The festival began 12 years ago, following the initiative of a small group of volunteers such as Ken and Maryanne McKay, Cathy Sanderson, Jan Ryan, Ben and Irene Stocks and a number of others whose names I cannot recall. In the early years, a crowd of 200 was considered good, but the group stuck at it and this year, over 4000 people turned out. It just goes to show that a good idea and a lot of hard work can go a long way. 

By the time this goes to print, councillors will have sat for their second monthly meeting, with a lot of important items on the 480-page business paper.

At last month’s meeting, council voted to accept the tender of local builder Alan Banks to begin construction of the new grandstand at Boorowa Showground. Costing over a million dollars, it will provide a fantastic facility for the community for years to come.

The Hilltops Council now has an annual budget in excess of $50 million, with total assets exceeding $500 million. Over the course of the next three years, council is likely to spend in the vicinity of $70 million on capital improvements and asset upgrades. A lot of the money will come from one-off grants from the NSW Government following the sale of state poles and wires.

As part of planning for the future, council is running a number of workshops to get feedback from the community. Workshops have already been held in Boorowa and Harden, and there are more planned for this week and beyond. It is important for all the community to be involved and to get along and provide feedback on what you see as the areas of need.​