The fifth annual Moree Young Aggies Gold Rush Ball was hosted at Mallawa on Saturday evening.
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The new location at the Mallawa racecourse, gave more people the opportunity to come with more than 280 locals in attendance.
"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.
"We had a really lovely night, despite the dust storm that hit about lunchtime. We had a lot of support from the Mallawa district with a very good mix of people. It was a very different crowd this year to what we have had previously. It really opened up a whole new demographic," Ms Lumber said.
Last year's sit-down meal proved a hit, so Ms Lumber said that format continued this year, with a three course seated meal by Relish Catering. "It formalises it in a way. And everyone really makes a big effort with the black tie dress code," she said.
Nicola Long provided the entertainment during the cocktail hour while Avenue 4 Troy had everyone up and dancing well into the night.
There were also raffles and an auction with everyone very generous, considering the times.
The ball is the Young Aggies' major fundraising event, with this year's recipient, Lifeline.
The keynote speaker was Rural Adversity Mental Health Program coordinator, Letitia Cross.
RAMHP is a state-wide program, by the NSW Ministry of Health and the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health which works to educate, encourage and link people to mental health support.
"It was about promoting being able to have those conversations," Ms Lumber said. "Just about being aware of yourself and others and knowing how to seek help. Regardless of how much we're able to give, we were able to give back by raising awareness, which, in a time like this is really important," Ms Lumber said.
All funds raised 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 was a great networking opportunity, and not just for young agricultural professionals. "We tried 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.
"It was a really good opportunity for everyone to get off the farm. We had a really positive vibe and it was nice to see everyone coming together to celebrate the community more so than the task ahead," she said.
"We had a lot of positive feedback, and it was a big success. We look forward to building on this for next year."