Ranfurly’s 125th celebrations are over, but there’s plenty of memories and aspects from the weekend’s events that will live on.

Among them is a community heritage orchard garden, which was established in time for the weekend long celebrations.

The garden, located on the Presbyterian Church grounds, features a range of apple and pear trees, grafted from cuttings taken from trees throughout the Maniototo. 

Some of the original trees are more than 150 years old.

The idea was something project co-ordinator Mandy Groshinski and Ranfurly 125 co-ordinator Kristina Wills discussed, with the aim of leaving something behind in memory of the celebrations.

Kristina welcomed about 60 people to the event, which was officially opened with a ribbon cutting by Helen Cromb on Sunday morning.

Kristina Wills welcomes people to the opening ceremony. PHOTO: The Central App.

Kristina said it was great to be able to acknowledge all the hard work that went into creating the garden, which would ultimately become a living memory of the 125th celebrations.

Kristina thanked all the people and groups who supported the project along the way, including the Presbyterian Church for gifting the land, the many volunteers who prepared the area for the plantings and donated materials or their time to the project.

The 125th celebrations started on Friday with late night shopping, lighting of the town’s new five metre tall Christmas tree and the Blue Sky Perspectives Art Exhibition.

Helen Cromb cuts the ribbon during the opening ceremony of the new community heritage orchard. PHOTO: The Central App.

Celebrations continued on Saturday with a family fun day at the Maniototo Stadium, complete with games, a bake off, lawnmower races, a farmyard corner and music, among much more.

A gala dinner was also hosted on Saturday, featuring a 1920s theme, and on Sunday afternoon a celebratory cricket match was held, called Ranfurly vs The World.

Thomas (3) enjoys some of the weekend's fun activities. PHOTO: Phyllipa Labonte

Kristina said the support received for the entire weekend had been amazing and thanked everyone who had made the day happen.

A 'have a go' session on diggers was among the activities on offer. PHOTO: Phyllipa Labonte

“It was a huge amount of work for a small group of dedicated volunteers.”