Moree Young Aggies annual Gold Rush Ball goes bush

The fifth annual Gold Rush Ball, set for Saturday, September 21, will this year be held at Mallawa Racecourse to cater for a growing crowd.

The new location will also be more central for young aggies from across the North West to attend, including people from Walgett, Collarenebri, Burren Junction, Rowena, Wee Waa, Narrabri, Bellata, Boomi and Mungindi.

"We ended up selling out in three days last year, so in order to grow the event, we had to take it out of town," Young Aggies co-chair Kate Lumber said.

"This year it was really important to try and engage everyone from across the district and get everyone off-farm. It's also good for everyone in Moree to get out of town.

"It's such a great facility out at Mallawa, they've put a lot of effort into developing it. It's a really good opportunity for us and for them to market that as a space for other events.

"It's a really good spot."

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Last year's sit-down meal proved a hit, so Ms Lumber said that format will be continued this year, with a three course seated meal to be catered by Relish Catering.

"We found that a sit-down meal worked really well last year," she said.

"It formalises it in a way."

Nicola Long will be providing the entertainment during the cocktail hour from 5pm, while Avenue 4 Troy is sure to have everyone up and dancing well into the night.

There will also be raffles and an auction, as well as a cash bar.

The Gold Rush Ball is the Young Aggies' major fundraising event, however knowing that sponsorship and donations would be more difficult to secure this year, Ms Lumber said they wanted to pick an organisation that they'd be able to support through awareness as well as fundraising.

As a result, Lifeline was chosen.

"Regardless of how much we're able to give them, we can still give back by raising awareness, which, in a time like this is really important," Ms Lumber said.

"We'll have a keynote speaker but it'll be very light and will be just about opening up that conversation and dialogue."

All funds raised from the raffles and auction will be split 50/50 between Lifeline and the Young Aggies Rural Scholarship Fund, which encourages students undertaking an agricultural discipline at a tertiary level to seek out work experience in the Gwydir Valley.

"The scholarship encourages them to experience working in our area, in the hopes we can attract and retain good students," Ms Lumber said.

More than anything, the ball is a great networking opportunity, and not just for young agricultural professionals. The Young Aggies hope to see more people in the next age bracket up (over 35s), in an effort boost the engagement between the generations.

"We're trying to focus on that cross-bracket engagement, so some of the young ones can feel more comfortable to be able to call someone who's had more experience in the industry up for advice," Ms Lumber said.

"I think it's just a really good opportunity to get out and catch up with everyone. It's all about catching up, having a good night raising some money and making the best of the situation.

"The ball has been building each year and this year we're looking to be bigger and better. We hope to provide a night that people really enjoy and are able to raise some money and awareness for some great causes at the same time."

Dress is black tie which gives everyone a good excuse to dress up for a night of fun.

Tickets are $130 or $1200 for a table of 10 and includes complimentary drinks on arrival.

Buses to and from Moree are included in the ticket price. If there's enough interest, there's the potential to run buses from other towns.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, August 2 and can be purchased from www.trybooking.com. For more information, visit the Young Aggies, Moree Facebook page.

Sponsorship opportunities for businesses are still open. If anyone would like to sponsor the event, email young.aggies@gmail.com