The Stars in Your Eyes show at the West Otago Community Centre in Tapanui on July 24 and 25 is not just about the community watching their police officer, Senior Constable John Mawhinney, performing in persona - although that will happen.
The talent show is one of two major fundraising efforts this year by the West Otago Swimming Pool fundraising committee to push towards their $300,000 goal for a new roof to replace the existing roof on the pool, installed in 1987.
West Otago Swimming Pool fundraising committee co-ordinator Rachel Hanna said about $112,000 had been raised since fundraising began.
''We'll fundraise all this year, and we'll fundraise part of next year, and we'll have everything sorted - we just need the money and then we'll just go for it.''
The community-run 25m-long lane pool and learners pool are heated and are used from November to March.
But annual roof inspections have shown the 30-year lifespan of the old roof is nearly up.
''We don't just want to do a patchwork job or anything like that. We would rather go hard now and get fundraising and get it done and make it up to scratch for the next 40 years,'' Ms Hanna said.
The West Otago Swimming Pool fundraising committee and Strong Black Coffee Productions are putting on the two nights of entertainment and expect to collect more than $7000 for the new roof from their efforts.
The group had also done pine cone collecting over three days to raise $10,000. The West Otago Art and Craft Exhibition had donated $2500 in proceeds from a show in June. Cake stalls and barbecues continued to be part of the fundraising mix. And members of the community had already been generous.
''We've had some wonderful donations from members of the general public,'' Ms Hanna said.
In October, the fundraising committee would put on their second major event of the year, the now biennial beer fest in West Otago, which started as a fundraiser for the West Otago Medical Centre.
