Wednesday, 20 March 2019

 Ms McLEISH (Eildon) (09:48): On Sunday I attended the Kinglake Country Fair, which was a fabulous event. Keen to breathe life and colour into the Kinglake Ranges and to provide a fun family event, William and Robert Verhagen of Integrity Real Estate and Stacey Crowther and Georgia Shuttleworth of Mountain Events got together to resurrect the fair, which had lapsed for almost 20 years. Most impressive is that the organisers are all young. They are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm and hours of hard work. Not only did they have youth on their side but they seemed to round up so many other young people to act as volunteers on the day. It was marvellous to see this level of volunteerism from so many young community members.

There were carnival rides, children’s yoga, drones, dog jumping, the one-armed tradie event, a cake-eating competition and the adventure challenge time trial run by another young person, Vanessa French, whose parents operate the Kinglake Forest Adventures. Elimatta youth were out in force, led by Kate Chalmers, a recent Murrindindi shire Young Citizen of the Year. Delicious options were provided by local food trucks, including Bowl of Soul, Yarra Valley Caviar, My Little Country Kitchen and Damian’s Pizza. Damian is a much-loved regular at the old Glenburn Hotel site. Hargreaves Hill and Steels Gate winery did their bit for the adults.

Many other community groups who are involved, including the Kinglake Historical Society, Landcare, Rotary, Kinglake Karate and Kinglake Firefoxes. The three primary schools—Kinglake, Kinglake Central and Kinglake West—all got involved, and it was great to see the children learning about customer service and taking and receiving money and even how to mix a smoothie using bicycle power.