{"id":133320,"date":"2016-02-01T05:30:19","date_gmt":"2016-01-31T19:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=133320"},"modified":"2020-10-23T15:49:10","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T05:49:10","slug":"online-campaign-to-raise-funds-for-statue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/02\/01\/online-campaign-to-raise-funds-for-statue\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Campaign To
Raise Funds For Statue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Tennis great Roy Emerson at the launch of the ‘Emerson Museum” at Nukku Nook with his sisters Daphne Anderson and Hazel Stewart in 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A miniature bronze model of the proposed Roy Emerson statue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 1, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

A crowd-funding campaign has been launched online to help raise funds for Blackbutt’s statue of Aussie tennis champ Roy Emerson.<\/p>\n

“Emmo” grew up at nearby Nukku and attended the Nukku School.<\/p>\n

The old school building, which was relocated to the head of the Rail Trail in Blackbutt, is the home of the Blackbutt and District Tourism and Heritage Association (BDTHA) and also houses the Roy Emerson Museum, a collection of memorabilia<\/p>\n

Tennis Queensland, in conjunction with the BDTHA, launched the fundraising campaign on OzCrowd last month, with different incentives offered for various levels of pledges.<\/p>\n

The association believes the life-size statue will become a genuine tourist attraction as well as fitting tribute to a local hero.<\/p>\n

The fund-raising campaign also aims to help the recently re-established Blackbutt Tennis Club refurbish its facilities to help nuture future Grand Slam champions.<\/p>\n

A sad footnote: Roy and Joy Emerson’s son Antony, 52 – a world-ranked player in his own right who also coached\u00a0 alongside his father – died from cancer on January 23.<\/strong><\/p>\n