CWA celebrates

MORE than two dozen members of the region’s Country Women’s Association community met at the Bacchus Marsh branch base last week as part of the annual Association Day afternoon tea.

The event doubled as both a fundraiser for the organisation as well as an opportunity to acknowledge long-time district members with awards marking their years of service over scones and coffee.

Bacchus Marsh branch president June Webb was honoured with back dated awards acknowledging 10 and 20 years of service.

She said the event is an important way to thank the group’s dedicated members while raising funds for the organisation as a whole.

“Our members put in all this work and you have to acknowledge and appreciate that,” she said.

“At the moment, we’ve raised $10,000 this year. On top of that we raised $3500 for bowel cancer research for the Peter MacCallum Centre.

“That money’s from catering, from stalls, a sock drive, a chocolate drive, all sorts of things. The organisation can’t run if they don’t have the money to do so.”

The event included members of CWA’s Melton, Ballarat, Webcona branches.

Members, Prelene Stinten and Patricia Huish both received awards for 10 years of service, as did Karin Wilson in addition to 20 years.

One of the local branch’s longest-serving members Gabrielle Shanahan received her backdated awards for 10, 20, 25, 30 and 40 years.

Joining in 1966, she is well on track to receive her 60 year award and said it’s the friendships that have kept her with the group over the decades.

“It was only last night, our secretary asked me to do a bit of history on the group and I was just thinking of all the people I’ve met over the years through this,” she said.

“You make a lot of friendships. I think that’s the main reason, and the works you do for charitable causes. In the 1960s and 70s we used to have bush picnics which were always quite fun.

“How I joined was I always accompanied my mother from the age of about 10, I suppose. I’d go to all the functions and when I went to work I joined up.”

The Bacchus Marsh CWA branch’s tearoom is open to the public Mondays to Wednesdays from 9am until 12pm.

The group is currently fundraising through a pie drive initiative which closes 22 September.