Uralla, with its population of 2,728 people is punching above its weight. Sitting on the New England Highway a thousand meters above sea level, and only 150 km from the coast, as the crow flies, this is a community that has a spirit that attracts young families, tourists, and regular visitors who want a taste of the good life.
Founder of Seasons of New England, Tara Toomey moved to Uralla as a seven-year-old kid, when her family fell on challenging times in Newcastle in the early 1980s. Her father, a builder and her mother a teacher were looking for greener pastures after the building industry collapsed in Newcastle.
Tara’s parents met in Gunnedah, so they knew the New England, but they’d never heard of Uralla. But none the less, there was work in Uralla for Tara’s mum, and her dad could turn his hand to anything. So, they packed up and moved up into the mountains.
Tara and her family fell in love with the community, and the New England.
After finishing her education in Uralla and Armidale, and then living abroad for a while, Tara returned to Uralla with a view of life and business that was the embryo of the Seasons of New England project and the community business.
Seasons built on community
The Seasons of New England idea came to Tara one sleepless night. She believes “Great ideas are only good if they are in the right context”.
“The community [must be] willing to collaborate. If they’re not, it won’t work.”
The first Seasons of New England Expo was the test. Would the community be able to produce the products for the expo, and more importantly, would the community be able to work as a group to make the Seasons of New England event a success?
Tara stipulated that all the products were to be produced locally. She knew that this was the drawcard to the event, and that the unique products would fill a need for people who were looking for quality, artisan products from the New England.
The first Seasons of New England event was, to say the least, nerve-racking. Tara and the community had to get the word out to the rest of the New England that Uralla was doing something different and exciting, and in the long run, something that would include and help the entire New England region.
Selling Uralla for this event as the location wasn’t hard. The combination of a beautiful heritage township, the train station, the New England Highway winding its way through the centre of town, and an airport ten minutes from town, made it easy for people to get to the event.
Tara says Seasons of New England “is as much about the products, as it is about people”. This was a way to not only show people the products that are made in the New England but introduce the “characters” behind the products on show.
The first event, with its 54 stalls attracted 3,200 visitors. But setting up the product stalls was a Herculean task. As the stall owners worked into the night to prepare for the following days event, they were surprised and delighted when Uralla locals, who had no investment in the event, turned up and volunteered to help set up the marques and lend a hand to the stall owners and make the event a success.
That same spirit flowed into the packing of the hampers that were to be shipped to Sydney and other locations. When Tara put out the call for help, everyone from retired people to school children turned up to pack and to send the more than 2500 Seasons of New England hampers around Australia.
Respect is the key
Tara Toomey believes that the community’s spirit is driven by respect. She says, “that’s Uralla…they see opportunity not jus for themselves, but for everybody…the entire community will benefit”.
Since the early days of the expo, the shop in the main street of Uralla and the Seasons of New England web site, the community now produces more than 180 locally made products and ships hampers all around Australia.
Tara Toomey’s story is testimony to the belief that a caring community and a good idea can create a successful business and a place where people love to live, but if they can’t live there, they want to visit.
You can listen to Tara Toomey’s full story on our YouTube channel, New England Today.
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