Hi all. Today is ' R U O.K?' day. In short, no, we are not. ' Hospo Owners Collective ' co-founder, Simone Douglas posted a magnificently articulate account of the past 535 days - during which we- the local live music industry, relative crew members, live music and hospitality venue and business owners have NOT been O.K and continue to not be O.K .
As Simone eloquently put it - " we are creative , intelligent and highly competent business owners who, for 535 days , have been squeezing blood out of a stone." Local musicians - whom usually are run off their feet at this time of the year , during what used to be the 'peak event/wedding/ pre-Xmas function season'- are in the same rocky boat. There is no 'peak season' anymore. We are treading water, desperately trying to just 'do what we do' , in a community that has 0 locally acquired cases for over a month yet restrictions for US do not ease.
I recently read a brilliant quote by Casey Donovan , whom I respect deeply. "As someone said: we are all in the same storm but we're in different boats. Some people have big yachts, some are in dinghies. Some people are in the water. But we're all in the same storm, even if we're not in the same boat".
My utmost gratitude to the 2,036 people whom have taken the time to sign, share, mention, forward , donate 'Save our SA stages 2021'. It is truly amazing. My deep gratitude also to The Wheatsheaf Hotel , Cafe Komodo and The Gov for agreeing to keep hard/paper copies of the petition, for people to sign. My utmost gratitude to my local MP Independent Sam Duluk -for coming through for me ( after the hundreds of emails I've sent out remained unanswered) and for kindly agreeing to present Save our SA stages 2021 in State Parliament. If we are truly serious about saving our SA stages (and hopefully other state's stages too, at Federal Level) , I really need your help. We need THOUSANDS of signatures on these hard/ paper copies, to have this petition presented in parliament- for your voice, our collective voice to be heard. It is not just about our local musicians and related crew- it is also about our live music venues and our hospitality families . We need to be heard at State and Federal level. Please drop in to the Wheaty, Cafe Komodo or The Gov to sign the hard /paper copy. Please sign and share widely on the digital platform, which will be printed off and added to the hard copies- change.org/saveourSAstages2021