Blog

The summer Soundbites series of music entertainment in Andrews Ave from 12 - 2pm and Dowse Square from 4:30 - 7pm continues.  Today, a small crowd was entertained by Andrew London on guitar and Neil Billington on harmonica.

They played a wide range of folk, country, jazz, blues, and even some bluegrass tunes with vocals from both Andrew and Neil. Anyone who knows Andrew could not help but enjoy the entertainment provided over the lunch break.

If you missed their show or the later session in the early evening, then you can catch other musicians on Fridays for the next few weeks at either Andrews Ave or Dowse Square.  Come out and enjoy the summer in the Southend. 

The winning businesses in the Light Up The Hutt 2021 challenge were announced this morning.  There were a record 27 entries in the challenge this year, with some really great Christmas windows on display.

A small judging panel organised by the Southend Business Group reviewed each of the windows both during the day and the night. The three top windows were considered to be:

• NZ Uniforms - for vibrant colour both during the day and when lit at night (see attached image)
• Unichem - for the fantastic night display of a golden waterfall ant the giant wrapped gifts floating in a twinkling sea
• Visique - for the striking white display both during the day and at night

It is not tool late to take a trip round the Southend and wider Hutt CBD to view the Christmas windows on display, and possible pop into one of the shops for some last minute purchases.

Have you seen the two giant Christmas trees hidden in the scaffolding attached to the CML building on Laings Road?  This building is currently undergoing renovations for earthquake strengthening and conversion to apartments. John Feast, who is doing this development. arranged for his contractors to attach coloured lights to the scaffolding inside the protective windbreak cloth in the shape of a giant three story high Christmas tree. There are two of them, one on the corner with High Street, and the other above the Roadhouse Bar and Grill at the other end of Laings Road.  While these cannot be seen during the day, they are quite stunning at night and make this construction site look very festive. Thank you John for doing this for the Southend.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/124975677/loafing-about-with-lower-hutts-fix-federation-bakers

The first Annual General Meeting of the Southend Business Group, originally planned for Thursday 10th June 2021, was adjourned and will be resumed on Tuesday 13th July, starting at 6:00pm in the Pasifika Hub, which is located at 2 Dudley Street.

All members and supporters are welcome to attend.  There will be light refreshments served prior to the meeting.

We look forward to seeing averyone there.

We have decided to push out the start date of this project – there is still a chance of rain for Monday and we want to give Michael Gray and opportunity to get back into the swing of business once returning from Australia for a family matter.

The extended weather is looking great for next Sunday so we are pushing forward to start the project on Sunday 2 May starting at 10AM to get the bollard and footpath painted.

This should only take a short amount of time. We are and will be looking for volunteers to help, as this will reduce the amount of money spent on contractors by SEBG, which will reduce the amount of projects they can complete to make the Southend a vibrant place. So please consider giving of some time to help paint, maybe encouraging staff and or customers to stop down to help. There will be a celebration street party after to thank everyone for their part in creating this project.

Andrews Ave is a focus of Anzac Day commemoration in the Southend this year with a number of soldiers standing beside poles and the lawns sprouting remembrance poppies.

The annual Lower Hutt Dawn Service and parade will occur on the morning of Anzac Day at the nearby garden and war memorial in front of the Library.

Southend Street Community Working Bee and Street Party

April 26th corner of High Street and Laings Road 10am-4pm

The Southend Business Group is hosting a community working bee / street party on Monday April 26th to create a fun and colourful project on High Street. We invite you to join us to ‘Paint the Town’ and help to make the Southend of High Street the creative entrance to Lower Hutt.

Our way finding project changes the use of an old concrete bollard from a disused poster billboard space into a colourful and functional way finding signage for some of our locally owned businesses.

The first of the Soundbites 2021 services of lunchtime concerts kicked of today in Andrews Ave after the one scheduled for last Friday was cancelled because of bad weather.  The concert today, featuring Aaron Andis was held in bright sunshine and attracted a festive crowd who came to listen and dance to the music.  Aaron played a number of popular songs that pleased the assembled crowd.

These free music events will happen each Friday from 12 noon - 2pm in Andrews Ave until the 26th March.  Refer here for the schedule of events.

The popular lunchtime music is coming back to Andrews Ave for 2021.  Every Friday from 12th February until 26th March, a local musician will be performing in Andrews Ave between 12 noon and 2pm.

Grab your lunch from a local cafe and come along to enjoy the outdoor environment and listen to the music. Performers are:

• Feb 12: Ainslie Allen
• Feb 19: Aaron Andis
• Feb 26: Sam Play it again
• Mar 5: Carl Webley
• Mar 19: Aaron Andis
• Mar 26: Andy Gatrell

Sound bites is also coming to Dowse Square from 4 - 6pm on Fridays between Feb 19th and Mar 26th.