July 21, 2012
The Kumbia Community is counting down the days as its Centenary celebrations draw closer. After nearly 18 months of planning, final preparations are being made for the event which will be held on Saturday, July 28.
Many activities will take place on the day and the organisers promise something for everyone.
The celebrations will get underway at 9:00am with markets, a Food Court and games for the children at the Kumbia Memorial Hall and its grounds in Bell Street. There’ll also be displays of entries in the tea cosy and pretty teacup competitions, as well as an all-day display of bridal gowns.
At 10:00am, bus tours of the district will depart from the front of the hall for drives through Mannuem, Benair, Reedy Creek, Haly Creek, Ellesmere and other nearby localities that all played a role in the formation of Kumbia in 1912.
Around 11:00am a merry-go-round, a jumping castle and free face painting for children will start operating in Bourke Park and Buffalo Park, and entries in the Centenary’s decorated bike competition will face the scrutiny of the judges,
This will be followed by a giant street parade at noon which will proceed from Bourke Park along Gordon Street, Brook Road, Bell Street and Roberts Street, before turning back into Gordon Street and finishing at Buffalo Park.
A variety of family competitions will follow the parade at the Kumbia tennis courts from 12:30pm. They’ll include egg-and-spoon races, three legged races, sack races, a skipping race and a flat race.
Meanwhile – back at the Hall – there’ll be pie eating and lamington eating competitions at 1:00pm to help set the mood for lunch.
A second round of bus tours will leave the Hall at 1:15pm and 1:45pm, and at 2:00pm the formal proceedings will get underway on the official dais outside the Hall.
They’ll include a Welcome To Country ceremony; the unveiling of a Centenary commemorative plaque; the official opening of Kumbia’s new Historical Walk and the interment of a time capsule. This will be followed by an invitation-only afternoon tea.
At 2:30pm there’ll be displays by the Wakka Wakka dancers, whip-crackers and Tae Kwon Do, as well as a hay bale carrying race.
And then at 3:00pm in the vacant allotment in Roberts Street opposite the police station, there’ll also be a wife carrying race.
Back at the Hall, the afternoon’s entertainment will continue with a massed tug-o-war at 3:30pm and a cow milking competition at 4:00pm, before the celebrations conclude with an evening concert inside the Memorial Hall at 7:30pm.
“We really think Kumbia’s Centenary Celebrations will be a great day out for families,” Centenary committee spokesperson Anne Beil says, “and we hope that everyone who has some connection with Kumbia – past or present – can come along.”
