RAIN. We need it and we need plenty of it to break the drought and give us a rest from the bushfires.
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So MidCoast Council is urged to make the most responsible measure to ensure we get a flood's worth of precipitation. They have to bring back the Manning River Aquatic Festival, or the Aquatic as it was known to this correspondent's generation and those before.
For those unaware of such things, the Aquatic was held the last week in January. Back in those enlightened times the last weekend in January was always the long weekend for Australia Day. It didn't matter what day of the week Australia Day fell, we always had the Monday off. Sensibly, no-one much cared about Australia Day back then.
"Five action packed nights and three action packed days,'' the ads on 2RE would scream when promoting the Aquatic. Action packed they certainly were, what with speed boats, the ferris wheel, dodgem cars, pluto pups and numerous other activities. It was all located down at Queen Elizabeth Park.
There was a massive parade through Victoria Street on the Saturday and the whole show culminated on Monday night when the Aquatic Queen was crowned.
But here's the thing. About every second year it would rain on the Aquatic Carnival. In fact, it would usually rain heavily.
Some years it there were even floods. Why, we can recall back in 1977 or thereabouts, Marcia Hines, who was a big deal in Australian music at the time, was booked to be the headline act at the Aquatic. She was to appear on the Saturday night.
So, on song, so to speak, around the Thursday it started to rain. And rain. And rain. The stage at QEP was awash come Saturday, so Marcia was shunted off to some other venue - perhaps the Poplars, or the Waterfront Room as it is known these days.
So MidCoast Council must act immediately. The Saltwater Freshwater Festival is being held at Forster around Australia Day and it also proved to be a bit of a drought breaker when it was scheduled to be in Taree a few years back.
So with the Saltwater Freshwater Festival at Forster and the reborn Aquatic in Taree both on the same weekend we can just see the heavens opening. Why, it could even be time to build an Arc.
Hop to it council, for we need to start preparations now. We must find a ferris wheel and some dodgem cars. Power boats shouldn't be a problem, however, we need performers to perform on a stage to be built in Queen Elizabeth Park. Is Jade Hurley still going around? Or what about Judy Stone? Perhaps we could get Marcia to do a soggy encore performance. And get a call out for Aquatic Queens pronto.
Then sit back and wait for the rain to start. It's a given.