Barbecue bonanza
The Baw Baw Big Blokes Barbecue held at Lardner Park on Friday continued to break records, this year raising $336,000 and attracting a record number of patrons.
by Aidan Knight
The Baw Baw Big Blokes Barbecue held at Lardner Park on Friday continued to break records, this year raising $336,000 and attracting a record number of patrons.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia affiliated effort has been ongoing since 2012, and this year secured a record-breaking 71 tables of 10, selling out a month in advance.
Baw Baw Big Blokes Barbecue president Jamie Power welcomed everyone "with an enormous sense of pride" as he looked around the room.
Mr Power was moved by the ongoing generosity of the community, which he said had never failed to deliver for the annual shindig, through donated prizes and auction items, or donations from the public.
"These prizes today are so much bigger and better than what we had 10 years ago", he said, despite the increasing ongoing cost of living pressures.
"This community truly digs deep, and it's amazing to see".
Mr Power has led the volunteer committee of 12 local men for the past two years, in leading "the conversations we don't have often enough", and while the goal for funds raised continues to increase, he was enthusiastic in his opening speech that "the best of the day doesn't cost a cent. Go and get tested" was his message.
He said the emphasis was on less about "having the answers" to a range of men's issues, but more simply the event facilitating the conversation.
To prompt discussion in the room, a story was told by a local diagnosed with the condition, Justin Dash former owner of the Warragul Railway Hotel.
Mr Dash was a regular attendee of the barbecue, and after last year's event visited his GP for a prostate test, only to be formally diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The early detection allowed him to undertake a trial treatment which exposed him to only a fraction of the radiation usually required, and enabled him to get on top of the disease.
Adding to this, was urologist David Dangerfield, a seasoned Big Blokes name practicing out of Brighton and Warragul.
He took a comedic approach to his stage time, greeting the crowd with a dry "hello prostates", before delivering an informative blow-by-blow of the examination process, to draw stigma away from it.
The focus of the day was more than just prostate cancer, with all cans collected from patrons attending put through the container deposit scheme, before the total refund will be donated to Mindfull Aus - the Drouin not-for-profit organisation focused on improving mental health.
The high-spirited crowd, entertained by comedian line-up Tommy Little, the Suburban Footballer Tom Siegert and Billy Stiles, gathered under a sobering cloud of regional health statistics. According to data from the Gippsland Primary Health Network and the PCFA, men in regional areas like Gippsland faced a 25 per cent higher prostate cancer mortality rate than their metropolitan counterparts.
Compounding the issue is an aging local demographic. In parts of Gippsland, almost one in three residents are over the age of 65 - almost double the state average - putting local men at a significantly higher statistical risk.
Since its inception, the event has now raised more than $2.55 million for men's health and many local initiatives.
