The winners of a month-long
promotion to encourage visitors to the new Te Awa River Ride extension in Waipā
district have collected their prizes, after their win was announced on Friday 1
April.
The winners of the two grand prizes, who each won a bicycle
valued at up to $1,000, donated by Cambridge local bike specialists Spoken
Cycles, were Garry Knowles, who entered via the Waipā Home of Champions
Facebook channel and Mathilda Maree, who entered via email.
Garry and Mathilda selected their bikes at Spoken Cycles
over the past two days, each choosing to share their prize with their loved
ones. Gary selected a bike both he and his wife
could share, and Mathilda surprised her son with a bike.
The runners up, who won a bike prize pack were Santie
Engelbrecht Snyman and Lesley Pearce, who entered via Waipā District Council’s
Facebook channel, Christiaan Filius who entered via Te Awa River Ride’s
Facebook channel and Marion Haines who entered via Instagram.
The ‘Ride & Win with Waipā’ campaign was created by
Council to celebrate the new shared path extension, in lieu of a grand opening
which wasn’t possible due to COVID-19 Red setting restrictions which were in
place when the shared path opened earlier this year.
The competition began on 1 March and ended on 31 March with
251 entries from visitors across the Waikato who submitted photos of their
favourite part of Te Awa River Ride.
Council’s
Transportation Manager Bryan Hudson said he was rapt with the response to the
competition.
“Our community have come out in droves to explore the
shared path and we’ve had an amazing response to the competition which has been
absolutely fantastic.
“We’ve also been flooded with positive feedback about the
great quality of the path which our track builders are particularly pleased
about and we’ve received some great suggestions for improvements that we’ve
shared with our partners, Te Awa Charitable Trust.”
Spoken Cycles director Blair Taylor said he was proud to
sponsor the grand prizes and have the shared path in the Cambridge community.
“It’s been great for Spoken Cycles to be a part of the
celebration to open this new River Ride for our community.”
“We’re so lucky to have this in our backyard to share with our supporters and visitors to Waipa.”
Sarah Ulmer, spokesperson for Te Awa Charitable Trust said they were thrilled to see the high patronage on the shared path since its opening.
“It’s great to see so many locals and visitors getting out to enjoy the latest Te Awa section here to open here in Cambridge and we can’t wait to finish the final section later this year when the full 65km can be experienced.”
The new shared path extension opened on 1 March 2022. More information about the Te Awa River Ride can be found at www.te-awa.org.nz.
