Casino Truck Show to Auction Custom-Made Bar for Charity

The North Coast Petroleum Casino Truck Show organising committee is thrilled to announce the auction of a custom-made bar to raise funds for charity.

Generously donated by Queensland-based Moore Trailers, the 2.4m x 2.4m bar is crafted from steel with mirror stainless ends, designed to resemble the rear end of a trailer. Valued at $6,500, this versatile bar is perfect for entertaining and recreational use.

Enhancing the auction, Engel Australia has contributed a 95-litre upright fridge valued at $1,699, ensuring this auction is a highlight of the event.

The auction will take place on Saturday, 3 August, at the Mafeking Lamp roundabout at 2:45 pm, just before the trophy presentation. The Casino Truck Show extends gratitude to Moore Trailers’ Scott Gollan and Engel Australia’s Jason Dwyer for their support.

For 2024, men’s health charity Movember has been chosen as the Casino Truck Show charity partner. Movember, a leading men’s health organisation, focuses on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. Since 2003, Movember has funded over 12,500 projects, engaging more than five million participants worldwide.

In 2023, the Casino Truck Show donated $10,000 to local charities, including the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, Casino Soup Kitchen, and Jumbunna Community Preschool.

Mark your calendars for the 2024 North Coast Petroleum Casino Truck Show, set to take place in the Casino CBD on Saturday, 3 August. This must-attend event for truck enthusiasts will showcase innovation, performance, and community spirit.

The festivities kick off with the street parade at 10 am, followed by the trophy presentation at 3 pm. Entertainment will feature performances by Mossy Rocks and the Tony Q Band on two stages, along with kid-friendly activities like amusement rides and face painting. Exhibitors will display industry-related products and services.

The event will culminate with a thrilling bull ride by J&J Rodeo under the new arena at the Casino Showground.

Online registrations open on Monday, 1 July, with the entry fee remaining at $30 per participant. For more information, visit the Casino Truck Show website.

For more Casino Truck Show news, click here.

Personal touch never stronger for Troy

By Tim Howard

On tour again for the first time since 2019, Australian country music singer/songwriter Troy Cassar-Daley, will showcase the most personal music he has written in his 30-plus year career.

The 33-date national tour kicks off in Pomona, Queensland this week, then heads to the Casino RSM on May 30.

He will play six shows at venues on the North Coast

The tour combines with the May 10 release of his latest album, Between the Fires.

Troy says the album, which was written as he dealt with the death, in mid-2022, of his mum, Gumbaynggirr Elder Auntie Irene Daley, was the most personal music he was written.

“Losing mum was the most confronting experience of my life,” he said. “It took me 12 months to unpack that stuff, but writing music has really helped me heal.

“Performing these songs is going to be very personal. It’s me living out how I came to terms with mum’s passing.”

He wrote and recorded the album in his mum’s home at Halfway Creek, south of Grafton, which has added another layer of feeling to the album.

“Mum’s spirit was very much there, almost overseeing what was being made,” he said.

“The song Somedays is about mum not being part of my life any more.”

He said writing the album brought home the loss of both his mum and dad.

“The simple fact that you can’t just pick up the phone and just say ‘hi mum’ or ‘hi dad’ really comes home to you,” he said.

“I never thought I’d be making a record around those emotions.

“But it shines a light for you on the track to find your way ahead.”

The period after his mum’s death also put pressure on his marriage to wife Laurel and Troy has said the album title Between Two Fires was inspired by his feelings during that time.

Although the music is the most intensely personal he has written Troy is looking forward to sharing it with his audience, particularly on the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast.

“There are people, family and friends, who will be in the audience, who saw me get into fights under the trees at school,” he said.

“Now they’re seeing me up on stage writing and singing music as a career.

“These shows are very special because of that.”

He said revealing his most personal feelings was part of his role as a singer/songwriter.

“If a musician doesn’t have anything to say, it’s not worth them getting up there to perform,” he said.

Troy said his 90-minute show will be packed with music picked from his 30-year career but will include five songs from his new album.

He said a song like Old Road Home, from Between the Fires, would resonate with a lot of people on the Northern Rivers.

“It’s an old bloke recalling what it’s like to drive from Brisbane down to Coffs Harbour,” he said.

“Remembering all those little places you use to call into and the stories that go with them.”

Writing and singing about such personal experiences has made Troy – a proud Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung man – one of Australian music’s most powerful story tellers.

It has also brought him countless awards, including 40 Golden Guitars, five ARIA awards, four CMAA Entertainer of the Year titles, and three APRA Song of the Year awards.

There have also been 32 number-one chart singles and numerous gold and platinum albums that confirm him as an icon of Australian music.

But he also realises the importance of passing the baton and the Between the Fires tour will also allow him to showcase some of the next generation of musicians.

Troy Cassar-Daley will perform in Northern NSW on: 

• May 30 – Casino RSM – Casino – NSW
• May 31 – Twin Towns Showroom – Tweed Heads – NSW
• June 6 – South West Rocks Country Club
• June 7 – Coffs Harbour CEX
• June 8 – Yamba Yamba Bowls
• June 9 – Coutts Crossing Coronation Hall

To get tickets, go to the offical Troy Cassar-Daley website.

For more Casino news, click here.

A visit with Gary Eck and the moon

By Samantha Elley

It’s not every day you get to hear about the moon coming for a visit, but that was what happened to Casino Christian School students when author and standup comedian Gary Eck came to visit last week.

As part of Beef Week celebrations, Gary read his latest children’s book, The Day the Moon Came to Stay to a group of very invested and intrigued Kindie and Year One students.

“I kind of see myself in a sense as a story teller,” he said.

“Everything I do has some sort of narrative. I am a stand up comic by trade.

“I’ve been doing it for 30 years and that in itself is micro-storytelling, telling short jokes, long jokes.

“I’ve always aspired to longer form stuff.”

From the days of Tropfest, where he won with his short film The Money in 2014, to his work in Happy Feet 2 with George Miller, Gary has always been involved in telling stories.

His recent work has been involved in telling stories to children, including the animated series Ginger and the Vegesaurs, which can be viewed on ABC Kids.

“We are in our third season, which comes out in June,” he said.

“It’s the number two show on the BBC, just behind Bluey.”

His latest book, which he was able to read to the students at the school, is entitled The Day the Moon Came to Stay.

“This one, I remember when my son was about three and there was a big full moon,” he said.

“I was holding him and he was looking up at the moon and he was trying to grab (it).”

“Then I thought ‘what if the moon came here and it was only six feet tall?’.”

From there, as Gary said, the story wrote itself where the main character, Billy, sees the moon is sad and so sends an invitation to the big celestial being to come for a visit.

A captivated audience of young listeners giggled and watched as Gary narrated the story, showing the effects of what happens when the moon visits.

Afterwards, he proceeded to show how you send a message to the moon via the Zoomer Boomer 3000 paper airplane.

The book, written by Gary Eck and illustrated by Nick O’Sullivan, is available online via Amazon.

For more Casino news, click here.