The Eudunda Community gathered for their Christmas Street Parade and Party on Friday the 9th December over 400 adults and children of the community attending. What good luck the event had, escaping the unfriendly weather of the day before to put on a beautiful evening.
The parade along the streets was very well attended with many local Community Groups, Emergency Services and Businesses showcasing some great floats. Good crowds lined the main street at various vantage points and applauded as the parade passed by.
It was also a busy time for the younger children as they darted out to collect lollies thrown by those in the parade.
On the second lap of the main street, Santa Claus joined the end of the parade, ably chauffeured by John Worrall, with Santa ringing his bell and waved from his restored red Eudunda fire engine. As Santa progressed along the street, a large crowd followed behind, as all headed to the Eudunda Centennial Gardens where the action was about to start.
The scene at the gardens was busy, camel rides, children’s jumping castles and activities on the roadside. Railway Terrace behind the old Weisner Building was foodie alley with everyone having a wide variety of food to choose from by the local groups and businesses who supported the event.
MC for the night, was the ever cheerful Christmas Elf Ali Schutz who was keen to make sure all the children were well behaved, and the children certainly were patient and happy to be part of the atmosphere. With the help of his Christmas Elves Katie Preston & Regina Scholz, Santa was very busy as there was close to 140 children receiving a gift from him.
Entertainment on the night included the St John’s Lutheran Primary School Choir, the Eudunda Area School Choir, Dance performances from the students of United 2 Dance, the Barossa & Districts Pipe Band, Camel Rides, Jumping Castles, a Sticky Fly Wall, Lucky Dips, Raffles, Competitions and Face Painting. There was also for the first time live music in the Eudunda Gardens by Brad Bryksy who was a great hit until 11pm when the evening came to a close.
Eudunda Community, Business and Tourism Committee (ECBAT) Chairperson, Cirsten Leditschke said later,
“The night would not have happened without the great work of the very small sub-committee of ECBAT, and our committee and I am sure I speak for the whole community too, would like to thank Katie Preston, Regina Scholz, Belinda McDonnell and Jaime Pfitzner for their tireless effort and hard work”.
During the evening Elf Ali told of the great work the Street Party Committee had been doing during the year in fundraising. The girls had donated $500 toward three charities, Dyslexia SA Lower Mid North, Back Packs for Kids and Ride with a Mate for Leukaemia. Great work to the team as they also raised the funds to put on the Street Party for the community.
A few winners of the evening were The St Johns Lutheran Church with the Best Community Float and Goyder Electrical and Hidden Treasures with Best Business Float, both winning $50 cash for their efforts. Kennedy Geister, Jaz Williams and Lillian Crawford were the winners of the Colouring in Competition in their age ranges and Mark Schutz was the lucky winner of the full esky raffle prize.
Katie Preston added that they wished to thank additional people who did exceptional work for the night, being Andrew Partington of Goyder Electrical and Trevor Rowland for organising the seating and tables, staging, power, sound and lights which helped set the scene so well. We also thank the Regional Council of Goyder and their workers who support the event by blocking off the main street. Of course all of those mentioned put in a big effort as they then take it all down at the end of the night too.
Katie Preston said,
“We were pleased with how it went, thanks to all those that attended, participated and assisted with help on the night to make the evening another successful community event. People can leave feedback on the Facebook group and so far we have had positive suggestions. We will also be looking for more helpers on the committee next year. We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year”.
