THE ABC and Canberra community were out en masse in a show of support for ABC colleagues Chris Kimball and Mark ''Baldy'' Jennings at a fundraiser for the two cancer patients on Monday night. The event at Ainslie Football club raised a significant sum, but newsreader Julian Abbott asked that the figure remain undisclosed for now so that it could be a surprise for its beneficiaries. The evening, a trivia night, had 300 guests, among them Kimball and Jennings's families and friends, but also Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and her deputy Andrew Barr; Opposition Leader Zed Seselja; and MLA Brendan Smyth; and ACTEW chairman John McKay. One auction item, a tour of the new Cotter dam site, fetched $8000. A number of ABC personalities presented rounds of questions, among them Alex Sloan, Greg Bayliss and Ross Solly. Abbott said the money would go into an ABC welfare fund and a committee would decide how to distribute it to benefit Kimball and Jennings. ''We can't help medically, but we can show we value them as friends and can help them through this period that isn't very easy,'' Abbott said.
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Fashionista free-for-all
SPRING cleaning that closet, or looking for some fabulous pre-loved stuff? Bags 'n' Bling, a fundraiser for the Women's Legal Centre, is on next week. The event involves fashionistas donating their handbags and jewels and other women nabbing them on the night for bargain prices. If you'd like to get involved, you can donate goods to be sold; donate wine or champers to be served on the night; volunteer to assist on the night; or donate a raffle prize. If you'd love to ditch your unwanted gear, or help in any other way, contact coordinator@womenslegalact.org or 62574377. The fun starts at 5pm on Tuesday at 8 Piguenit Close, North Lyneham. There's no need to rsvp. All proceeds help the centre provide its legal services to women of the ACT and region.
Students speak up
ELOQUENT students will show off their silver tongues at the ANU today at the 17th annual Lions Oratory Competition. Representatives of each ANU college will have eight minutes to convince the judges and the audience that they deserve to win the ANU Lions Oratory trophy and prizes totalling $3000 in cash, including the $400 people's choice award. The undergraduate students will be addressing the great human values of truth, righteousness, peace, love and non violence.
Constructive education
MAWSON Primary School's environment centre will have its brand new garden shed put up tomorrow. Bunnings Fyshwick will put up the shed for free. The business has previously provided the school with donated seedlings for the kids to plant with their dads at a Father's Day barbecue. Willow Park Nursery at Pialligo has provided discounted shrubs to plant around the shed ''to create a wonderful learning environment for the students'', as executive teacher Trish Ghirardello puts it.
Meeting the neighbours
THE FOLK of ACT Neighbourhood Watch have convened an annual general meeting for Tuesday from 6pm at Ainslie Football Club (Wakefield Avenue, Ainslie). The guest speaker will be Superintendent Kylie Flower of ACT Policing. Awards will be presented to the Neighbourhood Watch member of the year. The ACT Neighbourhood Watch Chief Police Officer's award will also be presented. All will be welcomed and refreshments will be served.
Defence tees up
A REMEMBRANCE Day golf event could tee off from next year thanks to the joint efforts of the Australian Defence Force Golf Association, Legacy and Golf Australia. The association's president, Major-General Craig Orme, said as part of the collaboration Defence would support the President's Cup to be played in Melbourne in November with some extra military-style pageantry at the opening ceremony. ''We're building links between The Australian Defence Force Golf Association and the Australian golfing community and also Legacy who support the families of service people killed in action,'' General Orme said. The proposed 2012 event is to be modelled on US Patriots' Golf Day, a Labor Day event that raises money for the families of servicemen and women. The event is slated for the weekend before Remembrance Day. To promote the initiative, a Chief of Defence Force Cup was contested on Monday featuring the President's Cup flown in from Melbourne.
