How long have you been running Two-Up in Bangalow, and what exactly is your role in the ring?
I’ve run the Two-Up for 25 years at the Bangalow Hotel, the Bangalow Bowlo and now at the Bangalow Lions Club Bar and BBQ Kiosk at the Showgrounds. I’m the ‘Boxer’ and the ‘Centre Banker’, so I run the Two-Up School and cover the centre bet from the spinner, who must try and throw heads of course. ‘Cowboy Olly’ from Eureka is the ‘Ringer’, he supervises the penny spins and holds the centre bet, and ‘Bangalow Maxy’ is ‘Penciller’, recording the next up spinner and the heads or tails results. It works out pretty even on the day most years.

For someone who’s never seen it before, what makes the Bangalow Two-Up School special?
It’s quite a colourful old-school experience for the many visitors in town on the day, and especially tourists from abroad who have never seen anything like it. Of course it’s unique to Australia, it has some measure of crude Aussie charm and that’s why we do it every year. It’s not something you can replicate or package up, it just happens organically with the crowd, the calls, the laughter and the odd groan when the pennies land the wrong way.

Why is it important to keep this tradition going?
There are a few reasons, but the main one is respect for Australian tradition and heritage, respect for ANZAC Day and to preserve the memories of Aussie diggers who fought and died for our country. Secondly, it’s a good fun old-school pastime and has to be the fairest form of light gambling imaginable, heads or tails, that’s pretty simple. Thirdly: it allows Bangalow Lions to raise funds for our local relevant charities, so it’s a fun community day for Bangalow with a bit of purpose behind it.

You mentioned ANZAC Day – what does the day mean to you personally?
My own forebears fought in the Great War, WWII and Vietnam and they all despised the conflict, the death, the destruction and abhorred the futility of war, but they all marched on ANZAC Day to remember their mates, those that made it and those that didn’t. It’s important that our children understand and respect our country’s history and the raison d’être for Australia’s ANZAC Day on 25 April every year. It’s not just a piss up, it means something. It’s important to Australia and Australians, and Kiwis of course.

There’s a strong community element to the day as well – who benefits from the funds raised?
We will split any and all proceeds on the day between Lions for Legacy, The Younger Heroes and Bangalow Red Cross, who all do such a wonderful job of supporting the families of veterans. They deserve our support on ANZAC Day in particular. We will shake the donation bucket every 10 spins and encourage folks to throw in a few bob each time. The obvious winners will receive a lot more encouragement, that’s for sure.

Some people might think it’s just about the gambling – how do you see it?
It’s not really that much about the gambling at all, we don’t play for sheep stations. I’m happy not to win or lose on the day and for everybody to have a laugh and enjoy themselves and each others’ company. It’s more about the atmosphere, the connection, and doing something together that’s been part of Australian life for a long time.

It’s actually only legal in NSW once a year on ANZAC Day, 25 April, and I think that’s just perfect. We’re allowed to start the game earlier in the day but I think 2–6pm is quite enough. It’s bloody exhausting bouncing around the ring like a clown. And we don’t need to overdo the gambling side of things; we want everyone to leave happy and have enjoyed their once-a-year Bangalow Two-Up School experience.

How does the day fit into the wider ANZAC Day events in Bangalow?
It’s important to connect and participate in the ANZAC Day March down Byron Street and the Bangalow RSL Hall ceremony. That’s what anchors the day. The Two-Up comes after that, and it’s all part of remembering and respecting the reasons for ANZAC Day while bringing people together in a way that feels natural and local.

What would you say to someone thinking about coming along for the first time?
It’s a fun day really for the Bangalow community with a subtle but solemn purpose of preserving ANZAC Day traditions and heritage, supporting our local charities and bringing people together for good old-fashioned Aussie community spirit. Come along, bring a few bucks and good vibes, and you’ll understand what it’s all about pretty quickly. See you at the Two-Up.

When Australian composer, performer and writer Eddie Perfect – the Tony-nominated creator of Broadway’s Beetlejuice the Musical and King Kong – chooses to redevelop a work with a regional company, you take notice. When he then hands that company the keys to premiere the newly reimagined production, you realise you are witnessing something big.

And 19-28 March, BTC will present Vivid White at Brunswick Picture House, a newly imagined work that evolved from an intimate and interactive workshop process with Eddie Perfect himself.

For Bangalow’s Joel Cooper (who plays celebrity architect Evan Prescott and co-produced the development phase) – the journey has been extraordinary.

“It has been incredible on so many levels,” he says. “For the company to be working so intimately and closely with Eddie – someone of his esteem – has just been so amazing.”

The relationship began with BTC’s production of Eddie’s play The Beast, directed by BTC co-founder and fellow Bangalow resident Anouska Gammon. That bold, left-field work struck a chord with Northern Rivers audiences and went on to earn multiple awards and widespread recognition, cementing BTC’s reputation for ambitious, intelligent theatre.

“The Beast really translated well for our local audiences,” Joel says. “They are receiving new theatre in a really open way, and that’s exciting.”

That openness planted a seed.

Eddie first wrote a version of Vivid White for Melbourne Theatre Company in 2017 but had always felt passionate about reworking and revisiting the piece, giving it more time in the creative development space. “The stars aligned when he saw that BTC was performing The Beast and he called Anouska and offered BTC the opportunity to be the vessel of redevelopment of the work.

