Community
18 July, 2024
Town’s talent on display
A NEW event showcasing the talent of the Mortlake community has been hailed a success.
![Talent on display: A new event aiming to showcase the talent of the Mortlake community and help connect new residents to community groups launched over the weekend. Those in attendance, such as Jean Edwards (pictured), hailed the event as a success.](https://wdnews-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/assets/news/1807-craft-mortlake-%281%29.jpg/edeea842949d562332e4b638a37e4c64.jpg)
The inaugural Mini-Market Craft and Demonstration Day was held at the Senior Citizens Hall in Mortlake last Saturday.
The occasion featured stallholders hosting everything from baked goods, knitting and quilting to tool sharpening and Olivine, with many local groups featured including both the Country Women’s Association day and evening branches, and the Mortlake and District Historical Society.
Mortlake’s Patsy Riordon, a member of the Senior Citizens Club, had come up with the idea for the demonstration as a way to get various local groups and talented individuals together to promote what Mortlake has to offer.
“This is to promote the clubs in Mortlake to our new residents and also to showcase all the abilities of the people who live in this town,” she said.
“This helps to promote the clubs we have in town and offers our new residents the opportunity to learn new crafts and make new friends.
“It’s good for the new people to Mortlake to have a chance to get to know other people in a social setting where everyone had the chance to buy some goodies.
“I would also like to thank everyone who donated the prizes for our raffles.”
Fellow Senior Citizens Club member Terree Parsons, who helped coordinate the day, said she was pleased to see the social nature of the event – with lots of chatting and connection among those in attendance.
“It was a bit of an unknown, just setting it up and seeing how it would all go, and we’re really pleased with the response,” she said.
“People here have largely been local people, so whether we do it again and advertise further afield is something to consider but there’s only a small amount of room so we can’t get too carried away.
“It’s been quite good, so it’s something we might continue to do – everyone has different ideas, but as we don’t have any markets until October we could fit a couple in.
“But everyone seems happy, so we’ll certainly have a conversation about doing it again.”
![Together: Members of community groups from within the Mortlake community came together over the weekend to support a new mini-market event.](https://wdnews-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/assets/1807-craft-mortlake-%282%29.jpg/bbf0262c338beda83905b0926fc81222.jpg)