SWINE flew at the Tea Gardens Country Club when the piggy racers returned to help raise funds for the Pindimar-Tea Gardens Rural Fire Service (RFS) on Saturday 4 October.
The smell of bacon and smoked ham permeated the bespoke racecourse of hay bales and barrels as the race meet heated up, but all was in good fun.
The six little piggies – Wentamarket, Staidome, Roast Beef, Hadnun, Wheee, Allthawayome – were hot to trot, alternating between psyching each other up and lazing in the sun between races.
Pig tickets and auctions allowed many to ‘punt on a grunt’ on the six races, including six auctions to ‘own’ a piggy for the outcome, sharing winnings with the RFS.
The first round proved taxing for some of the racers, the mid-field slope a little too high for their short trotters, resulting in an avalanche, hunting down the finish line.
Catering by Jamie and his team at The Garden Eatery, was a decidedly kosher menu, so that none of the little porky racers were destined to be on the menu.
“Once again it is fantastic to see the community and visitors coming out to support the local RFS volunteers in a very enjoyable way, the funds will go to much-needed equipment to keep us at the pinnacle of preparedness, especially as we are seeing a hot summer headed our way after the rainy winter,” Brigade Captain David Bright told News Of The Area.
The local brigade was also officially bolstered by the assistance of its two newest recruits, brothers Jack and Aaron from Bundabah, who are due to take their Bush Firefighter (BF) assessments in two weeks.
Jack and Aaron, joined to learn valuable skills, bringing with them a strong desire to keep their community and their family home safe.
“We know the regs inside and out in preparation for our BF in Tinonee in two weeks, Maurie [Training Officer] has treated us well,” Jack told NOTA.
“I have always wanted to join, it has been a long-held dream, I went to all the open days with dad, and have waited to reach an age where I can finally join up,” Aaron said.
“The Brigade is always hungry for new volunteer recruits, especially from Pindimar and Bundabah, as the brigade’s average age is 66, and we are contemplating attaching hooks to the trucks to mount our walking frames one day soon,” Maurie explained.
Only two days after the event, the NSW RFS put out an ‘extreme weather’ warning, and total fire ban for Monday 6 October, the last day of the long weekend and the middle of the spring school holidays.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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