General News
19 October, 2023
New committee backs Advance Avoca’s future
Avoca locals have come together to keep the Advance Avoca group alive. Long-serving members were ready to step down from the committee after years of volunteering their time. Prior to the recent AGM there were concerns there may not be enough new...
Avoca locals have come together to keep the Advance Avoca group alive.
Long-serving members were ready to step down from the committee after years of volunteering their time.
Prior to the recent AGM there were concerns there may not be enough new volunteers to keep the group going.
But a host of locals stepped up to continue Advance Avoca’s community work which in the past has included securing funding for local projects, running the Avoca Riverside Market and lobbying for natural gas for the town.
Rebecca Wardlaw, who owns and operates the Avoca Post Office with her husband and three daughters, was elected president.
“The town had heard [the group may not continue] and we definitely felt that we didn’t want to lose Advance Avoca,” Ms Wardlaw said.
“In the past they’ve done so many good things for the town but there’s still plenty to be done.”
Leanne Redpath was elected vice president and treasurer, and Donna Hawker will serve as the groups’ secretary. Eight other locals joined the committee.
“We’ve got a really good group that’s enthusiastic and ready to do something,” Ms Wardlaw said.
Ms Wardlaw said the outgoing committee had been incredible not just in the work they had done for the town but in handing over to the new group of volunteers.
“We thank the past committee because they’ve been fantastic and they’ve been very welcoming in letting us just do our thing and put our spin on things. I take my hat off to them,” she said.
“[Outgoing secretary] Marg Pilgrim’s just been a saint helping with everything.”
The new Advance Avoca committee is continuing the group’s tradition of running a town garage sale on the same day as the Avoca market at the end of November.
The group will also support the market committee which is organising Christmas celebrations on the river flat on December 17.
“We don’t want to take over the event, we’re here to assist in whatever way we can,” Ms Wardlaw said.
“Our role is more people come to us with ideas and we can help you achieve them. It’s not necessarily our role to run everything but we can help find the resources.”
Ms Wardlaw said she’d been told Advance Avoca had been running for about 17 years.
“I think it’s 17 years which is a pretty good effort for volunteers. Hopefully we get another at least 17,” she said.
Before the group was Advance Avoca it had been a business and tourism group and is believed to have initially been set up around the 1950s as a chamber of commerce.