Thursday, December 9, 2010

Update - 9 December 2010

BAG NEWS ….


Late Night Shopping – Hope to see you all next Wednesday 15 December 2010 at the annual Mitchell Late Night Shopping. Be there for your chance to win $1500 in local shopping vouchers. Entry vouchers are available from participating businesses listed below – one entry voucher for every $10 spent. At the point of sale, shoppers can complete and lodge an entry form or drop their entries into the official collection point at the BAG/Landcare office. There is no limit to the amount of entries you can have. The competition will run from Monday 22 November 2010 right up until the draw on Wednesday 15 December 2010 at 7.30 pm. Following feedback received from last year, we are including additional prize draws of a $100 and a $50 local shopping voucher to be spent at any of the participating businesses. For the late night shopping evening we have Santa and lots of activities for the whole family. The impact of re-thinking purchasing decisions and choosing to buy locally provides a significant impact on the local economy and local employment.

BAG would like to take this opportunity to thank the following businesses who have offered their generous support toward this shop local campaign:

Poppy’s Boutique;
Mitchell Café;
Lemon Pie Gifts;
Mitchell Pharmacy;
Mitchell Bakery;
Mitchell Hardware & Plumbing;
Samios Trading Post;
Dobbins Foodworks;
Hotel Mitchell;
Mitchell Beauty Salon;
Rob Cornish Electrical;
Bulldog Bikes;
Hunters Store;
Lawson’s Butchery;
Landmark;
Hotel Richards;
Nutri-Lick;
Bp Service Station;
Tower Roadhouse;
Bridge Service Station;
Courthouse Hotel;
Mitchell Post Office (gift lines ONLY);
Mitchell Mini Mart;
Mitchell Tyre Centre;
Mitchell Auto Care;
Mitchell News & Casket;
Maranoa Arts Gateway;
South West Technics;
The School Hours Gallery;
Major Beauty.


Bottle Tree Bulletin – for members and supporters who are outside the region, or for local residents who may have misplaced their copy!, each edition of the Bottle Tree Bulletin is available for viewing and downloading from the council’s website at
http://www.maranoa.qld.gov.au/community/Bottle_Tree_Bulletin.shtml


Seniors Computer Training – Booringa Action Group will be running computer training for seniors (over 50’s) early in the new year. It is proposed to undertake the training as individual (one-on-one) training appointments to ensure that participants are able to obtain training specific to their current knowledge, skills and purpose. Through training appointments, participants will have the opportunity to ask and be shown ‘how to’ related to the specific IT tasks they want to do and develop. Each participant will receive a resource kit to be developed as a reference guide. Topics will cover a broad range of IT tasks, programs, shortcuts, how to’s, tips and tricks. The training will cost $5 per one hour appointment.


BAG PROJECT UPDATES ………

Diploma Training – If you would like to gain a Diploma qualification in Tourism or Hospitality it is not too late! This 10 month course consists of a combination of self paced workbooks, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL +), and group workshops. It’s lots of fun and can provide you with many skills and ideas to develop a new business or increase returns for existing businesses. Qualified and experienced facilitators travel from Brisbane every 2 months to provide an invaluable learning experience and generation of wonderful ideas. Please contact me if you would like any further information.



GENERAL COMMUNITY INFORMATION ………

Maranoa Regional Council has produced a draft Regional Visitor Strategy which has been endorsed by Council for industry and community consultation. The document is obviously strategic in nature and as such annual action plans and budgets will be developed in line with the final Strategy adopted by Council. The Strategy spans a 5-year period and as a consequence some strategies will take some time to implement and there may be some transitional arrangements to work through before the full benefits of the Strategy are realised. In the Strategy, Council has identified five key roles for itself to support the tourism industry:
* Coordination of regional (Maranoa) marketing
* Supporting local organisations involved in the industry
* Maintenance and development of Council owned facilities
* Advocating major transport infrastructure development
* Regional industry research
Council now seek your comments (positive and/or negative) on the draft Strategy by COB Friday 11 February 2011. Please contact me if you would like to receive a copy of the draft strategy for input.


Until next time! :-)

Cheers,
Sharyn.