By all accounts, November 17’s Band Together Farmers event at the Parkes Showground that was to raise funds for the mental health of Central West farmers was a great success.
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Indeed a particular highlight to the event – that saw Australian rock legends take to the stage to support the cause before a crowd of more than 2500 concert goers – was the afternoon RAAF Roulettes aerobatic display that took place at 4.45pm.
But as Parkes Cr Neil Westcott – a farmer himself from Alectown – noted in his Welcome to Parkes speech at the concert, he said “many farmers who should be here are just too busy planting or dealing with the impact of drought”.
And it was true that many of the intended target group of the event had missed out, including Tichborne farmer Patrick Engley.
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Patrick had wanted to attend the Band Together Farmers concert and had been invited by his friend Leanne Moylan, along with a bunch of mutual friends.
Unfortunately, Patrick’s priorities were set by the weather, in anticipation of the rain predicted by the Bureau of Meteorology for the following week, and the urgent need to prepare his fields for the planting of sorghum.
And as he, rather luckily, sat on his tractor ahead of Saturday’s concert, he was dumbfounded when a gaggle of RAAF PC-9 aircraft unexpectedly roared in, waggled their wings right at him and proceeded to conduct precision aerobatic routines right there over his fields in Tichborne!
At first he thought Leanne had personally arranged the Roulettes’ appearance over his property because he couldn’t get to the concert.
But he later learned the Roulettes pilots were rehearsing for their grand performance on Saturday afternoon.
Patrick was extremely thrilled about his “personal airshow” and that he still had the chance to see them in action.
He passed on his appreciation to the Roulettes through his Parkes Aero Club friends.
And quite movingly, the Roulettes responded.
Roulettes Leader (R1, SQNLDR) Jay Tuffley took the opportunity to provide Patrick with a personal memento – a signed message on the back of a Parkes Aero Club coaster which was presented to him by Leanne.
The message read “G’day Patrick, we hope you enjoyed our display overhead your property. Not everyday you get a personal Roulette display”, complete with a smiley face and Jay’s signature.
The coaster was framed alongside a photo of Jay holding the message and a photo of the Roulettes performing in the sky.
Patrick and the Parkes Aero Club would like to take the opportunity to thank the event organisers, performers and all show contributors to the worthy cause of rural and remote mental health.
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