On Saturday 15th June we provided a BBQ as a part of the Burnside Environment and Sustainability Expo BBQ at the Civic Centre. Council organisers expected numbers in excess of 1000 would attend, and with the weather holding up nicely, it seems that they weren’t disappointed.
A surprisingly diverse set of displays, talks and demonstrations were brought together, from Sustainable Fashion to native plants, animals, e-bikes, EVs, a rubbish and recycling presentation, Lions, and more, as well as keynote speaker Sophie Thomson.
In keeping with the event theme, RCB had decided that the proceeds of our BBQ would go towards materials for another round of Habitat Boxes, with the flatpack kits we produce being handed to Scouts Australia to involve their youth members in constructing, and the finished products to grace Scout campsites such as Woodhouse and Roonka. John Caddy set up a display of previous Rotary Club of Burnside work on the Habitat Boxes, and some example habitat boxes, and had a steady stream of visitors throughout the day.
Across the way at the BBQ, Des and JohnR loaded up and met Susan Girke, AndrewB and Ken Cross to set up and get cooking. Initially sales were slow but steady, and JohnR was experimenting with Ian Vayne’s “low and slow” BBQ technique – but all of a sudden the lunch rush started and your cook was badly caught out! Luckily our 2nd change crew in Brian and Peter arrived at just the right time, we cranked the heat up, stalled customers for a few minutes and got back on top – just – and kept going flat out for a couple of hours. In the last hour sales slowly wound back down, we cut down on cooked stock and as the end of the event rolled past we sold the last cooked beef snag and even the last 2 vego snags!
In the end we moved 12 and 1/2 trays of beef snags, and – surprisingly – 4 packs of 6 “sustainable plant-based” sausages (given the amount of plastic wrapping for a 6-pack, “sustainable” is perhaps a stretch!). We retired with 5 loaves of bread and 4 untouched packs of vego snags to donate, and 3 and 1/2 trays of beef snags and a few bags of onions destined for the freezer to rest up for another outing next weekend. Treasurer Des tells us that we grossed $1122.70 and additional donations $19.10 – a pretty outstanding effort!! And even more so in the face of the competing food offerings on site include burgers, wood-oven pizza, and lots of pastries and delicacies – seems like there’s still a place for the “budget offering” specially when there are lots of family groups attending.
Thanks again to our willing and capable crew of members and friends Susan, Ken, Brian, Peter, Andrew, Des, JohnC and JohnR. And commiserations to Ian Metcalfe who was rostered for the day but pulled up sick and was confined to barracks – hope you’re back up to speed for the final list on Wednesday!
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