News

New Zealand's Springfield getting a party regardless

Posted July 09, 2007 11:00 pm

Bruce Rushton

Sidebar at bottom

By BRUCE RUSHTON

STAFF WRITER

SPRINGFIELD -- Springfield in New Zealand sounds like a lovely place.

Nestled in the foothills of the Torlesse Mountains near a national park, the tiny township of about 300 is a great place to go skiing, rock climbing, horseback riding and hiking. There are golf courses, bed and breakfasts, lakes and wineries.

It is the sort of place Hollywood likes. Scenes from "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" were filmed nearby. And Hollywood is set to return Sunday to celebrate "The Simpsons Movie" release later this month with a big festival courtesy of 20th Century Fox, complete with Duff beer, free doughnuts, a Simpsons look-alike competition and a "colouring" contest for the kiddies.

All this for a town that, well, isn't really even a town, given that it doesn't have a mayor. And that's not the only thing New Zealand's Springfield doesn't have.

There are no nuclear plants in New Zealand, which declared itself a nuclear-free nation in the 1980s.

"There used to be a family of Simpsons," offered Ainsley Burton, jill-of-all-trades at the Springfield Information Bureau, which promotes tourism. "They moved away 18 or 19 years ago. One's living in Australia. The four that are living in New Zealand are coming back for Simpsons Day."

Simpsons Day. The nerve.

While 14 Springfields in the United States toiled over videos in hopes of landing the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" on July 26, the Springfield in New Zealand did nothing but answer the telephone when the studio called. Sure, of course - who wouldn't say yes to a free party?

"They're going to present the township with an icon, which is a doughnut," Burton boasted.

Burton, who confessed that she's never watched an entire episode of "The Simpsons" on television, was hard-pressed to think of any similarities between New Zealand's Springfield and the cartoon town.

"I guess some of the characters may be similar to some families here," Burton said.

OK, but you'll have to do better than that.

"We've got a town hall," she offered.

Big deal.

"We've got a memorial to Rewi Alley," she said.

Wasn't he a communist?

"Uh, well, I guess maybe, yes," Burton admitted.

Rewi Alley, who coined the term "gung ho," was no Jebediah Springfield. A potter-turned-fireman-turned-author (he apparently had trouble holding a job) born in New Zealand's Springfield, Alley moved to China in the 1920s, joined the Communist Party and started hanging out with Chairman Mao. He is considered a hero in New Zealand, which gave him a medal in 1984.

Burton, who was unfamiliar with the term "tire fire," couldn't say how far she lives from Shelbyville.

"From where?" she asked. "I'm going to have to watch "The Simpsons," aren't I?"

While New Zealanders looked forward to their festival, Springfields in the United States worked hard Monday to get out the vote in an online election to determine which city will host the movie premiere. Each city made a video, which was posted on USA Today's Web site so readers could pick a favorite. By the time you read this, the weeklong balloting, scheduled to end at 2 a.m. Central Time, will be over.

Mayor Tim Davlin has asked city employees to cast votes on city computers. Tim Farley, executive director of the Springfield Convention and Visitor Bureau (in Illinois), said his staff is lobbying hard.

"We're making phone calls saying, 'If you haven't voted, vote,'" Farley said. "We definitely are pushing. It's important to the state of Illinois."

Farley said he hasn't been able to pump gas without someone asking him about the contest.

"It's the craziest thing I ever went through," he said.

Bruce Rushton can be reached at (217) 788-1542 or bruce.rushton@sj-r.com.

Sometime after 4 p.m. Monday, it came to an end.

Until then, The State Journal-Register had a pipeline to USA Today numbers in an election to determine which Springfield in America will host the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" on July 26.

Without warning, the Web page that had dutifully displayed running totals stopped working. The margin throughout the day had been razor thin, with Springfields in Illinois and Vermont battling back and forth for the lead.

At 11 a.m., Vermont was leading by 14 votes. At noon, Illinois was ahead by 10 votes. A lunchtime surge put Vermont on top by 74 votes, but Illinois battled back during the afternoon and, with 13,617 votes, enjoyed an eight-vote lead at 4 p.m.

All told, more than 100,000 votes had been cast.

But by 4:30 p.m., every town had a zero beside it.

A publicist for USA Today, which was apparently not amused by getting scooped on its own election, asked that questions be submitted in writing. As of early Monday evening, she had not responded to an e-mailed query.

Article Categories
News