Talking about 'champions' of the future

The idea of “champions” will be discussed at Saturday’s gathering Beneath the Wisteria in Shepparton.

A post-event critique of Shepparton’s recent “Slap Tomorrow – A Wake-Up Call” revealed many things, one being the need for champions in many specialized areas.

Beneath the Wisteria supporter, Mr John Pettigrew, attended Saturday night’s annual Goulburn Valley Concert Orchestra concert at Eastbank, and found it to be a “wonderful, and really enjoyable evening”.

Mr Pettigrew said: “This is a wonderful example of a few prime movers in our community providing a stage for local and regional talent to excel in way we could only dream of in a country region”.

“The befits to individual participants, the local arts community and the wider audience are evident not only in the growing support for the event but the instilling of confidence that we can achieve almost anything if we put in the effort and work together,” he said.

Mr Pettigrew said the Slap Tomorrow committee could learn from the success of Saturday’s concert and in that employ and facilitate the accumulated local sector-based expertise in a co-operative manner to explore areas of joint benefit to all those involved and the broader sustainability of our region.

“The key appears to be a few champions in each of the designated sectors to bring this about,” Mr Pettigrew said.

Tomorrow’s discussions will begin with consideration of the recent Slap Tomorrow forum, which was first alluded to at Beneath the Wisteria, where to from here and then discussion about locals who may be champions of the future.

The Saturday, June 29, Beneath the Wisteria is free, open to anyone interested and is held at the northern end of the Maude St Mall, beginning at 11:30am and is usually last for about an hour. Some public seating is available, but those attending are advised to bring a folding chair. All who attend will be welcome to comment or contribute ideas.