It’s ‘a’ family affair

The second letter ‘a’ of the ‘amazing’ sculpture is now complete thanks to father and son Colin and Ollie Dawes, who were helped by Ollie’s two-and-a-half-year-old son Toby, who can grow up knowing he was involved in this fantastic community project.

The Dawes family join a bunch of other farmers who put their hand up to get involved in the project by grinding and welding individual letters.

“It’s a great way of doing something for the community,” Colin Dawes said.

“It’s just something that you can do, so it’s nice to be involved.”

Colin, Ollie and Toby’s names have all been welded into the inside circle of the ‘a’, so there will always be a reminder that they played a part in the ‘amazing’ project.

“In a hundred years time if it goes to scrap metal or falls apart, our names will be there,” Mr Dawes senior said.

With the letter ‘a’ now complete, only one letter remains - the letter ‘i’.

Other farmers who have been involved in the project include Brad Harrison doing the ‘m’, Gus Maslin and crew working on the ‘z’, Michael and Tom Green completing the ‘i’, James Stewart, Jeff Moon and crew doing the ‘n’ and Dave and Nick Adams with the letter ‘g’.

Each group was supplied the metal sheets by Bart from Midpro Engineering, who cut out the sections for each letter.

“Bart had the hard work done,” Ollie Dawes said.

Once all the letters have been welded, they will be unveiled at the launch of the 2015 Sculpture Forbes competition on October 1 at Albion Park.

With the exception of the first letter ‘a’, the letters are yet to be powdercoated the signature bright red, however the Somewhere Down the Lachlan team are hoping to complete that in the next few months, depending on funding.

If you would like to donate to the project or pledge your support, contact Forbes Art Society president Keith Mullette on 6851 2418.