Mayor Mat Hatcher has revealed himself to be a champion prawn peeler, beating 7 others to win the prawn peeling competition that was held at the Tomakin Community Day on Sunday 22 May.
Grants from the Eurobodalla Shire Council and Coordinaire to the Tomakin Community Association (TCA) assisted it to hold the Community Day. The grants were provided to enable the TCA to bring Tomakin residents together to connect with each other following the black summer bushfires, although the day was delayed due to the COVID pandemic.
The TCA gives a voice and represents Tomakin to all levels of Government. TCA President Megan Kelly said it is important to celebrate the community’s resilience as it moves past some very difficult years. “An important way we did that was to recognise people who have gone above and beyond to help others,” said Ms Kelly. “We received nominations from the community and recognised our ‘Tomakin Treasures’ with certificates of appreciation on the Day. “
Tomakin Treasures are:
o Mark ‘Stringer’ Browne who actively assist the community in many ways, including fighting the 2019 bushfires to the point of exhaustion.
o The staff at the Tomakin IGA served the community with compassion and without disruption following the bushfires, providing polite, kind and personal service.
o Daphne Cole has consistently worked to obtain improvements for the Tomakin community such as footpaths and new playground and exercise equipment.
o David Nicolson was instrumental in establishing fixtures for Tomakin’s Jack Buckley Park.
o Holly Hatcher and Shea-Lee Stanton did outstanding work keeping the community updated during the bushfires when communication was very limited, providing updates from emergency services and advice on where food and assistance could be accessed.
o Mat Hatcher did amazing work on logistics and co-ordination during the bushfires and more recent flooding. His energy and drive were unrelenting.
The Community Day enabled Tomakin residents to find out about activities that take place in Tomakin and services that are available while enjoying live music, a free sausage sizzle, and games and gift bags for children. The TCA also launched an on-line services directory for Tomakin businesses.
The organisations and clubs who participated on the day are all very important to the Tomakin community.
These groups and organisation were very creative in the way they engaged with residents on the Day and really were critical to the TCA achieving a key purpose for the day: encouraging Tomakin residents to participate locally and engage with each other. The TCA sincerely thanks all participants: Headspace, Marymead, Rural Fire Service Broulee, Landcare, Satya Yoga, Aloha Australia Oz Yoga, Southcoast Spiritualist Centre, Tomakin Sports and Social Club’s tennis and fishing activities and Rally for Recovery.
Tomakin residents very much appreciated a welcome to country from Aboriginal elder Uncle Sam Nye who also told stories from his earlier life in Tomakin.
An unexpected highlight of the Day was the presentation of an artwork by Headspace. Headspace is a support service for young people in tough times. The artwork cleverly incorporated brief reflections from people attending the Community Day about the importance of Tomakin to them.
The Tomakin Community Association would like to sincerely thank its very generous sponsors. Our sponsors are also local businesses who undoubtedly faced difficult times themselves over the past few years. Sponsors are Smokey Dan’s, Pearly South, the Tomakin Auto Centre, the Rivermouth General Store and Café, Lodge Coeur de Lion Narooma and the Tomakin Sports and Social Club.
The day would not have been possible without the hard work of a group of TCA members. This was very much appreciated by residents and the TCA.
Photographs above: provided by Tomakin business: Dylan Golden Photography.
