Yarragon Book Fair more than a fundraiser
 Baw Baw News   By // 07:29, Sunday 13 July 2014

yarragon book fair 2014 one warragul baw baw citizen by william pj kulich

ORGANISERS of the 2014 Yarragon Book Fair are pleased with how the fundraiser is going this year but say the money is only part of why the event is important.

Above: Morgan Pallot, Paul Strickland and Geoff Conway at the book fair. Photos by William PJ Kulich.

The annual weekend-long event has been put on by the Yarragon and Darnum Ellinbank CFAs to raise funds for brigade projects.


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This year funds will go toward fitting out the new Darnum Ellinbank Fire Station and purchasing a new light tanker for the Yarragon CFA.

“It’s going brilliantly, we’ve had amazing support from the community,” spokesperson Geoff Conway told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen yesterday.

“Numbers through the door are about the same as last year, so well over 1,000 people through the door today which is just wonderful.

“We’ve moved a lot of the stock and certainly people seem to have enjoyed the experience of hunting for their books.


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Mr Conway said the Yarragon Community Hall, where the fair has been set up, will be re-stocked so all books on display today will be different to those on tables yesterday.

“We’ve still got half a shed of books so… people haven’t missed out,” Mr Conway said.

yarragon book fair 2014 two warragul baw baw citizen by william pj kulich

“There are a couple of areas that have gone very quickly, for example the kids’ books have been amazing… we’ve moved a lot of Australiana, but the passion most people seem to have is for the novels, and we’ve got plenty.

“It gets pretty willing in here around the tables, particularly around the biographies table.

“We didn’t leave quite enough room for biographies this year and it was a bit of a rugby scrum down there this morning, but those who had their helmets and shoulder pads were safe, the ones who didn’t have protective clothing were in real trouble.”

Mr Conway said the event was important not just as a fundraiser, but for the community it fosters.

“Every book that we present here has been donated by people from the community and we go as far as the eastern suburbs of Melbourne to Bairnsdale,” Mr Conway said.


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“One of the things we enjoy is just listening to the conversations going around the room; you’re re-stacking the tables and people are chatting about the books, total strangers who’ve never met each other before but they’re standing side by side looking at the books and will strike up a conversation.

“We do this to raise money but what we find is it’s much much more than that.

People have come from as far as southern New South Wales to attend the fair.

The Yarragon Book Fair will be open today from 10am to 4pm.

yarragon book fair 2014 three warragul baw baw citizen by william pj kulich

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4 responses to “Yarragon Book Fair more than a fundraiser”

  1. Peter from Drouin says:

    My wife and I spent several hours at the book fair on both days. We were surprised at the numbers of buyers/browsers both times. Who says books are dead? Our shelves are now stocked with some great reads for the rest of winter and the grand children’s corner is overflowing. Thank you Yarragon and Darnum – Ellinbank CFAs.

  2. David Wombat Lyons says:

    well done yarragon CFA

  3. Emily says:

    I walked into the Book Fair thinking “I’ll just take a quick look”. I walked out a while later with a bag full of books which were wonderful treasures to find and thoroughly enjoyed the sense of community which was in abundance. Absolutely looking forward to next years’ event.

  4. Marjorie Morgan says:

    I live at 119/155 Warrigal Road Burwood. My phone number is 9831 4219. I have 20+ boxes of books you may have if you want them. Please phone me.