OLA Fete 2024

The Final Fete Newsletter

What a fantastic day we had on Saturday. 

After all the meetings, phone calls, Operoos and Whatsapps, it made Claire and I very happy to see so many smiling faces come in through the gates of the school and enjoy the rides, stalls and amazing food. 

We are also proud to hear our OLA children saying ‘this is the best day of the year’! 

We know we say it’s a community event and not about the money, but it’s also a great feeling to know that all the hard work involved in the organisation of the Fete does raise money towards our school and church and benefits the children in so many different ways.

This year we are delighted to announce that our profit stands at a WHOPPING $30,000. This is $2,000 more than the 2022 OLA Fete! 

Much of this was possible through the Sponsorship efforts of Liz and Antonella, and the Silent Auction run by Joanne. 

We received donations from Kookai ($3,500), TheirCare ($1,000) and Sharrock Pitman Legal ($500) which contributed enormously to the costs of the rides and fairy floss.  

Thank you to each and every business that provided us with donations of goods, services, vouchers or money. By 12pm on Monday, our Silent Auction had raised $9,100 – all of which from items kindly donated by the community around us.  

We also received some very generous donations for our raffle, expertly coordinated by Melissa and her family, which allowed us to nearly double our raffle profits this year. The first prize of the Point Leo Estate and Alba Thermal Springs vouchers totalling $1000 were kindly donated by friends of an OLA family, Richy and Niki from Australian Precision Technologies Pty Ltd in Berwick. 

Additionally, Brian Lewin generously donated the Weber BBQ that we included as a prize, as well as the advertising billboards around the Kingston area. In addition to this, Brian and his team sponsored and manned the Fete HQ at the entrance to the fete, donating much needed chilled water for visitors to cool down and rehydrate in some pretty hot conditions. Thank you Brian for your ongoing support of our school community. 

Donations didn’t just come in the shape of money and Silent Auction prizes, and we’d love to give a special mention to Damian at The Flour House for his kind contribution of delicious croissants that were sold on the Cake Stall.

All of the smiles, donations and fun could not be possible without a gun team of volunteers who found time in their busy lives to help with the organisation this year. To everyone who has donated their time or goods in any way – WE THANK YOU! 

Extra shout out to anyone who donated a gazebo or a table, this alone saved us $3,500 in hire costs that helped with our profits on the day. 

We had an amazing team of coordinators for each of the stalls and activities, and the day couldn’t have run without you and your volunteers. There was a great variety of stalls and activities and much effort was taken to present them in a fun and attractive way. 

There are a few people that deserve an extra special thank you though, so without wishing to sound like Kate Winslet at the Oscars, here we go:  

To our super organised Logistics Coordinator, John. You left no stone unturned, and thought of everything. We faced no operational issues at all, and we hope you’ve had your feet up since – though knowing you, probably not! We also thank your band of helpers for all the heavy lifting and organisation Come Saturday evening it was all so well packed up that it didn't look like we had even had a Fete!

To Jacinta for keeping us all fed. Organising catering and keeping it running on a 37 degree day is no mean feat -you did an amazing job, thank you! Alongside Jacinta, was Con, at school at 6am cooking the best souvlaki's around. They were an absolute hit Con, thank you for keeping our tummies happy! 

Mr Jacques - once again you’ve fielded calls and emails from Claire and I, mentored new members of the volunteer team, and stayed at school way later than is reasonable on a school night many, many times this year. You’ve been a sounding board for ideas (some good, some less so..) and helped keep us on the right track throughout. Thank you for your support; I just hope the 2026 Fete Team gets that dunk tank over the line…! 

For all the amazing comms and newsletter articles in the lead up to the big day, Libby and Kyahn. You’ve juggled it all while also hopping on and off planes for work, so thank you.

Luisa – thank you for making every piece of artwork look amazing and truly polished, sometimes dealing with last minute requests in record time.

To Alysha, Jess, Mark, Jo, Kel, and Will – you put your hands up to be our First Aid volunteers and had your work cut out keeping people cool in the heat, but we avoided any major incidents. Claire and I would also like to thank and appreciate the hard work of Sharan, who spent her day off in the First Aid room helping us out. Thank you also to Sharan for being there to support all our Fete volunteers and for going above and beyond!

Maureen, Vino & the counting team in the Parish Office, who had an incredibly long day making sure all the stalls had floats and change, and counting all cash taken. Maureen has kept our cash flowing through the lead up to Saturday and hasn’t stopped since, making sure reimbursements are paid and profits are tallied.

Testing, testing, Adam, 1.. 2… 3… As ever the audio was on point and the entertainment ran to schedule, thank you for all the hard work you put in making this happen (though we think you enjoy it a lot...). 

Finally to Del thank you for your minute taking, agenda writing, and general amazing support and organisation skills in the face of the chaos that follows Claire and I around!  

After coordinating two very successful fetes, (if we do say so ourselves!) Claire and I won’t have children at OLA for the next event, so we will hand the reins over to the new generation of parents at the school. 

Please be in touch with Richard if you are keen to nominate yourself as the 2026 Fete Coordinator/s. We’ve had a lot of fun along the way, met some great people in the school and the wider community, and look forward to returning to the Fete Bar in 2026 to enjoy the atmosphere from the other side of the picket fence.

Thank you again for all of your support of the 2024 Fete

Mel and Claire

2024 Full Fete Committee;

School & Parish

Richard Jacques

Josy Reeder

Fr Alan Fox

Vino Krishnan

Admin

Fete Co-Chairs - Melanie Power and Claire Melican

Secretary - Claudelle Salter

Finance - Maureen Ryan

Logistics - Will Power

Logistics Assistant - John Bardon

Graphic Design - Luisa Pich

Entertainment & AV Logistics - Adam Solomon

Comms - Libby Fedrick & Kyahn Williams

Social Media - Stephanie Murphy

Photographer/Videographer - Jodie Gallacher

Sponsorships/Donations - Antonella Taranto & Liz Dawson

Technology/Squares - Ben Gray & Fiona Philip

Stall Holders

Plants & Gardening - Cathal & Alysha Crawford

Rides & Wristbands - Travis Derricott

Second Hand Clothes - Libby Fedrick & Kyahn Williamson

Snow Cones - Jo Raymant & Lucy Etienne

Soft Drinks - Elizabeth & Clifford Maillard 

Spinning Wheel - Josy Reeder

Pre Loved Toys & Games - Gab Perotti & Jayde Considine

Secondhand Books - Sam May and Ranay Moore

Silent Auction - Jo Malioris 

Bar - Ally Warden & Fiona Philip 

Cake Decorating / Lollies - Farasai Ruzvidzo

Cake Stall & Jams/Preserves - Kara Bogicevic

Catering - Jacinta Thornton & Con Daviotis 

Choc-O-Block - Linda Rumsey

Devonshire Tea - Olivia & Pat Moran

Face Painting - Georgia North 

Fairy Floss - Caroline Callegari 

HQ - Melissa Moore 

Lucky Bottles - Lauren Koukoumanos & Linda Videkanic

Lucky Dip - Elena Ricciuti 

Marketplace - Eli Dunlevie

Showbags - Susan Wixted & Rachel Leahy