Patrons roll up to the Taste of the Huon to say thanks to our firefighters

They have personified community strength since the devastating fires broke out in January, but Tasmania’s firefighters were put in a different line of duty over the long weekend.

Samora Squid entertains the Taste of the Huon crowd. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

THEY have personified community strength by protecting homes, land and lives since the devastating Huon Valley fires broke out earlier this year, but Tasmania’s firefighters were put in a different line of duty over the long weekend.

As punters arrived at the 27th annual Taste of the Huon on Sunday and Monday, they were met by volunteer firefighters from the Geeveston and Franklin fire stations.

The fireys were there handing out parking instructions and they gained a stack of praise in the process.

GALLERY: TASTE OF THE HUON

New Geeveston Fire Brigade recruits Dean Boyd, of Port Huon, left, and Brendan Walker, of Geeveston, who helped direct traffic. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

For many who attended this year’s Taste of the Huon it was the first chance to meet some of Tassie’s firefighters and thank them for their work battling the state’s severe fires.

Victoria Stansfield, of Kingston, left, and Georgia Fleming, of Lauderdale. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“I had a lady come up to me to just give me a massive hug along with a big ‘thank you’ for the work done by local fireys this summer,” new volunteer Geeveston firefighter Brendan Walker said.

“I had to remind her that I’ve only just signed up as a volunteer and wasn’t in the thick of things this summer, but that didn’t seem to worry her.

“Most people as they drove in seemed to want to acknowledge us and thank us for the firefighting efforts.”

Mr Walker said he chose to sign up after a call-out for volunteers was issued last month.

He said the wave of community praise at this year’s Taste of the Huon was a reminder that Tasmanians were grateful for local firefighter volunteers.

Lauren Sutton, of Dodges Ferry, left, and Emily Eiszele, of Howrah, enjoying ice cream at the show. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Festival manager Roger Oates said this year’s Huon Valley event was one of the best he had been part of.

“Everyone who came along just seemed so happy and the community spirit appeared really good,” he said.

He said each year the festival committee discussed ways to improve the event, but said he thought the self-funded festival was “right at its peak” and didn’t need much tweaking following a bumper turnout this year.

Crowds packed into the Ranelagh Showgrounds for day two of the Taste of the Huon. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Hope for Huon’s Mona vision

THE state’s peak tourism body remains hopeful of federal funding for a Mona-led tourism attraction to help the Huon region get back on its feet.

The Huon Valley’s major drawcard, the Tahune airwalk, will be closed for at least the rest of this year due to bushfire damage.

One month ago Mona’s DarkLab, Destination Southern Tasmania and the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania wrote to Liberal Senator Jonathan Duniam seeking funds for a bold idea to draw people to the Huon.

The proposed DarkLab attraction would be a “large-scale, semipermanent public art installation” around the Geeveston/Dover area based on the theme of “dark skies” and taking advantage of southern Tasmania’s status as one of the least light-polluted locations on Earth.

The installation is planned to open in June and stay open for several months.

“To enable the opportunity to be progressed, DarkLab requires a commitment of $2 million to achieve an activation of enough scale to attract and sustain visitor activity over several months,” the letter said.

TICT CEO Luke Martin said there was some urgency around helping the Huon region’s tourism economy get back on its feet. “No-one has shot it down. It seems like it’s all in the mix as part of bushfire recovery,” he said.

Senator Duniam said the Federal Government was keen to support the Huon region and had been working with the local council and State Government.

“I’m hopeful we will see results of that work soon,” he said.

– BLAIR RICHARDS