Many valued helpers spent the weekend at White Park buzzing around ensuring the Upper Hunter Beef Bonanza ran to plan, and one of these treasured volunteers was Julee Gilmore.
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Whether she was helping out with paper work, stewarding or organising and serving 700 hamburgers to teenagers and their parents on Friday night, Mrs Gilmore was there and ready to help.
And while she was stern in ensuring people realise there are many great hard working volunteers involved in the event, the fact that her contribution is significant cannot be taken away from her.
The local Scone lady has been involved with the beef bonanza since her daughter Taylah started steer handling at school.
Initially she was a parent supporter but she quickly realised a need for more helpers on the committee, so she put her hand up.
In her first year she did media, however this year she was more involved in the weekend’s organisation and coordination of the Friday night dinner with the Scone Grammar School, who ran the canteen.
Mrs Gilmore said there is a lot of work that goes into the beef bonanza by a lot of people and the guys do a great job of organising and running the event.
Beef bonanza is one of many events and organisations Mrs Gilmore has been involved in since moving to Scone in 1983.
The Sydney born and bred woman grew up at Glenfield where she was fortunate to be able to have a horse and has ridden in gymkhanas since she was a child.
She was part of the Westpac team when she came to Scone and many would remember Julee from the Westpac Bank, where she worked for many years.
After completing her education at St Mary’s Catholic School at Liverpool, Mrs Gilmore did a short stint on a horse stud before applying to the four major banks for a job.
When Westpac was the first to reply, she accepted and at 19 years of age started her career at the Westpac Bank in Castlereagh Street at Liverpool.
Mrs Gilmore said back in those days the head teller always carried a gun and she remembers the bank getting held up once.
As a young woman, Mrs Gilmore volunteered her time teaching children to ride at a riding school at Macquarie Fields.
It was in Sydney and through their horses that Mrs Gilmore met her husband to be Len, so when the job came up at Muswellbrook as a teller, she moved to Scone.
Later in 1995 Mrs Gilmore was transferred to the Scone branch and as she had worked her way up the corporate ladder to become the manager’s assistant, she was then the accountant and later became the manager.
She was also the agribusiness manager for a number of years.
In 2007, Mrs Gilmore left the bank to take up a position at Rose and Partners where she continues to work today as office manager focusing on administration and human resources.
Mrs Gilmore said she enjoyed her time working at Westpac and she was the first hybrid manager in the region and one of the first in NSW, which was something she was proud of.
Together, Mr and Mrs Gilmore were key drivers in the establishment of the Upper Hunter Dressage Club in about 1985.
With others including Robyne Smith, Dean Izzard and Sue Foreman, the couple formed the club and started event days, watching on as the club grew to now boast about 60 members.
Mrs Gilmore said although she doesn’t ride competitively anymore, she still enjoys riding at home and often keeps Taylah’s horse fit for her while she is away studying.
Back in the starting days both Julee and Len competed, however after having two children and some time off these days she offers her time for the office duties, being the open competition coordinator and treasurer of the club.
With an obvious interest in business, Mrs Gilmore joined the Scone Chamber of Commerce and Industry in about 2003 and filled the roles of secretary and treasurer before starting the Scone Women’s Networking Group in 2006.
Mrs Gilmore said the women’s group was a sub-group of the chamber that held an event every quarter for local women to attend.
She said this was a group she really enjoyed being a part of as it provided a regular event for women in Scone.
When she was on the chamber, Mrs Gilmore was also instrumental in organising the business awards, as well as advocating on the topical issues of the bypass and railway, and the airport.
She has also served on the White Park committee and the Upper Hunter Shire Council’s LGA committee based on re-zoning.
Happy to offer her expertise where she can, Mrs Gilmore has returned to St Mary’s to assist with enrolments and she also volunteers to help with mock interviews at the St Joseph’s Aberdeen Career’s Day.
Scone Pony Club is another one of Mrs Gilmore’s spare time fillers, as she has been involved for the past 16 years since Taylah joined.
Throughout the years she has filled the roles of secretary, chief instructor and she remains the treasurer today, as well as helping out with major events, including coordination of the school horse sports held during the Scone and Upper Hunter Horse Festival.
In 2003 and 2004, Mrs Gilmore volunteered her time for a few years with TransCare to provide Meals on Wheels and Teleconnect to the residents of Scone.
On a more personal level, Mrs Gilmore has been a blood donor since she started working and in 2005 when the Red Cross was doing a drive to increase the number of bone marrow donors, she took part.
Six months later it was found that she was a match for someone overseas, and after a medical and a couple of counselling sessions she spent six hours in a hospital to get the job done.
Mrs Gilmore said if the pony club has an event on, she is more than happy to go along and help, and she is currently helping to organise the state event for show riding to be held in Scone in December.
“I find it hard to say no, but I do enjoy doing what I do,” she said.
“I like being involved and meeting new people.
“It’s a huge event and the children get so much out of it, and events really do rely on people to bring them all together.”
Like many other parents, Mrs Gilmore has done time at the local soccer and was the head time keeper at little athletics for many years.
Mrs Gilmore said she was always used to being busy when the children were at school as there was always something going on, so now she has time to volunteer and help organisations.
“People appreciate it when you offer your help.
“When you can see that, it keeps you going and seeing children have so much fun makes it all worthwhile,” she said.
“I’ve also made some great friends through dressage, pony club and all the other sports and organisations I’ve been involved with.
“Being in a town of this size, it’s what a lot of people do and what makes it such a nice place to be.”
However Mrs Gilmore did make special mention of her husband Len, as she said she wouldn’t be able to do what she does without his support, as well as her employers who are very supportive.
“If a committee fails or if I don’t have enough people there to help, Len will always do it.”