Click on images to enlarge
24 March 2010
The best Mickey Mouse race day belongs in Bylong
WHEN it comes to racing animals, most people might think of horses, greyhounds or even camels. But not those living in Bylong in the upper Hunter Valley. This weekend the tiny town between Mudgee and Muswellbrook will host the 22nd running of the Bylong mouse races.
"I guess it's our version of the Melbourne Cup or Golden Slipper," says Andrew Wallings, chairman of the committee which oversees the hall where the rodent races are held. "Everybody in Bylong takes part and there's a great atmosphere in the town that weekend."
But it's not just the locals who get caught up in the excitement - more than 2000 people attended last year's race meeting and Mr Wallings is hoping for a similar turnout on Saturday.
"We get people from Sydney and all over the state travelling here for the races and many of them camp over in the town and make a real weekend of it.
"It's a pretty unique event and it's a lot of fun. Some visitors have been coming for years and tell us it's an important date in the diary."
The mice race across a 12-metre perspex box in which 10 tracks are stacked on top of each other to allow easy viewing. The winners from 10 heats then go into the final for a chance of snaring the cup.
"The mice don't get trained, so you don't know until the race is run whether they'll run straight to the other side or just around in circles. It adds to the spectacle," Mr Wallings says.
The race meeting was started as a way to raise money for the local school and after last year's event, more than $30,000 was given to charity.
For the mice, though, there is more at stake than just the glory of being named this year's champion. All are bred locally to be supplied as food to reptile owners and, while many are sold as pets at the end of the races, others end up in the food chain.
But not the winners. "I make sure that I keep the fast ones who win the races and they get used for breeding the next generation of runners," says Sue Athey, who lives down the road at Charbon and supplies the mice.
"I guess it's a bit like racehorses where only the good ones get to go to stud, so maybe in a few years we'll have a stable of supermice that are super strong and super quick."
Credit: Tom Reilly1
24 March 2013
Hundreds of racegoers, a field of highly trained starters and even three kitties celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Bylong Mouse Races on Saturday.
Bylong became a mini town, with around 170 campervans and tents filling the campsite at the Bylong Sports Ground and a further 67 motorhomes and vans from the Winnebago RV Club parking across the road at 'Sunnyside'.
Race committee secretary Jodi Nancarrow said not all the 2500 wristbands ordered had been used, but by the end of the day, both the barbecue and drink stand were running out of stock.
It's been a wonderful day and people have been very generous,' she said.
Over 25 years, Bylong Mouse Races have raised $450,000 for local causes and Ms Nancarrow expects the total will reach $500,000 after this year's takings are counted.
Bylong Hall Committee president Andrew Wallings, cutting a specially mice-themed cake made by long-time race supporter Kay Tindale, thanked volunteers and supporters.
For Bylong Mouse Races to go on for 25 years is a testament to the Bylong community and communities not far away,' he said.
We wouldn't have got to 25 years without the support of volunteers and people from within the community and from outside the value.
The big winner of the day was Darren Witherspoon of Cessnock, who paid $650 for Thumbelina in the auction for Bylong Cup qualifiers and took home the $1950 first prize. Witherspoon also bid $500 for the runner-up, adding another $772 to his prize haul.
Although Bylong's best-known ex-landowner, former Labor MP Eddie Obeid, was not present, he was not forgotten.
Starters included Fast Eddie from the Labor Stable, who according to the form guide 'has been sharing his time between Perisher and Bylong, making friends in one and enemies in other' and IKAK Eddie, highly rated after pre-season training with the AFL and NRL teams.
Unfortunately, neither Eddie made it to the winners' circle.
Long-time race supporter Gordon Douglas of Cessnock, who entered both Fast Eddie and the equally disappointing runner Julia ('needs to be put out to pasture by September') conceded that his starters had let him down.
I think they have let us all down,' he said.
Regular racegoers were already planning their return visit as the last stragglers were coaxed from the race track, but with organisation of the event falling onto the shoulders of a small committee, the future of the event is in doubt.
Mr Wallings said the committee would reassess the future of the event when the results of this year's event are reviewed.
Credit: ROBYN MURRAY2
22 January 2014
Bylong Mouse Races end after 25 years
FOR 25 years, visitors have come to Bylong in March for the annual mouse races, but after its most successful run last year the event has been cancelled.
A combination of a dwindling population and community apathy has cut down the hopes of anyone hoping to train up a Phar Rat or a Black Camembert for the event.
"Last year we had a record profit on the day...and we've been nominated for Community Event of the Year on Australia Day," said Jodie Nancarrow, secretary for the Bylong Hall Committee which organised the event.
The number of visitors for the event kept getting bigger over the years, while the population in the Bylong Valley got smaller - and after many years and "a mountain of hours" organising the races, Ms Nancarrow said the current committee wanted others in the community to step forward and take over this year.
"No-one showed any interest in taking over...so we decided 25 was a pretty good number to finish on," Ms Nancarrow said.
"We've done enough."
