After overcoming some minor issues, we were able to attend the 2022 Bentleigh Festival on Sunday 20th November. People started arriving before 10.00am and we were set up around 10.30am. Thanks to Jo Impey and Helen Nodrum for assisting in taking the Rotary marquee down Centre Road to just outside Aldi. The weather was very pleasant until the first of several rain showers swept in from the west. Nothing seemed to deter the thousands of attendees from enjoying themselves at the multiple food outlets and entertainment/amusement attractions. Obviously, the fact that this was the first Festival since 2019 meant that everyone was keen to be there. Plenty of dry spells during the day meant that the marquee was able to dry out before we packed it away.
We were very fortunate to have Linda O’Shea join us unexpectedly as her face painting gig was cancelled. She had a steady stream of eager children patiently waiting to have the faces beautifully painted with parents armed with their mobiles capturing the event. Greg also pitched in as the balloon artist and his line was almost as long. We gave away Rotary bags, each with a brochure and managed to hand out more brochures to the passing parade. Hopefully, we will see a few people contact us in the coming weeks.
Thanks to Geoff Gartly for being our liaison with the festival organisers and for being a solid support during the day.
Larry Green (on behalf of the Membership Committee).
