Helensville, like most small towns in New Zealand, relies on community-minded people to get a lot of things done.

It's hard to imagine where we would be without all those good souls. Look at the wonderful resource the town now has in the Riverside Walkway - organised and built (with much hard work over a considerable period) by volunteers.

The walkway of course links the middle of Commercial Road with the Riverside Reserve and the newly re-located Pioneer Museum. That's another perfect example of a community asset that we simply wouldn't have without the numerous volunteers who give their time, brainpower, and often goods and materials to keep projects like this alive.

Take the Helensville A&P Show. It's been running - on volunteer power - for more than 100 years. It's one of the largest shows in the Northern District, and on showday (the last Saturday in each February) literally hundreds of people give up their day to help run the show - whether they be stewards, judges, parking attendants or plain dogs bodies.

For most it's not really too onerous. I've been a photography steward for around 20 years now - it's one afternoon, one evening and show day. But without all those stewards chipping in together, the town would lose the largest event on it's annual calendar.

The list of community benefactors is huge - think of the contributions over the years of the local business people who have been members of the Helensville Business Association. Who organises our annual Christmas Parade? The business association of course.

All those sports clubs that give our children (and adults too) something to do on a Saturday morning - they're run by volunteers. There's the Lions Club of Helensville, the Women's Institute ... I'm going to stop there, because if I try to list them all, I'm bound to forget someone and cause offence!

So come on people - if you aren't already involved in something to help make our town run that little bit better, now's the time to pitch in. Organisations like the A&P Association are always looking for new members - some of the current ones have been there for 50 years and need a rest!