A small cast assembled for a workshop process that was anything but routine. Eddie arrived with new material, rewrites and songs still taking shape. The work was a living, breathing, pulsing project that fused enthusiasm and experience in an organic and compelling way.

“He was writing songs in the space with us,” Joel says. “The outcome was to complete the show and see some new ideas and new character arcs and how they would land within the context of the work. We were just blown away.”

Importantly, the workshop was not a guarantee of performance rights. “It was never like, let’s workshop this and then you can do it,” Joel explains. “There were still a lot of questions around the show, and the future of the piece remained in Eddie’s hands.”

But the BTC held quiet hopes that they would be entrusted to light up the piece on stage for its debut.

Months later, after Eddie had stepped into the title role of Beetlejuice in Australia, BTC reached out again.

“There was a moment where we, as a theatre company, said ‘We really want to do this. We think we can tackle this,’” Joel says. Anouska spoke to Eddie and “And he said, let’s do it. Let’s take it to season.”

For a volunteer-driven regional company, that trust speaks volumes – and reflects the strength of leadership within BTC. Under Anouska’s direction, the company has consistently embraced challenging, contemporary work while nurturing a deep well of local talent.

“We’re all volunteers pouring our heart and soul into it. To be recognised at that level and for Eddie to trust us in that process was phenomenal,” Joel says.

Even now, the shape of the show is transmuting. Songs have shifted. The ending has been transfigured more than once.

“The piece is alive,” Joel says. “Eddie and Anouska and the creative team are back and forth every week. ‘How did this land? How is this song working?’ We’ve just flipped the ending again and now have this fabulous, hilarious ending song that was never in the iteration of the show.”

For BTC, this process has tapped into a collaborative flow-state fuelled by creative resonance.

“Bangalow Theatre Company has never had to work like this – being so agile and having the writer be such an active part of the whole production timeline.”

The play follows two university friends who have taken vastly different paths: Evan Prescott (played by Joel), now a television celebrity architect, and his former peer, who has wound up working in community housing. The tension erupts at a house auction, and much tension pivots on the extreme collision between renters and buyers – particularly poignant in the midst of a housing crisis.

“It’s very topical,” Joel says. “It leans into the issue of housing and will make people feel uncomfortable – not in a negative way, but in a holding-a-mirror-up-to-society way.”

His character, Evan, walks that fault line.

“Evan has had to succeed in the world as it is, not in the world as it should be,” says Joel quoting a line from the play.

“He’s constantly in turmoil between two worlds,” Joel says. “He’s got the success, the money, the richness, but he’s watching the world he knew crumble away.”

At its heart, Vivid White is a satire about property, ambition and the Australian dream. The title itself references the Dulux paint colour – a nod to renovation culture and aspirational aesthetics that is so synonymous with our postcode.

Like Perfect’s earlier works, the show tackles big ideas through satire and comedy rather than didacticism.

“It’s these big topics all painted in the stroke of satire and comedy,” Joel says. “We hope the audience leaves feeling inspired and challenged, but they’ve also had an absolutely raucous night at the theatre.”

For theatre lovers in the Northern Rivers, this production is more than a season announcement. It is evidence of the calibre of talent working quietly – and now not so quietly – in our region.

To workshop a major musical with a Broadway-calibre Australian artist is rare. To premiere the finished work is extraordinary.

For Bangalow Theatre Company, it is both a milestone and a statement: regional theatre can be fearless, sophisticated and significant.

And for those of us lucky enough to sit in the audience, it promises to be a blindingly good night out.

Sally Schofield

Vivid White

19 – 28 March Brunswick Picture House
brunswickpicturehouse.com
Presented by Bangalow Theatre Company and Brunswick Picture House

While the formal listing process still has steps to complete, the motion marks an important public acknowledgment: the Bowlo is more than a building. It is a place of continuity and community.

For decades, the club has functioned as Bangalow’s common ground – a multi-purpose civic space where sport, celebration, music and everyday connection intersect. It is one of the few venues in town where a pensioner, a young family, a sporting committee and a touring musician could share the same floor.

The Heritage Assessment identified the building’s distinctive exposed metal ceiling trusses that define the main hall space as structural features that are characteristic of bowling club architecture from the era. Comparable trusses at Willoughby Bowling Club in Sydney, built in the same period, have already been heritage listed – demonstrating that such elements are recognised as architecturally and socially significant within NSW club heritage.

But heritage, in this case, extends beyond the walls.

The bowling greens facing Byron Street herald your arrival in Bangalow. They mark a physical threshold – from highway to village – but also signal something about identity and place. The greens speak of participation, sport and shared space.

“I believe the Bangalow Bowlers who originally selected and bought this land then constructed the clubhouse on which it sits alongside its picturesque lawn bowling green, would be thrilled that their efforts will possibly be enshrined in a heritage listing which would help to ensure the whole community get to enjoy the space – and the game they love – into the future,” says Shane Mahony, current Bangalow bowler and former greenkeeper.

Council’s unanimous vote does not immediately place the Bowlo on the Local Environmental Plan’s Schedule of Heritage Items. What it does is endorse the assessment and signal that the formal listing process will proceed. That process typically involves preparation of a planning proposal, a Gateway determination from the Department of Planning, public exhibition and, ultimately, gazettal.

