Ideas for Wanganui park can win prizes

Michael and Caryn Wilson with their new tandem bike are looking for community input for the Riverland upgrade. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

Michael and Caryn Wilson, owners of Riverland Holiday Park in Anzac Parade by the Dublin St bridge, will be celebrating their second anniversary at the riverside attraction in November.

And they are holding a competition to mark the milestone.

The Wilsons and their daughters, Jessica and Natasha, students at Wanganui High School, moved to Wanganui from Durban, South Africa, and Mr Wilson said they had found a great home here.

"We all feel safe and secure here after coming from a place where there was trouble and unrest," he said.

"I had to go back to South Africa in July and sell our house there and I was very pleased to come back to Wanganui.

"Caryn and I spent a weekend in Auckland recently and that was too long. Wanganui is a great place to be."

Mr Wilson is the youngest member of the Wanganui Lions Club and said he thoroughly enjoyed being involved with the variety of voluntary work Lions did.

In addition to the family park activities, the Wilsons run Riverland Bike Hire, offering mountain bikes and cruisers that can be hired from the i-Site and Top10 Holiday Park as well as from Riverland and they recently bought a tandem bike for hire.

They are approaching their second anniversary at Riverland Family Park, a milestone they enjoyed reaching despite having to evacuate when the park was flooded last year.

"The flood has been the only negative we have encountered here, really, and we were amazed and thankful to the Wanganui community who all supported and helped to get Riverland back to running order."

They are planning several upgrades to the park and although they think they have some good ideas, they want to ask the community for input and have decided a competition would encourage participation.

"We thought we would ask the community for their input of what they would like to see at Riverland Family Park. We therefore would like to ask the youth to put their ideas down in the form of a drawing or painting which will be entered into the competition."

The categories are 5 years to 8 years, 9-12, and 13 and over. First prize in each will be a $100 voucher and any winner's school will receive a $150 Riverland voucher, valid for a year.

The art work will need to carry the artist's name, contact number, school and age.

Work can be handed in at Riverland Family Park, open 11am-6pm, seven days a week.

H & A Print at 76-78 Wilson St, Wanganui, is offering an A3 card for .50 per sheet for the duration of the competition.

The competition will close on October 31 and the three winners and their schools will be notified by November 16.

Parents, caregivers and schools are encouraged to help and support the competition.