This was the first year the eisteddfod has been run by the new Tenterfield Eisteddfod Association after the Tenterfield Quota Club handed over the reins before its demise. Regardless the show went on, and with great aplomb thanks to a lot of the ‘old hands’ on onboard with apprentices in the wings to learn the ropes.

Association president Fay McCowen said the transition was ‘perfect’, and everything went excellently. Daphne Struck as always ran front of house selling tickets at the Tenterfield School of Arts. Mrs McCowen was most impressed that Val Gardiner maintained her post at the lectern on stage announcing the acts, and Norma Ovenden worked backstage as always.

“Norma’s been organising the backstage for as long as I’ve been involved, and that started back in the ‘80s,” she said.

Mrs Ovenden took Jan Ross under her wing to teach her the process, completing item sheets with competitor numbers and pieces to keep the show rolling smoothly.

Clare Pieper was as always on the music table with Judy Schultz apprenticing, Christine Denis was the scribe for the adjudicators with Robyn Coker apprenticing, and Mrs McCowen herself manned the secretary’s table with Ruth Offer in support.

Mrs McCowen said the program days when schools are involved can be bedlam with so many performers to corral, and the hail storm (or was it sleet?) on the Friday didn’t help as the students generally assemble outside. Former teachers Jann and Geoff Newman, however, kept everyone under control and complex manager Harry Bolton opened up the museum to keep people out of the storm.

Drake Public School did well to score the Marcia Rhodes Memorial Trophy for highest points, against competition from much larger schools in the speech section. Mrs McCowin said all the schools did a great job, particularly the smaller ones who travelled a considerable distance.

“Wallangarra won the Ross Hardware Trophy for a recorder group, which was excellent for that little school. Mingoola scooped the pool in all their sections.”

She was particularly pleased to see so many younger children performing, and the look on their dads’ faces are they watched. In fact she said there was a large contingent of dads and grandads in the audience. She was sure the late Anne Berridge – who was so involved in the speech section for many years – would have been thrilled to see her three small granddaughters carrying on the family tradition.

While the huge volume of dance entries required some rearrangement of the program and some squeezing, Mrs McCowen said the event was a huge success and she has received great feedback, particularly about the adjudicators.

“The adjudicators were very popular.”

Dance adjudicator Marilyn Morrison even kept the audience entertained while the certificates were being written up, on the stage with young performers doing high kicks.

All three $500 scholarships were awarded, to Ella Wishart (speech), Zipporah McBurney (music) and Georga Tumata (dance).

“They’re all very worthy recipients,” Mrs McCowen said.

In all $3980 in prize money was distributed, along with medallions. The association is now looking to replenish the coffers after being hard hit by expenses, so a reprinting of the Quota phonebook may be imminent.

This is the first eisteddfod that advertisements have been included in the schedule and program. Mrs McCowen said local businesses were very supportive and this did contribute to income, but limited space were made available for ads so that the books didn’t become too hefty.

Mrs McCowen thanked all the helpers and advertisers and even those who supported the association’s street stall. She is encouraging as many people as possible who were connected with the eisteddfod to come along to the September 20 meeting and provide some input.

“It’s always good to get a fresh perspective and new ideas,” she said.

Some changes to be considered by the group include whether to split off the dance section to its own full-week program, possibly abbutting or overlapping school holidays. The speech and music sections could be run a week or two prior.

Another consideration is to run all disciplines for an age group together, so that performers (particularly the younger ones) don’t need to hang around. New items this year like the pair poetry and characterisation in costume proved popular and are likely to be retained.

Dates for Federation Eisteddfod 2019 will be nutted out at the meeting, in an attempt to avoid clashes with other commitments and to book popular adjudicators well in advance. 

The association’s annual general meeting will be held on October 18 from 6pm, again at Total Care. All members of the community are welcome to attend.