May 2010 Newsletter

A warm May market welcome to each and all. We did order a warm day but if the morning is chilly it will soon be warming up.

Bellingen will be bulging with visitors looking to take advantage of a town throbbing with life and the opportunity to take in all that’s on offer, Bellingen’s Agricultural Show, The Nurses Picnic & Rally to save Bellingen Hospital and us - The Bellingen Community Markets.

You’d agree that having so much on offer in the one locale should attract a healthy influx of people looking to have a great day and who else better than our BCM & its merry May muster of Marketeers.

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is back with us and ready to be apart of fun. This is their third May BCM and their effort epitomises positive community action. ABMT volunteers will be taking your orders, so join in and treat yourself. They along with Relay for Life are this month’s BCM Community Group, assisting us to setup & pack-down our event and raise further funds with the booty tossed into buckets by a generous public keen to support the work of the Cancer Council.

And other items of interest and information. The recent results of our BCM Census are as yet incomplete. Thanks to those who returned theirs in April. Those forms still to be returned can be left at the office or handed to your Section Co-ordinator.

Last month electrician, Jaydon Carter checked out all the electrical equipment and leads. Overall, after tagging a few leads, we passed muster. Jaydon did offer some observations worth considering, read ‘Safe Electrics‘ for more on that.

I am often called by other community events and others asking for advice, contacts or opportunities. In this instance the call was from Toast of Urunga. Their event happens in early September and is quickly growing a crowd of interested attendees. If you have any interest to take part see ‘Toasted‘ for more details.

In “the show must go on” department; Big thanks to Rosie & the Thorns. Ms Sutherland and aforementioned ‘Thorns’ were gracious enough to juggle other engagements to help us. Stricken by the dreaded lurgi the scheduled band called Friday afternoon to cancel. BCM acts also perform after BCM at the Federal Hotel. One door closes…and another one opens enter Rosie & the Thorns. The trio’s musical credentials are impeccable, their performances honed and informed by each members ‘dues paying’ journey - real local crowd pleasers provided by providence.

The BVDRLFC have a game here tomorrow so please KEEP OFF THE PLAYING FIELD, drive at a walking pace, ALL vehicles out by 9am please, and please dispose of your waste appropriately if you are at in doubt ask one of our staff where to dispose of your stall refuse.

The football players call this park, ‘The boneyard’, Marketeers & most of the public know Bellinger Park as ‘Market Park’ but whatever you call it, every third Saturday of each month, with thanks to all its…BCM not just a marketplace but a great place to be.

Safe Electrics

Following Jaydon Carter’s recent electrical inspection we discussed several issues. Overall compliance was being observed and some tagging eliminated any defaulters.

Leads and the tagging and type of lead used was brought up by Jaydon who had cautioned a couple of stalls on their type of extension lead being used. These were the white office or domestic lead and not a lead for use in markets or operations were wear and tear and continual use occurs in an outside situation. Their flimsy nature is not up to it. He recommends a heavier duty tradesman quality lead and, if it is getting frequent use, tested & tagged often. Builders and other frequent user types are required to have test & tagging monthly.

In the interests of common sense & public safety we will remove any leads or points found to be running hot. It makes good business sense and OH&S sense to insure you are operating safely and with appropriate gear.

Toast Urunga

After the resounding success of the 2009 festival, where we had over 5000 visitors during the course of the day, organisers will be working hard to guarantee another fabulous bigger and better event for our mid-north coast region.

If you would like to have a craft table (crafts only, no food/drink items sorry - BYO table) along Urunga’s main street - near where the free shuttle bus drops people off to walk to the event site - then please contact Marilyn Thompson on 6655 3330 or marilynthompson@y7mail.com

Stalls will be $20 each and will need to be booked and paid for by 1 August 2010. All stalls need to be set-up by 9am at the latest, as we need to minimise vehicle movements in the local streets after this time. No shade tents can be erected but the streets have shade awnings. We will limit the number of tables to 20, and will allocate them on a first in best dressed basis.

April 2010 Newsletter

And now that you’re here we can begin - another warm, 3rd Saturday of the month welcome Marketeers! As ever we’re all hoping for a strong turn out of end of school holiday visitors too add to our always loyal community contingent. Whatever evolves remember ‘it’s not the destination it’s the journey’ and be thankful you get to travel in such a fine company of merry Marketeers.

