Keeping in Touch... with Gwen Webber

IT is already May and the students are back at school. It has been quite pleasant weather for children, parents and teachers to enjoy their holiday time.

Since the flood levels have dropped, it is rather exciting to see the new growth with river red gum seedlings coming through in the flood plains. It is all looking good for the health of our mighty River Murray.

Those who enjoy and extend themselves to the toughest challenges certainly had it all to do at Caudo Vineyard over the weekend.  With mud, slush, heights, water and much more, True Grit has it all. There were thousands of participants and it would have been a very memorable event for them.

Waikerie welcomes all the happy visitors to our 30th year of the Riverland Rock ‘n’ Roll Festival. Many visitors that have been coming for all those years are friendly and chatty when we meet them in the shops and in the street. More visitors have joined in over the years to this very special event, which continues to grow in popularity and begins on Thursday evening with dancing at the Waikerie Gliding Club hanger. Many visitors come earlier in the week and are then all set for the weekend of fun and happy times with friends. Friday evening will see a live band providing music at the venue.

Then it is all happening at the Waikerie Community Sports Centre playing fields with the Waikerie Rotary Club Markets, which will have an abundance of popular stalls to peruse and purchase from, beginning at 9am. This is when we see the big boys with their toys, in the Show n Shine. If you haven’t yet filled out your registration contact Sandra on 0418 886 910. There will be dancing displays throughout the event, with great music to relax and listen to, plus food and refreshment stalls including the popular Rotary Coffee Van. On Saturday evening the rockers will be back at the Gliding Club hanger to dance the night away, then after breakfast on Sunday it is time to pack up and plan for next year. We give thanks to the group of local residents and how efficient they are with the excellent planning each year. This year’s theme is colour and I, like many others, are looking forward to seeing just how colourful it will be.

For residents who enjoy history and learning about the early days, have you booked your spot at the Waikerie Library & Visitor Centre or Loxton Library & Visitor Centre to learn and see images of the Loveday Internment Camp from historian Rosemary Gower? Rosemary will be at the Waikerie Library at 10am on Wednesday, May 10, and then at Loxton in the afternoon.

Julie Stapleton (formally Crabb) has over many years organised an annual Waikerie reunion that is held in Adelaide, where former residents now living in the city, or friends you may have, can meet and catch up. It is held on the first Monday in the month of June and I am checking with Julie as to where it will be this year, so keep the date free in your diary as you may like to attend. We could take a coach trip to save driving.

Thought for the week: Friendship flows in two directions – you must give as well as receive.

- Maria Fontaine