When listed, demolition would be highly constrained, major external alterations would require heritage impact assessment, and any future development would need to respect the site’s recognised significance.

For many in the community, this news will be met with a collective sigh of relief.

The January 2026 community survey conducted by the Save Bangalow Bowlo Steering Committee found strong alignment on one core objective – that the Bowlo should return to genuine community ownership and control. The survey also confirmed that the club is valued as a social asset, not just a property, with respondents repeatedly referencing loss of access, routine and connection if the venue’s character were compromised.

Those themes surfaced again in council debate: heritage recognition is not about nostalgia. It is about continuity of use.

The Bowlo has hosted sporting competitions, local club meetings, fundraisers, weddings, wakes, live music and daily social rituals. It has provides an accessible venue in a village with limited multi-purpose, multi-generational spaces.

Heritage recognition in this context does not freeze the building in time. It regulates demolition and unsympathetic alteration, while still allowing ongoing operation, upgrades and maintenance.

Heritage listing, in effect, strengthens the likelihood that this site remains a sports and leisure venue into the future. It does not mandate bowls forever, nor does it prevent operational evolution required to keep the venue relevant and viable. But it makes large-scale redevelopment for any other purpose significantly more difficult, and strengthens the case for the site’s continued use as community infrastructure.

Of course, heritage status also carries responsibility. A listed building must be maintained appropriately. Works require careful documentation. Future operators – whether community-led or through amalgamation – would need to balance preservation with viability.

To the casual observer, the Bowlo’s greens, hall and modest façade may not shout architectural grandeur – although architect F.J. Board was described in the Northern Star as “possibly Lismore’s greatest architect”.

The significance of this site, inside and out, lies in the accumulation of social life and participation over decades.

Heritage protection recognises the importance of proactively safeguarding such spaces.

The next steps now lie in the formal planning pathway, including public exhibition. For now, however, Council’s decision on Thursday 19 February 2026, signals something clear: Bangalow’s bowling club is being recognised not just as a building, but a significant shared ‘third place’ space and a community asset worth protecting.

Sally Schofield

It’s exhausting, living this way, when your body is a moving target.

That’s why V-Day matters. At dawn on Saturday 14 February – yes, Valentine’s Day – women, non-binary folk, and allies rise up, dressed in red on Main Beach, Byron Bay.

It’s a flashmob that’s part of the global One Billion Rising movement, that turns a day of Hallmark schmaltz and overpriced flowers into one of collective power. Because for many, relationships don’t always mean romance and respect. Or safety.

With the sand beneath our feet and the early sun on our faces, movement becomes language with a collective dance to V-Day anthem Break the Chain.

The dance acknowledges the suffering of the one-in-three women who will be beaten or raped in their lifetime. We dance because our rage needs rhythm. We dance because – unlike the 60-something Australian women who lost their lives to intimate partner violence in 2025 – we are still here. We dance because we’re not willing to let that be our daughters’ inheritance.

To those who think our slice of paradise is immune to abuses, you’re wrong. There are stories here that would make your hair curl, and over the last decade women from around the region have shared their stories as part of The Vagina Conversations, a collaborative show featuring women and people with vaginas. Inspired by Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues, Director Zenith Virago felt that our local community had their own stories to tell. So, she pulled together a contemporary re-imagining – not a monologue but a conversation.

This year, the Brunswick Picture House transforms into a space of courage and truth-telling.This show is not your standard theatre. It’s raw, local, real. It’s nurses, teachers, aunties, survivors – women from 17 to 83 – who step up to share their personal stories, often for the first time.

There’s knowing laughter. There’s heavy silence. There are moments when I’ve had to close my eyes, my face leaking, while I breathe through someone’s truth because it’s all too familiar.

“This show is activism in action,” says Mandy Nolan. And it is. All proceeds support frontline services like the Mullumbimby Womens’ Resource Service and Pottsville Neighbourhood Centre. To date, over $158,000 has been raised to support women escaping domestic and family violence.

So, to anyone who has felt that same tight grip of fear walking home, I say: join us. Sit with us at The Vagina Conversations and let someone else’s story make you see red. Then, if you can, on Saturday 14 February, rise early, dress in red, and come dance at the beach.

Because when we stand together, nobody flinches when you say vagina. And we remember: this body is not a battleground. It’s a force.

Sally Schofield

Photo credit: Lyn McCarthy – Niche Pictures

It was meant to be the adventure of a lifetime. In early December 2025, Seb Stockdale had just landed in Japan on his first solo overseas trip – a working holiday and a snowboarding dream. But it soon became clear that something wasn’t right.

“I was over there for about maybe two weeks before I started getting like symptoms of anaemia, just really fatigued and every day I just be able to do less and less.” That turned into nausea, vomiting, and a complete loss of appetite. Then a cyst under his arm became an abscess which required draining at a Japanese medical clinic, followed by IV antibiotics. “After a few days one of the doctors said I looked quite pale and did a blood test.” The following day Seb learned he was dangerously anaemic, and his platelet count was nine. It should have been 180.

That day, Seb was taken to a hospital in Sapporo, about an hour and a half away. “They ran some more tests and then the haematologist came and saw me and basically just said that they found signs of leukaemia.”

