A place to call home: Becky Baker and daughters, Evie and Ruby, at Thursday night’s Christmas Hay Bale Trail launch at Tongala. The family has thrown itself head first into the community since relocating from Cooma four months ago.
Becky Baker had no idea taking her family to the Eats and Beats Festival at Tongala last year would have such a profound impact on their lives.
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Fast forward a year or so and the Baker family is now a regular within the small town’s burgeoning volunteer community and has plans to further invest its time and energy in making Tongala a “must visit’’ destination.
Becky, husband Daniel and daughters Evie, 9, and Ruby, 7, have lived at Tongala for the past four months ― relocating from the small farm at Cooma.
The decision to move to Tongala was further influenced by the family’s regular visits to the Christmas Hay Bale Trail, but Becky never thought she would have such a pivotal role in the event.
“It was really Eats and Beats that convinced us that Tongala was the place where we wanted to live,’’ she said.
“Seeing all the families and everyone saying g’day and all the kids mingling, no matter what school they went to, was great.
“We used to come and visit the hay bales and when we moved here the kids said, ‘Mum you should give it a crack’.
“They talked me into it after Kellie (Brennan) said the committee was looking for some artists.”
Becky accepted the challenge and now has two instalments on this year’s hay bale trail, the Christmas Holiday hay bale at the primary school and the portait of Olaf (from Frozen) just down the road on the corner of Miller and Cavell Sts, at Cavell Manna.
“I have a bit of artistic flare, but I hadn’t painted since high school,” Becky said.
Evie and Ruby attend St Augustine’s College at Kyabram, catching the bus every day from their new Henderson Rd home.
Summer Santa: A sunglass-wearing Santa Claus at Tongala last week with excited three-year-olds Kairi Crosby and Hunter Todd.
The Bakers have ended up diving headlong into the Tongala community on a couple of fronts.
“We’ve even done our house up in Christmas lights as part of the community competition,” she said.
Christmas lights is quite competitive at Tongala and the Bakers are among many families who have dedicated themselves to producing a festive frontage.
“We used to do lights at Cooma, but the only ones who saw it were the milk truck drivers,” Becky said.
The family’s extra curricular activities are not limited to town events, it will soon have a workshop erected at the back of its home to continue its small business ― Baker’s Boards.
“We’ve been doing the boards since 2020. They are serving boards for parties and we also do wine barrels and bar tops,” Becky said.
“Daniel does all the wood prepping and I do a lot of the finishing work.
“We’re waiting for a shed to be built, but people can find us on Facebook.”
And when she is not painting hay bales or polishing woodwork creations, Becky is a business banker with NAB in Shepparton.
“I have clients throughout the area and Daniel works at Tatura Milk,’’ she said.
“We’re really happy with our decision to make Tongala our home and we will put our hand up to be involved in other town events.”
Festive spirit: Colt Tyrrell and Hugh Williams enjoy the festivities of the Christmas Hay Bale Trail launch, which included live entertainment and activities for children on the Potts Village Green.
Cola kid: Pippa Brennan enjoys an ice block during a steamy summer’s evening, which kicked off the hay bale trail for 2023 - which this year is confined within the town boundaries and is designed as a walking trail.
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