With last year's record profit of $60,000 bringing the total the event has raised for charity to more than $500,000, Ms Nancarrow said it was good for the Mouse Races to have "gone out with a bang".
Ms Nancarrow said she was proud to have seen the event grow over the years, as it became ever-more popular with Grey Nomads and other people travelling around Australia.
"It became a real family affair," she said.
The sense of fun the event provided was evident in the nick-name of "Gai Watermouse" - bestowed upon the person responsible for organising the mice each year, Ms Nancarrow said.
Last year, in the midst of the the Independent Commission Against Corruption's enquiries into (alleged) dodgy mining deals in the Bylong Valley, locals were also happy to see mice called "ICAC" and "Eddie" in the running.
Credit: RODERICK MAKIM3
28 January 2014
After 25 years, Bylong retires from the race
The Bylong Mouse Races are retiring after raising half a million dollars for local community groups and running the award-winning event for 25 years.
Jodie Nancarrow, secretary of the Bylong Mouse Races, accepted the award for Community Event of the Year at Sunday's Australia Day celebration, the second time the event has won the prize.
It was also the first time many locals had heard that last year's event would be the last.
A diminishing community and shortage of volunteers has led to the end of an event that has grown into a major attraction since its humble origins a quarter-century ago.
Back in those days, there were a lot more people around, a lot more people involved, people employed by station owners,' she said.
With Cockatoo Coal now owning much of the valley's land, Ms Nancarrow said Bylong would be lucky to have 50 locals to help organise the event, and in the last few years, it had been a struggle to raise enough volunteers, even with assistance from outside the village.
She said the community would continue to shrink, and though Cockatoo could provide financial support for the event, it could not provide the enthusiasm and volunteers
I think Bylong will always be known for the Mouse Races,' Ms Nancarrow said, and pointed out that the town's entrance sign still said 'Home of the Bylong Mouse Races'.
People will still be able to see that and say that's where they used to have them.
Ms Nancarrow said the Mouse Races started with local schoolteacher Neil Druce approaching then Bylong General Store manager George Shipway with plans to raise funds for a school excursion to the coast.
The idea of the Mouse Races was born from that,' she said.
Basically, it was pretty casual, a bit of a barbecue, a few cold beers and the kids ran about.
Children caught wild mice in fields, farms and silos to raise on a tabletop, and the races raised enough money to fund the excursion and buy new sports equipment for the school.
The success of the event led to its return the next year, and it expanded its fundraising to include organisations who assisted the Bylong community, such as the Volunteer Rescue Association and local hospitals.
Ms Nancarrow said the selection criteria for recipients was basically, 'If you were involved in a car crash in Bylong, who would be there'?
The financial success of the races has also given self-sufficiency, enabling the group to strike a dollar-for-dollar deal with Mid-Western Regional Council to develop a park area with showers, barbecues and play equipment to greet the visitors who now come through on the sealed Bylong Valley Way.
It gets used extensively now, and without funds from the Mouse Races, it would never have happened,' Ms Nancarrow said.
Ms Nancarrow became secretary of the event 13 years ago, after taking over the Bylong General Store.
She has seen the event move under a marquee, which she said added to the noise and enthusiasm with which punters supported their mice, and ensured the event was able to continue 'rain, hail or shine'.
She said a following of grey nomads had developed through word of mouth, often arriving days before the event and requiring large-scale camping amenities.
People come to the event and are blown away that a little town like Bylong can put on such a great, well-organised show,' she said.
Credit: SAM PAINE4
30 January 2014
Cheesed off: Bylong mouse races canned
FOR 25 years, visitors have flocked to Bylong in March for the annual mouse races, but after its most sucessful run last year the event has been cancelled.
A combination of a dwindling population and community apathy has cut down the hopes of anyone wanting to train up a Phar Rat or a Black Camembert for the event.
Even winning the Mid Western Regional Council's Community Event of the Year award on Australia Day wasn't enough for the organisers to reconsider, after years of hard work.
Secretary for the Bylong Hall Committee Jodie Nancarrow said the number of visitors for the event kept getting bigger throughout the years, while the population in the Bylong Valley got smaller.
After many years and "a mountain of hours" organising the races, the current committee wanted others in the community to step forward and take over this year.
"No-one showed any interest in taking over... so we decided 25 was a pretty good number to finish on," Ms Nancarrow said.
"We've done enough."
With last year's record profit of $60,000 bringing the total the event has raised for charity to more than $500,000, Ms Nancarrow said it was good for the Mouse Races to have "gone out with a bang," especially with winning the Australia Day award.
Ms Nancarrow said she was proud to have seen the event grow throughout the years, as it became ever-more popular with "grey nomads" and other travellers across Australia.
"It became a real family affair."
The sense of fun the event provided was evident in the nick-name of "Gai Watermouse" bestowed upon the person responsible for organising the mice each year, Ms Nancarrow said.
Last year, in the midst of the Independent Commission Against Corruption's inquiries into mining deals in the Bylong Valley, locals were also happy to see mice called "ICAC" and "Eddie" in the running.
RODERICK MAKIM5