August 3, 2023
Olympian Natalie Cook OAM put in another gold-medal performance at the Dinner With The Captains in Kingaroy on Saturday night.
The five-time Olympian has won a gold medal and bronze medal during her record-breaking career as a beach volleyballer, but she won the audience’s hearts (and provoked Olympic-sized laughs) during her talk at Kingaroy Town Hall.
It was the first time for three years the fundraising dinner, which is organised by a small committee headed by former Australian cricketer Carl Rackemann, could go ahead.
The pandemic managed to derail it every year since 2019, including the disastrous 2021 event which was cancelled on the actual morning after snap COVID travel restrictions came into effect.
Carl breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday night when he announced happily: “Three long years without a dinner … but we’re back!”
The main aim of the evening is to raise funds for the annual South Burnett Relay For Life campaign for Cancer Council Queensland.
All the guest speakers have to be sporting “captains” of some sort or another, although the rules have been stretched a tad at times.
For 2023, it was the turn of former Australian cricketing captain Jodie Purves, self-appointed team captain Natalie Cook and retired Maroons and Australian rugby league captain Allan Langer AM.
Each of the guests was interviewed on stage by Carl, and shared amusing – and inspirational – stories about their careers.
But it was Natalie who stole the show – especially when she explained how she first met Carl, then at the peak of his career (but in his jocks) during school work experience as a trainee physio.
The three-course dinner was catered for by Roberta Schablon, from The Saucy Fork, with assistance from Kingaroy TAFE Hospitality students and Kingaroy State High School students, who waited on the tables.
It was a big night for the TAFE students as their work counted as part of their term assessment.
Volunteers from the Wooroolin Lions Club were kept busy at the bar.
But the key to the night is fundraising, so there were many opportunities, including a huge multi-draw raffle, a silent auction and a live auction conducted by John Allery, from Raine & Horne Kingaroy.
The live auction raised an amazing $21,600 on the night, while the silent auction raised more than $10,000.
As well, 12 special Relay For Life purple cricket balls were sold for $150 each.
Carl told southburnett.com.au the total raised for the night was still being counted, but it had been a “tremendous and fabulous” evening.
“The auction results caught me a bit by surprise,” he admitted.
Carl said he wanted to thank the sponsors who had made the night possible, especially major sponsor Bendigo Bank and the supporting sponsors, Stanwell, RES, BUMA, McDonald’s Kingaroy and TAFE Queensland.
“So many thanks are also due to the whole community that came along on the night, or contributed in any way. So much support came from companies, organisations and individuals. It all came together on the night.”
This year’s Relay For Life will be held at a new venue, T.J. O’Neill Oval in Kingaroy, on October 7.
As in recent years, it will be a day-only event.
UPDATE December 6: The final numbers are in! The committee has announced that this year’s dinner made in excess of $52,000!
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