The streets of Hāwera were awash with red, white and blue on Friday afternoon. Photo / Ilona Hanne
The streets of Hāwera were awash with red, white and blue as businesses and residents in the town went all out to welcome the cars of AmeriCARna on Friday afternoon last week.
Bryan Vickery was kept busy as emcee of the event as well as judging several competitions including best window displays, best dressed staff and the AmeriCARna fashion parade.
Petra Finer, of Bizlink Hāwera, says the team at Bizlink were impressed with the effort put in by businesses and individuals in the town.
"We are in awe of the effort our locals go to to make the town a vibrant space on the day."
Manager of the SPCA Empawrium Op Shop, Shelly Green, was delighted with the news their store had come first in the window display competition and second in the best dressed staff competition.
"I love the rock and roll era myself and have a really big collection of things from then, from dresses and outfits through to retro kitchenalia, so I dug around at home and brought some of the stuff in."
Once she handed out the dresses and skirts to the rest of the store team, they made the outfits their own, she said, accessorising them to suit. The window displays were also a team effort, with all the tempting looking food in the window actually made from paint, polystyrene and glue, and many of the retro items themselves coming from Shelly's own home.
With the SPCA team in first place for window display, second place went to Pot of Gold and third to Mondo Travel in a stiff competition, said Bryan. When it came to best dressed staff, the "pink ladies" at Ballentynes won first place, the SPCA team second and Charmaine's Coffee lounge came in third.
The mechanical bull in the town square was a popular attraction on the day, with plenty of entrants trying to stay seated on the bucking mechanical bull. Nine-year-olds Capri Anderson and Lee McMahon, both from Normanby School, were among those who had a go, with both of them saying it was harder than it looked.