General News
21 January, 2026
Pre-Christmas BBQ a success
FRIENDLY weather and an excellent turnout helped make John Combrink's pre-Christmas BBQ a triumph for the township.
The owner of 2J’s Furniture and Gifts – with several helpers, including his wife, Leanne – set up the food-and-drink event on Friday, December 19, and, by all accounts, he was very pleased with the turnout, with his main measure being the amount of leftovers.
“We got rid of 95 per cent of all the stuff we had,” John said.
“The kids enjoyed it … it was a very successful day.
“The weather – it was kind. It was kind because it was overcast. It was still hot – we put the barbecue in the alleyway, and we had quite a few helpers.”
He spoke of raffle prizes that went to some deserving locals – “I rang them Friday afternoon, and yeah, they came in the shop Saturday morning to pick up their prizes, and they had all smiles on their faces and they were all happy” – and was also pleased how children took up the free teddy bear offer, along with drinks on offer.
“All the teddy bears went,” John said.
“All the drinks went – except for a few packs. Bree (employee) made up 100 bags of lollies, and they went. It was a good day.”
He estimated he probably had “100 or more” people over the course of the lunchtime event, with about a dozen of both sausages and hot dogs left, but repeated his view from a few weeks ago.
“I'm not eating hot dogs or sausage for another six months,” John said.
“I don't even want to see one!”
Despite this, he said a 2026 repeat BBQ was almost a certainty.
“I'll do it again this year at Christmas time if I'm still breathing,” he said.
“With the gold coin donation, we just raised on $300 for the town committee.”