Apexians closing in on milestone
Abusy Horsham service group is rapidly closing in on a $500,000 milestone in community donations generated from an annual farmers ball.
Horsham Apex Club 15 president Matt Cross estimated the club, busy preparing for the 10th Longerenong Seeders and Strippers Charity Ball on August 19, had generated about $450,000 in donations from the event.
“It’s a lot bigger than many people realise and over the years we’ve put a lot of the money back into Horsham district community clubs, organisations and schools,” he said.
Mr Cross said the ball, at Blue Ribbon Raceway at Kalkee north of Horsham, attracted between 1000 and 1300 people each year.
“We have people coming from across Australia on the B and S circuit and we’re probably the second biggest in the state now behind Elmore,” he said.
“Our record attendance is 1360 set two years ago. But we’re confident we’ll top that this year because our main entertainment is country and western music star and three-time golden guitar winner Travis Collins.
“It’s great to see the country people come from everywhere to the event, relax, have a great time and enjoy themselves.”
Mr Cross revealed the club had already put aside a large amount of money generated from the balls for a project to upgrade a family-friendly picnic environment at Horsham’s Apex Adventure Island in Barnes Boulevard.
“We have a couple of great ideas for Apex Island to go alongside the new pedestrian bridge across the Wimmera River,” he said.
Horsham Apex Club 15’s 18 members pursue a variety of money-raising projects and as one of the largest money-generating charity groups in the region have plans on pumping $30,000 to $50,000 a year back into the Horsham district community.
“I’ve been in the club for 12 years and we’ve had our ups and downs, but at the moment we’re looking good with a lot of new members. Everything is going really well,” Mr Cross said.
“The club is really enthusiastic about generating money for the community.”