| Thoughts from the DG week 7
It’s a week since we left home, and a lot has happened. What continues to impress me is the diversity of our clubs.
In Coonamble, the club is led by a very young president and secretary, Emily Ryan and Rhys Kable – a dynamic duo. And they have a couple of young women in their club who also blend with their older members very well. In fact, one older member commented on the fact that they have been good for the club; given them some ‘spark’.
This area is in drought also, and we stayed with Keith and Lois Cain on their property about 16 kms outside the town, where their fields lay dormant, and will continue to for the next year or more until the rains come. And do you know, when the rains do come, they flood the plains, and it renews their black soil land – this whole region is the bread basket of our country; our wheat and barley, sunflower and chickpea; our cropping areas.
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Lightning Ridge President, Kerry Adamthwaite and his wife Barbara.
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| Our next stop was Lightning Ridge. I had huge expectations of this club, and they didn’t disappoint. “We’re very laid back and casual out here”, I was told. Their meeting was held on a Saturday (so everyone could attend) and held at the home of AG Neroli Bevan and her husband John, with whom we also stayed. There are so many ‘husband and wife’ club members in Lightning Ridge; impressive. And I inducted the wife of a member, who came along to the event in the outfit her husband had worn the year before, when he became a member. Known for his ‘loud shirts and shorts’ year-round, Jane certainly caused a ripple of laughter in the crowd – what a hoot. Another member of their club, a farmer who runs cattle on her property, is also a member of SALT (Supporting and Linking Tradeswomen). You might have seen them at the Conference in Laurieton. These women go out and give a hand on properties where it is needed. I discovered that ‘Spooner’ (as they call her) is a NEGS ‘old girl as well. NEGS is a boarding school in Armidale. So, we had this wonderful BBQ, with home- made spring rolls as a starter, made by a member who is originally from Thailand. |
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AG Neroli and John Bevan by the campfire in Lightning Ridge.
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| If you haven’t been to Lightning Ridge, it is a unique part of the world. The Bevans have a Cactus Garden, which has been in John’s family for 60 years, and he also sells black opals. The Cactus Garden is a real tourist attraction, and has been featured on the Better Homes and Gardens show (they have the team’s comments in their Visitor’s Book to prove it). And the famous artist, Jon Murray, whose work can be seen all around the region, has a Gallery there and lives in the town. It is the place to find opals of course, and I resisted the temptation to walk into any of their jewellery shops. And if you want to see emus in the wild, this is where you will find them. We discovered an emu and his chicks near the Artesian pool. It seems that once the mother emu lays the eggs, her job is done, and the father emu takes over. He sits on the eggs and rears the chicks. How good is that girls?
We are now in Moree, and having a rest day before we meet the members of the two Moree clubs. I took the opportunity to try the Artesian Hot Springs here, and wow, do they feel good.
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New member Jane in her husband’s gear. Lightning Ridge
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