The medical team gave him blood and platelets to get him stable enough to fly. “Mum actually came over to fly back with me which was great ‘cause I had someone to talk to.”

Back in Australia, Seb was taken straight to the Gold Coast hospital where further tests revealed a diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia with FLT-3 mutation, a rare and fast-growing form of blood and bone marrow cancer.

“I need a bone marrow transplant, or it will just keep coming back no matter how many times they get rid of it,” says Seb. Dad Graeme puts a finer point on it: “He will not survive unless we find a stem cell donor.”

For now, Seb needs to get through three rounds of chemotherapy and prepare for transplant. The transplant means he needs a donor match needs to be found, and the family are appealing to people aged 18-35 worldwide to have their blood tested to see if they are a match, and to register on the Bone Marrow Register.

It’s not a matching blood type but a search for a blood donor who has six DNA markers that exactly match Seb’s. Sadly, no one in the Stockdale family has a strong enough match. ‘It’s not just about being related,” says Jen.

If your blood sample is found to be a match, the next part of the donation process is far less intense than most people imagine. “You go to your local hospital or Blood Bank or whatever and they’ll just give you party pies, sausage rolls and milkshakes and you just sit there while they take a larger than average blood donation.” No needles in the hip or anything gruesome as maybe have been used in times gone by.

After that, the stem cells are separated from the blood and used to create new bone marrow, and Seb’s old bone marrow is removed. “Then they inject that new bone marrow into Seb’s empty bones,” says Jen.

If you’re nervous about needles, there are other ways to join the register. “You can actually order a mouth swab through the mail… if you’re anaemic you know you can do the mouth swab as well. It’s obviously not the best but yeah, they definitely accept that as well.”

Locally, the Lifeblood donor centre in Lismore even knows Seb’s name. “You can say I’m doing it for Seb Stockdale and then just put it to his tally so he knows that there are lots of people out there thinking of him,” says Jen.

Seb’s already gone through one intense month of chemo. The family all shaved their heads in solidarity for Seb’s journey. He’s home briefly, before heading back in for the next round. When the time is right, he’ll be admitted to the Royal Brisbane hospital for the transplant and recovery, which will take another three and a half months. “So when he gets inducted into the Royal Brisbane hospital, they call the donor that they found as the match,” says Jen.

The best outcomes come from younger donors, which is why the register focuses on people aged 18 to 35. “Basically, the older stem cells, the harder it is for his body to integrate,” says Jen

Herald readers will remember the Stockdales as the well-loved family behind the Stockpot Kitchen, a hugely popular southern-style eatery that was a crowd favourite operating out of the Bangalow Bowlo for a number of years.

Known for its slow-cooked meats and smoky flavours it brought a welcoming, community-focused vibe to town. After years in Bangalow, the Stockpot Kitchen moved to Lismore, where it continues to serve up its signature hospitality even through the tough times. Like so many in our region, the family faced the devastating 2022 floods with resilience, rolling up their sleeves to help rebuild the town they now call home.

Now they are asking you to roll up your sleeve, literally.

Readers with kids or grandkids in the 18–35-year-old age bracket are encouraged to have a conversation with their young people about giving a blood sample and joining the Bone Marrow Register. They might just save a life.

For more information, visit lifeblood.com.au

Sally Schofield

“On the 22nd of December last year we went up to Foodworks and loaded up the trolley; we had no idea what to do. If you’d have told me where we would be today I don’t know if I would have believed you,” says Bangalow Men’s Shed President David Noakes.

The Bangalow Community Pantry is celebrating its first year of operation, and a lot has happened between now and that inaugural trip to Foodworks. I had the chance to speak to David and Shed member Louise Anderson, who have been running the pantry, to learn more about the work they’ve been doing out in front of the Men’s Shed.

“The idea started about five years ago with Rev. Rosie Wynter,” David says. “We were The well-stocked pantry fills a gap for locals struggling to make ends meet Photos Georgia Fox noticing more people sleeping rough, women in the car with their kids, and we wanted to do something about it.”

It took a while to get things off the ground and to convince the town that this was something people really did need. “One of the key things I learnt very quickly,” says Louise “is that even though we are perceived as a very affluent locality, I knew from previous work that if you open up a kitchen cupboard, they could often be bare.” David expressed it quite plainly, saying “it’s the really simple stuff that we just take for granted. It’s a norm for us but it’s not for a lot of our people”.

Homelessness has been a big topic in the Byron Shire. Adding to that the day-to-day struggles of food insecurity can be too much to bear for many, especially those with dependents to care for. There is a strong link between food security and mental health, as studies by the National Library of Medicine show. On Monday mornings between 7-9am, people can come and pick up Help In Your Area (HIYA) vouchers which can be redeemed at Foodworks. This is a joint effort between the Lions Club, the CWA, and the Pantry. “When we meet on Mondays, we always have a counsellor on hand, to offer other avenues of support when needed,” Louise says. “This has become a de facto community hub, which Bangalow has really been missing.”

Between the Pantry and the vouchers, people have discreet options to reach out for the help they may be needing when the hard rains fall.

Getting the Pantry built wasn’t hard at all though, as businesses were happy to chip in. “We never paid for a penny of the materials, which meant we could put that money straight into the food,” says David. “That’s a credit to our community.”

