Because the Jacaranda outing in the past had been run as a mini rally, the invitation still went out to welcome others to this year’s outing. We had Bob and Ruby from the Tweed Gold Coast Chapter, Ken and Evelyn from the Lower Blue Mountain Chapter, as well as Terry and Trish. Also, because so many chapter members live in the area, we had a high number of day visitors, which meant that 10 Units with 19 people camped, and 7 Units visited with 14 people, including Bob and Veronica, Stephanie (Don and Yvonne’s daughter), as well as Lynne all called in to be with us, so a total of 33 people.
On Wednesday, 29 Oct (The Jacaranda Festival Committee had decided to bring the whole festival ahead by a week), we started off with Terry and Marilyn organising the GG’s (Geriatric Games), including UNO Stacko, Rope Quoits, Matchstick Puzzles, Jengo, Magnetic Darts, and Smiling Face War Money. Those who played had fun, and there were no winners or losers. That night, Nola organised the sausage sizzle (beef or chicken), onion, with sliced bread, and four different salads to choose from.
On Thursday, those who wanted either drove or got a lift with many of the campers and visitors bringing their cars to the outing. There was an early free sausage sizzle, a concert on the stage at the town square, and seemingly hundreds of stalls to shop at. Anna ran her Tai Chi class at her camper. Then there was another run to the festivities in town. Neil and Ken were kept busy either checking out or supervising the woodwork exhibitions in town. Lorraine ran the first Bingo session, with Yvonne being the winner of the main prize. Carla ran a craft session in the undercover area. Then we held the raffle with some of the visitors winning prizes as well.
At night, 19 of us ordered Chinese from the Fountain Court Restaurant, which everyone enjoyed. There was another round of Bingo, with Anna being the winner. On Friday, Anna again ran Tai Chi, and people went down to watch or join the festivities. The scheduled Bingo was called off due to most people being out or asleep. There were enough cars available to run us all down to the Grafton District Services Club for tea and raffles, with some of us picking up meat trays. Rex, our Life Member and Founding Father, popped past to say g’day.
On Saturday, people were able to get a lift to the TAFE market, and then most of us went to The Village Green Hotel for a fantastic lunch. After we got back to the Park, most of us relaxed, either sleeping or chatting under the cover. We even had a BOM Extreme Weather Warning; we didn’t get too much rain or wind, but a pretty good electrical storm went through, with lots of lightning and thunder, one so close that it felt like the roof had been hit. Some people went to watch the Parade and got soaked for their trouble. It was so miserable, with full potholes in the Park, and drizzle that the final Bingo session was called off.
Sunday, everything was packed away, and everybody left.
Our last Outing of 2025 is at Nana Glen Equestrian Centre, from 12 to 14 December, where we will have our Christmas Party, with a visit from Mr and Mrs Claus, as well as our AGM, followed by the last GM with the new committee. Please think about standing for any of the committee positions; many hands turn the lights on, or something like that. If you have an idea about making the Chapter better and better, think about a submission and motion to present to the GM.
Regards, Don Brackenreg (Secretary).