KALBAR Showground was the setting for the Fassifern’s Australia Day celebrations, last week.
And there was a record turnout for the event hosted by the Kalbar Baptist Church and MCed by Wilson Neuendorf.
The hot sun and blue skies were a reminder of how lucky we are to live in this vast sunburnt country.
The day started with a free breakfast; a fitting reward for early riser attendees.
Once satiated, people sat beneath the shade of trees outside the main pavilion, and presentations and speeches began.
Mr Neuendorf, last year’s Scenic Rim Citizen of the Year (65+ Years), thanked those in the wider community for providing a record number of nominees for this year’s award categories.
“As Australians we can be justifiably proud of our country, our heritage, our lifestyle and our community,” he said.
“This is a very special community in which we live, the foundations have been laid and handed down from one generation to the next.
“Australia Day gives us all, as a community, an opportunity to embrace all that is good about our nation.
“It was John F Kennedy who said those immortal words ‘it’s not what my country can do for me, but what I can do for my country’, and I believe as Australians we need to get this into our psyche ... what can we do for our nation and not what it can do for me.”
He said in his lifetime he had never seen areas such as Kalbar, Boonah and Harrisville in better position to embrace the future.
“So much of the vitality, energy and expectancy that goes with having a vision for the future has come from people who have moved to our district and now call it home,” he said.
“This new energy, with the rock solid investment of our past, I believe augurs well for our future.”
Also attending were Federal Member for Wright Scott Buchholz, Scenic Rim MP Jon Krause, Mayor Greg Christensen and Councillor Duncan McInnes OAM.
The Freiberg family provided musical entertainment and despite the heat, most attendees could be seen tapping their foot and joining in some of Australia’s best known tunes like Waltzing Matilda.
The day was also about rewarding community members who have gone the extra mile.
The award winners are:                                                                                                                                               • Young Farmer Jackson Rieck                                                                                                                                  • Young Achiever Damon Lincoln
• Community Leader Paul Cornwell
• Best Business Inc.Mill Photography
• Special Award Eris Rashford
• Innovative Farmer Taylor Brothers.
In Mr Neuendorf’s words: “History has proven that progress is not created by contented people, so for 2023 let us focus on the things that unite us and not those that divide us.”