Visitors to Bush Park Wainui can now picnic in comfort and admire another new tree in Raglan’s popular scenic reserve. A collaboration between the Waikato District Baha’i community, the Waikato District Council and the Friends of Bush Park Wainui has resulted in the installation of new outdoor furniture and the planting of a Mamaku tree fern. The initiative began last year when the Baha’i community approached Council to enquire about ways it could formally mark the centennial of the Baha’i Faith in New Zealand. “Our aim was two-fold,” says Kathy Gilbert, a member of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Waikato, the local governing body for the Baha’i community. “We wanted something that would last well into the future but also benefit the community.”
Thanks to a very supportive Waikato District Council, Bush Park Wainui has a new robust outdoor picnic table with seating. It sits on a large concrete slab under shelter, making it user-friendly throughout the year. Another picnic table is to be installed when the weather allows. Raglan Baha’is, together with John Lawson of the Friends of Bush Park Wainui, planted the Mamaku fern several weeks ago, adding to the lush collection of around 15,000 trees which grace the reserve.
A dedication ceremony is being held this Saturday, November 15, at 2.30pm to celebrate the new installations and to acknowledge 100 years of the Baha’i Faith in the country. It is open to the public.
An independent world religion founded in Iran in 1844, the Baha’i Faith has as its central theme the oneness of humanity. Baha’is come from all backgrounds and can be found in virtually every country on earth. Since its establishment in New Zealand in 1913, the Baha’i Faith has spread to all cities, and most towns and rural areas. Baha’is have had a long presence in Waikato district, and resided in Raglan since the 1950s.
At the heart of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah, founder of the Baha’i Faith, is the power of transformation, both of the individual and of society. “In Baha’i terms, the process of our individual development and fulfilment is tied to the centering of our energies on the betterment of humankind and serving the needs of not only the Baha’i community, but also society as a whole,” says Raglan Baha’i, Kathy Gilbert.