Feb2014_NETWORK TOPIC

Welcome to our first edition for 2014.

What does 2014 have store for us?

How did you feel when there was that promise (or ‘threat’) of rain in the lead-up to the Australia Day weekend?

Not wishing to tempt fate, some of my family members put off their planned visit to Dayboro – and who can blame them with being stranded here in January of 2011 and 2013!  Their 2013 visit was further complicated by a prolonged power outage and disruptions to telephone services, both landline and mobile . . . seemingly a rolling issue affecting various carriers at different times.  (AND, of course, the mobile phone carrier that was working happened to be for the phone that was rarely used, was quickly running out of battery power . . . and they had not brought a charger with for their short visit – for in-car or for 240v charging!!)  No visit in 2012, but that was a wet one too!

 . . . . . I’m sure many other families and communities have their own stories of the past few Januarys . . . . . 

Did this affect your celebration of Australia Day this year?

Was there an underlying unconscious decision not to make plans, but just wait and see . . so as to avoid disappointment?

A media release I have just received raised this question “Has Interest in Australia Day peaked?”.  The basis was a slight decrease in the amount of media coverage about Australia Day.  There was, however, an increase in feature stories on the theme:

“reflecting on what it means to be Australian”.

If you were planning an event that got washed out several years in a row, would you reconsider going to the trouble, particularly if the date were inflexible and fell within the storm season?  

This is particularly relevant today with the insurance costs they would be up for, as well as cancellation fees for entertainment and equipment.  Expenses but no income – it just doesn’t work!