THE township of Harrow was the recipient of some much-needed - and somewhat unusual - generosity recently, with acts of service in the forms of fixing, painting, digging, installing equipment, and much more.
When Trakmaster Off-Road Caravan Club had its annual gathering at Kaniva in the West Wimmera in late March / early April, a smaller contingent from the 100 caravans there decided to head south-east to take a look at the famous locality.
Although charmed by the quirky town, they saw a number of needs – especially with their acclaimed ‘Sound and Light Show’ - and formed a plan to return in force and run an effective ‘working bee blitz’.
According to ‘Trakkie’ member, Fred Baltetsch, a date was set, and this week 36 people descended on Harrow with a mission - and sleek, modern caravans in tow - to give their time and expertise to the community with whatever odd jobs could be thrown at them.
“We saw it needs a bit of work,” Mr Baltetsch admitted.
“We’ve got 18 caravans up here.
“In the last two days we’ve done an amazing amount of work.”
He pointed to the gardening at the front of the community hall, the painting of props for their iconic show and the installation of shelving.
In addition, they addressed some lighting safety issues with solar-powered 12-volt LEDs and the club have generally made themselves very handy.
The women also lent a hand to the costumes for the show by employing their dressmaking skills for mending the considerable wardrobe it uses and there was even a coffin prop constructed.
“The community has just been right behind us,” Mr Baltetsch said.
“Many hands make light work.”
To reward them for their efforts, the very grateful townsfolk served them a tasty dinner on Wednesday evening.
Harrow Promotion and Development Group president, Ron ‘Stretch’ Penrose said the help was very welcome.
“A lot of things were really run down,” he said.
“The town is impressed - they’ve done so much in such a short time.
“You can see they’re really good organisers. We just appreciate what they’ve done.”
