Timely action by Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council in filling in three big potholes near the Showground entrance and patching up roadways inside helped make the Father’s Day Swap Meet on September 4 a huge success.
The Cootamundra Antique Motor Club (CAMC), which runs the event as its major fund-raiser every year, was delighted with the attendance of more than 2,400, and also with the number of stall holders, with more than 350 sites having been booked.
Spokesman Barry Gavin said the Club called the council on the Monday before the meet, and they turned up on Thursday and fixed it all. “We’re really grateful for their quick response,” he said.
“It’s important for us to be able to present the Showground as a pleasant place where you don’t have to dodge holes and water,” he said.
The Club was lucky with fine weather, as the grounds couldn’t have taken any more water.
CAMC has run the event annually for the past 29 years, but had to cancel the 2020 and 2021 Meets because of Covid.
Stall holders this year came from as far afield as Warragul, Melbourne, Geelong and Wodonga in Victoria, the NSW South Coast and Illawarra, Sydney and Newcastle, Bathurst, out west to Griffith, and from nearby Canberra.
The chief organiser of the meet, Barry’s wife Lynn, was sent a large bunch of flowers by CAMC to thank her for running such a successful day. “I know how exactly how much work she put into it heaps,” Barry said.
“People don’t realise what goes into running an event as successful as this.”
The Club uses some of the proceeds to cover its running costs, and normally donates the balance to community organisations.
The cancellation of the meet for the past two years has left CAMC without its normal source of income, so there’s likely to be less left over to donate this year.
