Enduring a bleak Melbourne winter’s morning, Emily set up her Marysville stall at the school market. The couple of months thinking, and planning and preparing were now on her, and it was time to do the job.

 

She was a little bit nervous “what if no one comes, Daddy?” I suppose this is the question on anyone’s mind that has organised an event. I said to her that I once organised a session for people who returned from the Tsunami areas, and we had about 15 staff there, ready to talk about a whole range of things. We had 3 people turn up; one was a travel agent who was trying to find out whether he could book holidays for clients. But the other two were a mother and her adult son, who were trapped in their rapidly filling hotel room, and both of them looked at each other and said their goodbyes (I didn’t tell her this part of the story). Like many people, they thought their reactions made them crazy, and were relieved to know that they were normal, and were soon linked into support. So I said, if we get one person we can talk to, then that would be great.

Soon we had one person, then another, then another, and Emily was able tell her “story”, we sold chocolates and biscuits from the Marysville Lolly Shop and the Marysville Patisserie, and were able to give out lots of pamphlets on attractions and accommodation. Throughout the morning there was a steady stream of people of all ages wandering along and checking out what was on offer. Quite a few people said, yes we must get up there sometime soon.

Emily’s research, and her interviews of Tony Thompson and Anne Leadbeater, stood her in good stead to answer a range of questions. I think it has also helped her develop an attachment to place. One of the pleasing aspects of her project is that it was all based around asking first what do people need, and then thinking about how to help out.

At the end of it all, we asked her, how did you feel it went? She smiled and said she was happy, the stall achieved everything she set out to achieve. You can’t ask for more than that

This one is from the late, great JJ Cale.