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Volume 9, Wednesday, December 5, 2012
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CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN
ONLY
19 Days to go!
Santa came to town By Vanessa Switala ot even the rain could keep away the crowds for the 2012 Roxby Downs Community Christmas Pageant on the weekend.
‘Dancing in the Street’ by Roxby Academy of Dance with approximately 150 people participating. Pageant Coordinator John Davis said everything went well, despite the wet weather. “Attendance was down a little from last year but the weather was an issue,” he said. The Rotary Club of Roxby District had 27 “Once it cleared though, those that hung registered floats this year, the largest being around had a great time.”
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“The pageant itself was down a couple of floats but there was more participation from groups. Floats and groups were bigger than previous years.” Mr Davis said he has received excellent feedback about Adelaide band Mr Buzzy, who rocked the main street until midnight. Mr Davis said everyone was extremely well behaved. Roxby Downs police agreed stating, “The
behaviour of those who enjoyed the Christmas Pageant was exemplary with minimal police intervention required throughout the night.” Mr Davis would like to thank all sponsors of the Roxby Downs Community Christmas Pageant. He would also like to thank the Rotary Club of Roxby District who put in a huge effort and the community for their attendance.
Uncertain future for The Opal By Vanessa Switala he Andamooka Opal Hotel’s future is still uncertain after BHP Billiton cancelled all room bookings without notice earlier this year.
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Manager of the Matthews Group which owns the Andamooka Opal Hotel, Brett Matthews, said it is probable they will close the hotel due to lack of clientele. Mr Matthews said an application has been submitted to the Office of the Liquor and
Gambling Commissioner to close in the new year. “We’ve just got an application in to say if we have to mothball the hotel and just have a care-taker in there for the moment can we do so, and we’re just waiting on them for an answer,” he explained. “We haven’t made a final decision yet.” “So at this stage we have the application in to close from January 26 and we’re really just making up our minds at the moment in conjunction with our discussions with BHP
Billiton as to whether there’ll be any bookings for next year.” “We’re still talking to BHP Billiton about what’s happening in 2013, but it doesn’t sound very promising at the moment,” he explained. “Funny enough, they’ve asked us to submit quotations for accommodation for next year but again that’s only asking for submissions, they haven’t made any bookings.” Mr Matthews added, “If we get no bookings next year we won’t trade through the year.” Mr Matthews said he cannot see business
changing in Andamooka. “I don’t really think anyone knows what’s going on up there,” he said. The Andamooka Opal has been operating on limited trading hours since September due to lack of trade. Earlier this year the Matthews Group invested $30,000 to $40,000 to upgrade the men’s bathrooms at the hotel. Mr Matthews said, “120 new rooms were going in but have now been put on hold.”