Sophie Conlon
THE Glencoe community is banding together to bring new life to the long standing Glencoe Public Hall.
Glencoe Hall committee secretary Rebecca Alexander said they were hosting a number of fundraisers to help bring the space back up to scratch, with the next event being a market day.
With the event still a few weeks away, Ms Alexander said they were hoping to get as many stall holders registered as possible.
“It’s just a matter of getting people here to support the market day, trying to get more stallholders booked and then eventually try and get the hall hired out,” she said.
Treasurer Krystal Dunn said they wanted to bring back the community spirit to the hall as, since Covid-19, it had dwindled.
“There are a lot of new families moving into town, which is a good thing, so we want to bring back functions here where younger kids get about because that’s obviously where it’s at,” she said.
“Me and my husband, we like community spirit, the rural communities, and that’s why we live out here.
“We just need everyone else to jump on it too and go, ‘hey, we’ll all get involved and pitch in’.”
Ms Alexander said money raised would go towards fixing up the hall so more events could be held there.
“Maintenance at the moment, from the downpipe we’re getting water issues inside, salt damp, that’s a major one,” she said.
“Electrical is also another one that needs updating.
“That’s why we’re throwing bigger fundraising events trying to get more people out here.”
Ms Alexander said the hall could be hired for almost any occasion and it would be great to see it come alive again as a community hub.
As the committee work to bring it back to life, Ms Alexander said they would like to see more people jump on board.
She said they had recently received a grant from Wattle Range Council to upgrade electrical in the kitchen, but the funding would not cover all the upgrades the committee wanted to accomplish.
“So whether there’s any tradesman that want to volunteer their time to do some jobs, because obviously our biggest cost is the labour, we can fundraise to purchase the items, the parts, but it’s the labour that then costs the same amount,” she said.
Both women agreed it was important to keep community halls alive because once they were lost there was nothing to hold the community together.
“If it gets sold, the whole building can be knocked down, so then that’s another old building in a rural town regional town that’s gone, you can’t replace it,” Ms Alexander said.
Ms Dunn said the market day would be a family friendly event with local live music, market and food stalls, and children and family entertainment.
“We’re doing a make your own hobby horse, so you will purchase it and then be able to enter the race,” she said.
“We’re going to do a handball target competition too, we’re going to try to get the footy boys involved in that.”
She said there would even be a car boot sale and visit from old classic vehicles.
“There is something for everyone,” she said.
The market day will also see the committee launch their Christmas raffle, which Ms Alexander said had lots of exciting prizes.
“We’ve got basically $1000s of prizes up for grabs,” she said.
The market day will be held at the Glencoe Public Hall on Sunday, November 26, from 10am to 3pm, with a gold coin entry fee.
For more information or to get involved, find Glencoe Public Hall on Facebook.
