A wrap up of our Annual Thank You Weekend by Marianne...

The recent Aussie Hero Quilts thankyou weekend was full of fun and informative events, involving AHQ volunteers, recipients and supporters. Friday’s activities included a guided tour of the Australian War Memorial and the Volunteers Gathering. 

Our MC at the Volunteers Gathering was ‘Pello’, who was hilarious and kept everyone’s attention. She began with her take on the new Raffle Ticket bag, renamed by her as the G-string bag, then introduced the various presenters throughout the evening, and kept the night moving at a cracking pace. 

Volunteers each scored fabulous gifts and a showbag of goodies, which was generously filled by various sponsors, craft suppliers and the Australian Navy, Army and Air Force. 

Jock and Sheena 

Bobbie 

Gayle 

Gail 

Toni F

Heather 

Jock and Alison 

Lesley B

The presentation by SGT Adam Richards (Richo) and his Assistance dog Alma was outstanding. Richo shared his Army deployment experiences with honesty, openness, courage and humour. 

He discussed some of the challenges of effective communications through the ranks and that he has been working to make great improvements for the future for all the ADF. Then Richo showed the audience how clever, versatile and alert Alma could be by demonstrating some of her everyday duties – everyone was enthralled and for many it was love at first sight (for Alma!). Richo’s talk was captivating, and the cliché that you could hear a pin drop was experienced by all who attended. 

Then there was the Annual Thank You Dinner.

There were fabulous quilts on display, including these three auction quilts by Inge, Lyn R and Anna C.

Each table was dressed in our colours with a special miniature bed hand made by the wonderful Crystal with help by Cath Hvy.

It was obvious during the night that there is a sincere depth of appreciation for all that Jan-Maree and the volunteers do. The night included surprise presentations of quilts and laundry bags to current and former servicemen, and the recurring theme by all who presented and received these treasured quilts and laundry bags is how much they mean to all recipients. 

The amount of work and time, attention to colour, design and content of each AHQ project is valued greatly by all.

Pello, our one and only MC kept the night running and kept us laughing as only she can. 

We had two surprise presentations... The Vice Chief of Defence Force presented a quilt to a totally unsuspecting Warrant Officer of the Air Force. 

The Chairman of our Board and volunteer Lesley B presented a surprise quilt to an also unsuspecting David Ball.  Jan-Maree does love a good surprise! 

One newbie volunteer to the weekend commented that her time in Canberra among fellow AHQ volunteers and meeting some of the military personnel was a real eye opener. 

We had a word from our Major Sponsor promising support for another year. 

We had a word from Luke Gosling MP, the Special Envoy to Defence, Veterans and Northern Australia, and a big supporter of Aussie Hero Quilts.

And we had a word from Jan-Maree, the Founding CEO of Aussie Hero Quilts.

What a great night.

Thanks Marianne

Till next time..... keep spreading the word and happy stitching! 

Jan-Maree xx