Melanie Riley
NEW Year’s Eve celebrations are looking to be back in full swing for 2024 with the formation of a new committee and some fresh ideas.
Mount Gambier Community Events chair Ross Moir recently jumped on board to lead the committee, which has a new treasurer, secretary and committee members.
“It is a bit intimidating because I’ve been to a couple of the New Year’s Eve celebrations and they’ve always been pretty impressive,” he said.
“Because of the disconnect, it’s tricky building on the backs of giants when they’ve parted ways already.
“I don’t have a huge amount of experience as a chair, but when everyone else is reluctant and the old committee is worn out from putting their everything as a tiny committee into making what happens happen, you don’t want it to fall over.”
Mr Moir was looking forward to making some positive changes and learning as he, and the committee, goes.
“Leadership is a tricky role to take on, especially when people have a limited amount of time these days,” he said.
“It means that committees like this, that do important things, really struggle for volunteers, so I didn’t want it to fall over because if it did it might not happen again.”
Mr Moir said former committee chair Scott Turner remained on the committee for the time being to assist with the transition.
“Scott has been a huge help in what to expect and keeping us focussed and what does work and what doesn’t and what might work with a little extra handy work and elbow grease,” he said.
The committee were in the early stages of planning and were searching for grants and funding to be able to put on a successful event.
There was also consideration of moving the event to a different location, and Mr Moir said they are exploring the showgrounds as an option to be able to open the event up and provide more flexibility for entertainment.
“Before it started to shrink, it was starting to outgrow Vansittart Park,” he said.
“From what we’ve heard with the fireworks, they were looking to push out the safety area as well, and the showgrounds would make that easier.”
In a bid to build excitement and get community input, the committee asked for feedback on preference between Stunt Motocross or Riot City Wrestling for the New Year’s Eve event.
“Wrestling as I understand it, has been a bit of a mainstay, but we’ve also received a little bit from the volunteers we have that motorbikes might also be an interesting draw for the community,” Mr Moir said.
“It’s trying to balance the long-standing traditions with the new things to gain a bit more interest, it’s a balancing act.
“We’ve got a couple of junior committee members that have gotten involved as well, and they’re trying to get a gauge on what people in their age group are looking for as well.”
The committee was still open to volunteers of any age who wished to get involved and Mr Moir encouraged anyone interested to get in touch via their Facebook page New Years Eve Festival Mt Gambier.
“It’s largely administrative and organisational work at this stage, but we also welcome input and experience,” he said.
Fireworks could very well be on the cards for the 2024 celebrations, with Mr Moir saying while there were a few hurdles, he and the committee remained hopeful.
“I can’t confirm it completely, but we’re doing everything we can to make it happen,” he said.
“Insurance premiums have risen and it’s getting difficult to find the companies that will sponsor the required insurance but we have got a couple of leads.
“It is the centrepiece of new years celebrations, so we’re doing our absolute best to make sure there’s fire in the sky on New Years Eve.”
