Welcome to Bellingen Community Markets Spring 2022 Newsletter for 17 September, and how glorious it has been. Once all this silly rain has cleared I feel we’re in for a divine and deserved Spring. Hope you can get out in the fresh clean air and sunshine and take some time out for you ! A dry market day is a good market but please come prepared for all weather, especially wind ! Bring heavy pegs to hold you down.

You might have noticed we have a new webpage. The webpage crashed early this month. If you booked a casual stall but haven’t heard from me, please email now to advise. We’re in the process of updating our website to handle the amount of traffic and bookings. The plan is to have stallholder profiles for everyone, allowing us to promote our permanent stallholders to the wider community. We aim for stallholders to pay online before market. It’s a work in progress and I’m looking forward to the positive changes and user friendly site. Click here to see more

Hope you had a good month and ready for a good day this Saturday. We have a full house and delightful goodness at every angle.

LIVE MUSIC

Cheryl Hall & the Wisemen

Cheryl Hall and the Wisemen are an eclectic mob of Muso’s from the four winds of the music industry.

Peter White is the Keyboard Player who hails from the UK, he fell in love with Australia, when he picked up a part in the original Jesus Christ superstar, after meeting John English he became Johns Keyboardist in Johns hay day. Peter Harries is a respected and accomplished drummer and teaches music in Port Macquarie, he also plays in numerous big bands and Jazz outfits on the mid north coast. Darryl Rouland is the bass player, and comes from a Rocking country back ground and has backed many renowned names in the country music scene. Cheryl Hall is the lead/rhythm guitarist, rock chick extraordinaire who has played in many rock bands in and around Sydney was mentored by wonderful musicians Margaret Britt of The Vamps and Peaches Cheryl, not to forget Michael Fix, Alex Osario, Pat Formica, Amos Morris to name only a few. Be ready for a magic carpet ride through the music of your life with this fun loving band.

Cheryl Hall and the Wisemen play on the main stage from 10am – 2.30pm

Bellingen Primary School Band

We’re excited to announce Bellingen Public School band will be playing at 11am in front of main stage.

Bellingen Public School has a healthy music programme and supports 9 teachers who visit the school each week to teach various instruments. They are bringing their String Players to the Markets and they will perform in front of the Main Stage between 11:00 and 11:30am. Junior and Senior String players will play separately and conclude altogether. Their ages range from 6 to 12 years and their music is exciting and well rehearsed. The young talented players will take you to the Barrier Reef, to a bush Dance and even go Dragon Hunting, through their music.

KIDS ACTIVITIES

Simone will be there with her big bubble fun for the kids

Sea Shepherd join us

Sea Shepherd will be sharing the latest news and selling their merchandise, along with collecting our bottles and cans on the day. Containers will be placed near our regular bins for these to be collected. Please help us reduce waste and only put good in our precious ground – nutrient not rubbish.

A picture says 1000 words. Hopefully the smiling turtle didn’t snap him up and they both enjoyed sharing

Please ensure you do the following on market day:

Yes it’s a long list but please, follow on the day and help us make our market a good experience for all.

Please listen to the directives of our crew and always be respectful
Arrive at the correct time at the right gate. Permanents at 6.30am and casuals at 6.45am
Remain quiet when lining up to consider surrounding sleeping residents.
Always drive at walking pace and NEVER drive on footy oval.
Never reverse your car, always drive one way.
Come in and park close to your stall so other cars can pass.
Quickly unload and take your car out.
Park a couple of streets away so your customers can park closer. Parking is always hectic at our market.
Cars must be out by 8am and no cars to stay in the park unless agreed with manager.
Come back to set up your stall and get ready for a good day.
Fees collected 10am. Please have the correct change and don’t rely on making sales to pay your stall fee.
We are a plastic free market.
Smile for the camera when it comes around. Photos taken on market day are uploaded to Facebook.
Please help reduce our rubbish intake and take home your rubbish.
Gates open again at 2.30pm for cars to enter for pack down.
Any incidents to be reported to the Manager
Please be out of the park by 4pm

I wanted to share a story about a lady who was knocked over by a reversing car at our market a few months back. Luckily she was not injured, but very startled and shocked. It could have been worse. I can’t stress enough the importance of driving at walking pace and never reversing your vehicle inside the market grounds. We want to keep everyone safe and sound when at our market and we need your help to do this.

I’m always asking everyone to slow down, but I still get reports of stallholders driving too fast, so please, when in our market drive slower than walking pace, never reverse and be observant of everything around you. Speedsters will not be tolerated or invited back to our market. Thanks for your cooperation.

On a sadder note……

A sweet hello, and sad goodbye to lovely Rod Reid

Rod Reid passed away on 23 August 2022 and he will be very much missed by many.

Rod was always a gentleman, a friendly, relaxed soul with a quirky side. I wish I could share the wonderful pictures I have seen of Rod but they are too large to share on here. Laura and Rod had a bric n brac and record stall in A section for many years and was a big part of our and many other markets. Understandably Laura is having a break from marketeering but we hope to see her back one day.

On behalf of everyone at our market, I would like to say….. rest in peace Rod Reid and may your afterlife be full of music. AND our deepest of sympathies go to Laura and family.