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MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Well-earned rest for walking guru.jpg "Jean Goldschmidt and friends(copy)")
A group of friends, walkers, volunteers past and present and well-wishers gathered last weekend at the home of Don and Jean Goldschmidt as Jean officially stepped down from her managerial role of the Mangawhai Walking Weekend.
Jean recounted some of the fun (and not-so-fun) times in bringing her idea to reality and paid tribute to many who had joined her on the journey. Founded from small beginnings, the ‘Weekend’ has become an institution that Jean and a few close and willing friends have nurtured and grown to national status over the past 15 years. From a time when walks never really existed around Mangawhai, Jean called upon those who knew someone who knew someone else to gain permission from farmers and orchardists to meander across farmland, then enlisted volunteers with local and historical knowledge to chaperone walkers. Then with the help of walkway legend Geoff Chapple and a band of trackbuilders the Mangawhai Walking Weekend has become the weekend of the year for up to 700 visitors to our fair little town enjoying the camaraderie and sights unique to this coastal gem. Add to that music and mayhem at the Olive Grove, pet walks, caving, cycling, the Art Trail and an eclectic group of troubadours and minstrels and one sees the result of 15 years of toil. Of course this is not the end. While Jean and her backstop and strongest supporter, husband Don, can now take a back seat, plans are well under way for the 2015 event which will be a continuity of the fellowship for old friends and the making of new ones. And while time is bound to bring about changes Jean Goldschmidt can rest assured that her creation, based on little more than an idea, has earned a place in the history of Mangawhai and among the walking fraternity of New Zealand. WALKING AWAY: Jean Goldschmidt (second from right) and a group of friends share Walking Weekend tales. |
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