PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS TO COOROY FUTURE GROUP INC AGM 22 OCTOBER 2020
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today, and pay our respects to Elders past and present. As President, I welcome everyone here to this 2020 Annual General Meeting of Cooroy Future Group Inc.
This past year while quite different to others, has been another busy and successful one for Cooroy Future Group. Unfortunately due to work pressures, Pamela Sweetapple and Kerry Martin have stood down from the Board. I would like to thank them for their positive contributions to CFG activities while with us. Tex Pipke, after many, many years of contributions to Cooroy Future Group, and prior to that in our original guise as Cooroy Lower Mill Board, has retired and also stood down from the CFG Board. I’m sure I speak for everyone in saying Thank You to Tex for all you have done for our organisation and our town of Cooroy. And a special welcome to today’s meeting of course.
After some stops and starts over the last year due to the bushfires and and Covid 19, I am happy to say our three main projects are progressing well.
Cooroy Fusion Festival: This year Pamela Sweetapple took over the role of Chair for the 2020 Cooroy Fusion Festival. Unfortunately with the advent of Covid 19, this was postponed. After considerable consideration the CFG Board decided to conduct the Cooroy Fusion Festival in September 2021. Board secretary Barbara Luff will chair the new committee . Planning is in the early stages, but feedback from Noosa Council and Tourism Noosa has been positive. Both agree our decision to change the event to September is the right way to go.
Great Noosa Country Trail Walk: This annual event has been interrupted twice – in October of 2019 due to fires in our area; and then in May because of Covid 19. However on the long weekend this month, we had a very successful event under the leadership of Jim Ennis, with 165 walkers and 15 trail guides and a large contingent of community volunteers. The walk progressed through the hinterland from Cooroy to Kin Kin, Cooran and Pomona. Congratulations Jim on a great event. I have seen such positive feedback on Facebook and the mood at the registration desks was very upbeat. Planning has started for another Great Noosa Country Trail Walk to be held in October 2021 and maybe a walk in May 2021 could be on the cards. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us. Thank you once again Noosa Council and Tourism Noosa for your support for this event.
Cooroy Butter Factory Arts Centre: The Arts Centre was also significantly affected by Covid 19 resulting in the closure of the gallery spaces and the Artisan Store for a few months. We were fortunate to be able to retain staff, at reduced hours, and they put their time to good use, setting up an on line store for The Artisan Store and catching up on other administrative duties. Some worked from home and occasionally, when necessary, went into the office. Congratulations must go to our Arts Centre Co-Ordinator, Alicia Sharples and other staff for holding everything together and coming out of lock down in a positive manner. Alicia has done a marvellous job in re-scheduling all exhibitions booked for the year, into the rest of 2020 by adjusting the length of exhibitions. So all artists expecting to exhibit this year, are still able to and exhibition spaces are now booked out in advance into 2022. Well done.
The Butter Factory Pottery is now open to community membership with a one off annual fee and a nominal rate paid by people using the facility on a daily basis. Classes have increased with these being held both during the day and at night. We were successful in obtaining a grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund for a new large kiln, allowing firings to be kept up to date. We now have over 50 financial pottery members. The raku kiln built by Trevor Luff is now working successfully and to date we have had 5 raku firing days, all of which booked out very quickly.
Masterclasses and workshops are regular occurrences and are often booked out well in advance. There have been many community based exhibitions over the last year, which give artists an opportunity to exhibit as part of a group, boosting their self confidence. These exhibitions always create more work for the instal team, so congratulations to them, most of whom are volunteers. The Kaya Sulc Residence Studio is open again after being closed during the Covid 19 shut down, and has significant current and future bookings. The Artisan Store continues to grow with 38 artists currently selling their artwork. We are fortunate to have staff who are committed to the success of our Butter Factory and put their creativity, passion and diligence to work to ensure continued success.
Butter Factory Friends has 155 members and the annual Friends’ Exhibition is currently being organised for November.
We are averaging 1500 visitors each month to the Butter Factory and feedback from visitors in relation to the ambience, vitality and friendliness of staff and volunteers has been extremely positive. We have signed a new Permit to Occupy with Noosa Council, which takes us through to the end of 2022. The main building and the pottery building now have solar panels installed, courtesy of Noosa Council and this will contribute significantly to reducing our carbon footprint.
In closing I would like to thank Noosa Council for its support of our endeavours and in particular Deputy Mayor Frank Wilkie who has been so supportive and so quick in following up queries for us; Tracey King, Manager of Libraries and Galleries at Council who has always been supportive and helpful; my fellow Board members for their support, hard work and generosity in building and maintaining our projects; and our wonderful staff and volunteers in helping to grow our role in the Cooroy community.
Carol Watkins