There is a lot to tell you & so away we go…

Importantly the BCM Census forms that went out last month for you to fill in should be handed in today please. If you get the chance either drop them to us when you’re passing or hand it on to your Section Coordinator when fees are collected. Thanks in anticipation of your cooperation and time doing the form; it will hopefully provide the most definitive ‘picture’ on all aspects of our BCM.

Safety is always uppermost in our concerns for operating a safe event. We advised last month of a visit from Bellingen’s premier sparky. Plus a horror story for anyone attending a market came to me this week and gives further food for thought on safety issues. I direct & dare you to read ‘Blown Away’ herein.

As much about aesthetics as safety is the issue of vehicles in the Market Park after 9am. We have a policy of No Vehicles in the BCM and have had for a long enough time for you to know that if you don’t have authorisation from the manager, then you need to remove your vehicle or trailer. There are exceptions, disability sticker holders and food vendors being those. If you have any queries please direct them to me, otherwise when parking your car please avoid taking up parking on the Market perimeters to allow visitors access to you.

There was great concern last month for Stan & Sally who ran off the road on Shortcut Rd. Sally reports that Stan has had to attend John Hunter Hospital for some repairs but they are both otherwise ok. Not so their utility, it has gone to the happy hunting ground. Sally asked me to pass on to all their thanks and appreciation at he concern and many calls they received. We hope to see them back very soon.

Again this month we’ll have BHAG (Bellingen Hospital Action Group) so if you would like to know anything or show your support drop along and say hi. We also have Riding for the Disabled in today. This certainly is a marvellous programme and worth finding out more about, today’s the day.

Our BCM Community Group of the Month is the Bellingen Renewable Energy Fair (BREF). Already establishing a big name for their event their volunteers are ours today. They’ll be out to inform and raise funds with their info stall & raffle tickets as well as at the gates with their buckets. Apart from generating environmental awareness it is also growing good attendances to their annual event.

Music this month is courtesy of Geoff Turnbull Session who play their second BCM on the back of, as the expression goes, public demand. On stage from 10 - 2pm but if you can’t get away to see our acts during the day a lot of folk are opting to catch the BCM acts at the Federal Hotel from 5-8pm.

With the change from daylight saving time it is darkerwhen we arrive and quickly dark in the afternoon. Nobody’s cracking a whip here but it would be greatly appreciated (by me especially) if you could assist by making your pack up and departure as fast as your setup.

Have a wonderful day and make sure you send visitors home knowing why people say BCM not just a marketplace but a great place to be.

Blown Away

Last month I advised the presence of Jaydon Carter, Bellingen’s leading electrician and the gentleman that will be doing an audit of our power and will also be checking your electrical equipment and leads to ensure every one is tagged and suitably compliant to legal safety standards.
On the subject of safety I was told by one of our Permanent stallies of a nasty incident which happened at a recent northern market. An exploding gas bottle turned an otherwise lovely day into drama and injury for several people in the vicinity of the bottle. This could perhaps been avoided if the gas bottle had been checked and approved and injuries avoided if the food stall concerned had a fire blanket &/or extinguisher handy.

Proper safety equipment is the cost of doing that business. To avoid ruining a great day out please ensure you have such precautionary measures at hand and have your gas cylinders checked regularly.

Weather or Not

Yes we do go ahead in wet conditions.

We do not make a final decision on proceeding with a Market until 7am on the Market day unless, conditions prior to the Market day have been sufficient for that decision to be made earlier.

A Markets postponement depends solely on what damage going ahead will do to the Market Park, so its not what is happening from the sky but what is happening on the ground.

If a Market is postponed prior to the day announcements will be made via ABC mid north coast radio, 2BBB, 2CS, Star FM and on the Market office message bank. If postponed, the Market will be held on the next Saturday.

ALL stall holders (casual & permanent) must phone the Markets office to confirm their attendance on the Monday for that next Saturday. If that next Market is rained out then all bets are off and we forget that month and return to normal practise for the following month (i.e. casual bookings on the Monday prior to the 3rd Saturday).
For the official version we recommend you pickup a copy of Wet Weather Guidelines to avoid any confusion or disappointment.

March 2010 Newsletter

Welcome Marketeers! Our March BCM and only nine more to go until BCM celebrates 30 years of welcomes and countless marketeers & visitors.

