Greendale Country Fete

I spent the middle of Saturday at Greendale Country Fete, an annual fair on the grounds of Greendale Uniting Church. The Church began as Primitive Methodist Chapel 150 years ago at Jerrawa Creek, out in the country near Dalton and Gunning. The church is known for its cemetery, which provides a connecting place for families who have grown up in the area. Every year there’s a remembrance candlelight service, during which candles are lit on the graves. In the middle of winter people gather for a soup and sandwich lunch in the corrugated iron shed next to the church, warmed by a log fire. The spring fete draws people from all over NSW, and this year people came from as far away as Brisbane.

This year, for the 150th anniversary of the church, the members published a book. Most church anniversary books focus on buildings and ministers. This book is a history of the people – the residents of Greendale Cemetery. Far more interesting and truer to what a church should be about. What I liked about this country fete was the sense of welcome to the stranger, and the evidence of multi-generational inter-connectedness. I left the fete having spent money on an Aussie burger, scones and cream with fair trade plunger coffee, a Neil Gaiman novel, and two bags of sheep manure for the compost bin and garden. I also left feeling reconnected to the land, its people, faith and faithfulness.