THIS year’s Slim Dusty Day celebrations on Saturday had a special significance.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Not only was it actually Slim’s birthday (June 13, if he was here to celebrate it), it also marked the last celebration before the official long-awaited opening of the Slim Dusty Centre in October 2015.
There was a guided tour of the centre, country music, a sausage sizzle, entertainment for the kids and a raffle to win a red cedar coffee table made of wood cut from Slim’s old family property at Nulla.
The first Slim Dusty Day was held in 2012 and Slim Dusty Foundation CEO Kathryn Yarnold said the latest event was a special occasion with the opening of the Slim Dusty Centre on the horizon.
“It was a special feeling welcoming all our visitors on the weekend, who came from all over the place by the way, knowing this would be the last time before we open the centre,” she said.
“If they hadn’t been here before it gives them a sense of what the potential for the Slim Dusty Centre is.
“It was a great day on Saturday and a lot of people travelled a long way to be here with us.”
Ms Yarnold said the positive impact on Kempsey is what she is looking forward to the most when the Slim Dusty Centre opens in October.
“I have always said I proudly wear the Slim Dusty hat when I work at the centre, but it is my Kempsey girl hat that I wear most proudly,” she said.
“To be able to contribute to something in my home town that will be around after I have long gone is very special.
“But to me the most special thing of all is to see the looks on the faces of our volunteers and to see how excited they are about what is coming up.
“That makes it all worthwhile.”