Forget the sausage sizzle or the opportunity to high five the Easter Bunny, the longest queues at the Adaminaby Easter Fair this Saturday will be snaking out from the Snowy Monaro Regional Council stall.
And for a change it won't be irate ratepayers bemoaning about potholes, late rubbish pick-ups, or rate rises. No, it's the divisive state of the town's famous Big Trout that has tongues wagging in the Snowy Mountains village.
Not since under the cloak of darkness a fast-food company pilfered the 10-metre-tall Big Mango in Bowen for a promotion has there been such controversy surrounding one of Australia's Big Things. Even the much-maligned move of Ballina's Big Prawn from its original home perched atop a service station to a hardware store failed to get the blood of locals boiling as much as the new-look of Adaminaby's celebrated 2.5 tonne rainbow trout.
Well-intentioned restorers from International Conservation Services, Australia's largest private fine art and conservation practice, were appointed by the council to undertake the restoration work on the Big Trout last year. They beavered away for weeks ensuring the structural integrity of the oversized fish, but it was their rushed paint job that attracted criticism, with many claiming it's too cartoonish and not realistic.
In response to the widespread condemnation, the Snowy Monaro Regional Council earlier this week released four "final paint designs" and invited the community to vote and comment on them.
In acknowledging their faux pas, a spokesperson for the council explains "our community, regular visitors and admirers across the country feel a deep connection to the Adaminaby Big Trout and what it represents. Council commissioned the [final] designs, taking inspiration from the original design, community, and well-known aquatic wildlife artist Trevor Hawkins on the direction".
This week, your akubra-clad columnist roamed the streets of the Snowy Mountains village to gauge reaction to these "final" designs.
While just about everyone (even Jasmine, on holidays from Sydney, who had no idea what a trout was until I showed her the photos) thinks any of the four would be better than the current design, most well-informed locals believe option 1 will attract the most votes "as it's closest to the original 1973 design".
But, of course you can't make everyone happy, and the voting process doesn't allow for the status quo, which Adam Burgess, of Goulburn, claims is a short-coming. "Look, a botched paint job is like a bad haircut, after some time it becomes perfect," he claims.
Another litmus test on which option comes out on top is the steady stream of fishers and campers staggering out of the front bar of the town's Snow Goose pub. "Perhaps the winning option should be determined by a tug-of-war," quips one well-oiled barfly, referring to the much-anticipated annual tug-of-war to be held outside the pub this Saturday as part of the Easter Fair.
However, council is unwavering in its democratic process. On its website yoursaysnowymonaro.com.au, it clearly states "the option that receives the most votes will be the design painters apply to the Big Trout in late May 2024." Voting closes Sunday, April 21, 2024.
All the fun of the fair
The Adaminaby Easter Fair has long been my favourite go-to with young kids or interstate visitors. Here are my top five must-sees.
The Wacky Quacky Duck Race
This isn't any old rubber duck contest. This marquee event is run (swum) and won underground. At 2.30pm, with the help of a torrent of water provided by the local fire brigade, 1300 ducks, many in colours even more garish than the Big Trout, are flushed down a storm water drain in the town square. The first duck to cross the finish line, located on the other side of the Snowy Mountains Highway, where the underground storm water drain emerges into an open canal, wins $800.
Trout Tossing
Don't worry, they're not real fish. At 10am, the local fish club will test your skills of throwing (and landing) a plastic fish in a bucket of water a set distance away. If you'd prefer to see real animals display some air-time, 15 minutes later the hotly contested dog High Jump takes place. What could possibly go wrong?
The Snowy Scheme Museum
It'll be hard to pull the big kids aways from this treasure trove of machinery and memorabilia, open 10am-2pm. This week I only just discovered a knock-out model of the former and much-loved Eucumbene Tea House, which was recently highlighted in this column. The 1:72 scale model even features Snowy Mountains-branded buses, vintage cars and if you get up close you might even see miniature tourists scoffing scones at tables.
Coffee 'n' cake at the old Bank.
One of the best-known photos of when old Adaminaby moved to its new location in the mid-1950s to make way for the creation of Eucumbene Dam is of this bank on the back of a truck. When the historic building, now a private home, recently featured in this column, many readers asked if they could ever look inside. Saturday is your chance, check out the old bank safes while tucking into some wattle seed and lemon myrtle scones with strawberry gum cream. What more could you want?
