by Flick Ruby

Emma is someone I wave to on my road, a neighbour and someone who pops up regularly on the Cobargo mailing list inviting us all to play tennis or come along to a community event. She recently let me into the Cobargo Preschool Bookfair an hour early. I had a bag of books to offer, but she took pity on me mainly because I had a long way to drive home due to the absence of a bridge in Dignams Creek. Little did she know that it was then I decided to ask her for an interview because I’ve always been curious about how this quietly busy community organiser and electrician came to be such an active member of the Triangle community.

‘I grew up in the small town of Captains Flat. I spent most of my childhood there and then moved into the Canberra area where I trained as an electrician with my dad. After I met Heather, we moved back to where she grew up, to her family’s nursery, South Coast Flora in Diggies. We decided to bring our young family here, originally for one year, and now, four and a half years later, this area feels like home.’

What Emma loves about being an electrician is solving problems. ‘Crawling under the floor and in the ceilings are not the most fun parts of the job, but it gives a real sense of completion to be able to go into someone’s house and solve a problem that they’re unable to fix themselves. I like being able to help people in need. I’m a residential electrician, so it’s lots of maintenance and also new builds. Pretty much anyone who has something that’s not working, I can normally fix it. I’m available on call but because I’ve got a young family, when those calls come at six o’clock on a Friday night, it’s hard to rush out the door, but I’m definitely there to help when people need it.

‘Yes, electricity is dangerous, but you do training throughout your apprenticeship, lots of technical work at school and four years practical experience. By the time you finish, you know what you can and cannot touch. There are also strong regulations in place now. When I go into a house that’s not up to standard, upgrading it takes the danger out of it for the clients and also for myself.’

Emma had never played tennis before coming to the Triangle but was looking for something to jump into and ended up at the Cobargo Tennis Club. ‘Basketball, which I’d played for thirty years, wasn’t an option when I came here, so I entered the senior tennis comp. I just felt like we could do more with the community and tennis and wanted to build momentum for change. We organised a “Hot Shots” skills session for kids and we’ve had a couple of adult tennis tournaments, with people coming from Bega and Narooma to Cobargo to participate. We’ve held the tournament in summer for two years, but last year it was so hot, so now we are talking about a spring option.

‘There are definitely people around that have been involved in the Tennis Club for much longer than I have, and it’s good to stand on their shoulders. Tennis is a sport that can be very social – it’s really just about getting people together. That’s what it’s all about for me, getting people together and having a hit at tennis at the same time.’

The Cobargo Preschool Book Fair is one of the highlights of my year for the past three years. I asked Emma how that magic happens.

‘I love book fairs. Coming from Canberra, I would always go to the Lifeline Book Fair. When I came here, I joined the Cobargo Preschool Board (a parent- and community-run board) and we needed to raise funds for some playground upgrades and resources for the children. When discussing how we were going to do this, I thought of a community garage sale event I had previously run. After talking with some friends, I thought what about a book fair? It was just an idea that kind of bubbled up. When we first decided to have the book fair, we thought how are we going to get all the books? We contacted people around the Cobargo community just to make sure we weren’t going to step on the toes of Well Thumbed Books or the Bowerbird. We got a big blessing from all. People liked the idea of having this kind of event in the community.  So, we just put the call out for donations and, over the three years, we’ve had thousands of books donated to us. Good quality books, books from deep in the archives – so many little gold mines! We have been able to sell them back to the community and raise money for the preschool. Now it’s just become part of the community calendar.

‘Another great thing about the Book Fair is that it brings families and former preschoolers back because the playground is open. You’re seeing people you haven’t seen in a while and locals can come and see our beautiful preschool – that’s also what it’s about. Yes, we’re raising money, but it’s also just a really nice community day. We have baked goods donated by the families of the preschool, a barbecue and a firewood raffle. The people who have won the raffle have really deserved it – Ivan and Dawn the first year and, this year, some newcomers to Dignams Creek. It’s not a chore to organise the book fair, it’s really fun, and this year we raised $1900 thanks to our generous community.’

As I finished talking with Emma, she was hit up to do two jobs. I guess that’s what it’s like to be an electrician, always in demand to keep the lights on.

You can listen this interview with Emma on The Triangle Community podcast.

Image: Emma Anderson with her work truck. Photo: Flick Ruby.