The local community’s generosity has been silently working behind the scenes. “We did a lot of work bringing resources together and finding sponsors and supporters, and we now have ongoing relationships with local businesses and individuals who help us stock this Pantry and keep it full,” says Louise.

In the future, David and Louise hope to integrate the Orange Sky program into Bangalow, a mobile laundromat and shower service, for which they are currently on the wait list. “We’re not out to change the world, we’re just trying to do the best we can for those who need it,” says David.

And as to whether Bangalow needed this or not? “We’re out there restocking every day. There’s a communications board inside to hear what people specifically need, but most of the time we just get messages of thanks, which is wonderful,” says Louise.

Another interesting fact is that you might be helping fund this program without even realising it. David estimates 85% of the funds raised at the Men’s Shed’s Bangalow market stall go directly back into this area of the club. For those who are interested, other forms of help are always welcomed. “We’d love for people to get involved however they can,” Louise and David agree. “If anyone wants to donate time it won’t go to waste; there’s always jobs to do and a need for more product too!”

Another thing that’s always needed is safety. When people are at their most vulnerable, it was important to consider how to make the experience of using the pantry a safe, dignified one. “The lights and security cameras make this a place people can come whenever they need,” David says. “Some people don’t want to be seen, so it was crucial to allow access at night. Making sure people are able to do that has positively impacted our effectiveness.”

“Bangalow is a hidden oasis,” Louise adds. “It’s a safe place for people to come.”

“Another important thing we supply is dog and cat food. It provides such impactful emotional and physical security.” For some, having a pet can be a barrier to entry for emergency accommodation, as they can’t support the animals. Impassioned, David says “they’ll say ‘I couldn’t live without them’, and that’s not just a throwaway line”.

Louise, equally as passionate, says “there are a lot of services down in Byron, but when you’re in a much more delicate situation, it became obvious to us that we were witnessing a different struggle. We’re not here for people to run down and grab a jar of olives when they run out at home.”

This kind of compassion is the backbone of a strong community. It gives a sense of meaning and belonging to a town. David, who has been working with the Men’s Shed since 2018 says “it keeps me getting out of bed in the morning.”

“If we don’t talk about it, it remains hidden,” says Louise. “To be able to get what you need without filling a form just keeps that dignity.”

“They’re more than numbers,” agrees David. “We’re all about the human head and the heart.”

@bangalow.mensshed

So, when the club shut its doors abruptly earlier this year, no community notice, no public consultation – just a sign and a visit from the locksmith – it hit harder than expected. Because what we lost wasn’t just a building with beer and bowls. We lost a ‘third place’.

Urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined that term in 1989 to describe spaces that exist outside home (the first place) and work (the second place), where community happens organically. “Third places,” he wrote, “are neutral ground… informal, accessible, accommodating… a home away from home.”

Sound familiar?

The Bowlo – as it’s still affectionately known – ticked every box of what makes a ‘third place’ function. It was plain in appearance but welcoming, down-to-earth in its tone, and full of regulars. You could play barefoot bowls with toddlers and teens, or sip a schooner alongside a pensioner watching the footy. No social hierarchy. Just being.

And that presence mattered more than we knew.

The club was absorbed into a Sydney-based consortium through an amalgamation completed in 2023 – one of several regional acquisitions framed as upgrades but largely ending in disrepair and closure. The promised investment never came. Sports clubs, initially wooed by sponsorship money, were left out of pocket. Staff left. And on 24 October, the lights went out without warning.

Local sporting groups have been left without training facilities and a ‘clubhouse’. Carolyn, a Bangalow Netball Club committee member, says “The abrupt closure of the Bangalow Bowling Club has had a significant impact on the Bangalow Netball Club. The Bowlo was the training courts for five netball teams and we used them every Wednesday afternoon. Families may now have to travel to other towns just so their children can train. This puts the club at real risk of losing players and memberships. We hope there is a local solution to ensure our players can continue to participate in the sport they love and remain connected to their community.”

The social impact has been immediate and devastating.

For many older residents, the club was their primary – sometimes only – point of social contact. “Third places,” says academic Louis Heath, who has extensively researched the role of Bowling Clubs in Australian society “are particularly important for those sectors of society that have limited opportunities for social interaction such as the older and new members of the community.” They provide reasons to leave the house, interact, and regain a sense of self beyond the walls of home.

For others, particularly men, the club offered what mental health professionals call a ‘soft entry point’ – an accessible place to talk without the pressure of formality or stigma.

You could just ‘drop in’ no appointment necessary. The famed ‘Table of Knowledge’ is evidence of this. That option is now gone.

For those with limited mobility, chronic health issues or disability, the actual building was one of the only accessible venues in the whole town providing respite from the weather for older residents, or those who, like Richie Allen (now quadriplegic after a sporting accident on the very fields the club overlooks), requires a thermostatically-controlled environment such as that the club once offered, to ensure his comfort and quality of life.

The closure of the club spells the end of a vital cross-generational connector. Bangalow’s Bowlo was one of the rare places where you’d see a 75-year-old retiree swapping gardening tips with a 20-something tradie, or where kids could run free in ‘the cage’ while frazzled parents debriefed on the week that was.

