This year’s brigade Christmas party is on Saturday 9th of December at the fireshed. Festivities start at 5pm with nibbles while the meats finish cooking and Santa drops in to see the children under 15.
All members and other residents of the brigade area are warmly invited to come along. Invite new neighbours if you have them. For full details, see Invitation to all Residents. Please RSVP.
Although they are an institution now, the brigade Christmas parties of the modern era started off much smaller and somewhat inauspiciously in 2005, the year our permanent fireshed was completed.
It was an event that was also to christen the new building. Unfortunately, providence took ‘christen’ literally and it rained heavily in the hours before the party – flooding the shed.
We have an ironic photo of the fire brigade captain (Peter C) sweeping flood waters out of the brand new fireshed.
That first party was a modest sausage sizzle for a mere handful of people, but change was in the offing.
The existence of a permanent home for the brigade made it possible for ad hoc training to morph into a regular monthly schedule at a single venue. Over the next couple of years, training numbers increased and a training sizzle supper became the norm. One year, Broni J decided the Christmas party had to be something better than a training supper.
In her first year as Christmas party maestro, Broni raised the bar decisively, introducing the colourful leaflet invitation to all residents, the spit roast, the music and the decorations, and lining up Santa. She consolidated this standard in the following years and we try to maintain it today.
Like the flock of ducks gliding effortlessly across the pond, it takes a phalanx of volunteers ‘paddling’ furiously ‘below water’ to ensure our parties are the effortless, easygoing gatherings they appear to be.
Each year we seek the donation of a lamb or pig for the spit roast. After nearly 20 years we are not now always successful. From the first year, Michael G has always taken the animal from paddock to plate, producing memorable pit and spit roasts. Others have often helped him with the various tasks involved.
Our modest senior provided the soft drinks for years although these days we usually have enough leftovers from fundraising events.
Then there’s the promotion. Almost every year there have been volunteers ready to hand-deliver our leaflet invitation to every mailbox in the brigade district. Broni and Mac kicked it off and this year it was our president Judy H, and community engagement officer, Liz S.
This year is the first time we have had enough seating for everyone – thanks to Leonie’s donation of 40 fine plastic chairs a few months ago. In the past Rick M has lent us his own stock, bringing them to the shed and taking them back afterwards. We continue to rely on him for the trestle tables.
Every year we have one or more elves who in the days preceding the party ensure Santa’s sack has something for every under-15 who comes along. Even ensuring Santa makes it can be more difficult some years than others.
Almost invariably, there is one tiny tot who experiences the magic of Santa for the first time and the total awe and wonder on their tiny face is truly magical in itself. You have to watch carefully, it’s a personal and intense private experience during which they are oblivious to everyone around them except the man in red.
Other volunteers check/top up the kitchen supplies, compile the music playlist, and sort through the decorations box and top it up as necessary – a bigger than usual job this year because the existing stock is showing its age.
The years we have had large numbers of children, we have had volunteers who have devised treasure hunts, games of find the fire in the bushes (a red-garbed Gareth) and put it out (with balloon water bombs – nearly everyone involved in that game loved it) and other activities that have kept our future firefighters amused as their parents relaxed and watched from their high vantage point at the shed.
Let us know the details of any youngsters you will have with you (see RSVP details below).
Possibly the best kids’ entertainment of all was the year the brigade responded to a call to a grassfire on the Canberra side of Murrumbateman an hour or so before the party. Our crew returned after the party had started, tired and blackened, and under lights and sirens for the run up the driveway – to the immense excitement of the younger generation.
On the morning of party day, hordes of volunteers pour in to move the trucks out of the bays, wash the floors, spruce up the kitchen, decorate the halls, set up the community food table ready for the offerings that come with the guests, set out the chairs and tables, put the soft drinks on ice, and generally put out the welcome mat.
At the end of the night, people muck in to restore the shed to its proper function – cleaning up, washing up, packing up, removing the rubbish, putting the trucks in – leaving the brigade ready once again to respond to a callout at a moment’s notice.
If you would like help this year, contact Judy or Sally:
or
Yet even with all this effort, the party is only a success if you turn up and make it so!
For newcomers to the area, our Christmas party is an opportunity to gather in a warm and friendly atmosphere, enjoy what is usually a balmy summer evening, meet your new neighbours and get to know the men and women who will be there for you in an emergency.
We welcome you.
Invitation to all Residents
Date: Saturday 9th of December | Time: 5pm – 9pm
Venue: Brigade fireshed in the grounds of the Warrambui Conference Centre,
322 Greenwood Rd, Murrumbateman.
All members and other residents of the brigade area are warmly invited to come along. Invite new neighbours if you have them. There’ll be music, laughter, good fun, good food, and Santa for the under-15s.
The brigade provides meats and soft drinks, eating and drinking utensils, condiments etc.
We ask you to bring a plate of salad or dessert for the community food table for all to share. Also BYOG.
To manage catering numbers, coordinate with Santa, and balance salads and desserts, please RSVP by 1st of December with:
• number of adults
• names and ages of children under 15 years, and
• (if you can plan that far ahead), the type of salad or dessert you will bring.
RSVP:
Sally Kaufmann | November 2023