Eight years later, they remain unmolested and say 95% of their public interactions have been pleasant.
For the first time, the patrol will step up from its regular weekend beat to support police through the holiday shenanigans.
It has been based at the Dinosaur Playground between 10pm-2am this week up until tonight. An increased police presence means it is not needed on New Year’s Eve.
Patrol member Mick Hollyer said the patrol’s ethos was explained by the logo on police cars.
"Safer Communities Together. And it is the Together that says it. [Safety] is not just the police . . . It is everyone," Mr Hollyer, a retired lawyer, said.
The 14 patrollers look like kindly grandparents, which of course some are.
Patrol chairman Bruce Hebbard said they had no more rights than any other citizen.
They cannot arrest or enforce and they are not a taxi service — though they’ve helped home a few vulnerable, lost or drunk people.
Some of the patrollers can remember in the 1960s there were very few policemen in Wanaka.
"On New Year’s Day one year they had to get a front-end loader in to clear the glass from the old THC hotel. Every window, every glass door, every jug, every glass, every glass table, everything was smashed," Mr Hollyer said.
The patrollers trust their training and intuition. If something seems wrong, they check it out.
Recently, Jim Murray checked in with a woman off a party bus who was so drunk a taxi driver didn’t want to give her a ride.
"She was legless and with a male, so we asked who he is to her. She was obviously vulnerable and we just wanted to make sure she understood who she was with," Mr Murray explained.
This holiday period, they’ll be keeping an eye out for drunk children.
"I think the fundamental problem is preloading. You can see these kids coming into town and they have been drinking at home or at other people’s places. They are drinking on the way into town, and they are already well over the limit," Mr Hollyer said.
The patrollers will be doing their best to remove opportunities for people to take advantage of the vulnerable.
But their message to revellers is to be self-responsible, stay with mates, and take care of each other.
