Got a call from Alan Hunter the other day kindly inviting the family to drop over and meet his prized possession 2009 NCHA Mare of the year Oaks Unchained Melody. It's not often that Al gets the chance to have his mare at home as she is usually up at Jason Leitch's Carnarvon Cutting Horses Training facilities. Naturally we jumped at the chance. Jason was also there as a guest of Allan and his wife Helen.

When we arrived Jason was putting one of his horses through its paces in the arena with Al's help as turn back. Jason's wife Racheal was warming up the next horse in line. Anyone who watches Jason compete in the cutting pen will note that he makes the job of riding cutting horses look easy, when you watch him in the training pen you can't also help but notice that he actually makes the job of training cutting horses look easy too.

When it comes to horses Delaney is a little timid about these big hoofed creatures with your larger than normal teeth, tongues, ears and eyes, in his world they more than likely look even larger. Nevertheless his face lit up after he finally plucked up enough courage to give one these large beasts a pat on the nose. Jason came over and Del and he met for the first time. Del took to him instantly and it wasn't long until we had Delaney sitting in the saddle of one of the best cutting horses going around at the moment. Oops sorry Al, the best cutting horse in the country. Del was a bit nervous sitting on this creature and really didn't know what the big deal was about. But Del being Del , always does something to make me proud and he sat bravely aboard, with the support of Jason and Alan, while I snapped off a souvenir photo or two (or twenty!).

After that it was off for morning tea, but not before Delaney had sat in Jason's rig. As Luke Lyons learned at the recent Toogoolawah show if you run into Delaney and you have a truck, then it goes without saying that Del is allowed to sit in front seat and have a look around. With those formalities over it was off to the house where Allan proudly presented me with a $500 donation to go towards our rock concert fundraising venture Rockin4thekidz. The money was raised through the proceeds of the sale of one of Allan's steers that went through the Murwillumbah Fat Cattle sale held in the first week of January. According to Jason Summerville of George and Fuhrman (the selling agents for the sale) this is always a strong sale, in fact one of the strongest of the year. We were also blessed with some good rainfall during the weeks coming up to the sale which ensured that it was yet another success.

Allan's generosity is typical of the people who participate in this great sport we call cutting and once again I'm proud to say that members of the cutting community have rallied to support the latest of our fundraisers. Rachel Procida from Play and Learn Childcare Centre also donated some cash and Denise Ellis from Australian Horseman Magazine has donated three subscriptions to the magazine to be raffled. We will be raffling those subscriptions off this site shortly. All proceeds of course will go to the Tyalgum public School fund for kids with special needs. Regulars of this site are more than aware of our sons' condition but for those who aren't you can click here, here, here and here for more information.

It seems the music community is now also keen on supporting our fundraisers. A few months ago Australian Music Legend Russell Morris generously offered his time to come to Tyalgum and put on a show in order to raise funds for hiring teacher's aids for Del and kids like him. To say this was out of our league is an understatement so I contacted highly respected guitarist Tim Gaze for some advice. I knew Tim in my previous life in the world of Film and Television production and not only did he offer some advice but he rallied up some more musicians to make this line up a corker.

Now I've already mentioned Russell Morris who was huge in the seventies and still sells out his shows around Australia today. He has been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and even the younger of us who aren't familiar with the name Russell Morris would have most definitely heard his song “The Real Thing”. Tim Gaze himself although you haven't heard the name, you have heard Tim Gaze. He is rated as one of Australia 's finest guitarists and played in Bands like Rose Tattoo and Ariel, as well as playing and touring with Jimmy Barnes. Vince Lovegrove and the Mongrels of Passion are also coming along, Vince was lead singer of the 60s band “The Valentines” and has managed the careers of Cold Chisel, Bon Scott, The Divinyls, Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes. Gyan and Simon are playing too. Gyan is an Aria award winner and Simon has been involved in most facets of the Byron Bay music scene since the 80s. Last but not least there are the Windy Hills. The windy Hills are an extremely popular Surf Band from Byron Bay and have just returned from a tour of the US .

Everything to date is running to plan except ticket sales which are down and somewhat worrisome. The Liquor license is in place, staging, lighting, food stalls, merchandise have been organized. Security is lined up and strict measures are in place to have a well organized no hassle 5 hours of entertainment. We have zero tolerance for under age drinking and have strict security measures in place to ensure that there certainly is no under age drinking at the venue. The concert is on Monday the 25 th of January with gates opening at 5pm. No eskys, bottles or alcohol will be allowed to be brought into the venue and ALL bags will be inspected. The entry is $40 if you purchase before the day or $50 at the gate with free entry for children 12 and under. For more information you can log onto www.rockin4thekidz.com.au . Camping is available at the showgrounds. So if you're looking for something to do the evening before Australia Day rock on down to downtown Tyalgum and enjoy the festivities.

A big thank you to Jason Leitch too for taking the time out of his busy routine to make Del 's visit a memorable one.