On 9 December the Kingaroy Writers’ Association held their Christmas party at the home of member Brad and his wife Ann. All who attended enjoyed a jolly time.
The members shared some lovely Christmas stories and poems. An extremely descriptive poem by Heather about an Outback Christmas met with enthusiastic applause.
Julia organised a ‘pass the parcel’ game which caused much merriment and some confusion. Wendy and Gabrielle were the lucky ones to finish up with the gifts in the parcels.
Gabrielle brought a quiz to add to the entertainment. Ann was the clever winner.
Everyone brought a small gift for the ‘Secret Santa’ game. John was perfect in the role of Santa and all seemed delighted with their gift.
A delicious morning tea was provided by all members who brought a plate of goodies.
The party concluded with good wishes all around.
The KWA will now go into recess until 10 February 2026. Meetings are held at the Kingaroy RSL on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 10am until noon.
Heather’s poem was as follows:
Christmas in the Outback
It was Christmas in the Outback
The land was parched and dry
From four long years of little rain
Though clouds rose in the sky
The men were getting desperate
The women left to cry
There was nothing they could do
But watch the cattle die
Then a line of thirty trucks
Rolled into town one day
Bringing goods from way down south
Most of it was hay
They all gathered on the footy field
With trailers, utes and such
To take their share back home
To stock who needed it so much
One truck contained all sorts of stuff
All the necessities
Groceries, dog food, even beer
And yes! A Christmas tree
The organisers said, it’s Christmas in a week
So this is for the girls and boys
A lot of Christmas presents
Sweets and games and toys
The people were all stunned, Big Hugh took the mike
For once in his life raised his hands “We don’t know what to say”
The truckies said “We’ve been there too
You’ll pay it back some day.”
The women got together
As is the way out here
We’ll throw a Christmas party
We’re due for one this year
And so they organised a night they hoped the kids would not forget
On that dusty Outback footy field
They raised the tree, set up the lights
The gifts were wrapped and sealed
On the eerie morn of Christmas Eve
Everyone awoke
To a crackling roaring sound
The air was full of smoke
The lightning sparked a fire, it’s on its way to town
All the able-bodied men and half the women too
Headed up the hill, to try and save the homesteads
And the community they knew
All who stayed behind gathered the children at the club
Determined to give them Christmas fun
But all the while were well prepared
In case they had to run
They’d planned Big Hugh would dress as Santa
He already had the beard, and was pretty round
But that wasn’t gonna happen
He was on the fire ground
As dusk came down they all could see the flames up on the ridge
The exhausted men would not give up, they’d fight until they died
Then one little kid yelled, and pointed to the sky
Everybody look! Reindeer sure can fly
And they saw a thing so strange
Nine reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh
The big man waved, yelled Ho Ho Ho
He was skilful on the reins
Then Santa pulled a stock whip from his bag
Swung it round and gave a cheer
A deafening crack broke the air
Then the reindeer, Santa and his sleigh, simply disappeared
There was a tiny silence, then the drops began to fall
The women got together in a mighty cuddle
There was no wind, there was no hail, just steady, soaking rain
And all the kids were laughing and rolling in the puddles
The women’s eyes turned to the ridge
And watched the flames die down
No light show, planned, could compare in any way
When that line of vehicle lights drove down the road to town
The party raged into the night as the rain came tumbling down
Then they all went home to bed and never slept so sound
But every kid there that night would sing a loud refrain
And remember all their life the Christmas Santa brought the rain.
