July 13th 2009

Hey everybody, it has been a while since I last updated my blog as there has been a lot of things happening in the Fogarty Household.

May 16th saw myself and my daughter Kelly as part of the entertainment package at the Wandoan Q150 celebrations. The good folk of Wandoan are always very welcoming and i think a good time was had by all.

Just two days rest and back down the road to the Miles Show to team up with my old mate, Murray Hartin, in my old birth town. Thanks to Bobbie Megaw and her crew for their help in what turned out to be a fairly frustrating day, due to rain interrupting the open air stage and a unscheduled switch to the pavilion. In true bush fashion everyone pitched in and made the most of the situation and managed to enjoy themselves despite the problems.

Keith Jamerson, bush balladeer of note, kindly invited me to an inaugural event he organised at Bouldercombe, just out side of Rockhampton. the weekend was a great success and Keith is already gearing up to run the event again next year, plenty of camping space available and he has kindly offered me a return spot in the show. a thrill for me to work for the first time with reg Poole on a show, I have been a fan of reg for more years than I care to remember and he is a great bloke as well as a great performer.

The end of may saw me organising two 4hour bush variety shows for the long running Crackerjack Carnival in Carina, Brisbane. The crew included Jeff Brown, Neil McArthur, Tom Lee Archer, Angela and Steven Maher(whipcrackers) and myself. Neil unfortunately was struck down by a very serious middle ear infection which stopped him performing on the second concert but everybody else filled in like true professionals and delivered a great concert. A special mention to Tom Lee Archer, who in my humble opinion, remains one of the most underrated performers on the scene.

A week later saw me off to my second Gayndah orange Festival as MC and Roving Announcer, this is a great festival that offers something for everyone and is held every second year. Unfortunately our parked Pajero was run into by a vehicle involved in an accident with another vehicle driving down the road, but luckily the damage was restricted to the bull-bar and Cindy and i could still make our way home. Lots of familiar faces in the crowd and i greatly appreciate all those who took the time to thank me for my efforts over the two days. I was able to scrap in just a couple of poems during a break in proceedings to keep the bush poetry flag flying.

NSW, here we come, and just after beating you in the first State Of Origin as well, talk about perfect timing. A Rural Engineers Conference saw me performing the corporate entertainment and delivering a customised poem to mark the Heritage Listing of the Grafton to Brisbane Standard Gauge Rail Link. Grafton is a beautiful town and the sunset over the Clarence river from our venue was simply awesome. What a great bunch of people to work with, Cindy and I had a great time and were made to feel very welcome.

Up at 3 am to hurry home to Millmerran to assist our local Historical Society with their Q150 celebrations. I little bit sleep deprived but the numerous interesting activities on the day assisted me in keeping my eyes open.

Teaching workshops to children on how to write and perform bush poetry is becoming a bigger, more important and most enjoyable part of my bush poetry journey and i happily accepted an invitation to spend five separate days in Dalby working with pupils of both Dalby South State School and Our Lady Of The Southern Cross Catholic School. I still have one day to go and it has been a very enjoyable experience interacting with some very talented students. The lasting benefits from these workshops rely very heavily on the teachers being able to reinforce the lessons learnt after I leave and I appreciate the strong participation from staff.

I spent my own primary school years at a very small school called Ryeford, just outside of Clifton on the darling Downs and was thrilled to be asked, as a past student, to return to the school for their annual sports day and to address the students on my school days and my life since leaving. I was given the honour of being official starter for the days races.

Roma has always been one of my favourite rural towns and i was delighted to accept an invitation from Tony Klien to return and provide the entertainment for the Zone Five Rugby League Welcoming Dinner. Some old faces from my own football days were in the audience and this great bunch of people should be congratulated for the work they do insuring young kids still get the opportunity to play rugby league at carnivals such as this. good luck to all teams competing, play your best and soak up what will be life lasting memories.

Okay I know, Or hope anyway that I look way to young to be a grandad, but my first granddaughter, Parker Jane arrived on 8th July, to the delight of brother Ty, mum Kelly and dad Gavin as well as Cindy and I, two very excited grandparents.

Cindy is just about to head off to Hawaii for a business conference, while i am wondering what to do at the end of August, as i am having my first break from the Gympie Muster in about 15 years. I will be back next year though and i am sure the rest of the poetry gang will keep the standard of the breakfasts sky high as usual.

Regards

Gary Fogarty