| Friday July 31st to Sunday August 2nd saw the wonderful Nth Queensland mining town of Ravenswood change from a quite tourist drive and peaceful community into a Bush Poet's Woodstock!! It was hard to judge numbers, as entry was free but from meals sold, etc. the numbers seemed to be somewhere around 300 people or more for the Saturday Night Concert.
With only a short time to get the event up and running, the wonderful Publicans at the Ravenswood Imperial Hotel, Martin & Tracey Josslyn, in conjunction with myself and my wife Colleen, managed to put together an unforgettable weekend of Poetry, Comedy and Music, in the magnificent and sprawling beer gardens of the famous Hotel.
A weekend free from Formalities, which provided a relaxed and very friendly atmosphere as Bush Poetry should provide. The proof was in the pudding by the attendance and overall feedback from Poets, locals and the hundreds who travelled to Ravenswood especially for the Bush Poetry weekend.
The Friday night "Meet & Greet" had the Hotel packed to it’s rustic rafters and even the Ghost from Room 12A came down and joined in!! Thus a couple of sore heads by the time the walk-up poet's breakfast started on the Saturday morning. Along with myself, Ray Essery & John Lloyd kept the morning rolling along and the crowd just built and built, so a great crowd for the Heats of the Queensland Championship.
Judges, Ray Essery, John Lloyd and local English Teacher and Poetry enthusiast, Vilma, had a job on their hands as the contestants continued to rip out one great performance after another. The Women's sections of Traditional and Original were filled to the limit with competitors, although entries were a bit thin in the Male sections, which was a little disappointing.
So by the time the names of Sunday's Finalists were posted, to the cheering and disappointed groans (mind you, the scoring was indeed tight) then it was on to the Saturday Night Concert. |
Ray Essery, John Lloyd, local muso Ron Odgers, Charter’s Bush Band The Flying Sheep and myself, entertained the crowd from 7.30 through till the wee hours, as the Campfires flickered, the drinks flowed and the delicious food was consumed in a wonderful setting seemingly built for the Spirit of Bush Poetry.
The Sunday morning rolled on quickly and over 20 poets were lined up eagerly to participate in the 1 minute "Burdekin Brawl". The display of spontaneous writing was mind boggling and the poor Time Keeper Ray "Red" Essery was unable to gong anybody out for exceeding time (except me!!!!). The judges were unanimous in their selection of the winner, being Dot Church from Magnetic Island.
Then it was on to the finals and yet another challenge for the judges, as contestants repeatedly produced outstanding performances, perhaps none better than a young girl, Brook Jurss, who really kept the older poets on their toes by a wonderful performance of a Veronica Weal poem.
By the time the dust had settled and scores were added, the spoils were widely divided with the overall Queensland 2009 Champion Bush Poet title being awarded on aggregate score, to Jan Facey from Bundaberg. It was a close competition all around, and so many were in the race for the title, but first class performances and all round consistency saw Jan walk away proudly, and deservedly, with the Queensland Title. Other winners included Townsville’s Kathie Priestly, Geraldine King, Tom Oliver, Barry Graham, Brook Jurss and the award for outstanding Novice performance going to Townsville’s Del Luke.
So a wonderful weekend on short notice and we are booked in again for next year to be "Ravin’ At Ravenswood" and we look like we have another annual event to add to our Poetry Calendars which is a wonderful thing for Bush Poetry all round!!
Coordinators
Neil & Colleen McArthur |
