- Janet Willson won first prize in the 2024 Alzheimers Gisborne-Tairāwhiti Spud in a Bucket Competition.
- The competition raised $2800 to support people affected by dementia in the Gisborne community.
- Alzheimers manager Tracy Robinson highlighted the event’s role in introducing young people to horticulture.
The Willson family know how to grow potatoes.
Janet Willson took out the first prize in the 2024 Alzheimers Gisborne-Tairāwhiti Spud in a Bucket Competition and her husband Fraser finished second.
More than 100 people turned up at Gisborne’s Bunnings Warehouse on Saturday to see how successful they had been growing seed potatoes in their buckets, planted in September.
Janet grew a crop of 30 potatoes with a weight of 1570g.
“It is amazing how many potatoes can come out of a 10-litre container,” said Alzheimers manager Tracy Robinson.
“Janet is well known to us. This is the second time Janet has swooped the prize pool.”
She won a $100 Bunnings voucher.
Third place-getter for the weight section was Mike Cotton.
Dave Hooper also produced 30 spuds from his bucket, closely followed by Justine Hooper with 29 while Sharon Maynard came third with 25 spuds.
In the toddlers’ section, 2-and-a-half-year-old Aiden Edwards was first with his crop of 26 potatoes and a weight of 1023g. Florence Honey was second and Leo Maia third.
The winner by quantity for the children’s section was Dusk Scandrett with a massive 33 potatoes. Emily Latu was second, and Zen Scandrett was third.
Long-time entrants from the Hodgett family were first and second place-getters in the children’s heaviest yield section with Destiny, 11, having 1396g in her bucket and Crystal, 9, with 1107g. Willow McArley was the third-place holder.
“The spirit of competition was alive and well in some families and groups of friends vying to win the most spuds or the heaviest crop against each other, while other spud growers did it for the pure delight in seeing what came out of the bucket,” said Robinson.
“Watching the younger entrants’ excitement at seeing how many potatoes their one plant had produced, was like watching Christmas presents being opened.”
The competition provided an excellent opportunity for young people to experience growing their own food, with Robinson calling it an “ideal introduction to horticulture”.
“It is also a great way to teach children about helping other people in our community through being involved in a fundraiser,” she said.
“With one in four people knowing someone who has dementia; either a family member or a work colleague or friend, having an awareness of the needs of someone with dementia is of growing importance in our society today.”
This year’s competition featured a mystery prize draw for the first time.
Sharon Maynard won a gas barbecue, valued at $250, courtesy of Bunnings Warehouse.
Robinson said Alzheimers Gisborne-Tairāwhiti was grateful to Bunnings who have sponsored this competition since 2017 and to the Rotary Club of Gisborne who “get their hands dirty by sorting through the bucket to retrieve the spuds and bag them for weighing and counting”.
“Spud in a Bucket raised a total of $2800,” she said.
“The funds will be used to support our work with people affected by dementia in the Gisborne community.”
