2 September 2016 – This year’s Telopea Community Fair was held in the spacious grounds of Telopea Public School on Saturday, 27 August in sunny, cool weather was a resounding success with more than 1,500 local residents and visitors thoroughly enjoying the wide range of free activities and entertainment on offer throughout the day.
Following a traditional Welcome to Country, the Fair was officially opened by the Member for Parramatta, Dr Geoff Lee, who spoke enthusiastically about the exciting future in store for the local community through a new master plan being prepared for the area.
There was an abundance of free entertainment and activities for all ages, including, for the young ones, a petting zoo, jumping castle, climbing wall, roving clown shows, face painting and story time, courtesy of Council library staff.
For those who wanted to whet their taste buds, there were international food stalls, a P&C cake stall and healthy sandwiches from the Australian Red Cross stall.
Seed Harvest Spoon educators were kept busy with garden classes for those with a green thumb and an interest in learning more about the outdoor education program that Seed Harvest Spoon runs at Telopea Public School with support from PAYCE.
During the day there were exhibitions of patchwork, quilting and woodcarving, and demonstrations by the Brush Park Bowls Club and Dundas Junior Rugby Club.
Musical and dancing entertainment was provided non-stop by the Telopea Public School Choir, Valley Voices Choir, Dundas Chinese Folk Dancing Group, Phoenix Dance Group, Korean Pop Trio and the Happy Salon Dance Group.
PAYCE Managing Director, Brian Boyd said his company was thrilled to add its support to the popular community event as primary sponsor.
“One of the important aims of the Fair is to promote and enhance community spirit in the local area and to celebrate as a community across a range of cultures. It’s a great example of what can be achieved when residents and community bodies work hand in hand and support each other,” he said.
“I congratulate everyone associated with this year’s event for their hard work and commitment and for making sure it was a memorable day for all,” Mr Boyd said.
PAYCE Director, Dominic Sullivan said the day was extremely well-organised and catered for a whole range of interests and age groups.
“Congratulations to the organising committee, particularly its chairman, Keith Reynolds from Dundas Community Centre and Pip Martins from the Schools as Community Centres, for their efforts and also to Telopea Public School for providing such a wonderful venue and setting for the Fair.”
An art competition was held in conjunction with the Fair, with students from Telopea Public School and Yates Avenue Public School invited to create a piece of artwork that captured the colour and fun of the day. The winners were Kyrah Armstrong, Year 5/6 from Telopea Public School and Shirley Zhang, Year 4 from Yates Avenue Public School. The two winning artworks appeared on posters and flyers promoting the Telopea Community Fair.
The day was coordinated by Telopea Connections – a collaboration between various services, groups and government agencies that serve the Telopea/Dundas/Ermington area. Dundas Neighbour Centre, Schools as Community Centres, Parramatta City Council, Family and Community Services, Hume Community Housing Association and PAYCE were represented on the organising committee.
