October 26, 2016
About 60 women gathered at the Wondai Diggers Club on October 14 to mark the International Day Of Rural Women.
They had come to listen to guest speakers Carol MacArthur and Tracy Anderson talk about their work, as well as network with other rural women from all across the South Burnett.
Carol MacArthur is the founder and director of Circles Of Life, a not-for-profit organisation that has been presenting women’s forums in Brisbane since 2013.
And Tracy Anderson, from Hivesville, is co-owner of the Anderlea Piggery, which recently went through a major expansion.
Both women talked about the ups and downs of their daily working lives, as well as their hopes and aspirations and their long-term future goals.
The get-together was organised by the Burnett Inland Economic Development Organisation (BIEDO) and ran from 9:30am to around noon.
BIEDO CEO Kristy Frahm said networking events were particularly imoportant to women, and the International Day Of Rural Women had provided an appropriate opportunity to hold one.
BIEDO organised the venue, the speakers and the catering – which included free coffees from Mondee 2 Go’s mobile coffee van – and also set up a special play area inside the Diggers Club so mums could bring along their children.
At the end of the event, a special cake was cut to mark the day, and guests mingled and chatted over finger foods.
Later, Kristy said she hoped BIEDO could hold similar networking events in future to provide more opportunities for regional women to get together and share their stories.
