WHEN Charlie Powell realised the locals around Cumborah, near Walgett, wouldn’t be having an after-harvest get together because there was nothing to harvest, he started thinking about organising something to gather people.
On the cusp of his birthday, initially he thought he’d just get a few people together for a shindig.
Cumborah, where he was born and bred, is struggling, having managed just one harvest in the past seven years and having recorded only about 80 millimetres of rain for the year.
So Mr Powell, reckoning most people hadn’t really gotten together socially since the end of the football season, started callling around to organise a cricket game.
Within a couple of hours he had 30 players lined up and everyone’s enthusiasm had him looking for sponsors.
The Department of Primary Industries came to the party with $1500 thanks to Amanda Glasson, based at Coonamble.
Scott Barrett from national online charity Givit chipped in with $3000 worth of vouchers from local businesses, which meant Mr Powell gave away 60 $50 vouchers to players and their families.
Roberts and Morrow Accountants, who handle a lot of Cumborah accounts, gave $500, as did PW Concrete, with operations in Coonamble and Lightning Ridge.
There were three teams, the Cumborah Cobras, the Walgett Wombats and The Gypsies, a team that was an amalgam of young blokes working away or studying who came home for the event.
There’s a lot of young people encouraged to study or get a trade these days by their families in the area, as cropping and sheep enterprises weather drier than usual times.
Mr Powell was no exception, he gained a trade in carpentry and did some building courses in Sydney “just in case it never rains again, at least I’ll have a trade”.
It’s a trade he’s using at the moment to fix up a small cottage for he and his partner, Anna Bruce, and he’s also doing some renovations locally.
He’s also helping feed 3500 sheep daily and doing a few running repairs on water infrastructure.
After the game, a band, John and Kelly Pickering’s “Just Us”, performed for all and sundry and late into the night, as the celebrations snuck into Sunday, Charlie Powell celebrated his 27th birthday on the dance floor.
“I want to thank everyone,” said Mr Powell.
“And I want to let them know we are going to be alright.”