The first sod will be turned at the site of the Slim Dusty Centre later this year.
04th January, 2008  
General Manager of the Slim Dusty Foundation Kathryn Yarnold made the announcement on Wednesday when she, along with Slim’s wife Joy McKean, accepted a cheque for more than $16,000 from the Kempsey West Rotary Club president Keith Finnie, and Slim Dusty Country Music Memories Concert organisers Bruce and Trish Woods.
The donation came from the proceeds from last year’s concert, held at the Warwick Park racecourse in November.
At that concert Mark Vaile, deputy prime minister at the time, announced an election commitment of $6 million to build the Slim Dusty Centre.

Chair of the Slim Dusty Foundation, Joy McKean hailed the grant saying it would enable the project to get underway in the near future and she paid tribute to those who had worked so hard to make Slim's vision a reality.
Before winning government, the Labor Party said they would match the funding commitment. But while the new federal Government is providing the $6 million for the construction of the building, Ms Yarnold said funding from other sources was more important than ever to get the project to the construction stage.

The development application was approved by Kempsey Shire Council last year and Ms Yarnold said they are now at the construction certificate stage, which she described as critical.
"We will need funds for the tender stage but nobody should have any doubts about the Slim Dusty Centre going ahead. We will be turning the first sod towards the end of this year,” she said."
The new Centre will house a museum and collection of Slim Dusty memorabilia collected by Slim and Joy during a lifetime on the road. The Slim Dusty Country Music Memories Concert, initiated by Rotarian Bruce Woods, will be held later this year on November 1.
Mr Woods held a concert at his South West Rocks Rd property in 2004, 12 months after Slim’s death, for invited guests and each year the event has grown with 500 people attending last November’s concert at the racecourse.
This year the concert will be held in conjunction with the Kempsey Country Music Festival, which will move from the first weekend in September to first weekend in November. President of the Kempsey Country Music and Living Legend Festival Committee Pauline Fisher said a meeting last year between the Slim Dusty Foundation, the festival committee and the Slim Dusty Country Music Memories organisers decided to hold the events on the same weekend.
For information regarding the Slim Dusty Foundation and its aims, please contact General Manager, Kathryn Yarnold at 02 6562 6533 or 1800 18 SLIM or visit our website www.slimdustycentre.com.au

Photos & Story courtesy of Laurie Bullock, The Macleay Argus, Kempsey
Further information:
The Slim Dusty Foundation  

Kathryn Yarnold
General Manager
PO Box 70, Kempsey NSW 2440
Phone: 02 6562 6533
Fax: 02 6562 1849
Email: slimdustycentre@midcoast.com.au
Website: www.slimdustycentre.com.au

 
< print this page > < refresh / reload > < close this window >