We’ve put together a pretty full day for our visitors out for a BCM experience. Starting with you and the spectacular offerings you present to arrivals.
Our other entertainments include musical Mullumbimby madness from Broadfoot in their debut appearance at BCM. Baby boomers to youth will find something to like with the bands music which mines the musical influences from other times and transposes to the modern idiom.

We’ll be also be richly entertained by the multi talented pupils of Bellingen Public School. They’ll be presenting both a choral performance at 10am on the BCM stage as well as a later performance by their string ensemble. Maestro music teacher Elizabeth Scott has worn her baton to a nub polishing the schools musicians to a radiant musical lustre. Moreover this active local school has mucked together and grafted willing parents and teachers to perform as this month’s BCM Community Group. Well deserving of your encouragement and support try to find the time to catch just one piece and applaud with abandon or, by raffle ticket (great prizes!), or pop a glittering coin in their collection buckets; to be found strategically placed on all major gates.

Jack, with Molly the Wonder Dog! , will absolutely win over the crowds with their performances through the day. Molly was given special dispensation by Bellingen Shire Council to perform in recognition of her status as a professional canine performer, just so she could appear at our otherwise ‘No Dogs Allowed’ Market. With her partner Jack, this clever kelpie has been a ‘howling’ success as they busked from one end of the country to the other.

On now to more mundane matters items worthy of your attention to be found elsewhere on this page.
Today you’ll have been given (separately) your BCM Census form (finally). For more info read ‘BCM Census’.

If you are using electrical equipment at our Market it’s that time again. “What time?” I hear you think, time to read “Watts Up” it could save you a little or a lot of money.

Another money saver is the item headed “Food for Taught” and definite reading for any BCM food vendors.
At least three or four times a year comes I get a little query by phone or email from the same group of women asking to confirm our next BCM date. The ‘Port’ ladies are a mysterious group of women from Port Macquarie (I’m assuming it’s their location and not their preferred beverage.) who, in something approaching a traditional pilgrimage hire a bus and driver to spirit them to Bello to plunder our Market, and then away! If you encounter one of these women be sure to give them a big BCM welcome from us all and send them and the rest of the people you meet thinking (fondly) BCM - not just a marketplace but great place to be.

Food for Thought

There is good news on the food & hygiene front from Bellingen Shire Council (BSC). They will soon be announcing another opportunity to attain a safe hood handler’s certificate.

The course is scheduled for late April, but as yet no date. BSC & Shire Health Officer, Bill Fisher has in the interest of public safety priced it at an affordable $10(!) so consumers in Bellingen Shire can eat with total consumer confidence.

A timely reminder to Food stalls to display food handler and other relevant certifications prominently to satisfy BSC codes, our own BCM policy and your foods consumer.

If you have any queries on any food issues talk to me (Neil) first, we’ll discuss it or ask BSC for advice. For more info on the course call BSC (02) 6655 7300.

Market Census

This will be a valuable tool for the promotion of the BCM, giving us a definitive view of BCM.

We are after as much detail as you can provide. Any personal information e.g. names addresses phone and mobile numbers will be held in the strictest of confidence. This is a huge help when we or a prospective customer is wanting to contact you out of the Market. If you don’t want people referred on there will be that option, just mark it in the appropriate place.

We would like to get accurate and marketable information to be able to promote aspects of the BCM. Examples might be, knowing the distance from grower to outlet in the case of produce and given the increasing interest in ‘food miles’ and sustainability. Or perhaps you source all your ingredients from the area or you only use local organically grown products for your hot foods, preserves, jams etc. We’ll be asking the distance you travel to get here to get an updated picture of our coverage area. Please be accurate and honest with your answers so we can produce useable, factual figures when marketing BCM which in turn can only benefit you with even bigger visitor attendance.

Take your time to get it right and return forms at the April BCM or if you’re a Casual you can also return them next month if you get in, if not then please mail them on to us if you would be that kind.

Watts Up

Bellingen’s finest Electrician, Jaydon Carter is back with us at the April BCM. He’ll be testing and tagging electrical leads and helping us out with an audit on our power use. Jaydon regularly provides his services to ensure we are all compliant to OH&S standards.
One obvious requirement is that all electrical leads are tested and tagged. You can either have them tested & tagged before our April AGM or Jaydon will do the deed for a modest $5.
It is important you are aware that at any time should you be found to be operating with an out of date or unsafe lead it is our long standing policy to unplug you and stop your operation until you are compliant.