VISITORS to Wedderburn’s Hard Hill Tourist Reserve will see a lasting tribute to the achievements of volunteer passion after the unveiling of a plaque on Saturday.
Local tourism association president Karen Fazzani unveiled the plaque honouring Robbie Collins as hundreds again descended on the hall for the town’s annual detector jamboree.
The plaque will be placed on the eucalyptus stewpot, one of Robbie’s great passions in development of the reserve until his death in December.
“Hard Hill Tourist Reserve has been a passion of Robbie’s since the commencement of restoration work in late 1998,” she said.
“Robbie had a stewpot given to him by the late Eric Nesbit and was going to install it in his backyard to stew eucalyptus while training his greyhounds.
“But in late 1998 Robbie took a drive to Hard Hill  and came back to Wedderburn Tourism offering to install the pot at Hard Hill.”
Karen said Robbie, who had served as president and vice-president of Wedderburn Tourism in organising the jamboree, had continued a passionate commitment to the organisation and oversaw operation of the stewpot until last year. His commitment saw him become the organisation’s first life member in 2015.
“This plaque is a small token of our appreciation to a special man who made a huge contribution to Wedderburn, to tourism and the community and who will be sorely missed as will his jokes.”
The weekend’s jamboree, originally known as Wedderburn Gold Festival in 1997, adjusted activities this year as extreme heat conditions rolled across the region.
Competitors in the senior and junior detector hunts stopped hunting for hidden keys soon after 1pm each day, relaxing in the shade of Hard Hill reserve where dozens of caravans formed a camp for the weekend.
Karen said continued support from sponsors including Minelab helped with the jamboree’s enduring success.
Garage sales and the Coach House provided extra activities for competitors and their families who made to visit to Wedderburn, many regulars at the jamboree for almost three decades.
Results from the jamboree - Senior detector hunt: James O’Neil. Junior: Eliza Seja 1, Jackson Guelfo 2, Max Pinton-Mason 3.
Senior gold panning: Bill Dempster 1, Lester Fisher 2, Gabrielle Anfang 3. Junior - 3-7 years James Milgate 1, Jesse Drew 2, Rory Cain 3. 11-13 years: Kara Seja 1, Alex Burrows 2, James Milgate  3. 14-15 years: Max Pinton-Mason 1, Eliza Seja 2, Juliet Ryan 3.