Robe to host popular event

Each year a community in South Australia organises the SA Rural Women’s Gathering that brings together women from all demographics from all regions and this September Robe will be hosting the popular event.

The last time the Limestone Coast held the event was 2015 when Bordertown played host, with Penola (2012) and Mount Gambier (2009) also having hosted.

Tickets are now on sale for the September 13-15 event with a raft of workshops, guest speakers and a gala dinner all on the agenda.

The SA Rural Women’s Gathering is also a chance for Robe to showcase its food, wine and rich history, while local comedian Elise Lehmann will be the headline act at the gala dinner.

Another former local will also be a front and centre of the weekend with author Liz Harfull set to unveil the untold stories of Robe’s pioneering women.

The best-selling author has always had a keen eye for telling the stories and unearthing the histories of the extraordinary everyday people who make up our communities, especially in rural and regional Australia.

She grew up on a dairy farm near Mount Gambier and has been earning a living writing in one form or another since she was a teenager.

She was inspired down this path by Robe author and historian Kathleen Bermingham, who mentored her as a child and has gone on to write 10 books, including three about Robe and several national bestsellers capturing the stories of female farmers and country show cooking traditions.

Liz currently lives in the Adelaide Hills, occasionally finding time to bake scones and make jam while juggling a busy writing career and volunteer work as a community historian.

The concept of a rural women’s gathering was born in 1989 by a group of women in Victoria. This informal group of women was a group who called themselves a ‘Women on Farms Discussion Group’.

The first Women on Farms Gathering was held in Warragul, Victoria in 1990 and is now held annually in different locations throughout the State.

The inaugural South Australian Rural Women’s Gathering was held in October 1996 at Murray Bridge and no matter the title they all tend to have a farm and agricultural focus staying true to their heritage.

In the end, though, they are for all rural women because it takes all rural women to make rural communities work.

The gathering has some clear objectives including to develop communication networks knowledge and skill through participation, experience and contact with other women, to link women from rural backgrounds with members of formal or informal networks across South Australia and to provide access to opportunities for self-development, self-expression and information.

Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) supports rural women’s gatherings.

Check out https://saruralwomensgathering.org.au for more details and to book your place at the September 13-15 SA Rural Women’s Gathering.