And it's on again in 2011!
We have locked in 5 and 6 November and we are gearing up for another great fair. Connect yourself with the Wollombi Valley Country Fair Facebook Page to stay up to date.
The date is now set as the first weekend in November each year and includes the Woodchop at The Tavern on the Saturday, the Museum Open Day on the Sunday and the many local stalls and entertainment on both days.
The weather was pretty good for most of the 2010 Fair and the number of stalls had certainly increased since the first Fair in 2010. And what a variety of stalls from Maggie Browne's garlic and fresh produce, Juliette Jackson's chooks, Nancy Downe's tarot reading, the horses, the kindergarten stall, to mention but a few.
It was also great to see a lot more food stalls this year and Panino's lasagna and Mystwood's Thai cakes were especially inviting. Probably one of the memorable sights was the Town Crier (Father Graham) riding a sponsor's quad bike through the stall area and at the same time, ringing his Crier's bell; a real traffic hazard.
The Fair would not have been such a success if we didn't have some great sponsors in 2010. The principal sponsor was Andrew Turnbull's Tokoriki Island Resort in Fiji (www.tokoriki.com). Andrew helps with a lot of local activities and we were very grateful for his support.
Other sponsors were Chris Watson Motorcycles, Sharpe's Tractor Centre, Sweetmans Timber and Wollombi Wool Store.
Thanks to all our sponsors and a special thanks to Tony Royle for arranging most of the sponsors.
The Saturday Fair concluded with a beautiful Lantern Parade throughout the Village area. It was a wonderful sight to a line of lanterns about 400 metre long snaking its way through the Village to the Museum grounds. People came from as far as Muswellbrook to join in the parade. But the parade would not have happened if Sally Sullivan had not taken over the arranging of the parade and workshops to make lanterns. Thanks from all of us Sally.
We were also very grateful for the help the Tennis Club and St Johns again provided. The St Johns' breakfast for the stall workers' on Saturday morning was very much appreciated.
The Fair organising committee generally meets on the 1st Friday of each month at 5-30pm at Panino restaurant. Anyone is welcome to attend our meetings and only through the involvement of the local community can the Fair get better, and better. We welcome any ideas about the Fair and these can be emailed to me or share them with us at one of our meetings.
So, lock in 5/6 November and join all of us at the 2011 Wollombi Valley Country Fair.