The Adaminaby Memorial Hall Curtain
Stitched and painted by more than 85 volunteers over almost three years, this colourful curtain, featuring mountain scenery, and yes, even a leaping trout, is over-enthusiastically hailed by patriotic locals as the town's answer to the Bayeux Tapestry. Although 61 metres shorter, and about 930 years younger, it's still worth a peek.
The Adaminaby Easter Fair is on 9am-3pm, Saturday, March 30.
More on the champion's board
There was much interest in last week's exposé on the discovery of the Canberra Amateur Swimming Club champions board in a Victorian old wares shop, 70 years after it has gone missing.
Most readers, like Susan Constance, of Kaleen, were ecstatic it was back in Canberra "where it belongs". Others delved into the history of names on the board, especially the Brophy name, which was "synonymous with swimming in Canberra", and Faith Tillyard, daughter of Dr Robin Tillyard, one of the first chiefs of the CSIR (no O back then).
However, one reader especially excited to read about the return of the board is Jeff Knowles.
"Dad, [Merv Knowles] fretted about the loss of the board in 1955 until the day he passed in July 2020 ... just before the article appealing for its whereabouts was published," Jeff reveals.
If you look closely at the board, Merv, who I had the pleasure of meeting several times in the deep end of Manuka Pool around 2010, was club champion in 1941-42 and his brother Lindsay in 1935-36.
Jeff has set this column a new quest - to find a long-lost swimming trophy in the shape of an aeroplane that honoured Lindsay, who was killed on November 22, 1941, flying Tomahawks in Africa with the Australian 3 Squadron. He is buried near Tobruk, Libya.
Meanwhile, seeing the "M Adamson" name on the board as men's campion in 1942-43 brought back a flood of memories for Kevin Mulcahy, of Tura Beach.
"That would be Morrie Adamson - he taught me to swim," asserts Kevin, adding, "at one stage he was captain of the swimming club and he used to work for my father in the External Territories department. He became a firm friend of the family and was like an older brother to me". Sadly, he passed away a few years ago leaving three lovely daughters."
WHERE IN CANBERRA
Rating: Easy-medium
Cryptic Clue: It's back to school if you don't know this one.
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email sent after 10am, Saturday, March 30, wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
Last week: Congratulations to first-time winner John Burge, of Curtin, who was the first reader to correctly identify last week's photo as the view from the former lookout on Vernon Circle (around City Hill) looking eastwards towards London Circuit and Constitution Avenue. "The buildings in the foreground are the former Canberra YMCA building and (behind that) the Canberra Olympic Pool on Allara Street," reports John, adding, "as a lad in the 1960s, I attended Saturday morning activity classes at the YMCA and basketball on Tuesday evenings." Like many other readers, John reveals he "also frequently went to the pool on hot summer days". John just beat Lindell Emerton to the prize. She "played squash there" and enjoyed a swim at the pool during her lunch hour while working in Hobart Place in the mid-1960s.
Don't miss!
As part of the Canberra & Region Heritage Festival, the Friends of Manuka Pool and architect and heritage consultant David Hobbes are hosting a tell-all about the historic baths on Saturday, April 20, at 10am.
The talk and walk around the pool (now closed for the swimming season) will delve into mysteries including why the pool isn't 50m long as well as attempt to lift the lid on the identity of the creature in the toddler's pool. Is it a unicorn or a seal? Oh, and if you've got that missing aeroplane trophy (see adjoining story) squirrelled away in the back shed, please bring it along. Bookings essential via friendsofmanukapool@gmail.com.
Kambah Repent
Oops!
"TAKE THAT BACK!" screams Marion Gibson, of Kambah, in response to my comment last week that "48 years is a decent stay in one abode, especially for Kambah".
Marion misinterpreted my (poorly articulated) comment that living in Kambah for such a long time must be a challenge. Far from it, the intended point of my remark was that given the suburb was only "settled" in 1974, living in the same house since 1976 is a remarkable feat. As a gesture of my love for one of Canberra's biggest and best suburbs, I hereby promise to pen a future column, dedicated entirely to extolling the virtues of the wonders of Kambah. Watch this space!
- CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601
