Come, ring in the new year at Calarie Hall!
There'll be a jumping castle, live music and a great atmosphere at the rural hall just outside Forbes
The volunteer committee just recognised at the 2024 Community Achievement Awards for NSW and ACT decided to host celebrations on the back of the win.
"We wanted to invite the whole community because it's the community that comes out and supports it," committee president Bill Holmes said.
So bring your camp chairs, esky and picnic blankets out to the hall, which is on Calarie Road just a couple of kilometres from town.
The jumping castle will go up from 5pm for the kids (but don't worry, the hall is now air conditioned if it's hot outside) and there'll be live music from Todd Williams from 8pm.
There'll be a food van on site for the night, just BYO drinks.
The rural venue will be set for the celebrations and to stream the Sydney fireworks to celebrate the new year.
New on site is a Calarie mural celebrating the history and the characters of the community.
Bill said the committee put their heads together and put the call out through social media, before working with artist Renee Davis to design the feature.
With sheep on the stock route, a mining tower and gold panner, the mural is an expression of local history.
Drover Matt O'Conner, described in a newspaper clipping the committee has as muster master, was 72 when he was photographed and interviewed droving stock he'd brought to Forbes for sale.
The Calarie Hall, now renovated of course, is central to the mural with Annie and Bill Holmes (the current president's grandparents) who were instrumental in having it brought from Daroobalgie to the site in the late 1970s.
Leaning on a 44 gallon drum in his red hat is Jack Bray, another well-known Calarie character.
"You'd never get out of the house without having a feed first," Bill remembers.
"He was a great man, looked after everybody in the village."
Mural artist Renee has incorporated the truck that, repaired by Boys to the Bush to make a stage, and the landscape of the Crown Land site into the artwork.
She spent a week on site to complete the work - even adding the Crown Land Management Excellence Award the committee won for its work on the venue.
Join them on new year's eve, and mark May 1, 2025 in your diary for a performance by Nathan 'Whippy' Griggs who'll be returning to Calarie.