The show must go on, as the saying goes - and the Nowra-Bomaderry Lions Club is determined to continue with theirs. Nowra's annual Carols in the Park is going ahead this year, despite rising costs of running the annual event, and financial concerns raised by Shoalhaven City Councillors. Nowra-Bomaderry Lions Club president Bruce Murphy is adamant they will put on a sparkling show for the community, as the club has done for some four decades. READ MORE: Carols has been at the centre of debate among Shoalhaven City Councillors, over funding granted to the community event. Earlier this year the Lions Club initially applied for $20,000 to cover several key expenses; in response the council offered $6500 from its Community Donations Program. Since then, additional money had also been offered to the Lions Club from the council's CBD revitalisation committee, to the tune of $5500. However, during the city council's Monday evening (September 25) meeting, Cr Serena Copley pushed for an extra $3000 to be donated to Carols - on top of the two figures above. The extra money was proposed to come from elsewhere within the council: unspent funds from a different event in the city. Cr Copley said putting the additional unspent funds into another event made sense to her, and would bring the council's total contribution much closer to the Lions' projected cost for holding Carols. "It would be a great idea that we contributed this towards the carols by candlelight - obviously we were happy to spend three grand," she said. "So let's put that in to what council is kicking in, to bring this wonderful organisation up to the minimum they're asking for, to be able to put this event on for the whole community." With a total of $15,000 set to come from the council to hold Nowra's Carols, the Lions are confident about going ahead with the annual tradition. Mr Murphy said all of the costs to run the event are continually going up each year. Yet the Lions persist, because it's so loved by the community. "It costs us about seventeen or eighteen thousand dollars to put the Carols on," Mr Murphy said. "Much of it is things like traffic control, toilets, garbage and services like that. Then obviously the sound, lighting and all that sort of stuff comes into it. "For the Lions Club, putting the carols on is a community thing. We never make money on it - we put it on as a community activity, and try to make up the shortfall with our catering van and that sort of stuff. "And we're happy to do that. "It gives the community a service; we've been doing it for forty-odd years and we think it's an integral part of the town." READ MORE: Mr Murphy added that concertgoers can expect to hear many local musicians lending their talents to the Carols, as they do each year. The family-friendly event is set to take place in Harry Sawkins Park on December 17. Shoalhaven City Council was the originator of Nowra's Carols event in the 1970s. After hosting it for several years, the council asked the Lions Club to take over the show. The club took over Carols, and has held it almost every year since - except for 2021, when the event was cancelled. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
