Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, 8 February, I had the pleasure of attending the 128th annual Tolmie Sports Day. This day is an institution in Indi and people travel from all over the electorate, from interstate and even from Melbourne to attend. Tolmie is a small rural community perched on the well-named Tolmie Plateau—north of Mansfield and east of Benalla—with sweeping views across to Mount Buller and the Great Australian Alps.

As you would imagine, sporting activities on a day such as this are many and varied. They include the very popular woodchopping, where world champions battle it out; the awarding of the Junior Miss Tolmie and Miss Tiny Tot titles; the ball-in-the-barrel competition; egg tossing; dog jumping; amateur crosscut saw; the Old Buffer's Race; and gumboot tossing, which is a tradition that sees kids, ladies, men and tiny tots battling it out for recognition. One of the highlights of this year's sports day was the awarding of life membership to the retiring state member for Benalla, Bill Sykes. Well done, Bill.

Indi is renowned for the strength of its communities and the Tolmie Sports Day shows community at its best. Thanks to the over 150 volunteers, including the St John Ambulance, the CFA and the Masons, and to the wonderful committee: Rolf Attley, president; Sue McBride, secretary; and Linda Terry, treasurer. Well done, Tolmie and thank you for the invitation to participate.