With an estimated crowd in excess of 6000 it was standing room only for the first of two spectacular fireworks displays at Ford Oval on New Year’s Eve.  Families began setting up the blankets and chairs early in readiness for a night of entertainment and merriment.

The afternoon markets were a big hit with all stallholders reporting excellent takings and many asking for an allocated space next year.  They provided many quality items at reasonable cost.  The jumping castle and slide along with the swing were real winners with kiddies and queues were quickly formed with many hundreds of children walking away very satisfied with their experience.  Our resident fairy floss lady Helen had a tough time keeping up with orders.

Our entertainment this year was the best line up so far produced thanks to the fantastic work of Graeme Wykes. Kim Churchill started the night getting the crowd in a mood for wanting more. This young man is an exceptional talent and MACCAT wish him well with his future plans in his expanding career. Where do you start when writing about the legendary local lads – The Lounge Lizards?  The boys were fantastic and the crowd showed their appreciation with such loud applause. Next a young band called Confidential Bystanders had the younger ones dancing in the isles and in the front of the stage – all of this leading to our headliners – The Andy O’Donnell Trio. Andy’s vocal talent is very well known throughout the Sapphire Coast and he and the band did not disappoint those in attendance, leaving them screaming for more.  We spoke with Andy after his Gig and he was very, very pleased with the response remarking he would like to be asked to do it all again.

The 9pm fireworks started right on cue with Dave Hanshaw lighting up the sky with colour and noise with a show that outstripped last year’s effort. Mums and dads could safely take their kiddies home to bed now knowing that they had just witnessed a pyrotechnic show to be remembered for days to come.
The band – Torque were next to get many teens leaving the “discussion” area under the lights at the entrance to the beach to come forward and dance the night away till the countdown.  MACCAT president Don Smith thanked the Bega Valley Shire Council, The NSW Police Dept. especially Sgt. Cliff Scarlett and Insp. Jason Edmunds for their vigilance and understanding. Don also thanked the local businesses that helped put on this night with their continued support and commitment to MACCAT. Very important to staging a show of this magnitude is the co-operation of the organisers’ wives and partners they were also thanked for their understanding.

Midnight arrived after a very loud countdown and the skies lit up once again.  Dave produced a 2009 sign for us this year and although not 100% functional it set the tone.  Loud bangs and many oohhs & ahhs were heard with yet another spectacular showing.  Thanks Dave – start planning for next year.
The park was declared an alcohol free zone from midnight and the Summer Bus program proved very popular with busses taking patrons home right up till 3am.
The night was sadly marred by the very few larrikins and thugs that congregate at functions such as this with alcohol getting the better of their senses.

“Some” Mums & Dads would be ashamed if they knew it was their kids behaving in such a manner and the number of young girls full of ink was disturbing. The Police are to be commended for their attitude towards these youngsters, with tolerance and patience they moved amongst the younger generation pointing out their misgivings with only a minor number ejected and a few spending the night in another place. These incidents certainly will be a determining factor in the decision to hold this activity again in 2009. The St Johns’ medical team were busy during the night with Don Walker treating a young man that had been cowardly king hit around 1am.  He was transported to hospital for observation and we wish him a speedy recovery.

The MACCAT team remained onsite till 3am cleaning the park of litter and filling the waste bins with debris. They were back the following morning to ensure they had completed the job. It was unfortunate that the rubbish bin collection was due on the next day as many bins were overturned making the cleanup job harder that it needed to be.

Our thanks go out to all our supporting sponsors, BVSC, Ian Baker Air Services, Club Sapphire, ARAMA Sth Coast members, The Wharf Restaurant & Aquarium, Coast Resort, Merimbula Beach Holiday Park, Sapphire Waters Motor Inn, and Mermaid Waters Holiday Units, to The Waste People, Sapphire Coast Hire and to Bernie Welsh for their continued support.

It was disappointing to see that financial support came from one sector of the accommodation industry with only two other independent complexes willing to contribute to the night. Many known faces were in the audience enjoying yet another MACCAT presentation.   Let’s hope they come onboard next year.

Along with the Surf2Turf Fun Run and the New Year’s Eve free Concert and Fireworks display MACCAT (Merimbula Area Chamber of commerce and Tourism) are embarking on an exciting retail promotion for November, December and January to make Merimbula and Pambula the place to shop this summer.

Graeme Wykes and Don Smith of MACCAT have been fine tuning an outstanding proposal to reinvigorate the retail offer of the area’s premium shopping districts of Merimbula and Pambula.    A small  retail Sub Committee of John Ford, Rob Colligan , Ian Swanne and Richard Mikolajczyk  are currently out explaining and signing up participants for  this exciting promotiont to the local business houses.

The centre point of this exciting retail promotion will a free give-away of a Nissan Micra– valued at S16,990 – on the road – proudly supplied by Troy Altman of Ron Doyle Motors, Eden.  Weekly draws will take every weekend at participating retail outlets, starting in late November for the chance to win a key for the final of the promotion to be held over the Australia Day Long Weekend in January 2009.

Among the other components of the promotion is $3,000 of “Merimbula Money’ to be won and spent at participating retailers, plus hopefully weekly draws of vouchers, services and prizes. Details are still being finalized and the final proposal will be dependant and subject to the amount of support the promotion receives from the business community of the area.

The advertising object is to position Merimbula and Pambula, not only as vibrant tourism choices, but as shopping centres with a vibrant, dynamic and ultra competitive range of shopping experiences.

The accommodation sector will also have a portion of the promotion aimed at their sector to give their clientele a chance to participate in this outstanding promotion.

The response to date has been outstanding with the vast majority businesses realizing that they can’t afford NOT to be part of this campaign.   The minimum target of funds to allow this promotion to go ahead is $30.0000.

 
Of course the more participants the bigger the splash the committee can make in the local media to give the area’s consumers no choice but to make Merimbula and Pambula their No.1 choice to shop this Summer.

 
The campaign is well on the way – but the target is still to be reached – so if your business has not been contacted you can ring for more information - Graeme Wykes on 0429 951403.   The promotion is open for the retail, food and the club sectors.

For the Accomodation, Professional and Trade supporters – Don Smith on 0414 211044 will gladly explain the benefit and value to you and our area for a very small sponsorship commitment.

 

MACCAT – Helping Grow your Business and our Towns