2013 is just around the corner which means that our writers’
group has been in existence for almost 8 years.
The membership has changed during this time as people come
and go but we have continued to have our monthly meetings.
As well as our monthly meetings and non-compulsory writing
assignments, our group has taken on a couple of projects which have been
completed successfully.
Below is a brief summary of what we achieved and, although I
will mention just a couple of names, I must point out that our projects would
not have come to fruition without the support and hard work of all our members
who happily volunteered their time, energy and creativity.
2011,
with a small grant from the Clifton Shire Council (now amalgamated into the
super-council that is Toowoomba Regional Council), we produced an audio CD
which features works from a number of our writers.
This project would not have seen the light of day if it hadn’t
been for the hard work and dedication shown by Dave Wellings
who arranged for the recording of the poems and short stories and he also found
volunteers to read the works.
17 things you must hear before CDs become obsolete ….
Kathleen Aisthorpe, a member with excellent graphic skills, was kind enough to create our CD cover.
17 things you must hear before CDs become obsolete ….
This CD is available to purchase ($5 AU plus postage) and if
you would like a copy then please contact us via our email address:
2012
saw the group take on a rather ambitious project with the help of a $500 grant
from the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba Qld.
The grant was for a community project and we decided to
write a play and produce it in the local hall during a major community event in
Clifton called the Clifton Country Week which occurs each October.
The community was asked to become involved by volunteering to
act or help out in the staging of the play.
We had 2 performances which were well attended and charged $5 for adults
to help cover costs and profits were to be distributed to a local charity.
Again we relied on Dave Wellings to spearhead
the project. Not only did he write the
play called “Watts Mine is Mine”, he also took on the
unenviable role of producer.
After much persuasion we were able to find some wonderful actors who were most generous with their time and patience.
We also had some very talented musicians from the area “The Barefoot Orchestra” to donate their time to entertain the crowd.
We were very fortunate to have the great skills of our local cartoonist and artist Al Benge who created 3 excellent scenes to use for the background of the play.
After much persuasion we were able to find some wonderful actors who were most generous with their time and patience.
We also had some very talented musicians from the area “The Barefoot Orchestra” to donate their time to entertain the crowd.
We were very fortunate to have the great skills of our local cartoonist and artist Al Benge who created 3 excellent scenes to use for the background of the play.
Again we would lik to thank Kathleen Aisthorpe for producing the above programme for us.
2013 will see our group busy putting on yet another play for the community. Again Dave Wellings has been busy writing the play and we were assured by our talented volunteer actors that they would love to become involved in any new play we were to produce.
I shall be back to report on our progress. Michelle.
