Wood Expo

Last weekend I went to a local wood expo with some of my colleagues that I work with running our community festival in October.  The car show I manage is held in conjunction with a larger festival, the Kilcoy Wood Wine and Art Festival.  This year I am also working on the larger festival so my colleagues and I went to the wood expo scouting for new and interesting stall holders.
We saw some beautiful hand made furniture and homewares.

My friend Marg testing out a swing chair.

There were lots of instrument makers showing off their craft.  There was everything from violin makers to didgeridoos.

We also spent time listening to this duo who play and make cigar box guitars.  They were fantastic and we hope to have them at our festival.

There were timber milling demonstrations and even some beautifully made canoes and kayaks.

It was a great day out with lots to see try and buy.

We came away with lots of great contacts for new stall holders but are still thinking about other types of stalls we can invite.

What type of stalls do you look forward to seeing at festivals?

Classic Car Show Success

Well it is all over for another year and I have had a chance to relax and reflect following this years event.  I have learnt a lot more about managing an event and about myself as well.  And I am really glad I took two days off following the event because not only did I need the time to unwind, but there were press releases to write and send, certificates of appreciation to make and surveys to send out.

The second annual Kilcoy Classics on Wheels, held on 14 October 2012 proved to be a hit with the motoring enthusiasts and public alike.  There was a turn out of over 100 cars and motorbikes more than double last year’s event.  We hope to grow the number of entrants further each year, although there will be a limit to the number we can manage.  With the beautiful weather the public had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some beautiful old cars and bikes.  The event is a fundraising event run by a team of volunteers that I lead and proceeds from this year’s event will go towards the local chaplaincy.

This year saw a number of clubs come along with large numbers and there was some stiff competition for the “Best Club Participation” trophy.  We are really aiming for the event to be about a fun social day out not a strict show with concourse standards. 

One of our judges was our Mayor Graeme Lehmann who has been involved in motor sports for many years.  He and our other judge were kept busy judging the entries.  The public were also encouraged to participate and vote for their favourites.  

Planning is already under way for next year’s event where it is hoped there will be over 200 cars.  But until then here are some snaps from the day taken by my best friend Sandra who kindly volunteered on the day.

Busy Times Ahead

This Sunday is the day when it all happens.  The Classic Car Show that I am the Event Direct for, The Kilcoy Classics on Wheels, is on.

I mentioned the car show way back here when we were getting ready to run the first one.  Last year was a great day and was quite successful.  This year will be bigger and better.  We learnt a lot from last year and have made a few changes and had a lot of great responses from car enthusiasts.
So much work has gone into it and before Sunday there is still quite a list of things to do.  So with that in mind I will be taking a small break from blogging and will be back next week to report back on how it all went.
In the meantime here is a photo from my front garden beside the driveway.

Supporting a Fellow Blogger

Throughout Australia many people live with disability or support those who do.  You may not currently be one of these people but at any time your life could change and you or someone you love could be affected.
Across Australia there are young people living in nursing homes due to a lack of care facilities for them.  There are disabled children going without equipment they require to have a good quality life, and then there are others like Linda from the Greenhaven Good Life who have to fight to get the support they need for their children.

This is unacceptable.

Both sides of parliament have said they will support a scheme reform to the way services are funded and delivered.  It is a social reform on the scale of the introduction of Medicare and compulsory superannuation – two safety nets now taken for granted by every Australian.

This marks a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the crisis in disability through the funding of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). But all of us need to hold this government and/or the next one to this promise to ensure that those members of our community who need this scheme get the help they deserve.

So how can you help?

First of all you can sign up on the Every Australian Counts website by joining the campaign.  It takes less than 2 minutes and shows that you believe in the neccesity of this scheme.
Secondly you can tell the people you know and get them to sign up too.

Remember that at any time you or someone you love could sudenly need this scheme and the support it offers.

Harmony Day Festivities

Things have been so busy lately I have hardly had time to blog.  Over the weekend the Harmony Day community event I was managing was held and it was extremely successful.  It had kept me very busy, hence the lack of blogging, but now it is all over for another year.

The message for Harmony Day in 2012 was that Everyone Belongs, which means all Australians are a welcome part of our country, regardless of their background.

It is all about reflecting on where Australia has come from, recognising the traditional owners of this land to all of the different cultures that now make up each of our communities. It's also about community participation, inclusiveness and respect – celebrating the different cultures that make Australia a great place to live.

We are only a small community of 3000 people including the surrounding areas so most events that are held in the community involve all the small organisations getting together and helping out.

Harmony Day was no different.  We had different groups helping with setting up and packing up, other groups lent chairs, tables, marquees and display boards, and some groups helped out as volunteers.

We had Tai Chi, Singers, Poets, Belly Dancers, Bollywood Dancing, Face Painting, Henna Hand Painting along with Markets, Food, Drink and Cultural Displays.

It was a very frantic day for me and would you believe that I did not take a single photo, opps.

The local paper were there and thankfully they going to send me some but sadly I have none for my blog so for now you just get a copy of the ad from our local paper.

Posting Drought - On My Mind

Well the drought looks to be about to break and hopefully next week will mark the getting back to it all and writing some decent posts.

After a a germ attack I have been back to full health but busy busy busy.
So what have I been up to that has kept me away from my blog?

Well to cut a long story short about 12 months ago a large number of locals were asked a few simple questions about the community/district in which we live.
What do you like about it?
What don't you like about it?
What do you want to change?
What do you want to keep?

From this public meetings were held and the ideas were grouped and sub committees formed to work on these ideas.

I was nominated the leader of my group and we set to work looking at what our community wanted and one of the things they wanted was events to attract visitors to the town.

 So for the last 6 months my group have been working towards putting on a classic car and motorbike show, and this Sunday is the big day.  The Inaugural Kilcoy Classics on Wheels.

We have joined in the with the annual Wood Wine and Art Festival which enables us to attract a much wider audience and also takes away some of the issues around public liability and insurance.

Now that was not such a short story but hopefully next week I will be able to post some photos of  how it all went but till then I have my fingers crossed for fine weather.