The Golden Bay Grand Stand Community Trust had a great day on their stand at the A&P Show (see photo where the red arrow shows the top of our gazebo)! We would like to thank the many community members who came up to express their support in words, donations, signatures and great stories of bygone show days. We took 194 signatures on the Tasman District Council (‘TDC’) petition we had set up just for show day - this will go directly to TDC and Councillors in the next few days (a bit delayed because people keep wanting to sign)! We sold 125 raffle tickets in the quilt raffle. The quilt was donated by a local quilter specifically to raise funds for the grandstand and the raffle is ongoing. The raffle plus our Bric-a-brac stall sales and donations all came to $960.20 which was just fabulous! We’d also like to thank the Golden Bay A&P for organising such a great day. Everyone we spoke to was loving the show, despite the cheeky weather! The biggest happy/sad features of the day were: (Happy) the grandstand was still there to witness its 118th show! (Sad) the grandstand was almost empty all day despite the rainy weather that set in early afternoon. Why? Tasman District Council refused to reinstate the stairs they had removed in February 2016 for reasons that still do not make sense to us. (Happy) community members took matters into their own hands and supplied a ladder to provide access to those people who really felt a show was not complete without a grandstand view. They also hung up a banner that said it all: 'Save the Grandstand - History Matters'. You can see the banner in the photo. Several people took advantage of the unrivalled shelter and view the grandstand was built to provide. Our efforts in Court continue, we have made it over the Christmas/New Year hiatus and are gearing up ready to stand up for the community and help preserve their heritage (and let’s face it, a much needed spectator asset, a fact brought home by the rain on show day and no where to shelter and/or see)! Remember you can make deposits at the BNZ 02 0764 0027297 025; by internet banking to that account number; or through the “Give a Little” page https://givealittle.co.nz/org/goldenbaygrandstand. Givealittle have started taking 5% off each donation(!) but we have told them we don't like that ... still, it is a convenient way to donate. Thank you to those who have donated already and thank you to all for your continued support. (not just) Two Little Old Ladies (anymore, but over 900 supporters)