“We have lost our meeting and connection place. How wonderful that any time we popped into the Bowlo we would run into friends, kids would play and we would connect. We are really feeling its absence,” says Anna, mother of two aged 5 and 9.

For newcomers to town, it offered an informal gateway into the community – somewhere to strike up a conversation, find out who’s who, enjoy a meal with friends, or be entertained by people-watching, trivia nights, open-mic events, and incredible live music.

“When Norths suddenly shut the doors of the Bangalow Bowlo, it ripped a hole in the cultural life of the shire,” says Barry ‘Dr Baz’ Ferrier. ‘For musicians, the Bowlo was one of the few remaining grassroots venues where original music, low-key youth gigs and experimental projects could actually happen. There’s a proud history of local bands, touring acts and emerging songwriters all using the auditorium as a launch pad. There’s ‘closed’ sign means lost income, and one less stage in a region that already struggles to keep live music spaces alive.”

“For the open mic community, the impact is even more personal. With a 26-year history these nights weren’t just about getting up and having a sing – they were a weekly ritual where retirees shared the bill with teenagers, where shy writers tried new songs for the first time, and where friendships and collaborations were born over cheap meals and a relaxed crowd.”

Now, the building is locked, and the interiors are neglected. Neighbours have noted rising mould and the unmistakable scent of decay that clings when a space meant for people is left empty. It’s a second insult – the slow undoing of a place where so many memories live. Life events commemorated, losses mourned, graduations celebrated, grand finals won (or lost), a wedding or two, book clubs, Two-Up, a decent parmi/parma and a pint, discos, fundraisers, trivia nights and some of the best live entertainment in the country. Or just shooting the breeze on the back deck overlooking the sports fields, and marvelling at how bloody lucky you are to be living in this paradise?

We often measure community loss in economic terms – jobs lost, property value affected – but what of cultural cost? Emotional continuity? Social wellbeing? Louis reminds us that “bowling clubs significantly contribute to the social capital of our communities… fostering the social wellbeing of many, particularly older, community members.”

We need to make a stand for the value of these places for what they are really: vital infrastructure. Not just venues or businesses, but spaces that carry the emotional weight of community. They aren’t interchangeable. The damage isn’t irreparable – yet. But it does require acknowledgement, transparency and local say in what happens next. Will the community be invited back in? Or will the site continue to rot while the consortium deliberates from afar?

Whatever the outcome, I know this: when a town loses its third place, it doesn’t just lose its clubhouse. It loses part of its collective heartbeat. And I know I’m not the only one who’s not going to stand by and let that happen.

In the weeks since closure, extreme heat and heavy rain has created the perfect environment for mould to proliferate. With no maintenance, cleaning or caretaking in place, the once-lively building is both physically and symbolically rotting. Locals have reported signs of vandalism to the carefully (mostly voluntarily) maintained bowling green. For a club that served its community for 115 years, this feels like a dishonourable demise. It deserves better. We deserve better.

Residents are encouraged to:
• Donate  https://www.gofundme.com/f/bangalow-community-reopen-bangalow-bowlo
• Volunteer their time or expertise – email  savebangalowbowlo@gmail.com
• Write to Norths Collective as Bowlo members concerned about the broken promises and closure of the club
• Follow updates on the Save Bangalow Bowlo Facebook page http:facebook.com/SaveBangalowBowlo

Sally Schofield

Historic images courtesy of the Bangalow Bowling Club

Known officially as The Bangalow Show Society Secretary, Anne has been a local for a very long time. All her life, in fact. “I am the fifth generation of my family here,” she says proudly.

Growing up she was always involved in the Federal rural youth program and Bangalow Show in one form or another. She and her 10 siblings have all volunteered, helped out or competed in events at the Show over the years, Mum.

Anne says that “when I was growing up, Mum was always in the Moller Pavilion, helping with the luncheon.” Her father always competed, she says. “We still have a photo of Dad winning a ribbon on the back of a horse from when he was maybe 13-years-old.”

Anne moved away but after a 20-year break raising her family, she and her husband Paul decided to make the change back to Bangalow in 2012.

Not long after returning, she was roped into the role of secretary by her brother Michael O’Meara, who was a previous Show President and still part of the commitee.

That was six years ago, and Anne says she has never looked back but adds “if I had known just how much work was involved, I may have never started!” It’s a demanding role, and though Anne says she will always want to be involved, in the future “maybe not as heavily, as from July it can be hard to get time away to visit family or go on holidays as much as I would like.”

Next year she is due to welcome her second grandchild and would love to be able to spend more time with family.

Paul is one of Anne’s biggest supporters, usually taking the Friday of the Show off work so he can be there for Anne, helping set up, carrying out odd jobs, and doing everything he can to make sure the Show is a success.

The lead-up to the Show is in full swing by this time of year, early November, which Anne enjoys but says can be pretty intense: “Coming up to Show week there’s so much prep. From the beginning of October, I spend most of my time doing general admin, including printing all of the schedules for the Show in-house, replying to emails, making sure everyone who needs to be updated stays updated, and keeping up with the Show’s socials.

