Happenings About Lightning Ridge

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Report No.1, pre-Easter 2003
Gossip and Happenings from Lightning Ridge.

The town of Lightning Ridge seems abuzz with pre-Easter excitement. Different groups and committees are quite feverishly putting finishing touches to their various activities, planned for the Easter weekend.

The biggest is perhaps the 'Australian Great Goat Racing Championships', run in the Main Street on Saturday morning. That particular event has been run now for 27 years, and over the last two years has experienced
quite a resurgence under the new committee.

It starts out with 3 heats of novice, or feral goats pulling racing gigs complete with jockeys. It is a sight to behold,
as the street is lined with several thousand spectators all having placed bets on their favorite beasts.

The Novice goat races are the most popular, as they generally create a fair amount of spectator involvement. The starter stands behind the row of the 6 ferals, all nervously lined up in the racing gigs, with the jockeys proudly
adorned in racing silks, and facing up the main street from the Opal Cave end towards the Diggers Rest Pub. The moment the loud starter's gun goes off right behind them, the handlers release the horns of these great feral goats
and dive for safety, while the startled goats take off at incredible speed.

Unfortunately, they tend to not understand the purpose of the exercise and head off, not towards the finishing line but in all directions. Luckily, the spectators are protected by heavy plastic safety netting,
but despite that tend to scatter hastily, to the great amusement and applause of the other spectators.

The total prize money for the various goat race events is more than $5000. This means that the Australian Titles, being contested by the trained racing goats, are being taken quite seriously. The main contender, named 'Yibida Yibida', is
considered to be Australia's fastest racing goat. Her speed has been clocked at that of a fast getaway car.

She is absolutely unbeatable, except at last year's finals, when something astonishing happened. Yibida Yibida was streaking towards the finishing line, about 100 meters ahead of the rest of the field, head down and tail up, great mane flying
in the wind, with the jockey hanging on for dear life, about to win the large cash prize for her proud owner.

But, just meters from the finishing line a brave ABC camera man had positioned himself and his large TV camera to capture the great moment. He was risking life and limb, as well as the expensive camera, being between the great
racing goat and the finishing line.

Just seconds from running down and trampling to death the foolhardy person, Yibida Yibida noticed the camera. Having become accustomed to being photographed, being such a magnificent and smart animal, Yibida Yibida threw out the anchors, screeched to a halt just centimeters from the camera, and posed,.... and posed. She finished absolutely last.

Luckily, her owner had also entered a little nanny goat in the races. While all the other great racing goats, all favored to take up placings, were trying to run into each other and knock each other out of the way, the little nanny goat quietly trotted over the finishing line to collect the prize money. It was like the Australian speed skater at the last winter Olympics, winning gold after all the favorite had made a mess of themselves.

From our resident c'toon artist Bob Ellis

The Easter weekend also features the Horse Races on Saturday afternoon, the Family night with the Monster fireworks, live music, stalls and games on Saturday evening. Sunday is taken up with an all day Rodeo program, making it a full
and exciting weekend. The various committees are spending almost $100 000 to entertain the visitors and locals alike.

It is called "Lifting the Spirit".

Conversely, mining activities on the opal fields of Lightning Ridge ceased twice in the last two weeks due to heavy rain storms. After two years of drought, which caused farmers to lose most of their live stock, the rains hit with a vengeance. In the town itself, drainage systems could not handle the heavy stormwaters,
and a number of shops and businesses had water rush through their premises.

Many cars parked in Morilla Street filled with inches of water, giving drivers a wet surprise when they opened the doors.

The downpour was so heavy that the local Bowling Club, normally the safe haven for locals and tourists alike, had water dripping even through the lightfittings in the ceiling, causing the Club to be closed as well.

Unfortunately, activates of a different nature took place in town also. At about 3.30am last Friday morning, 4 youths disconnected a Council garbage bin from its anchor and used it to smash the front window of the local Video Shop in Morilla Street. The thumping noise woke several of the residents, who then watched in amazement as these youths climbed back out of the broken window, heads covered by T-shirts or balaclavas.

The thieves were laden with DVD players, Game Boys, DVD's and other merchandise. They must have found the weight of the loot too heavy to carry, so they stole the Garbage bins from behind the Doctor's
Surgery and wandered off into the night.

This week, one man smashed his way into the back of the local Tobacconist's shop just 4 doors further along in Street. Brandishing a rifle, he demanded cash and stock. Bravely, or foolishly, the shop owner was not inclined to give up his hard earned money, gun or no gun, and a fight broke out. The shop owner is now a local legend as he actually took the gun from the perpetrator. When the gun either misfired or had no bullets,
the large male perpetrator grabbed a hammer and proceeded to whack the shop keeper, inflicting some wounds and breaking an arm. The thief got away with some money as well as cigarettes and tobacco.

He'll probably be caught when he is bragging about this in one of the local pubs. Life is seemingly unchanged on the
opal fields.

I hope you enjoyed the news from the Ridge
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