Published on Monday, 23 April 2018 at 11:33:13 AM
Saturday 14 April we celebrated Youth Week WA with a series of activities to challenge, inspire and invoke a sense of euphoria that can only be felt when you’re getting messy.
#GoomaTown Fest encapsulated the essence of being young. 64 young tributes aged 10-18 entered the Hunger Maze, sacrificing themselves willingly to the onslaught of paint and goo.
Hunger Maze morphed into bubble wrestling and tug of war before Woolworths Northam served up pizza for dinner and staff presented the inaugural Zak Bohling Young Legend Awards to two worthy recipients.
The Zak Bohling Young Legend Award was created to commemorate an extraordinary young person and celebrate young people in our community. The award recognised youth that demonstrated an enthusiasm for life, a commitment to community, courage, and kindness.
Remmi Anderson – before becoming the Goomalling CRC trainee, she was a junior member of the management committee, she's an active volunteer of the Goomalling Fire Brigade and Mortlock Pony Club where she nurtures young riders. As a netball and hockey player, Remmi represents the navy and white well; loyal and loving, she supports her peers and displays a positive attitude towards life.
Anthony Abbey approaches everything he does with a great attitude, he is courageous in trying new things, unafraid of standing out from the crowd and being true to himself. He is kind and always looking out for others. Ant supports Sensei Kristina Perrin in Junior classes, guiding his peers and assisting during weekly lessons.
Dinner was complimented with guest speaker and local game changer Kristina Perrin. Tina shared her story of adversity, being a child from a broken home, at risk of homelessness and a high school dropout at 14 years old to assuming the parental role for her younger sister and an Australian Champion. Kristina spoke of her challenges, living without regret and how taking a chance, despite the odds changed “her game”; highlighting that is okay to ask for help “When people know your barriers, they are willing to help” said Kristina Perrin, U61 Australia & Oceania Champion.
The night concluded perfectly with a community gathering, everyone coming together to dance and be seduced by the charisma of Daren Reid & the Soul City Groove.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the event, creating such a wonderful celebration for our young people.
A massive thank you to our small business owners who supported the event implementation, without which we could NOT have created the labyrinth that was the Hunger Maze.
Tyson Bird (Haywood Bird Farms), Tarryn Anderson (Mortlock Haulage), M & F Siegert & Sons, IT Leeson & Co, Central Ag, Ron Dadd and AgServe all contributed in some way, with machinery, labour or hay bales. It was a massive effort to put this event together and the generosity of our community enabled it to be a success.
Thank you to our funding partners:
- Department of Communities
- Goomalling Community Opshop
- Mortlock Sports Council
- Goomalling & Districts Community Bank®
- Woolworths Northam
Special thanks to the parents and community members that leant a hand during the chaos.
In closing I would like to acknowledge the dedication of the Shire staff who volunteered some 40 hours each to planning, preparing and coordinating the event. Thank you for the commitment to our community Christine, Kristina, Trudi, Natalie, Chloe, Hayley, Karen and Brad.
Media Enquiries
Author Tahnee Bird, Community Development Officer
Authorised by Clem Kerp, Chief Executive Officer
Date 18 April 2018
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