You may think that when the Show is done, the work is also done, but you would be mistaken. “In reality, work goes on nearly up to Christmas: my main focus is still the Show; there is still a lot to be done, including the collecting of pavilion entries and prize money, any paperwork that is still to be completed, as well as an evaluation of how everything went so that the committee can be prepared and make next year’s event as good as it possibly can be.”

“During the whole process I work very closely with the Bangalow Show President Donna Jenna and the Society’s treasurer, Lois East; without them the workload would be insurmountable,” Anne says.

“Even though there is a lot of work involved and I usually miss most of the event, I still find it very rewarding.”

Her favourite part of the Show is seeing the great excitement of the kids and young families taking part.

“They are all so excited to enter into the Show and be part of everything; seeing just how excited they get when they’ve won a prize and just how proud they are of their work. All they want to do is show you. It’s like their excitement rubs off on you.”

According to Bangalow Agricultural and Industrial Society Secretary, Anne McClelland (full story page 11), the Unique Selling Proposition of the Bangalow show is that, unlike other shows in the North Coast circuit, it’s held in the centre of town. The last Show held in the 12 Far North Coast NSW group of shows, Anne says it’s the relaxed rural atmosphere created by the huge old trees around the grounds that particularly appeals. “Many of our regular stallholders let us know it’s their favourite show location,” she said.

While the popular Ironman competition has been offered for more than 30 years, the Woodchop event in the main ring on Saturday evening is increasing in popularity, too, since its comparatively recent addition to the program. The Boot Toss and Base Zero Mobile Rock Climbing events are both new this year.

The 25 members of the Show Committee, plus the 12 members of the Grounds Committee, regularly come up with good ideas for new events: then comes trying to slot that new event into the tight timetable.

Some events fade in popularity after a while, such as the Rodeo Musical Chairs, Anne says. At times, organisers need to “roll with the punches”. One year, the Hendra Virus affected horses around the State, which weren’t allowed to travel off-farm. So, horse events had to be substituted with camels. People are still talking about it!

Essentially, there are four separate ‘streams’ happening over the two days: competitive ‘indoor’ events happening inside the Pavilion, the ‘outdoor’ Ring events, the Village Green events, and the commercial stalls and rides, which line the Show’s internal pathways.

The theme of this year’s show is ‘Bangas ‘n’ Boots’ (Bangas being short for ‘Bangalow’ not sausages). Inside the Pavilion, entries are beautifully displayed in purpose-built cabinets. Competition is fierce: farm produce, horticulture, flowers, cookery, preserves, art and photography, needlework, patchwork and quilting, craft and the written word. Any one of these sections can receive hundreds of entries, submitted from children to adults.

Judges for some animal-related outdoor events are selected from the AgShowsNSW comprehensive database and must follow strict regulations. Other judges will be sourced from different specific disciplines or breed associations, such as the Stock Horse Association NSW, Australian Bushmen’s and Campdraft Association and Equestrian Australia. They may need to travel from as far as Canberra or Queensland and need to be accommodated. These days, local guest accommodation has become so expensive, judges now stay in Ballina motels. Judges for the Pavilion events are primarily local.

For the Head Steward, work starts on preparing each year’s event by April. For Anne and Show Society President, Donna Jenner, there’s paperwork year-round. Apart from around 25 Society members meeting monthly throughout the year to organise the Show, a number of other local community groups contribute to staging the event. The Lions group runs the kiosk. The CWA provides Devonshire teas. Ballina Rotary handles parking while the Bangalow Mens Shed is on the gates. The school P&C handles the games on the Village Green, open to kids nine years and under (egg and spoon race, three-legged race, sack race). And The Bangalow Herald organises the Bush Poets Competition featuring a $100 prize and a sash.

Popular events on the Village Green also include the reptile display, baby animals and woodwork demonstrations, while the dog high jump and the Friday after school Pet Parade always attract a crowd. Primary school-aged children can also participate in an on-site treasure hunt on Saturday. Collect a form from the Show Office and then mark off numbered boots and other footwear hidden around the Show. Return your completed form to the Show Office before 2pm Saturday for your chance to win a prize.

Donna emphasises that the Society is well supported by between 250 to 300 volunteers. “We’d love more people to help us once the Show finishes Sunday lunchtime,” Donna said. “We need to leave everything clean as the following weekend the monthly markets happen here.”

This may be seen as a relaxed “country show”, but the pressure to win events is cut-throat. One year, The Land interviewed a regular contestant for the extremely popular Tart of the Show Event. Asked what it takes to win it, she replied: “It’s easier to sleep with half the  blokes in the Bangalow Pub than win the Tart of the Show.”

Those country inclinations, including a robust sense of community, are still very much alive in Anouska, but she has lived up to her exotic name, accumulating decades of experience in Australia and overseas as a dancer, singer, writer, choreographer, theatre director and teacher. Ten years ago, she channelled that experience into co-founding the Bangalow Theatre Company (BTC), and becoming its president and artistic director.

Margaret Curtis, BTC’s musical director during those 10 years, says Anouska’s boundless optimism, paired with her creative brilliance, have made her a true dynamo in the Bangalow community. “I continue to be amazed by her remarkable talent for selecting productions that are not only crowd-pleasers but also thought-provoking and deeply relevant,” Margaret says.

