Lotto land: One hundred squares were marked out on a Tongala Primary School oval for Jed Brennan and his family’s dairy cow to produce the winner of the Cow Pat Lotto.
Jed Brennan had to resort to unusual tactics to encourage a result in Tongala Primary School fete’s modernised version of cow pat lotto ― onlookers forced to wait for an hour before cow 412 made her mark on the 100-square cordoned off section of the school oval.
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Jed, a Year 3 student at the school and the son of Tongala dairy farming couple Julian and Louise, bucket fed his “pet cow” in an attempt to encourage an end to the long wait for the decisive cow pat.
It eventually came and the Holyman family was the lucky owner of square number 81.
The school’s major fund raising event attracted a large crowd and principal Rob Hogan said feedback had been extremely positive.
“It will take a little while to get an overall profit on the evening, but we are expecting it to be toward $10,000.
“The crowd was excellent considering the really hot conditions and it had a real family-friendly, community vibe to the night,” Mr Hogan said.
He said funds from the fete would go toward stage two of the undercover redevelopment, which was re-asphalted last year.
“That will involve both grandstand seating and bench seating around the court, for class and community use,” he said.
Drawing a crowd: Cow 412 spent an hour wandering around the fenced off area that was created on the school grounds for cow lotto, before dropping the winning cow pat on number 81 - owned by the Holyman family.
Mr Hogan said there was upwards of 40 volunteers involved in the evening, including from GV Water, Tongala CFA, past families and ex-students.
And he, himself, had a major role in the fund raising activity through his involvement in the kiss the turtle event.
The three contestants were foundation teacher Liana Haw ($35), Mr Hogan ($41) and eventually winner Tom Pyke ($58).
Turtle time: Tom Pyke, Tongala Primary School Foundation teacher Liana Haw and school principal Rob Hogan were the three figures at the centre of the school fete’s Kiss the Turtle competition, which was a much more exciting proposition than last year’s Kiss the Pig fund raiser.
“Tom was a very popular selection among the members of the TFNC and TCC, as he is both a junior coach and reserves player,” Mr Hogan said.
Mr Hogan said the entire fete committee did an incredible job to organise such a great event.
“A big thank you to all the local businesses and families who donated food, prizes and their time on the evening,” he said.
Cowgirls: An extremely hot evening at Tongala made wide brimmed hats, sunscreen and plenty of water a necessity for those that braved the conditions to support the school fund raising event.
Pedal power: One of the many carnival rides that were on offer to children during the evening was the go kart track.
Right hand turn: Tongala Primary School principal Rob Hogan said the school hoped to bank $10,000 from the annual fete, which attracted hundreds of people to the Miller St school last week.
