BISHOPDALE SCHOOL GALA RUNS OUT OF $1 COINS BY 10.17AM, PTA TREASURER 'TAKING A MOMENT' IN THE STAFF CARPARK
The sausage sizzle still had snags. The lucky dip still had prizes. Nobody had change.
A Bishopdale primary school gala descended into polite middle-class panic on Saturday morning when organisers ran out of $1 coins seventeen minutes after the gates opened. An estimated 200 parents were left holding $5 notes and tense expressions.
The float had been $300 in gold coins, according to PTA treasurer Helen Brockie. By 10.17am it was a single $2 and a button. "We thought it'd last until the cake stall opened," Brockie told The Daily Yarn from a fold-out chair near the recycling bins. "I'd budgeted for the bouncy castle queue. Not the bouncy castle queue plus the chocolate wheel plus Geoff's coin-toss game."
Parent Marissa Cleaver, 41, said she'd queued eleven minutes for a sausage only to be told the EFTPOS machine was "a goodwill arrangement". "I had a fifty. They looked at me like I'd brought a cheque. My son is crying near the second-hand book stall and I cannot fix it without coins."
A runner was dispatched to the Bishopdale Mall ANZ but returned empty-handed. The branch advised it was "not really a coin branch". A second runner came back with $40 in twenties, which helped no one.
Deputy principal Roger Linwood said the school would "review float procedures for next year" and confirmed the chocolate wheel had been converted to an honesty system. Three children have already won the meat tray twice.
As of 1pm the gala was still running, the sausages were down to onions, and Helen Brockie had not returned from the carpark. Geoff was running the coin toss on IOUs.
Know someone this is about? Send it to them.
Spotted something like this in your area?
Send us a photo and a sentence. We'll write the article.
SUBMIT A YARN →Free. Anonymous if you want. Takes 60 seconds.
Reader Letters
Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, gala tickets were handwritten by Mrs. Trewhitt and you'd trade 'em for everything. We didn't need coins, just a bit of trust and a chalkboard.
Marissa_Bishopdale
I'm the Marissa from the article! Thankfully, little Timmy eventually stopped crying when someone gave him a cupcake. Can't believe we ran out of coins so fast. Christine from Room 3 had to turn her handbag upside down in the carpark to find a dollar!
couchgremlin
Lol, honesty system for the chocolate wheel. Did anyone set up a bookie stand?
Trev Horn
Trev_Horn
Mate, your gala sounds like a right cock-up. Last year at our school's fair, we had a blimmin' ATM down the back of the cricket nets. You ever consider something like that?