Bluff will be buzzing this weekend with a series of community events to be held in town.

The annual St John’s book sale will be held over the weekend, while Saturday will see an open day at the Bluff RSA, and Sunday a car boot sale at the Bluff Oyster Festival site. 

All members of the Bluff and Southland community are encouraged to visit the RSA for their open day, to learn about the organisation and some of their recent projects.

These include a new bar leaner which displays memorabilia donated by family members of Bluff military personnel.

Peter ‘Robbo’ Robertson of the Bluff RSA says the project was popular with the community.

“Sixty-nine items were donated. They have been mounted on a macrocarpa top and covered in Doming, a resin that sets as clear glass. It is a real mix of military memorabilia and a wonderful tribute to those from Bluff who served.”

Robertson will also speak on the RSA’s rediscovery and recovery of the McKenzie flagpole from Bluff Hill. 

The flagpole was erected on Bluff Hill by Alexander McKenzie, after his sons George and Ian were killed on the same day in World War 1, at the Battle of The Somme in France during September 1916. 

The flagpole was sited where the boys’ mother, Beatrice, would be able to see it from the kitchen window of the family home. 

However, the flagpole had not been sighted for approximately 50 years a search team was required to locate it. 

Upon it being rediscovered in November last year, it was taken from the hill and brought to the Te Rau Aroha Marae.

Visitors can also visit the RSA museum – which includes items from the Boer War to the Vietnam War – and hear about future plans for the museum area. 

The St Johns Book Sale will be held at the Bluff Town Hall over the weekend, with fiction and non-fiction books available, as well as jigsaws, DVDs and videos. 

All proceeds from the sale go to St Johns Bluff.

The car boot sale on Sunday, held at the Bluff Oyster Festival grounds on Barrow Steet, hopes to attract a wide range of items, including local produce, new and vintage clothes and artwork.

Food will also be available on site.