Northcliffe community gathered for National Book Week event featuring hot chocolate and lively storytelling

The Northcliffe community celebrated the end of National Book Week in comfort among friends at the annual Celebrity Story Night hosted by the Northcliffe Parents and Citizens’ committee. With hot chocolate in one hand and homemade soup in the other, more than 70 grandparents, parents and children enjoyed a night of dynamic storytelling, laughter and community at Northcliffe District High School on August 22. Books were read accompanied by music, ballads were shared and old classic tales were reinvented by eight local celebrities including Badimaya woman and NDHS Aboriginal Islander education officer Sue Griffiths, Karri Country Good Food Co-op shop manager Charmian Hancock, local nurse Di Langman, NDHS principal Suzanne Fisher, local business owner Mike Beanland, musician Peter Hill and active community members Jodie Miller and Shashi Richards. From a wonderful First Nations story to a sung version of Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, attendees were wowed by array of entertainment. The story of Little Red Riding Hood was also told with a Northcliffe-twist, featuring a poor grandmother with COVID who is visited by Little Red Riding Hood with a basketful of Northcliffe Bakery Cheesecake and a bottle of 10 Chains ‘Grape Juice’ after wandering through the forest via Understory and Northcliffe Bush Camp where she befriends a villainous wolf and, luckily, a heroic woodcutter. Parents and Citizens’ president Nicole Sinclair Celebrity Story Night is a fantastic way to highlight the importance of storytelling in all its forms while also celebrating the role of volunteers in our community. “It is a fun, wholesome night where the community and school, in Aunty Sue’s words, feels like a big family,” she said. Ms Sinclair said she was grateful to the entire community for helping to put on the much-loved event, including the P&C members, Bannister Downs Dairy, Northcliffe General Story and the Shire of Manjimup. “Extra big thanks to our awesome local stars for generously sharing your words, music and acting prowess, and for the fabulous audience who came to share in the magic,” she said.