{"id":355821,"date":"2024-12-06T23:12:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T13:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=355821"},"modified":"2024-12-20T18:05:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T08:05:14","slug":"christmas-lunch-brings-smiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/12\/06\/christmas-lunch-brings-smiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Lunch Brings Smiles"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Alexis, 7, and Macii Blee, 5, from Kingaroy, were getting into the Christmas spirit at the Mayor’s Community Lunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 6, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

The annual Mayor’s Community Lunch attracted more than 180 diners to Kingaroy Town Hall on Friday to help celebrate Christmas.<\/p>\n

However, the real people who will be celebrating are the South Burnett families and individuals who will benefit from the funds raised at the event.<\/p>\n

Guests paid $25 a head for tickets to the lunch, which included a two-course meal prepared and served up by volunteers from the QCWA.<\/p>\n

Entertainment was provided by The Shedders from Nanango, led by Deputy Mayor Jane Erkens who also conned her fellow councillors up on stage at one point to join her in “Silent Night”.<\/p>\n

After lunch was served, professional vocalist Julee-anne Bell showed what singing is really about when she wowed the crowd with two relatively unknown songs – “Grateful” by John Bucchino and “Love Is Christmas” by Sara Bareilles –\u00a0 but only after she took to the stage as the special guest speaker.<\/p>\n

Julee-anne recounted her journey from schooldays to her internet-breaking performance on The Voice, and all the twists and turns along the way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And she shared her motto: “Feel the fear and do it anyway!”<\/p>\n

Mayor Kathy Duff said the funds raised from the lunch would help the most vulnerable people in the community.<\/p>\n

Food vouchers would be given to service providers “at the coal face” to distribute, including Graham House, South Burnett CTC and South Burnett Care.<\/p>\n

Mayor Duff thanked the many businesses which had supported the day, including Sunpork and Peries IGA Kingaroy.<\/p>\n

There was also a massive raffle with more than 70 prizes – all donated by local businesses.<\/p>\n

“I am hoping … that we can help to put a smile on some faces and help to take some pressure off those struggling families over the Christmas period,” Mayor Duff said.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

UPDATE December 16: The lunch raised $6000, with all proceeds being donated to South Burnett families as IGA food vouchers.\u00a0<\/strong>Council would like to thank the supporters and sponsors of the lunch: QCWA, Swickers, Peries IGA Kingaroy, BCF, Betta Electrical, Bega, Bunnings, Christene Nissen & Associates, Coppards, South Burnett CTC, Deb Frecklington MP, Dominos, Elray Jewellers, Framed with Style, Trish Erkens, Good Price Pharmacy, Harvey Norman, Hunter Gatherer Trader, Huston Motors, Jamaica Blue, Kingaroy RSL, Little Butcher, Muffin Break, Sport First, Wholelife Chemist and Sunshine Mitre 10.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Guest speaker and vocalist Julie-anne Bell shared anecdotes from her career before singing two powerful songs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Cr Ros Heit, Mayor Kathy Duff and Cr Heath Sander<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lynelle Paterson and Laura Davey were busy greeting guests at the door<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cr Danita Potter warmed up the crowd at the start of the lunch with some dad jokes<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Somehow Deputy Mayor Jane Erkens convinced her fellow councillors to get up on stage to sing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The four Council staff members who went “above and beyond” to organise the lunch were presented with flowers … from left, Kristy Miatt, Helen Floyd, Danielle Gribble and Lynelle Paterson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kingaroy Town Hall was packed with diners for the Mayor’s Community Christmas Lunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Deputy Mayor Jane Erkens and Nathan Hartley were part of The Shedders group on stage<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mayor Kathy Duff presented guest speaker Julee-anne Bell with a bunch of flowers<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Shedders – the group of musicians who meet on Friday nights at The Shed in Nanango – provided the musical entertainment before and during lunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kingaroy QCWA members – and colleagues from other QCWAs across the region – prepared and served up the food<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
More of the eager helpers who prepared and served up the lunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
South Burnett Care had a strong contingent of staff members at the lunch …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
… more of the team from South Burnett Care<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual Mayor’s Community Lunch attracted more than 180 diners to Kingaroy Town Hall on Friday to help celebrate Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":355822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,16,3],"tags":[1131],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas Lunch Brings Smiles - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The annual Mayor's Community Lunch attracted more than 180 diners to Kingaroy Town Hall on Friday to help celebrate Christmas.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/12\/06\/christmas-lunch-brings-smiles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas Lunch Brings Smiles - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The annual Mayor's Community Lunch attracted more than 180 diners to Kingaroy Town Hall on Friday to help celebrate Christmas.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/12\/06\/christmas-lunch-brings-smiles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-06T13:12:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-20T08:05:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20241206mayor0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/12\/06\/christmas-lunch-brings-smiles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/12\/06\/christmas-lunch-brings-smiles\/\",\"name\":\"Christmas Lunch Brings Smiles - 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