Celebrate Lithgow 2011

Contributed by Janelle Johnstone & Sally Taylor

(Celebrate Lithgow co-ordinators)

Wow what a week it has been......

Our festivities began on Sunday November 20^th with our inaugural Wallerawang Bowling Club / Celebrate Lithgow Charity Road Cycle Challenge. We had 50 participants ranging in age from 12 through to 78 & they all had a fantastic time. The riders came from the local area as well as Mudgee, Bathurst & the Blue Mountains. The course set off from beautiful Lake Wallace in Wallerawang where music, dancing, food vendors, business displays & a Ute Muster (proudly sponsored by R & K Gas & Workwear & R & A Chainsaws & Mowers) entertained those that attended.

The course was set through picturesque farming lands around Portland, Meadow Flat , Sunny Corner, Dark Corner & onto Kirkconnell.  90 kilometres in total with quite a few of the participants completing the gruelling course in with their own personal best times (even though it was not a race, some of our more serious riders gave it their all) local rider Andrew Poppett coming in with an awesome time of 3 hours & 56 seconds, followed by Charlie Cross 3.05, Gary Dukes & Josh Annells 3:13, Phil Stapleton 3:15, Glen Partridge 3:18, Kevin Bell 3:25, Ian Grant 3:27, John Mitchell 3:28, Peter Davis, Ian Laing & Graham Stait 3:42, Rainer Scheurer 3:50, Mark Windsor & Lurene Pollard 4:25 & Darren McMahon 4:50, an awesome effort & congratulations to all that competed the full course.

Special mention needs to be made to Rebecca Dukes & her 4 sons who rode. Rebecca, Elias, Dylan & Travis all completing the 50k’course, as well as the Stapleton family all entering & doing themselves proud, well done.

It was an honour to have some of the local legends of cycling in our area take part namely Clive Laing, John Posker & Graham Stait, these three men have had cycling running through their veins their whole lives & they are an absolute inspiration to all that rode & watched on.

A huge thank you to our sweep riders that continually rode the course on their motor bikes throughout the event keeping an eye out for any problems namely Adrain Schindler, Neil Lumley, John Noon, Derek Kirkland & Rowland Phillips. To the members of the local VRA thank you for your roadside control point duty & to the course planners Glen & Robyn Partridge & Gary & Bryson Dukes for the hours & hours of work in planning & sign posting of the course it goes without saying we could not have done it without you.

Wallerawang Bowling Club came on board as the major sponsor for this inaugural event & we look forward to working with them again next year as this event gains momentum. A cycling event such as this has the potential to grow to hundreds, if not thousands of participants in the future & the Board of Wallerawang Bowling Club will always be recognised as the sponsor that helped it get off the ground. Special thanks also goes to Delta Electricity, as this is their 15^th year as our overall Celebrate Lithgow sponsor & the trust & confidence they place in our endeavours are paramount to the success of our endeavours each year.

Other generous sponsors for the Inaugural Bike Challenge to whom we would like to sincerely thank include; Club Revive, Valley Springs, Tesoreiro Fruit, Wallerawang Village Meats, Lithgow Fitness Centre, CW Print, Radio 2LT, Lithgow City Council, Lithgow Lighting, Valley Bobcat Services, Black Gold Country Cabins & Valley Florist & Gifts.         

Monday saw our first ever History Express bus tour.

A wonderful day was had by the 45 people that hopped on board a Jones Brothers Bus company coach with host Thomas Ebersol from Newnes Hotel Cabins. Out past Lake Lyell to Rydal where a history talk was given on the historic St Mathews Catholic Church; then to Union Church (shared by all denominations to this day). A sumptuous morning tea of scones, jam & cream awaited courtesy of Ann Krone at The Mount, after which a stroll through the gardens down to the old railway station & residence, now an accommodation venue. All aboard the Bus to Portland to view the signage & a stroll through the Main street before heading to the park where the LIONS Club served up lunch. The return journey went via the Old Railway Station at Wallerawang where Andrew Wilson gave an informative talk on the history, and their plans for further development. Milkshakes & coffee were enjoyed by all, and a walk down memory lane with the old fashioned lolly bar. St John’s Church at Wallerawang was the last stop off to view the wonderful restoration work that has been done on this fantastic old building. A great day & people already talking about doing it again next year.

