Another beautiful day and our first duty at the Fair was at 10.30. I really enjoy working on the gates; it’s a chance to chat with people coming to the Fair for all the right reasons. Occasionally, you get a reluctant male dragged along by his wife but, in most cases, people are cheerful and looking forward to seeing the stalls and exhibitions.
During the shift one of the other Rotarians dragged me away to look at an idea he had, and I had a call from the local newspaper wanting an interview, so I wasn’t particularly reliable. A visitor from Caringbah Rotary relieved me at one stage and Jamie carelessly wandered by so he got roped in to take the money while I went off to the interview.
I was supposed to be the media liaison person but ended up with only four interviews. Everybody wants to talk to the Director, of course. The Director and I were interviewed together on Friday afternoon by Elaine Harris who runs the afternoon show on local ABC. She had been set up in a little tent near the main pavilion and ran her show from there. Elaine is blind and has all her notes on Braille sheets, which she fingers constantly. She also has a Braille writer so she can take notes as she goes. It is quite interesting to watch how she keeps control of what is happening while talking non-stop to her audience. A tall fellow, who acts like her husband, was hanging around the back of the tent, constantly checking that she had everything she needed, so she had a good support team around her: producer, technician and hubbie.
After our shift, Marilyn and I caught one of the shuttle buses to check out some of the other venues. Under the tree near the bus stop was a little family group sitting in the shade: Mum, little girl and littler boy. The girl had a CD player and a microphone, a shoe box for donations and a sign which read ‘Saving up for a real Karaoke player’. I dug in my pocket to find some change when Mum piped up, ‘Don’t pay her until you hear her sing.’ Fair enough, I thought steeling myself for an excruciating rendition of The Lion King, or something like that. Not so! She had a beautiful voice with perfect pitch and wonderful light and shade. 7-year olds don’t normally have any idea how to sing but this child was outstanding.
Because the bus driver wouldn’t wait I had to jump on so didn’t get the details of who she was. It’s a shame because Rotary might be prepared to help her develop her talent. I’ll have to pass the word around the Club and see if anybody knows her.
We were keen to see a glass blower at the Showground who was set up in a trailer that Rotary had built last year. It is a complete glass studio with furnaces, etc. We donated the trailer to this group called Fusion who are based in an old Hydro Electric Commission village called Poatina. They look after disadvantaged youth and run programs to give young people broader experience.
On the way back, we called in to an area called Rotary Park where we had set up several food vans and covered seating. There’s a pool there which the local Anglers’Club had stocked with trout. For $5, they will lend you some gear and help you catch a fish. There were about 10 ‘trophy’fish as well as many smaller ones so it wasn’t hard to catch something good. For lunch, we had Pig and Fig, a sandwich of Pork Loin steak, glazed with Fig and Apple – delicious!
We were all delighted when 4 oçlock came around and we could start taking down the stalls. It gets harder every year and I think we’ll have to look at new ways to set up. We’re all getting older and can’t bend and lift like we used to. However, with the help of some younger people from Apex, everything was stored away by 7 and we went to the Bush Inn for the wind-up dinner – and it was Roast Pork! Oh, well, it’s Roast Lamb tomorrow night so we can afford to suffer two meals of pork in one day, if there’s lamb the following day. Sister-in-law, Janet, has offered to cook the lamb so we’ll just sit back and enjoy a quiet day with a good meal to finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment