KEMPSEY hosted the world premiere of Slim & I last week and it was a wonderful event and a great opportunity to celebrate new things and community, in what has been a tough year.
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But even that event carried reminders of what has passed.One of our very special guests attending the premiere was Her Excellency Margaret Beazley, Governor of NSW, in what she admitted was only her second trip out of Sydney since March.
In conversation with The Governor she recalled her last visit to Kempsey in the immediate aftermath of the bushfires.
She spoke about her memories of meeting those who had lost so much and the amazing strength of character they'd shown.
The Governor admired the resilience of the people of our shire, and I couldn't agree more.
But resilience isn't something we can ever take for granted and certainly not now. It's such a hard quantity to define and even harder to grow.
That has been one of the challenges for council's dedicated Recovery unit who have rolled out a program of free resilience focussed events under the banner Strength, Support and Community.
The focus is giving people information and activities they can do together to build on the future.
One of the events I would heartily recommend is the series of Tree Planting for Success workshops.
Many of us have at one point or another felt the urge to grow a tree, particularly in the wake of the damage of last year's fires.
But which tree? Where? And most crucially how?
The Tree Planting for Success classes are being run in partnership with the Macleay Landcare Network and are about working with you to choose the right tree for the right conditions and then helping you to plant and maintain them.
And importantly, you will also be given the trees!
There are two workshops being held and you only need to attend one: Tuesday, September 22, 5-7pm, at Willawarrin Hall; or Friday, September 25, 10am-midday, which will be held on a property.
Each household is entitled to $150 worth of free trees upon completion of the workshop.
If you would like to attend the Tree Planting for Success workshop or one of the other events - from yoga and boot camps to CPR and cooking classes - head to yoursay.macleay.nsw.gov.au/recovery to register or call the Recovery Hub on 6566-3200.
