At the February meeting of Cowra Evening CWA branch, President Ann Apthorpe introduced Steph Cooke, the State member for Cootamundra.
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Steph talked about the events and forces in her life that led to her becoming a very busy member of NSW Parliament.
Steph’s parents instilled a strong work ethic and drive to succeed.
She became a successful competitive swimmer and enjoyed the discipline of long hours of training.
After gaining a Commerce degree at UNSW, Steph worked in the Baking industry as an executive at Goodman-Fielder.
The next career move was to run her own floristry business in Young and Cootamundra.
By this stage Steph wanted to return to her rural roots.
She became Florist of the Year on four separate occasions.
All these experiences have prepared her for the tough job of being a M.P.
That very day Steph had been in Gundagai for a meeting and then travelled all the way to Cowra to be guest speaker.
In her role she is away from home a lot.
Since becoming a MP she has only had 11 days off.
When asked about her position on a new hospital for Cowra, Steph assured us that she would fight to get funding allocated.
Branch Secretary, Cheryl McAlister warmly thanked Steph and presented her with a posy of native flowers made by Jill Allen.
While awaiting Steph’s arrival from Gundagai, our other guest speaker, Belinda Bryant talked about her involvement with the Mt Hope community (south of Cobar) which is badly affected by the drought.
Having a married son in that area got Belinda thinking about how she could help.
She decided to raise some money for drought relief by sewing and selling shopping bags made out of stock feed bags.
Some of these bags were on display and were sold out quickly.
Belinda has generously donated all proceeds to CWA’s drought relief fund.
Belinda talked about the help received from some Tasmanian farmers who the Mt Hope community had helped out 10 years ago.
Kay Kilby presented Belinda with a card and a posy of native flowers.
CWA NSW will again be operating their Tea Rooms selling their famous freshly baked scones and other home baked goodies at The Royal Easter Show in Sydney.
Show Committee member, Rowena Casey urged members to volunteer for a short shift and to ask their non-CWA friends as well.
