PUTTING ‘FUN’ INTO FUNDRAISING AT BUNNINGS IN TOOWOOMBA

Tom - bringing in the sausages from Boutique Meats

Grateful for the rain having made way for a crisp and sparkling Toowoomba Sunday morning, Greg and Ruth Skippen arrived in town early with boxes and eskies full of BBQ supplements to set up for the Esk Community Choir’s big fundraising day at the Toowoomba West Bunnings Store.  Twenty minutes later, Greg emerged from within hauling 2 meters of timber, bulging bags of potting mix and all manner of building and gardening accessories, reinforcing the theory that the good people of Bunnings could be possibly pumping something into their air conditioning system sending shoppers temporarily insane but not so much that the aroma of sizzling sausages and onions does not become irresistible to these weekend warriors on their way out.   And so it was on November 19^th, when conga lines of customers, managed to munch their way through almost 70 kilos of Boutique Meats’ sensational sausages, several slabs of sliced bread and multitudinous mounds of onions all smothered in the sauces and mandatory mustard.

It has to be said that a slow start had our willing workers a little worried that the previous week’s official opening of ‘the other’ Bunnings store may have thrown a bunnings spanner into the potential profit-making experience.  However, it was not long before people laden with purchases were lining up for their sausage snacks, served to them by a corps of choir members cooking, preparing, and managing the money and drinks in a choreographed sequence of alternating shifts, some lasting the length of the day.

By 4.30pm with all but a few of the sausages sold and the clean up completed there were few who that night would not have had any trouble sleeping the sleep of the exhausted, satisfied in their having not only reaped the rewards of their hard work but having again put capital F U N into FUNdundraising!

To Ruth and Greg Skippen who took hold of the organizational reins of this with the competence, grace and selfless spirit we have come to know in them both; to Damien FitzGerald and his Boutique Meats for his generous sponsorship of this important fundraiser and to the 13 choir members who  gave so willingly of their time and allowed us all to forget that it was supposed to be work and not fun and, along the way, made it the success it has been on so many levels, A BIG THANK YOU!!

By: Sue Walker

Marina and Brian

Saucy kids - Carolyn and Judy

Greg - totally focused

Jan - keeping an eye on the til

Miss Johanna - or is it Poirot?

Eating the profits !!!? Kathie and Sue

Lloyd, Gary and Di

Roger and Eric

Suzanne and Jan

Co-ordinator extraordinaire - Ruth.

ANOTHER CRACKING GOOD SAUSAGE SIZZLE AT TOOWOOMBA'S BUNNINGS

Keeping the Boutique Sausages  and Onions Sizzling - Brian Crichton and Tom Byrne

There are some things that gel into the natural flow of our everyday lives and one of them is the Saturday morning trip to Bunnings, not just to stock up for the action plans de jour but to fortify the body with lots of protein for the projects ahead.   And so it was on a beautiful Saturday, May 1st, when, at the Toowoomba Bunnings store, members of the ESK COMMUNITY CHOIR were at the ready sizzling kilos of those bewitching Boutique Meats sausages to stave off hunger as shoppers swarmed like ants to a picnic around the sausage tent.

With over 60 kilos of sausages to sizzle, loads of loaves and oceans of fried onions to tempt the passing parade, Kathie, Tom and their cracking team of willing workers moving in sync around the confines of a relatively small space, had sausages 'with' and 'without' handed out to the next row of hungry weekend warriors before that last squirt of tomato sauce had hit the ground.

To have the opportunity to fundraise in this way is a coup for the Choir and much of the gratitude must go to Kathie for her initiative.  However, these days are never possible without a lot of hard work and co-operation from Choir members.  It is also to the credit of those hard working volunteers that this day was gastronomically, socially and financially a great success.

By Susan Walker

The team of willing and diligent workers: Margaret, Kathie, Marina, Jan, Di,
Caitlin, Jo and Elaine

SIZZLING SAUSAGES AT BUNNINGS IN TOOWOOMBA

Margaret Philp, Jan Jennings, Kathie Watts, Elaine Brown, Di Chaplin, Roland Cox, Sue Cox.

Putting the "fun" back into Fundraising was not too difficult on Saturday August 15th when a team of toilers from the Esk Community Choir came together at Bunnings in Toowoomba  to feed the hungry masses with well over 70 kilos of sausages, bread by the truckload, oodles of onions and a song in their hearts.

There is something alluring about the aroma of sizzling sausages and onions that tempts even the virtual vegetarian to the Bunnings Sausage Tent and this day was no exception.  With careful choreography around a small space allowing for accuracy and efficiency of movement, Roland Cox's brilliant preparation paddles playing a significant role in this, the conga line of customers were catered for faster than Wonder Woman can deflect bullets!!

 Even before the sauce had time to settle on unsuspecting items of clothing, many were returning for seconds, due in large  to the most mouth-watering sausages provided  by our own Damien FitzGerald's 'BOUTIQUE MEATS'  and for these and his continual support of the Choir's endeavours, we are continually grateful.  Thanks too must go to those of the Choir who were unable to man the marquee on the day but whose onion chopping efforts proved invaluable.

Though weary and worn, workers went home full of the joys of a successful day, both financially and socially.   Funds raised amounted to just under $2,000.00...a brilliant effort by Sue and Roland Cox and all those who gave of their time and energy for this Overseas Tour 2016 fundraiser.  

by Sue Walker 

Keeping a watchful eye on the 'takings' is our Sue Walker.

Roger Woodman and Tom Byrne
 Perhaps discussing the molecular structure of titanium !!!

THE TEMPERATURE WAS NOT THE ONLY THING SIZZLING THAT SATURDAY OUTSIDE BUNNING'S IN TOOWOOMBA.

Some things, without our even realizing it, just seem to morph into the natural flow of our everyday lives and language to become 'iconicly' Australian and one of them is the good ol'   "sausage sizzle"... particularly the ones outside a Bunning's Store in downtown anywhere.   On a particularly hot one,  the day of 20th October, a stalwart bunch from the ESK COMMUNITY CHOIR just happened to be running a particularly busy one outside the Bunning's Store in downtown Toowoomba where searing temperatures were never going to get in the way of the enjoyment of a sizzling sanger.

Like ants at a Sunday picnic, an army of people started swarming the tent at around 8 am and the onslaught continued until the last cooked sausage rolled off the BBQ and onto its piece of bread at around 4pm.   Weekend warriors pushing trolleys laden with kids and all manner of merchandise were never so weighed down that the aroma of frying onions,  cooked sausages and eskies overflowing with ice cold drinks didn't have the effect of drawing them in like magnets to our tantalizing  tent. "Where'd these sausages come from?",   many would ask as they returned for seconds.  "The Esk Butcher!!" we told them loudly and proudly.

With over 70 kilos of sausages to sizzle,  loads of loaves, oceans of onions and masses to feed, the slick choreography of movement in the confines of a smallish and 'searingly' hot tent worked a merry dance..    With 14 Esk Community Choir members working in shifts,  each core of helpers, all assigned with their respective roles,  had the next orders in hand before the others had even begun wiping the first dollops of sauce off their T Shirts!

The day was  gastronomically, socially  and monetarily a huge success and while fund raising opportunities will continue to come and go, with so many of the happily willing workers as were present on this day,  the   Bunning's "Sausage Sizzle" will hopefully continue to be the iconic BBQ'd banger on the lips of sausage lovers everywhere. 

Visit our website: www.eskchoir.webs.com