CS Energy employees from our Brisbane office and Kogan Creek Power Station were among the thousands of people soaking up the atmosphere of the Chinchilla Melon Festival from 13 to 16 February.
CS Energy was one of the sponsors of the popular biennial event that celebrates the region’s watermelon industry.
Visitors from around Australia flock to Chinchilla to attend the festival, and CS Energy was proud to sponsor two events on the program – the Bike N Blend and the evening drone show.
Our employee volunteers helped everything run smoothly at CS Energy’s information tent next to the Bike N Blend, which served up free pedal-powered smoothies.
Image: CS Energy CEO Darren Busine tries out the Bike N Blend.
Retail team heads west
A sizeable contingent of our volunteers were from the Brisbane-based Retail Operations team led by their manager, Janelle Durie, who grew up in Chinchilla.
“When the call came out to volunteer at the Melon Festival this year, my team jumped at the chance to participate in a unique country experience,” Janelle said.
“Some of my team members, or their partners, are originally from overseas, so it was definitely an eye opener for them to experience the fantastic events that small country towns in Australia can offer. The Melon Rodeo was a great hit with the team and their kids, some of which had never seen a bull ride before!
“For me personally, it was great to go home and catch up with old friends and to see how much my hometown has grown.”
Image: Retail Operations Manager Janelle Durie (front, left) with team members Allan Short, Anita Ellis, Kristen Matthews, Vivienne Warman, Olivia Leighton and Amber Smith.
Image: Vivienne Warman and Anita Ellis from the retail team (centre), pictured with Kogan Creek Community Engagement Advisor Brittany Herbert (left) and Chinchilla Battery Electrical Technical Officer Malinda Street (right).
Janelle said the festival had evolved into a major event since its beginnings in 1994.
“Seeing is believing! People find it hard to believe that someone can actually ski using watermelons. I remember at previous festivals you had to have friends that were willing to pull you along with the ski rope instead of the automated rope they currently use.”
Competing in the melon arena
The festival is renowned for its program of novelty melon-themed events such as melon-skiing (pictured above), melon bungy, a melon chariot race and the slip, dip and pull.
Kogan Creek Power Station Production Manager Daniel Flynn was not deterred by the slipperiness of the melon arena, placing third in the corporate melon skiing event.
Image: Kogan Creek production manager Daniel Flynn in the corporate melon skiing under lights.
Meanwhile, CEO Darren Busine dove headfirst into the action when he competed in the celebrity melon eating competition alongside other sponsors and government representatives.
Image: CS Energy CEO Darren Busine (second from left) with other melon eating competition participants, including Member for Callide Bryson Head, Western Downs Regional Council mayor Andrew Smith, deputy mayor Kylie Bourne, and other sponsor representatives.
Capping off the evening was the drone show, which lit up the skies over Chinchilla.