THERE ARE MORE THAN THE HOURS AT DAWN TO A ‘SUNRISE’ IN ESK

 

Some ‘locals’ were kind enough to offer an empty bed or two to the travellers; some workers arrived early enough to sing, safe in the knowledge that they would still make it to the coalface on time; others just a short car ride away and one choir member who managed to avoid an early shift call up with a ‘No way Jose…I’m just about to appear on National Television!’.  This was the morning at the Esk Caravan Park when Alexis and her Esk Community Choir were about to put a little piece of Esk on the nation’s bucket list with a crew from channel 7’s ‘Sunrise’ who came to town.

There’s no doubt under normal conditions, 5.30am would be the time a significant portion of the residents of this picturesque place would still be asleep; others just stirring to the call of the kookaburras and contemplating the course of their day.  However, with the aroma of hot coffee, and tasty toasties wafting from the tables of the Brisbane Valley Roasters, this caravan park was already a hive of activity when the choir rocked up for their 7.15am 20 second performance…( not to be confused with their 22^nd performance which would have happened around 1978), but for just 20 seconds, between an introduction and the delivery of ‘Capital City temperature forecasts’ it was a beautiful choir bringing their dulcet sounds into the homes of ‘Sunrise’ viewers across Australia, with page one of Handel’s ‘Hallelujah Chorus’.

Now while this may seem trite to some, this writer is here to tell you that it was an amazing experience.  The crew, comprised of the lovely, bubbly Katie Brown on microphone, Sean the ‘Director’ who appeared to run the show along with a very accomplished camera man, created a fascinating window into the mechanism of making a TV show, albeit the Weather segment of a very popular Morning TV presentation and one in which this choir was privileged to play a part. 

The choir, together with a large portion of park residents, rallied for an on-camera ‘goodbye’ as the last of the Weather segments completed.  Then as people disbursed, it was with the promise of a hot coffee gratis of a very kind and grateful Alexis, that the choir headed off to Brisbane Valley Roasters to cling a little longer to the moments just shared.

by Susan Walker