Father Daughter Breakfast 2011
Father Daughter Breakfast with Guest Speaker Mike McRoberts
The annual Father and Daughter Breakfast is a very special part of the Diocesan calendar. The breakfast is hosted by the Parents and Friends’ Association and takes place in the Dawn Jones Sports Centre. This year the Sports Centre looked spectacular with table settings for its 500 attendees and the newly laid grey carpet donated by Parents and Friends.
It’s an early start - people start arriving from as early as 6:30am, with everyone seated for the 7:00am start. The Year 6 girls enjoy the opportunity to attend with the Junior and Senior High girls, and lots of them came – all neatly turned out in their uniforms and mostly awake.
After lots of chatter, they sat down to a delicious selection of fruit salad and yoghurt, pancakes, syrup and bacon, berry sauce and freshly made coffee.
The TV3 News presenter and journalist Mike McRoberts proved an excellent choice. He started by talking about what a busy year it had been on the news front. He always carries his passport in case he has to jet off to some trouble spot on short notice. Flying back to Auckland from covering Christchurch’s second quake, he learnt of the Japanese tsunami – so instead of going to his home in Auckland, he ended up driving directly from the domestic to the International Airport to board a flight to Osaka.
His stories centred on war zones: Afghanistan, Gaza, Pakistan, Beirut, but the stories he told were of the human element in conflict and often very funny. Humour is a key tool in dealing with a stressful job – he noted that he takes the news seriously but not himself.
His most valuable asset in his successful career of reporting from distant and often dangerous places has been his New Zealand passport: this has been universally well received and got him out of some potentially nasty scrapes.
And his advice for anyone wanting to become a journalist: study hard, learn how to carry out research, practice writing, including for any school publications, and ask for advice and chances to learn from people like him.
Mike has a book due out later this year – a great way to get his stories to keep.
Feedback on the event has been very positive. Martin Sowter enjoyed the breakfast as an opportunity to catch up with dads he knew and meet others he didn’t. He and his daughters, Daniella and Antonia, found Mike inspiring, and particularly liked the way he spoke to the audience as adults.
For Richard Lewis, Mike proved a charismatic speaker and breakfast with his daughters, Isabelle and Helena, was “the perfect start to the week”.
Olivia Petersen was impressed by how topical Mike’s presentation was – her year is studying Afghanistan in Social Studies so she was particularly interested to hear about Mike’s experiences there.
The event’s success was due to a veritable army of volunteers and contributors, lead by Parents and Friends’ outgoing President, Debbie Burridge and incoming Vice President, Ants Hurdley.
Generous premium sponsorship was provided by Team McMillan BMW, in addition to eight table sponsors; Bell Gully, the Burridge family, Coca Cola, Endocare Ltd, Ernst & Young, the Gomm family, Russell McVeagh and the Scott family. Keri Orange Juice was donated by Coca Cola Amatil. Worthy of particular mention is the hands on contribution made by David Burton of Jack’s Coffee, who managed to deliver hundreds of cups of premium coffee to grateful dads and teachers at the breakfast. Jack’s Coffee can deliver fresh roasted beans to your door – check them out at www.jackscoffee.co.nz
Our thanks go to all those who made the event possible.
