General News
23 January, 2023
Warracknabeal’s Australia Day Celebrations 2023
Submitted by Wendy Hewitt As life settles after a hectic harvest, Christmas and holiday season, it’s good to catch up again with the locals and reset ourselves for the coming year. The perfect opportunity is on offer at the Warracknabeal and...
Submitted by Wendy Hewitt
As life settles after a hectic harvest, Christmas and holiday season, it’s good to catch up again with the locals and reset ourselves for the coming year.
The perfect opportunity is on offer at the Warracknabeal and District Australia Day morning at the Warracknabeal Racecourse on January 26.
It will be a chance to relax, enjoy a chat with friends and then be entertained and inspired by so much that is good in our community.
The new venue for this event will be ideal for a summer’s morning as it will provide shade for everyone yet still be in a beautiful garden setting.
Organiser of the morning, the Rotary Club of Warracknabeal, encourage everyone to come along.
For those with transport difficulties, Woodbine is providing a free mini bus service to and from the venue, leaving the Post Office at 7.45am.
We will start the day at 8am with a free breakfast- a delicious egg and bacon muffin, tea, coffee and fruit juice.
Come and soak up the community atmosphere with musical entertainment by our talented Warracknabeal and District Band before the formal program gets under way at 9am.
The Guides and Scouts will set the scene when they lead the formal proceedings with their colourful Flag Parade. After a welcome from John Tonkin, president of the Rotary Club of Warracknabeal, our guest speaker will take to the microphone.
Every year we invite a guest speaker with a strong connection to our town and district; someone with an interesting story to tell. This year will be no exception.
Warracknabeal born and educated, Nicole Battley (nee Farrall) will entertain the audience with stories from her life journey from Warracknabeal to the world, touching
on her career experiences in Dubai and the UK along the way.
Another highlight of the morning will be the return of Sofia Laursen Habel to perform for us.
Since her amazing performance at the Sheep Hills Silo Opera in 2021, Sofia has been in Europe building her career as a classically trained professional singer.
Three local identities have been nominated and honoured as the 2023 Warracknabeal and District Australia Day award recipients. We will hear of the impressive achievements and contributions to our community and beyond as presentations to these three deserving citizens will be made - Barbara Bell: Citizen of the Year, Mavis Wardle: Sportsperson of the Year, and Piper Knorpp: Young Achiever of the Year.
During our event we will also recognise and welcome new Australian citizens in our midst.
The Rotary Club is very grateful to the National Australia Day Council for funding to help run this free community event. There will be a donations tin though for those wishing to donate towards the Warracknabeal Townscape fund. You may remember that at the end of last year, this hard working committee was the victim of a scam and lost their entire account of $10,000. Let’s help them get back on their feet.
January 26 will be a great morning in Warracknabeal.
The Australia Day event will be a good way for locals to come together, to celebrate what’s good in our community and in our country, and to be inspired for the year ahead.
See you there.