Koorawatha Co-op To Open Mother’s Day

Anita Jolliffe, a nurse and avid traveller, has come up with the brilliant idea of creating the Koorowatha Co-op, which will officially open on Mother’s Day weekend.

“Cause I’ve travelled around a lot, I’ve come across gorgeous little places, nice little boutiques,” Ms Jolliffe said.

“I’ve had restaurants and cafes before moving down here.”

Ms Jolliffe originally went to see about using the hall, but discovered that it was owned by Council and there were just a few little hiccups, so she decided to think outside the square.

“I thought about the showground,” she said.

“It has a sweet canteen facility and big space, with hot showers and dump ports for travellers.”

Ms Jolliffe sat down with the showground committee and spoke with them about the opportunity, which would allow her to offer something unique to the community at the same time as generating income for the showground.

Ms Jolliffe said the Koorawatha Co-op would be introduced in two stages, the first of which will be opened Mother’s Day weekend would be breakfast.

“I love cooking and breakfast is my favourite meal to cook,” Ms Jolliffe said.

“I will be making Dutch pancakes with 12 different flavours, one of which will include poached pear and whipped ricotta.”

The plan is to offer everything from egg and bacon pies and sausage rolls to chia breakfast pods.

Ms Jolliffe will prepare the majority of the menu in-house herself, but she will have a few exclusive items prepared by local establishments, including butter buns from Walders at Young, She has also locally sourced award-winning Gold Blend coffee from Art of Expresso and delicious tea from Spill the Tea Co, both from Young.

Overheads have been kept to a minimum so nothing on the menu is over $15. Everything will be served takeaway style so that people just need to place their packaging in the bin before leaving.

Breakfast will be served out of the canteen every Saturday and Sunday from 7 am to 12 noon and people could enjoy picnic-style dining with little tables topped with umbrellas.

Ms Jolliffe said the community had a small pub that served delicious lunches, so she didn’t want to interfere with their earnings.

Live music will also be included each week and Ms Jolliffe welcomed interested parties, including young aspiring musicians and schools with talent to contact her. Josh Petty and Bekki Brown will kick off the live music over the Mother’s Day weekend.

The second stage of the co-op will be the retail markets, which will remain open until 4 pm on Sunday. Stay tuned for full details of stage 2 as it draws closer.

Until then, pop in for a delicious Mother’s Day breakfast at the Koorawatha Co-op at the showground. Mothers will receive a complimentary ‘mumosa’.

• Topics:

• Mother's Day