Mayoral Column 19th January 2017
Tarago Fire
At the time of writing the blaze in Tarago is still out
of control and our fire fighters are faced with an extremely difficult day of
hot weather and wind. Praise must go to
our firemen and women involved in fighting this blaze and protecting property,
and my heart goes out to those who have been affected. Let’s hope they can get
the fire under control today and the loss of property, homes and stock is
minimal.
Australia
Day 2017
Australia Day is around the corner and we have a huge day
planned for the 26th of January in Victoria Park. This year our Australia Day
committee has decided we will celebrate all things country and rural, and we
have the perfect ambassador in local country artist Roo Arcus.
The day will kick off at 8:30am with a BBQ breakfast and
run until 3pm. There will be produce markets and stalls, a mechanical bull,
farmyard animals, a kids zone, wheelbarrow and hay competitions, rubber boot
throwing and a bush hat competition with the chance to win one of two brand new
Akubras! We will also have our Mobile Information Centre (Vickie) and Mobile
Library at the park for all to see.
The official ceremony including the Australia Day awards
and a Citizenship Ceremony will kick off at 11am, and this will be followed by
a live performance from Roo at 12:15pm. Make sure you drop into Victoria Park
at some stage on Australia Day!
Aussie Hat
competition – Akubra prizes
A more detailed note about this competition – we would
love to see people’s best ‘bush hat’ on the day. If you’ve done decades of work
in the same hat bring it along and we will judge them all at 10:15am at the
stage in Victoria Park. Two lucky winners will receive a brand new Akubra!
Blues
Festival
The Australian Blues Music Festival is on again in
February, this year celebrating its 21st year from the 9th – 12th February.
There will be over 70 free performances across 11 venues over the weekend, as
well as the annual busking competition, and the Australian Blues Music awards.
Council is partnering with the RMS to provide free bus
transport between 2-3pm and 5-6pm to the venues on Friday and Saturday, as well
as having two hundred $10 taxi vouchers for use to get home safely. I’ll
provide more information on these great services closer to the weekend of the
event.