The Eudunda Community, Business & Tourism Committee (ECBAT) covers many Sub Committees including the Eudunda Christmas Street Party.
This small sub committee of quiet achievers managed to raise funds and run the very successful Eudunda Christmas Street Party & Parade each year for the community. By the time the event came around due to unforeseen circumstances Katie Preston and Regina Scholz ended up being the two remaining committee members.
The fact that the event was a great success on the night is testament to the hard work they put in to present such a great night for the community. in fact with 138 kids received a gift from Santa and approx 500 people attended, 30 floats in the form of businesses, groups, individuals, clubs the event was well supported.
Winners for the best floats for 2017:
Eudunda Community Hub won the Best Community Float
FarmTech won the Best Business Float
Early in the evening the very entertaining MC for the night; Alison Schutz read out a 5 year summary of the committee’s achievements. They are to be congratulated not only by ECBAT but by the community in general.
Their intention of hanging up thier elves costumes and encouraging others to take up the work of bringing Christmas Cheer to the Families and Children of the district is honourable and their work will be missed. ECBAT encourage the forming of a new committee to carry on this work.
We include their summary here:
Thank you to everyone who has made tonight’s Eudunda Christmas Street Party 2017 so enjoyable. Below was our 5 year recap and call for 2018 committee members..
Wow! Here we are at the 2017 Eudunda Christmas Street Party, this year certainly seems to have flown by.
So, Regina Scholz & myself (Katie Preston) have been involved in running the Street Party for 5 years now and felt that maybe it is a good time to recap that last 5 years.
Over the years the committee numbers have been very small averaging only 4 members and this year ending with just 2 of us, as commitments to other committees or work reasons have made keeping a Street Party Committee hard.
Our aim in organising this event has always been to bring all ages of the community together for a fun and sociable evening in the lead up to Christmas and celebrating another year ending. We have tried to have entertainment to suits all ages and involve as many local businesses, clubs and groups as we can. Our immense thanks to all those that have participated in the parade and, or, have been providers of entertainment over the years. The other day as I looked back at the Christmas Street Party facebook page there are lots of photos and posts that brought back many memories and of course photos of some of the children who have now grown considerably.
Community groups and clubs have been involved and benefited from the Street Party by having Food and or Drink Stalls on the night to raise funds and have not been charged to have that stall.
All the Emergency Services have been present for the Street Parties and we thank you all for giving of your time and your efforts for our community both at events and as needed during the year – We sincerely thank all the teams for their effort and time.
In the last few years the Street Party has been held on the second Friday of December and this has worked well as it has not then clashed with the Kapunda Street Party on the Friday at end of school term.
When we came on board the Street Party Committee taking over from Trevor Matthews and Margaret Doecke, who had organised this for quite a time before us, we hoped we could successfully have a Street Party that covered its costs and was enjoyable to be a part of, I feel that has been achieved. So this event costs, with the entertainment we’ve had over the years, approximately $3500 to $4000 per year to run. We have held fundraisers to cover the costs and applied for ward funding from the Regional Council of Goyder. Fundraisers have included Quiz Nights, Bingo, Comedy Night, Deb Ball and Auctions.
Over the 5 years we also started Eudunda Community Christmas Wish, the aim of this was to donate to a cause close to the hearts of local people any funds raised, in excess of what was needed to put on the street party. Donated funds over the 5 years are just over $36,000 – this money has gone back into local community projects and includes:
- Vital equipment for the Eudunda Kapunda Hospitals,
- Projects at the Eudunda Area and St Johns Schools
- Eudunda Community Hub
- Backpacks for Kids
- The Leukaemia Foundation
- Make A Wish
- Eudunda Gardens Upgrade
- Dyslexia SA
- Eudunda CFS
We would so very sincerely like to thank EVERYONE that has supported these fundraisers which not only enabled us to have a Street Party but give back to other community projects.
Before I finish we would like to Thank a number of people who each year have supported and assisted our very small committee to manage to put this event together, and in no particular order Thank yous must go to:
Andrew Partington – Andrew has worked and assisted us as only he could do, he has provided lighting for the night, has worked with stall holders needing power, has organised the chairs, tables and staging that has been required and has even dressed up as an elf even when on call and yes he ended up going to a call out in his elf gear!!! Andrew thank you so much.
Digger – Digger has assisted Andrew very capably although not in an elf suit… and has also worked with us and the bands, choirs and those requiring audio on the night. Digger Thank you
Peter Dunn – Peter has played a very valuable role at the Street Party over the years and has probably not received enough recognition for his role but the children who have attended the Street Party have always been very pleased to see him Peter you have played your role perfectly and we truly thank you
David Booth – Dave has been involved in the street party for the last 2 years abley assisting Peter. Thanks Dave for your support.
The CFS – Eudunda has a significant pigeon population I’m sure many will have noticed… and so the CFS have, prior to the Street Party given their time to hose down the laneway to provide a cleaner area for stall holders – Thank you team
The Eudunda Garden Committee – When we were organising this event, while the street provided a good parade route, the lovely gardens Eudunda offers was the perfect spot for many reasons to have the after Parade entertainment. The volunteers on this garden committee work so hard and we are truly thankful they give their time to ensure there is an area for all to enjoy – we are so very appreciative of your efforts and many thanks
ECBAT – The Street Party committee operates under the ECBAT banner, we thank the ECBAT members for working with us, managing our part of the bank account and supporting and assisting us. we have appreciated all your time and help.
Peter Herriman – Peter is excellent at sharing local news and information via social media and newsletters or even printed newspaper articles. Peter has over the years actively recorded the event taking many photos and we are grateful he has taken time to do that
Alison Schutz – Ali has spent time on the committee but even when not officially on board has still been so supportive and has helped out and worked with us to make this all happen. Ali your organisational skills and ability to get stuff done, your MC skills and your general outlook are amazing, Thank you so so much including reading this out for us
Of course it takes a community effort to make this successful so we thank each and everyone of you for attending the Street Parties in whatever capacity you are here, we hope you have enjoyed what we have organised over the last 5 years.
So, being a big believer in committees receiving fresh ideas and having been on board this committee for the last 5 years Regina and I are hanging up our elf hats to pursue work and other committee or volunteer commitments. We both will happily continue to support and assist, where needed, a new Eudunda Street Party Committee but its time for new members to come forward and take this event further. It has been a lot of fun, yes it has had its stressful moments but we’d love to see this event continue. Past expressions of interest were poor so by putting on a little bit of pressure by now not having a 2018 committee, we hope some of you can come forward and make 2018 awesome.
Please contact Regina, Katie or Ali if being a 2018 committee member interests you.
Thank you all – May you have a lovely Christmas and Many Best Wishes for a happy and healthy 2018
Katie Preston and Regina Scholz
Check out the Eudunda Christmas Street Party & Parade page on Eudunda Web Portal for previous news about their work.