Lithgow Public School entertained the crowd at Cook Plaza mid morning, so talented & such happy little faces as they proudly showed off their abilities. Thank you to the teachers, staff & students for their participation at Celebrate Lithgow again this year.

Wednesday = Seniors Day in the Park but not this year, it was moved to the Civic Ballroom due to rain but that didn’t stop everyone having an absolutely fantastic time.

A great  free lunch was provided to over 250 guests of sandwiches, fruit salad, coffee & ice cream. Sincerest thanks goes to Lyn Boyd-Skinner of Black Rock Cafe for organising all the food, along with the generosity of sponsors including; Delta Electricity, Lithgow Business Association, Advantage Hearing, Westco, Bills Bakery, Tesoreiro Fruit, Lithgow Valley Springs & Lithgow Council.

Wonderful entertainment was provided by our own Cil & Snow Vandervelden & Jan Preston (Sydney) the Honky Tonk Queen who bases her repertoire on the late great Winifred Attwell.

A new addition to this year’s Seniors day was the age specific expo. Advantage Hearing, Collins Mobility Aids & TEMS Machines were on display for anyone interested. This was a great opportunity to view these items all under the one roof & the senior’s response was favourable.

Thursday another great bus trip is organised for today with a total sell out within 24 hours & a waiting list to boot. This trip is to Newnes & Newnes Hotel Cabins Mr Thomas Ebersol is the host for the day, showing guests around the area & providing a lovely lunch for all.

The Donnybrook Hotel is the place to eat on Thursday Night with a great range of food at Celebrate Lithgow festival prices, get a few together & get on out there.

Friday, come & see the children from Scots school in Cook St Plaza mid to late morning.

Saturday, want somewhere to have a great meal? Check out either Inzitari Road House at Sth Bowenfels or Lithgow Hotel in Main St both have great deals for the eve of the Main Street Fair .

SUNDAY >>>>THE BIG ONE.

Come on up to Lithgow’s Main Street. There is FUN for all & it’s all FREE.

The fun kicks off at 9am with food stalls, shops open with great bargains & wonderful displays & entertainment for all.

There will be jumping castles, a cup & saucer ride, dancing displays from all 5 local dance groups.

The famous Highland band will enthral us again as well as the Lithgow City Band.

Remixes will join us again ion Central Main Street for 6 hours of amazing cover music & the chips will be flying high again as the wood chopping competition takes out the top end of town near the court House Hotel.

You can’t afford to miss this great opportunity to CELEBRATE.

Be there from 9 til 4, bring the kids, bring the mother in law, bring your friends & well, just bring anyone!!!

• CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT TIMETABLE
• CLICK HERE FOR CELEBRATE LITHGOW STREET PLACEMENT

Celebrate Lithgow proudly bought to you by Delta Electricity, Lithgow Business Association & Lithgow City Council.

All stall registration money from this year’s event will be donated to our local Volunteer Rescue Association

Dear LBA Member,

We deeply regret that we have had to cancel the Lithgow Business Awards. However this decision was not made lightly and was brought about because of two major factors.

Firstly, lack of participation by the business houses within the Greater Lithgow area, to date we have only received 6 nominations.
Secondly, a lack of sponsors. The LBA canvassed businesses, large and small, for sponsors of both in kind &/or donation. We would like to thank the ANZ Bank, Westfund, Octec, 2LT and Kenny Spring Solicitors.

An event of this type requires business & community support which was not forth coming to an extent that would enable the successful running of the Awards. Our sincere thanks goes to those who stood proud of their business and took the time to enter.

We will try running the Awards again next year. If anyone has any ideas or the time to participate in the organising of next years’ Awards, please feel free to come along to our meetings which are held on the second Wednesday of each month at Club Lithgow at 6pm.

Sally Taylor
President
12/10/2011

Here is your chance to be a proud sponsor of this fantastic family event.

As part of Celebrate Lithgow Festivities for 2011 we are staging the first of what we hope will be an ongoing annual charity event, building as all similar bicycle events in NSW, to hundreds if not thousands of riders in the foreseeable future.

This is your chance to get in on the ground level & become a sponsor for this event on Sunday November 20th to be held in the Wallerawang / Sunny Corner area.

