Bob’s Blog
Hello Everyone
We had a great night last Thursday celebrating the achievements of loyal and hardworking employees at our annual ‘Pride of Workmanship Award’ dinner. One of the great things Rotary does is to recognise the work and achievements of individuals in our community, Pride of Workmanship gives us the opportunity to say thank you to those who make a difference in our local businesses.
The Oyster Festival is not far away and we have agreed to have the food van in operation at the Friday night community event. Last year we were run off our feet feeding the hungry hordes, let’s hope that this year’s event is just as good, so if you can volunteer for a couple of hours it will be appreciated. The community event will take place at Quota Park on Friday 4 May.
I understand that planning for the Busking Competition is continuing at ‘light speed’ with all sponsor spots sold and entries rolling in. It will be a great event and a wonderful advertisement for our community in general and Narooma Rotary in particular.
Last week Rod, Sandra, Laurelle and I meet to discuss get planning underway for our 60th celebrations. We plan to have a gala dinner at the golf club on 4 August. I will fill you in with a little more detail on Thursday evening.
In June, Rotary’s Board of Directors and Trustees approved a new vision statement for the organization: “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.” To find out more read the article by Stephanie Urchick, chair of Rotary’s Strategic Planning Committee in this week’s Rotary Weekly. Click here to read the article.
Have a great week.
Out and about
Pride of Workmanship
Six Narooma businesses recognised their valued employees at our annual Pride of Workmanship Awards last Thursday. President Bob emphasised that the great strength of these awards is it’s not a competition and everyone nominated by their employer receives an award.
Those who received awards this year were:
- Janette Fitzpatrick (Estia Health)
- Deb Ebbott (IRT at Home)
- Debbie McDougall (IRT Dalmeny)
- Kyle Snell (Meads ABC Bakery)
- Madeline McCauley (Surfbeach Café)
- Pete Churchill (Narooma Motors) who was unable to be there to receive his award.
More on Narooma Oyster Festival
Narooma’s Oyster Festival launches with a bang on Friday afternoon 4 May with a free family concert, an extraordinary freestyle motocross display from the FMX Showtime motorbike stunt crew, and fantastic fireworks, all making a great warm up to the big day on Saturday.
Friday’s action starts along from the festival site Quota Park at 4.30pm with the first 20-minute show by what is widely regarded as the most spectacular and experienced freestyle motocross team in Australia. Their second and final show is at 6. In between local musicians will play at Quota Park.
Then the Steve Edmonds Band will play until the fireworks at 8; they blend Blues, Rock, Soul and Roots music.
Last year over 1500 turned up on the Friday night; this year organisers anticipate even more but there will be more food stalls. President Bob mentioned we will again provide a barbecue but just on the Friday night. Other food stalls on the Friday night will be the Oyster Bar, Anton’s seafood, Riverside pizzas, Tilba P & C tacos, the Ice Creamery’s ice creams, local coffee vans and Narooma Public P & C cakes (and glow sticks).
Some background info: Narooma Chamber of Commerce instigated the Oyster Festival as a signature experience to attract people from outside the region. It showcases oysters from eight estuaries on the south coast, one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable oyster growing regions, as well as other local produce and the area’s many features. Saturday’s programme (10-4pm) includes the celebrity chefs’ cooking demonstrations, the Ultimate Oyster Experience, the oyster shucking competition as well as many stalls showcasing local produce especially oysters. This year live music will continue on Saturday to 6pm, as will the bar and Oyster Bar.
Busking Festival
Our Narooma Busking Festival coordinator Sandra Doyle is calling on all buskers to register by 12 May. Already she’s had registrations from Sydney, Canberra and across south-eastern NSW. Narooma regional Busking Championships is part of the Australian National Busking Championships (ANBC).
Publicity has gone out this week to this effect, highlighting that the first to register was Narooma guitarist Eddie Tierney and among the first was Felicity Dowd of Bega who made her busking debut in Narooma last year.
Sandra said last year’s Festival was a huge success with 57 buskers performing at many busking hot spots around town. ‘This year we’re expecting even more buskers to compete for over $9,000 in prize money from our wonderful sponsors, and we have many more busking hot spots around town,’ she said. Major sponsors Narooma Golf Club will sponsor the $1,000 People’s Choice prize and host the finals, Club Narooma will sponsor the $1,000 Opens Champion, and Easts 4 Holiday Park will sponsor $500 for the Best Band as well as the Registration Office.
Winners from the regional events can compete in the National Grand Final in Cooma in November.