12 April 2013
There was about thirty hours' notice. The Australian Rugby Choir (ARC) was in its Christmas recess — it has about six weeks off during summer.
The word went out 'Could as many members as possible meet at Duffy Primary School at 5.15 p.m. on Monday 27th January 2003?'
The Duffy P&C had set up a temporary recovery centre at the Duffy Primary School. The Rotary Club had stalls providing food and drink for the firestorm victims. It was a place for people to meet, console each other, encourage and bolster each other, somewhere to go to be near home, a place to try to come to grips with the disaster.
The 27th January was the last day the P&C was to provide this service.
The task was being handed over to the government's newly formed Recovery Centre at Lyons. A meeting was being held to officially hand over the function. Quite a number of ACT politicians were present. It was a hot day and people were milling around outside. Some were eating, some were drinking, others just waiting.
The ARC's musical director and forty-five choir members were able to get there for this important gig — quite amazing, considering the choir was in recess and the members were scattered far and wide. They turned out in full uniform, and had a thirty-minute warm up and practice behind a tree.
The choir moved into the area near the food and drink stall and sang. We sang some of the great Australian favourites and some of the golden favourites. A children's choir had been called together in much the same circumstances as ours had been. They were few in number but really big in heart. It is not easy singing outdoors — the voices seem to get lost. The children were doing well but the members of the ARC could not help themselves, I guess; they moved in behind the children and forty-five guys
stood and sang children's songs with the children. What a moment! What a great, memorable and moving moment! The ARC sang a few more songs to round off the gig.
It was a very humble experience sharing that evening with those people in Duffy. The ARC felt extremely honoured to be part of it.
From pages 95&96 "Our Story" Chapman Residents Actions Group, Ginniderra Press ISBN 1 74027 241 2 (2004) following the 2003 Canberra bushfires. Kindly supplied by Darryl & Val Cupitt.
There is also a substantial personal account about the fires, evacuation, home and family penned by ARC member Darryl Cupitt. Well worth a read.