The event begins at Lake Wallace & has four different length courses, as well as having activities for the kids on the foreshores of the lake whilst parents & teens ride the course. There will be food vendors, a live band, a ute muster, Mountain Cruzers car display & activities for all to enjoy, so not only are the participants catered for but the general public as well.

The event will be widely publicised throughout NSW & it is a fantastic opportunity for exposure of your business. The Challenge is to be a family friendly event with a focus on fun. It is not a race.

The major beneficiaries from monies raised at this year’s event are the local VRA (Volunteer Rescue Association) along with other valuable local charitable groups.

For your generous sponsorship the following packages have been put together as an idea but if you would like to speak to us with regard to ‘in kind’ sponsorship or any other questions you may have, please feel free to contact one of the organisers.

Organiser's contacts as follows:
Glen Partridge 0417422081
Robyn Partridge 02 6355 1714 (ah)
Janelle Johnstone 0408259278
Sally Taylor 02 6352 4811
 

Wallerawang Bowling Club
Celebrate Lithgow Charity Road Cycle Challenge

Sponsorship Packages:

• • Lake Wallace Package: $1,000.00

1. Entitles you to naming rights for the event
2. Allocated display area at the event.
3. Your name to appear in all advertising of the event as the major sponsor.
4. Entitlement for 4 riders to enter event as a corporate team (at no cost).

• • Pipers Flat Package: $500.00

1. Allocated display area at event
2. Your name to appear in all advertising of the event as a sponsor
3. Entitlement for 2 riders to enter event as a corporate team (at no cost)

• • Sunny Corner Package: $250.00 

1. Allocated display area at event
2. Your name to appear in all advertising of the event as a sponsor
3. Entitlement for 1 rider to enter event ( at not cost)

• • Meadow Flat Package: $100.00

1. Your name will appear in all advertising of the event
    

THE EVENT;
As part of Celebrate Lithgow festivities a charity road cycle event will be held on Sunday November 20th 2011. The inaugural Wallerawang Bowling Club / Celebrate Lithgow Charity Road Cycle Challenge will begin on the shores of beautiful Lake Wallace at Wallerawang.

There will be four different length courses to challenge riders from the novice through to the totally serious riders, ranging in length from 22 kms through to a 90 km course.

The event will begin at 8am. Breakfast will be available from 6.30 am & catering continues throughout the day for all spectators. Your entry entitles you to lunch on your return.

Young children will also be cared for with supervised events on the lake foreshore, so bring their pushbikes along as well for the day. A band, jumping castle, ute muster, trade stands & food vendors will be at the lake most of the day.

This is a non competitive charity road cycle ride & the main beneficiary form Celebrate Lithgow this year will be the local VRA. The VRA have also been appointed to carry out the course controls & road crossings. The VRA will be controlling the entrants not the traffic. The course does not go on or near any highways.
 

The course follows the following route;

Leave Lake Wallace proceed up Barton Ave onto Pipers Flat Road turning left onto John Mackey Drive Portland. Turning left onto Sunny Corner Road proceeding over Garlands Hill to the T intersection of Meadow Flat Road & Sunny Corner Road, then left onto Meadow Flat Road to the school, u turning & proceeding back up along Meadow Flat to Sunny Corner Road to Dark Corner Road intersection turning right onto Dark Corner Road proceeding along to West Mitchell Road to Kirkconnell School Road, then returning along the same roads back to Lake Wallace.

Course & Entrants Control Plan
Entrants will be waved away in single file. VRA personnel will be situated at each intersection. Participants will be controlled by VRA direction. Riders will have a briefing before commencement of the event. They will be advised to follow all road rules & signage & to remain in single file. Riders are advised to wear bright clothing. Roaming marshals will be on motorcycles throughout the event.

There will be a lead out escort with flashing lights & caution signage of cyclists following as well as a final sweep vehicle after the last rider leaves.
Public awareness will take place in local air & print media as well as signage along course 14 days prior to event.

Camping facilities & accommodation are available at nearby Black Gold Country Cabins; 0263557305

DOWNLOAD THE ENTRY FORM HERE

This event is proudly bought to you by the following sponsors;

• Wallerawang Bowling Club
• Club Revive
• Lithgow Business Association
• Delta Electricity
• Black Gold Country Cabins
• CW Print
• Valley Bobcat Services
• Lithgow Lighting
• Valley Florist & Gifts
• DebWeb & Auzzie.Biz