Celebrating Country Life

The longer we reside within a rural community, the more we want to be a part of all that is going on. Our local little country town of Taralga recently celebrated it's 200th anniversary of settlement with a festival called Taste of Taralga, and a whole host of activities were planned over the October long weekend.

There were many historic displays as well as market stalls, and when a lovely lady appeared with a lamb to cuddle, I couldn't resist.

I do seriously doubt my ability to ever keep sheep which could potentially end up on our dinner table.

I have already shared here that part of the festivities involved a muster of classic cars, a big favourite of mine. The walk (ah, drive) down memory lane was fabulous for a nostalgia buff like me.

One display that spoke to me was that dedicated to those from the town who had served in any theatre of war. The display was housed in a Nissen hut, a structure designed during World War 1 for military use but most commonly seen throughout World War 2.

Displayed inside were photos where possible of everyone who had served, whether or not they returned from the battles in which they fought. 

It carries on the tradition of the memorial in the main street of Taralga which always impressed me because it included all that served. For such a tiny town, Taralga has punched far above its weight when stepping up to defend Australia in wartime. The amount of memorabilia from all theatres of war was impressive, and something of which the town should rightly be proud. 

There was a dance on the Saturday night and a country fair on the Sunday after a colourful parade through the main street. Hubby and I planted ourselves at the far end of town, watching on with visitors and residents of all ages as the many floats came past on their way to the showgrounds.

Celebrating the granting of alotments of land in 1860 that became the township 

I don't think I'd ever seen a steam powered tractor before! 

The usual form of transport in bygone days. Loved the mini bride and groom.

How good were gals who could conquer riding side saddle?

Taralga has a gorgeous general store, complete with this vehicle which is often parked out front. The ladies were tossing sweets to the kids (big and small) as they went by.

Taralga is a farming town, and the annual show is a big deal. The junior farmer was a cutie.

There has been a healthy horse population since the town was settled. Great to see.

Many from the classic car muster participated in the parade.

And what's a country town without a local footy team? The Taralga Tigers were out in force.

It was a delight to see the residents of the local Sunset Lodge aged care facility sitting in easy chairs under shade with a perfect view of all the comings and goings. They even had their own float.  

It was a terrific roll up of people to watch the parade.We had a great time being part of the celebrations for this special little town with a very big heart as it celebrated its 200th birthday. It was a credit to all involved in organising and volunteering and contributing in any way. It may seem like a quiet little hamlet, but Taralga is alive and buzzing and a pleasure to be a part of. Who knows? You may see us on a float of some sort one of these days!

We prayed a lot for the weather to be fine for the parade, so what better song to accompany this post than Don't Rain on My Parade? It wasn't my intention to do two posts in a row with songs from Funny Girl and Barbara Streisand, but that's how life rolls sometimes. Click here and you'll see the topics are completely different, but you'll see that I do have a soft spot for Funny Girl! I had to include Barbra's version in this post as it is such a classic song of hers, but pardon the subtitles on the clip.

I've also included a more recent version from the amazing Lea Michele and the cast of Glee, doing justice to such a brilliant song.

Tracey 🌞

With thanks to the YouTube channel of Pierre for Barbra Streisand's version, and to the YouTube channel of Music Of Glee for their version.