Opinion - Paul Hickey: 'Fundraising season', pay honesty, giveaways

Next week Paul will have tickets to win for Streakin Thru the 70s. Photo / Willi Werner

After a few disrupted weeks with travel, leave and that darned flu, it has been nice to have a relatively normal week at home and work.

But what a week it has been as we've once again seen, despite everything else going on, the community spirit is well and truly humming in Rotorua, as what I have dubbed "fundraising season" has got under way.

The Supper Club event for the Ronald McDonald Family Retreat was once again a massive night on Wednesday, and it was a pleasure to be the host of the event at the Novotel Rotorua Lakeside.

And tickets go on sale next Thursday for Harcourts Dancing For Hospice. I've had a look at the dancing couples this week, and once again you are in for a very special night at that big event.

I'll be chatting to all of them on my radio show over the next few weeks too as we get closer to the big night.

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I saw this story earlier this week and as well as bringing back some memories of something similar here in Rotorua a few years back, it also got me thinking about just how I'd react in the same situation.

At the end of the day, I would think most of us would do the right thing, but surely you'd be lying if the opposite thought didn't at least cross your mind?

What would you do if you checked your bank account and found you had mistakenly been paid 300 times your normal salary?

That's what happened to an unnamed staff member at a Chile food processing company.

When the employee at a Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos discovered he had been paid nearly NZ$294,000 for a month's work instead of the usual NZ$883, he initially raised the eye-watering overpayment with his manager, who contacted HR.

The worker agreed to return the cash after visiting the bank the following day. But instead of giving it back, the man withdrew it — and hasn't been seen since.

His employer was unable to contact the man, and later received word from his lawyer, saying the man had resigned.

Sound slightly familiar?

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Hard to believe we are now into the second half of the year, and along with it comes another round of school holidays.

Despite the time of year and the health issues about the place, I'm certainly hopeful of another busy couple of weeks in town with plenty of domestic visitors filling up our accommodation, hospo and tourism outlets.

And on my radio show on The Hits, I'm loving supporting a lot of those tourist activities each week with our Free Ticket Friday giveaways, which continue to be pretty popular.

Redwoods Treewalk, Secret Spot Hot Tubs, Skyline, Motion, Rotofobia and more have all featured so listen for your chance to grab free tickets.

And on the topic of the city being busy, we went out for dinner last weekend with some friends. Finding a car park anywhere near Eat Street was a struggle.

I initially started to moan to my wife about doing laps of the blocks, but then I realised just how much of a positive it was! Let's hope this kind of patronage at our bars and restaurants continues.

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Next week on my radio show, I'll be finding out more about Streakin Thru The 70s, which is the new show from the Rotorua Musical Theatre, and yes I will have tickets for you to win.

It's a musical flashback to the 1970s, and as well as the local talent singing these iconic hits, the show features a live band. I can't wait to see it, onstage from July 15 to 30.

Paul Hickey is your local host on The Hits Rotorua weekdays between 9am and 3pm. Featuring Rotorua news, information, and giveaways, plus trending stories from around the world. Listen on 97.5FM or download the iHeartRadio app. PLUS follow The Hits Rotorua and Paul on Facebook and Instagram.