Papamoa students question the Mayor

Papamoa students question the Mayor

Paris and Komaldeep from Papamoa School visited the Mayor's office. They heard from him what school he attended and how he used to travel to and from school.

Mayor Stuart Crosby attended Papamoa Primary School when it was situated on Welcome Bay Road. It was a country school and he recalls that ’calf club days’ were an annual event, although he didn’t live on a farm a lot of his friends did. Now Papamoa School has moved to Dickson Road and other primary schools have been built. His daughter Jessica attended Tahatai School and instead of ‘calf club days’ the local school has ‘pet’ days to reflect the changing nature of the area.

He remembers catching a school bus not far from the Papamoa Holiday Camp near the beach where he lived. He had great bus drivers who would get to know the students. One of the bus drivers names was 'Tarzan'. He used to catch the bus when he first started school as the school was across a main highway and there were often large trucks using the road. As he became a senior student he started to cycle to school. In those days cycle helmets were not a part of cycle safety. He still recalls having to take extra care cycling to school with his friends especially when crossing the highway, as it was quite dangerous with the logging and cattle trucks.

Further information: Karen Smith, Karen.Smith@tauranga.govt.nz.