personal thanks to the crew we had on the bus all day, and to all the schools, businesses, ECEs, community groups, and individuals who made a donation on the day.

A truly special and rewarding day to be involved with, and I'm already looking forward to next year, hopefully without the social distancing and restrictions we had to use this year.

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Earlier this week I farewelled an old friend, so I wrote this in memory…
For 17 years, you've been my friend,
I never thought it would come to an end.
If I was alone, or with mates having a beer,
I could rely on you to always be there.
You were a trendsetter - the leader - one of a kind,
I spent money on you but I didn't mind.
You were the cool kid, no one could compete,
but in the last few years you've lost your feet.
Newer hipper peeps have played their hand,
the dish is not needed just a fast broadband.
To do this is hurting to my core,
my Sky box is no more.
So as we head into summer my dear friend SKY,
it really is time to say goodbye.

***

When I called Sky to cancel, the lady told me I'd been a customer since 2004.

I had to admire the tenacity of the call centre operator as she tried to change my mind and woo me back with deal after deal.

I've been a big defender of Sky over the years, and never actually thought it was overpriced at all.

It was the one-stop shop for everything we wanted on our screens, but now we need to subscribe to so many different services to get the same coverage, plus your broadband costs as well which ends up way more expensive than Sky ever was on its own.

But times change, and it will be interesting to see how my personal couch time changes too.

***

Another event that The Hits gets involved with each year around this time is the "24 Gifts Of Christmas" giveaway inside Rotorua Central Mall. It's always a lot of fun with a gift being won every seven minutes.

But this year, because we can't really encourage hundreds of people to gather inside the one area of the mall, we're doing it on the radio instead!

So listen to my show on The Hits Rotorua 97.5 from Monday for a chance to win one of the gifts.

It is essentially the same concept; shop anywhere in the mall, hold on to your receipt, then listen daily at 10.20am and 1.20pm with Paul for your cue-to-call.

Pick a number off the advent calendar in our studio, I will open it and you win the gift that is behind that door.

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Paul Hickey is the host of the local Rotorua show on The Hits Rotorua weekdays between 9am and 3pm. Listen on 97.5FM or download the iHeartRadio app. Follow The Hits Rotorua and Paul on Facebook and Instagram.