View (Voice, Interests and Education of Women) is a national women’s organisation bringing together women to develop skills, make connections and enjoy social activities. Every month Forbes View Club holds a lunch meeting where members can socialise, listen to and learn about various interests and community activities. To start our June meeting of Forbes View Club, held on Thursday 13 at Club Forbes, Helen Pitt (President) read a few letters received from our sponsored students expressing their gratitude for our support and telling members the activities they are involved with and what they like doing at school. Helen then introduced our guests speaker, Anne South a local resident of Eugowra. Anne spoke about her personal experiences during the devastating Eugowra flood of 2022. Anne described how the water rose quickly and seeing a towering wall of water, carrying the freshly cut canola, bearing down on her home. She remembered how she and her daughter scrambled to safety. “Safety at the time,” she said, “was pushing my daughter and one-week-old baby through the manhole into the ceiling.” She remembers standing on a ladder for six hours with water lapping at her neck, waiting to be rescued. She explained how she had gotten her elderly next-door neighbour into her house before the water got too high, and then had her stand on the kitchen bench so her head was out of the water. They could hear the helicopters outside but had no way of signalling them until her daughter broke through the roofing. She and the baby were transport directly to hospital, while SES rescuers came in a boat to get her and her neighbour to safety. “Animals, vehicles and houses being washed away, stranded residents yelling for help, clinging to trees and the roaring of the water are powerful things”, she said. “Intense counselling has helped a lot but there are images that will stay with me forever,” Anne commented. She went on to mention the recovery and how grateful Eugowra residents were for the support they received from their rescuers, support workers and local communities around them for their help and assistance in providing basic things like clothing, places to live, financial support etc. Thank you to Anne for inspiring story of chaos and survival and being able to speak about it. Thank you to all who turned up to help at the Bunnings BBQ raising over $500 and to those who did Meals on Wheels in May. Our next lunch will be on Thursday 10 July where we will be celebrating Christmas in July so break out your Christmas colours and jingly decorations ready for some fun. Members are asked bring along a donation for the Smith Family Winter Appeal. Please place your donation in an envelope and drop in the basket at the lunch. Those attending are asked to RSVP to your contact person before Friday 4 July.
