The highlight of the month was the unveiling of the name for Waikato’s newest river bridge – Te Ara Pekapeka. We were there and elsewhere around the region.

Peter Meyer is an engineer who has been with the Waikato River bridge project since he graduated from Waikato University in 2020. As first-time projects go, they don’t get any bigger, he told The News. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce After 5 function was held at the Cambridge Raceway’s Taylor Street Club where board member Peter McDermott, chief executive Dave Branch and Off the Track head chef Michelle Thomson greeted guests. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Robbie Parker, of Foleys Plumbing in Hamilton, was pictured with Plumbing World Area Manager Joel Woodham after winning the Waikato-King Country finals of the Young Plumber of the Year contest. Photo: Supplied.
Waipā chief executive Stephanie O’Sullivan – with her mother Mary from Tokoroa – was welcomed to her job at a powhiri in the Don Rowlands Centre at Karāpiro. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Daniel Smith, director and registered architect of Edwards White – who designed the Hamilton Gardens Visitor Arrival Centre – with Hamilton Gardens director Lucy Ryan in front of the new entrance which officially opens on September 18 when out of towners must pay an entry fee while Hamiltonians are free.. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Guests including eight mayors, several elected officials, former Labour Party leader David Cunliffe and Whakatāne District Council staff acknowledge the welcome from iwi and Waipā officials during a powhiri for new Waipā chief executive Stephanie O’Sullivan at Karāpiro last month. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Electrical & Automation Solutions celebrate 10 years in business and what a ride it has been. Photo: Supplied.
Zion Pastor Phil Strong welcomes First National Real Estate’s Vayle Hammond, left, and Virtually Venn’s Monique Venn at Te Awamutu Chamber’s BA5 at Zion in Te Awamutu. Photo: Chris Gardner.
Spotted at last month’s talk in Waipā by Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen are, from left, Megan Thomson of Paua Architects in Hamilton, Anne-Marie Brown of Colliers International (Hamilton), and Edyn May and Charlie Sanderson Dollery, both there with Kaz Design in Cambridge. Photo: Viv Posselt.
Waipā deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk cutting into the cake made for Te Awamutu Library’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Watching on was library supervisor Donna Wilson, centre, and Waipā District Council’s customer and community services group manager, Sally Sheedy. Photo: Viv Posselt
Snip in time – Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate and transport minister Simeon Brown cut the ribbon at Friday’s opening. Photo: Roy Pilott.
Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate and transport minister Simeon Brown after they cut the ribbon at Friday’s opening. Photo: Roy Pilott.
Former Hamilton Mayor Andrew King, whose work on the bridge project was acknowledged at the opening, is flanked by Tim MacIndoe (left) and Martin Gallagher, who have both served as MPs and councillors for the city. Photo: Roy Pilott.
Every mention of a key player in the bridge project – Andrew Parsons – prompted a round of applause – to the point that Transport Minister Simeon Brown gleefully repeated it during the speeches for effect. Parsons, Hamilton City Council’s general manager Infrastructure and Assets, may have to live with that spontaneous pakipaki for some time. He and Brown (right) were pictured under the bridge. Photo: Roy Pilott.
The unveiling of the name of the new bridge – Te Awa Pekapeka – was more emotional because the plaque recorded it has been opened by Kīngi Tūheitia. Photo: Roy Pilott.
The invited guests at the opening of the new bridge over the Waikato River are welcomed ahead of the start of speeches. Photo: Roy Pilott.
Leading economist and Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen, with Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan, centre, and Cambridge Business Chamber chief executive Kelly Bouzaid at last month’s event at Mystery Creek. Photo by Viv Posselt
Hospice Waikato Cambridge retail manager Justine Webb-Elliott, front, waits for the business card draw which she won at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce After 5 function at Cambridge Raceway’s Taylor Street Club. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Chain reaction – Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan’s husband John Hayward helps puts the mayoral chains in place at the powhiri for new chief executive Stephanie O’Sullivan. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
These visitors went all in with the purple theme chosen by Cambridge-based InterlockNZ Trust and Cambridge Treetown Steamers for their steampunk family fundraiser at the local town hall. Among the many who came from around the region are, from left, Thames’ Ruth Cadman, Rotorua’s Ken Howell, Hamilton’s Sheryl McFarlane and Kaye Forster-Hill, Ōhope Beach’s Lisa Bearsley, and Whitianga’s Barb Nippert. Photo: Viv Posselt
Soda’s recent Power Lunch, Women in Business Expo, attracted female business owners from around the region. Photo: Viv Posselt