The company’s work has become legendary across the region – and beyond – and it now has a momentum that is both exhilarating and exhausting for Anouska and her team of hardworking volunteers. Even before the curtain had fallen on its last hit, the musical Come From Away, BTC was organising the next – Vivid White, which opens in March at the Brunswick Picture House.

A key factor in deciding upon this stage play was its writer, Eddie Perfect. A few years ago, Anouska directed another of his works, The Beast, and its darkly comedic story of several tree-changing couples’ search for an idyllic rural life going horribly wrong “landed beautifully” with local audiences, she says.

Similar digs at the aspirational class are a feature of Vivid White, a satirical musical about property-owning Australians that’s based on a personal experience Perfect had of house hunting in Melbourne. Among its targets are the national obsession with property, real estate pretension, interior designers, and the trend of knocking down beautiful old homes to build something soulless and, invariably, white.

There’s also a deeper undercurrent – about the growing divide between those who own a home and those who rent. It’s dystopian, and features an oversized octopus, one of an army of cephalopods working in conjunction with realtors to take over the world, a world in which renters are ‘disappeared’. “It’s full on,” Anouska says, slightly concerned it may ruffle some feathers in the local gentry. “Like, it really goes there. But it’s comedy; it’s a musical, after all.”

Anouska will direct, a role she has often filled since she and Adrienne Megan Lester founded BTC in 2015. It started with a huge launch party in the A&I Hall and when some guests offered to sign up “we just went, right, ‘what’s our first production?’,” she says, and decided on The Drowsy Chaperone, a witty musical that parodies the genre.

The immediate challenge was to find male actors, including some with tap dancing, roller-skating and singing skills. The niche casting meant auditions were prolonged and the rehearsal schedule unusually brief.

“It was crazy. The whole production was very quick, but it felt alive. I felt I had found the energy and buzz that, moving back here from Sydney, I was kind of missing,” she says.

It filled a deeper personal need too, one instilled by her dad’s lifetime of community volunteering; the drive to be part of something meaningful and inclusive. Watching “40-year-old men with no experience suddenly singing a solo and tap dancing across the stage” brought her real joy.

Her parents were still living on the farm near Kingscliff at the time. It was the best place to grow up, she says, and she wanted a similar upbringing for her kids.

Her own schooling was at Duranbah Public School, where the community ethos was strong. “If someone had a birthday, the whole school would be there.” She started dance classes and piano at about eight, then acting and drama, then singing, “and it just snowballed”.

At Kingscliff High School, her enchantment with performing deepened: she did well in her HSC dance and music exams, and “lent into” choreography from then on. “I absolutely loved it. You couldn’t get me out of the dance studio. Recess, lunchtime, I was there.”

Afterwards she gained a double degree in dance and drama education, and a diploma at Brent Street Performing Arts, then it was agency work and travel overseas to perform. Back home she sang and recorded with a pop group and learned how to make films. “This is like 25 years ago, in Kings Cross,” she says. “Such a fun time.”

Her work with BTC takes up 70% of her work time, and is unpaid. “This is my love job,” she says, though she never imagined that her life would involve so much volunteering.

Her ‘day jobs’ include teaching at several schools, and privately, as well as choreography workshops up and down the coast, and at state festivals, along with running the BANG! Academy of Performing Arts, and much more. It sounds exhausting, and she admits to feeling the fatigue at times.

A “pumping adrenal gland” helps carry her through – and something less corporeal: “I can see the benefits within the community of what I’m trying to do. I do a lot of improvisation in my classes, and just that playfulness, that spontaneity, I find so magical. Seeing people ignite and laugh is kind of magic.”

The optimism Margaret Curtis notes manifests itself as an irrepressible energy, and a deeply rooted belief in the power of the performing arts to help people, especially the young, to be “grounded”, to boost their capacity for critical thinking, and to develop a sense of self.

“Human to human connection, sensing that realness and witnessing it as an audience member or performing, sharing that moment. There’s nothing better.” She radiates a can-do positivity, even when sharing her concerns that BTC’s volunteer team is smaller than it once was, the mean-spiritedness she has faced from arts bureaucrats (and occasionally fellow theatre groups), and the fact that the company has no real home.

The Gammon’s carport is filled with costumes from previous productions, and the BTC board meets monthly around the family’s dining table, so Anouska and husband Will’s three children, aged 20, 17 and 12, have also been heavily involved in the theatre world. The younger two were rehearsing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Emmanuel Anglican College in Ballina last month, which Anouska, naturally, was directing. It meant more work but she can’t help herself: “Oh, but that’s just fun; it’s really fun.”

The rewards cannot be measured in material terms.

Anouska recalls a moment when she was watching the various BTC teams on Come From Away fine-tune the production after three or four shows: “Everyone was pretty exhausted but on stage, the director was giving feedback; the musical director was giving notes to the band, who were practising with the cast. And we had the set people fixing up sets, the technicians adjusting the sound and light and cues, the costume people sewing things. I’d never seen anything like it, these highly skilled people, that dynamic, and I sat down and I kind of welled up in tears.”

The feeling that overcame her was one of “worth”, she says.

“Just realising that everyone was there because they love it. It’s not about a monetary transaction. It’s higher than that, even though it’s harder to get there. And this is the thing: the grind, the resourcefulness of that grind and the fatigue behind that grind, is worth it in the end.”

Digby Hildreth