Now in its 52nd year, Farm World is upon us yet again. The CFA Community Education Team is participating in the event that is expected to attract 50 000 people from all over Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania across the four days.
The CFA site was set up on Wednesday morning at Lardner Park, complete with the community engagement trailer, marquee, literature and kids’ activities, ready for the masses of people. With strong winds and rain setting in during Wednesday night, the first official day was looking dismal.
However, after arriving back on site Thursday morning, re-erecting the marquee, drying out the literature and wiping down the wet table tops, the sun shone through, the community came out to play and it ended up being a very positive day.
The successful first day saw the team engage with over 100 people. Bushfire plans were discussed, information was given and questions about burn offs, dairy farms and many more were answered. Some of the happiest of customers to check out the stand were the school students.
Arriving in small clusters at a time, the students were given the chance to enter a competition to win a prize pack which includes a fire truck lunchbox, described by one student from Lavalla Catholic College “They are so cool, you’d be the envy of the school with one of those.”
Each day two prizes will be awarded to the first correct answers drawn from the box of submitted entries. With two prizes awarded yesterday there are still six more winners in with a chance to be the talk of the school. Aside from the competition, children can also colour in, take home activity sheets, grab a tattoo or make their very own badge.
The students who visited on Thursday certainly walked away with a bit more information in their heads, a badge on their shirt and most importantly a smile on their face.
The CFA team are at Farm World again today and will be there over the entire weekend. You can find the team at stand CB65, toward to bottom end, near Gate 5. A Facebook check-in has been established (Farm World CFA Stand CB65) and everyone is invited to check-in when then come and visit the team.
If you’re at Farm World this year, hopefully the wet weather holds off and you can find some time to check out the CFA community team as they would love to see your face.
Author: Martha Johnson