Community Champions recognised for their commitment

By Samantha Elley

When Ron and Betty Doyle moved to Evans Head with their young family in 1970, the seaside town did not realise what a blessing they had just received.

The family soon settled in, with Ron, as a marine engineer, working with the local fshing industry and Betty raising their two children.

“We noticed there was no preschool,” said Betty, “so we helped start the community preschool.

“There was no coast guard north of Newcastle, so Ron got involved with setting that up too.”

Despite a full-time job Ron found himself becoming more involved with community groups to better the home he lived in, not just for other residents but the many visitors who focked to the oceanside town every holidays.

One way he did this was in the establishment of the Evans Head Recreational Hall which he has been involved with for 40 years.

“A group of us would meet, we’d put on our guernseys and see what we could do to lift this place up,” Ron said.

“We decided to go to council and get support and provide (a place) available for residents wakes celebrated and commemorated within its walls and its thanks to the dedication of Ron and Betty. and visitors to go and meet and fraternise and express their life.”

Betty came on board 16 years ago as its treasurer when her skills were required.

And with that, the hall has seen many a wedding, engagement and even

Current hall president

Ian Drinkwater extended his gratitude for the commitment of the Doyle community stalwarts.

“Our gratitude is for the foundation (they) have given us,” he said.

“We recently installed bike racks and a

Diary of a food survivor

This past weekend we went on our annual church camp.

Well, actually they have become bi-annual.

Last year it was postponed due to bad fres around the Nymboida area where we were going.

The year before that, it was on, but we all raced home to face the foods of 2022.

The two years before that we had fres all around us and were preparing to evacuate should the need arise.

It didn’t, but the heat and smell of smoke was memorable.

This year, the camp started off in close to 40 degree heat and we all made use of the beautiful river that runs by the campsite.

Some went canoeing while others, including myself, just found spots in the river to cool off in.

After lunch, we discovered an area where you could sit in the river on a rock and just lie down and have the water rush over you while taking in the beautiful surrounding bushland.

We noticed the clouds starting to form and knew a storm had been predicted but we weren’t too worried.

We couldn’t see the colour of the clouds due to the tall trees all around us, but we started to hear rumblings in the distance.

Eventually, we reluctantly made our way out of the river and headed back to the campsite and were met with some of the darkest storm clouds we had ever seen.

Only minutes after we got back to shelter, the storm hit and it came with a vengeance.

I mean move-style storms where the lightning and thunder all hit together, and then the hail made an appearance in two stages.

The frst stage was ‘oh, ok, the car should be alright as the hail isn’t too big’, and then the second stage,’ oh poop, the car is gonna have dents’.

I’m sure stronger defbrillator machine, thanks to (Richmond Valley) Council, and we continue to take on community needs.

“We are looking to install a wet area and showers for the emergency services in the near future.” language was used, but this is a family column and that was a church camp.

Mr Drinkwater said the hall is very active with 22 bookings each week with pilates, yoga, craft, massage, tai chi, singing and martial arts, not to mention the wedding receptions and engagement parties every weekend.

State member, Richie Williamson, Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow and Richmond Valley Council general manager Vaughan Macdonald, along with about 20 people, were on hand to thank the Doyles and celebrate their commitment.

Eventually, the storm eased and everyone assessed the damage.

A number of our group were in tents which got smashed, so they moved to empty cabins and others just enjoyed the cooler temperatures afterwards.

There was talk of what the next church camp may hold. We are hoping locusts aren’t on the programme.

Little steps.