​So another month down and another month closer to the end of the year! This month we have been on the countdown to our big overseas trip to Europe. With only a few days left to go before we fly out on route to our sister city Nördlingen, we have been busy finalising our itineraries and starting to pack our bags. We are extremely grateful for this amazing opportunity to represent our beautiful city internationally!
 
The month of August started with our regular stint on radio with StarFM and 2WG. As usual it was great fun to catch up with the teams to discuss our past and future events. Our next time on the airwaves will be the morning that we fly out (September 5th) - so be sure to keep an ear out!
 
On Wednesday 3rd August, Melissa attended a Mayoral Reception for The Australia Day Awards Nominations Launch. The purpose of this event was to encourage the community to start thinking about worthy recipients to nominate for our 2017 Australia Day Awards; “Citizen of the Year”, “Young Citizen of the Year”, “Walk of Honour” and “Ted Ryder Memorial” awards.  If you know someone in the Wagga Wagga community who deserves recognition for their tireless community service, these application forms can now be downloaded from the Council’s website (www.wagga.nsw.gov.au).
 
As volunteers with the Wagga Wagga and Surrounds Branch of Make-A-Wish Australia, we attended our first official branch meeting on the second Tuesday of the month. We have both taken up positions on this new committee, with Melissa being elected President and Megan as Secretary. On August 20th we held an information stall in the Market Place and we are hoping to hold another information stall in the Sturt Mall very soon. If you are interested in becoming a Make-A-Wish volunteer - more information can be located on the Make-A-Wish website: (https://www.makeawish.org.au/volunteering-make-wish).

Melissa had the privilege of judging the Junior Showgirl Competition at The Ganmain Show on Saturday 20th August. She has a strong connection to this local show – having been involved in this annual show from a young age. Melissa happily welcomed this opportunity and thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of the young girls who participated in the Showgirl competition this year.

Daffodil Day was on Friday 26th August this year. Daffodil Day gives hope for a brighter, cancer-free future by raising some much needed funds for cancer research. Melissa had an enjoyable afternoon selling merchandise with other volunteers at a stall in the Market Place.
 
It is with great pleasure that this month Megan was able to kick off the Community Princess Foundation with the inaugural donation to the Wagga Wagga Toy Library on Saturday 27th August. Megan donated $200 worth of new toys to the library, which will enable many local youngsters the opportunity to learn and enjoy. We hope to have more grant handovers in coming months and will be sure to keep you posted. If any local sporting groups, community groups, charities or organisations would like to apply for a Community Princess Foundation Grant, please head to our website to download an application form (misswaggaquest.com).

The 2017 Miss Wagga Wagga Quest entrants held their second fundraiser of the year on Saturday 27th August. The Great Gatsby Ball held at Elements of the Gardens was a raging success; with many people putting in a fantastic effort to dress up, great music by Kapooka Army Band and a live auction. Congratulations to Travis and Esther who won best dressed on the night. The 2017 Miss Wagga Wagga Quest entrants all looked amazing and should be very proud of what they achieved on the night!
 
MWW & Princess x

What an extremely busy month we’ve had in July, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. When we first started this journey we made a pact with each other that we would say yes to if not everything, then as many events as possible! We continue to stand by that decision.

The month started with a very chilly morning at the Victory Memorial Gardens on Sunday 3rd July for the Reserve Forces Day Commemorative Service. We, along with 2017 Quest Entrants Sarah, Katharine and Angela, helped the RSL sub-branch by distributing programs to those who attended. The service honoured our fallen comrades and supported the ANZAC centenary. Australian Army Colonel Steve Jobson delivered an inspiring speech reflecting on the past 100 years of the defence forces involvement, to those who were brave enough to withstand the chilly and foggy morning.

A Mayoral Reception for the Australasian Children's Literature Association for Research was held on Wednesday 13th July. We joined a diverse group of Wagga locals, as well as many who had travelled afar for the conference including international keynote speakers Prof Kenneth Kidd (University of Florida), Prof Erica Hateley (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), and Dr Irini Savvides (author Willow Tree & Olive, Sky Legs). During the Reception we were privileged enough to hear welcomes from Wagga locals in 7 different languages. Even though we could not understand what they were saying, it was incredible to celebrate such diversity within our local community.

Saturday 16th July saw us head to Rules Club for our very first Make-A-Wish training day. It was incredibly exciting to meet and get to know the other like-minded members of our community, who are joining forces with us to spread hope, joy and strength within our local area, via establishing a Wagga branch. We will begin to spread the word about the amazing work we will be doing with Make-A-Wish in the coming months, so be sure to keep an ear out and support this wonderful cause wherever possible.

Our official overseas trip to our Sister City in Noerdlingen, Germany is fast approaching. On Thursday 21st July we had a Sister City Committee Meeting to discuss our itinerary and begin to finalise the activities we will partake in, to represent our city, whilst we are there. It is an incredible honour to be able to travel to Noerdlingen as a part of our reign, and we are both incredibly excited about this opportunity. Stay tuned for further details over the coming month before we depart early September.

Our last event of the month was a luncheon with the Laurel Club ladies at Legacy House on Tuesday 26th July. We enjoyed an informal chat with the ladies over lunch, before we presented them with an unscripted talk about our term as entrants and activities/events we have been able to partake in during our reign so far. The ladies were full of questions for us to answer, and some were even able to add their own insights from connections with the Quest, with a few having relatives who had entered and/or reigned in the past. We look forward to returning to Legacy House when we return from our trip in October to enlighten the ladies on our travels overseas.

We completed our monthly radio interviews with 2WG and StarFM and also had an additional radio interview at 2AAA, in which we spoke about our term as entrants and our reign as titleholders thus far. Don’t forget to tune in on the first Monday of every month to hear what we’ve been doing and what’s coming up in our diary of events. Alternatively you can read our blog or request our attendance at events. If you would like to contact us, please email mwwqtitleholders@hotmail.com.
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We are both incredibly grateful for the opportunities we have had thus far in our reign and thank you for your continued support