Locals were joined by visitors from Canberra, Churchill, Nowa Nowa, Orbost, Goongerah, Delegate and Bombala. The Tubbut Hall and supper room and grounds, the school playground and the Deddick River's grassy bank provided a great environment for children and adults. The occasional dip in the river was a great way to cool off.
Taste of Tubbut was the first event in the (f)route calendar which will be officially launched at the Women on Farms conference in Buchan in March. (f)route is an East Gippsland-wide event which brings fruit and art together, supported by Regional Arts Victoria and East Gippsland Shire Council, which will make its way to a community near you.
The Tubbut area's (f)route artist in residence, Samara McIlroy, was at Taste of Tubbut to create a Pop-up Community Museum. The project was to create a temporary display out of the fruit people brought, both in and out of jars. Museum labels were prepared on an old typewriter. There was everything from plum jam to a bottle of liqueur made from cow's milk and vodka, and during the event, participants shared many stories about growing and preserving fruit.
Taste of Tubbut is about celebrating our local food and in traditional Tubbut style, the dinner table was groaning with everyone's contribution to dinner and John Walker cooked up the organic sausages, chops and steak he produces on his farm Palarang. Bruthen duo, FEVA Pitch sang and played under the stars and some of us danced along, a rare opportunity not to be missed.
Taste of Tubbut was a real community event, organised by Tubbut Neighbourhood House and supported by Tubbut Hall Committee. Thanks must go to the East Gippsland Shire Council for a grant to assist with the cost of the band. But without local people who grew the fruit and vegetables and made the goats milk cheeses we adored, and the visitors who traveled to attend, the event would have been Tasteless; so thanks, in particular, to you.
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[Report by Deb Foskey & Samara McIlroy]
