A day to heal mind and soul

The kebabs were sizzling, the cupcakes were selling, and the weather and bush poets were all on song for the inaugural Hilltops Healing fete in Young last Saturday.

The fete was an initiative of the town’s St Mary’s Parish that wanted to raise spirits and give back to the community following drought, COVID and other struggles.

More than 25 stalls, including several from the town’s multicultural communities, offered kebabs and sausages, cakes and sweets, and arts and crafts. These, together with the sounds of song and dance, added to the flavour of the day.

Santa was there, having made an early start on his rounds, but he had to compete with the Thomas the Tank Engine jumping castle for popularity.

One lucky winner won first prize in the raffle, a painting by local boy and retired Archdiocesan priest Fr Allen Crowe.

In a special performance for Catholic Voice, bush poet (and former local Vinnies president) Greg Broderick gave a rousing rendition of his idea for a new Australian anthem, “God Save Our Thong”.

After the bills are paid, all money raised by the fete will be donated to the local St Vincent de Paul Society conference for community needs.

For parish priest Fr Jiss Sunny the day was about healing as much as raising funds for the needy.

“We are not looking for dollars in our pockets. We are looking for wellbeing and engagement with our local community,” he said.

“After the difficulties, it was a day for the mind and soul of the people of Young.”

 

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”270″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails” override_thumbnail_settings=”1″ thumbnail_width=”223″ thumbnail_height=”137″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ images_per_page=”12″ number_of_columns=”3″ ajax_pagination=”0″ show_all_in_lightbox=”0″ use_imagebrowser_effect=”0″ show_slideshow_link=”0″ slideshow_link_text=”[Show slideshow]” template=”default” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]