THE future of the Mount Gambier community New Year’s Eve celebration has been secured with a host of fresh new faces vowing to produce a successful event in 2019.
A community meeting on Wednesday to discuss the future of the new event attracted 17 community-minded people, with eight putting their hand up to form a new committee.
Outgoing Chair, Steve Toope was pleased with the turn out and the enthusiasm in the room.
“It was very pleasing to see a group of people demonstrate their commitment to keep the event going for the foreseeable future,” Mr Toope said.
“All at the meeting strongly believed the event was too good to fold and was an important community event that was enjoyed by all who have attended.”
Jason Newman was one attendee who put his hand up to be on the new committee and said he was excited to build on the framework left by the previous committee.
“First of all, the group who have been running the event have done a terrific job and left the foundations for us to take over,” Mr Newman said.
“This is a great family-orientated event with amazing community spirit, so I am excited to be a part of the organising committee.”
With more than 5000 people walking through the gates last year, Mr Newman said Vansittart Park is the right location for the event.
“I think it is a great location and we saw a significant portion of the population attend the event last year,” he said.
“It is in the heart of the city, so I think we would be crazy to change the location.”
While the former committee has faced a number of challenges in the past to keep the event alive, incoming committee member Joy Ireland was confident they could become bigger and better in 2019.
“I think there is some rejuvenation required, in terms of bringing new ideas and exciting sources of entertainment,” she said.
“One thing to ensure this event keeps coming back is to make sure it is cost-effective.
“I have not seen the figures, but we need to identify why it cost so much to run this event and try and reduce some of those costs.”
A number of other matters were discussed at the meeting along with the important issue around securing long term funding.
Mr Newman believed he could be of great assitance in that area.
“I have got a history of working in the space of fundraising and pitching for grants, so hopefully I can help get some sponsors on board,” he said.
“This new committee has a good group of people of all different ages, so hopefully we can have a good level of engagement with the public.”
The next step in the process will be a meeting by those people who have volunteered for the committee on Monday to elect position holders and start the planning process.
