The Yass Hospital Auxiliary is giving Yass a fantastic excuse to frock up in fascinators and enjoy fashion and food this Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday 1st of November with an 11:30am start.
The much loved Melbourne Cup luncheon and fashion parade is the Hospital Auxiliary’s biggest fundraiser for the year, and is back on after two years of covid-related restrictions. It will be held at the Golf Club, and tickets sold-out faster than Pharlap, so only last-minute cancellations may make tickets available.
“We’ve cut the numbers this year because we didn’t want to pack people into the golf club too much; we’ve got around nine people to a table. We’re only selling 72 seats,” she said.
A raffle will be held with tickets sold right up until Melbourne Cup day and drawn at the luncheon.
Local business Comur House on the Main Street will be running the fashion parade this year, and have organised their own models to showcase their range clothes. Other local businesses have showcased their clothes at past Melbourne Cup fashion parades, including Merchant Campbell and Boots and Buckles.
“We’re sharing the love and giving another local business an opportunity to show off what they have,” said Jean.
After the fashion parade, the Hospital Auxiliary provides the luncheon, which will be a buffet-style lunch. Then attendees will watch the Melbourne Cup.
“We have sweeps and things like that, then as soon as the Melbourne Cup is finished the event begins to finish. It’s a pretty good day, and the actual race is the finale to the day.”
Jean explained that many of the same groups of people tend to turn up to the Melbourne Cup Luncheon every year.
“They all just really enjoy getting our their fascinators and hats and dressing up— everybody dresses up. It’s an excuse! You don’t get terribly many excuses in Yass to frock up so the girls like to do that, wear all their bling, go out for lunch, have a good time and a dabble in the race,” she said.
Jean and the other members are looking forward to raising more money for the Hospital Auxiliary.
“We’re just got a new hospital manager who’s been on the ground for a few weeks, I hope they come with a nice wish list for us and at the moment we’re waiting for that,” said Jean.
As 2022 comes closer to its end, the Melbourne Cup luncheon will be a wonderful addition to a year of successful Hospital Auxiliary fundraisers. The Auxiliary have held several garage sales over the past months out of Auxiliary member Pamela Ranyard’s house, which have all been great events. Another garage sale will be held shortly after the Melbourne Cup luncheon on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of November from 9:30am to 2:30pm at 9 Haddon Court Yass. The two-day event will feature items upon items of donations, including Christmas décor, with more still to come.
Southerly Jones
