OLD MAIDS’ GAMES BID
FORMER Meter Maids are in negotiations to appear at the Commonwealth Games, fueling the feud with bosses of today’s bikini-clad clan.
The Bulletin has learned exmodels will be used to pay “tribute” to the maids at the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Gold Coast Meter Maids and Games boss Peter Beattie had a public falling out last year after talks broke down.
THE Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games could be set to reignite the Gold Coast’s infamous battle of the Meter Maids.
Despite earlier promotional Games appearances, the Gold Coast Meter Maids’ partnership with GOLDOC soured last year when they were omitted from a ceremony script shown in private.
At the time, Games boss Peter Beattie said tough decisions had to be made because “this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to sell the new “sophisticated” Gold Coast to the world.
The production company in charge of the ceremonies, Jack Morton Worldwide, wrote to Meter Maids owner Roberta Aitchison last year to tell her the services of the city’s “current Meter Maids” were not required for the ceremonies at Metricon Stadium on April 4 and April 15.
However, sources have told the Bulletin the production team has consulted a ‘rival’ former Meter Maid about a planned ‘tribute’ to the bikini-clad ambassadors as part of the opening or closing spectacles.
They say the Meter Maids are set to join a cast of hundreds – including local surf stars, lifesavers and a chorus of didgeridoo players – in the massive productions, expected to be viewed by a global TV audience of up to 1.5 billion.
Hundreds of volunteers involved in the Opening Ceremony, produced by US company Jack Morton Worldwide, will converge on Carrara tonight for their first rehearsal inside Metricon Stadium – the first of many to be rolled out in coming weeks, including two full dress rehearsals on March 31 and April 2.
Event organisers have reportedly spoken to one-time Southport meter maid Katrina Kruger about a ‘tribute’ to the maids’ place in local history in the ceremonies or the Games’ multi-arts celebration, Festival 2018.
“The Meter Maids will have some kind of presence in the Opening Ceremony,” the source said.
Games organisers have refused to comment on any possible role for the maids or details about the ceremonies.
Ms Kruger, a historian and former Southport Meter Maid who ad ministers the IconicGC Meter Ma ids Facebook page, told the Bulletin she was unable to comment.
“I really can’t,” she said. “I’ve signed a nondisclosure document. What I can say is that the iconics are a huge part of the Gold Coast’s history but whether The Queen decides to put us in (the Opening Ceremony) or not is up to her.”
Ms Kruger fuelled speculation the ceremony would acknowledge the bikini-clad ambassadors’ place in local history when she put a call out earlier this year for information on where two iconic vehicles once used by the Meter Maids might be stored.
Numerous sources have told the Bulletin Ms Kruger has been involved in discussions about the history of the Meter Maids with Games organisers for at least 18 months.
The ‘iconics’ will hold another reunion on the Coast later this month.
Ms Atchison told the Bulletin she had not been invited to any of Ms Kruger’s reunions.