Joe Camilleri was performing at Roma last weekend, but this one was no saxophonist.
The master craftsman with the same name and Maltese heritage as the more famous Australian R&B singer showed off his style in a novelty event organised in conjunction with the Australian Clay Target Association national trap shooting championships.
Young up-and-coming Biloela shooter, Travis Streeter managed to raise almost $4000 for the Dolly's Dream Foundation by offering people a chance for a $1500 prize if they could hit five targets under varying handicap conditions.
He was hoping to sell 500 tickets at $5 each to give competitors plenty of chances to have their name drawn out, leaving $1000 for the foundation, but vastly exceeded that expectation with around 900 tickets sold.
"There was exceptional awareness and acceptance of what I was doing," Travis said. "One fellow just came out with $150 straight up."
It meant he was able to offer two shooters a chance for prizemoney, shooting a target at distances of 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 metres.
One of them, Matt Schiller from Young in NSW, was blindfolded for his last shot, taking good-natured advice from the crowd watching on.
He dropped his first and last targets and donated all $250 of his prizemoney to the cause.
Sydney-based custom gun stock maker, Joe Camilleri shot four out of his five targets and donated $300 of his prizemoney, chaining $900 to the wheel for the trip home.
Travis, who has been selected as a 2019 ACTA Academy athlete to train for the International Shooting Sport Federation trap discipline, said he had been bullied and knew how Dolly might have felt.
"I'm happy to be raising awareness of suicide prevention and bullying," he said.
The inaugural Do It For Dolly Day, in memory of NT schoolgirl Dolly Everett, is on May 10
People are being asked to show their 'true blue' spirit by wearing or decorating in blue, spreading the message of kindness within their community, fundraising, or starting a conversation and speaking for those who can't speak for themselves.
"Blue was Dolly's favourite colour and we're hoping that creating a sea of blue on Do It For Dolly Day will remind people to be kind to those around them," Dolly's mum Kate said.
"By coming together and getting behind the cause, people will encourage their mates to do the same, and before long whole communities will feel brave enough to speak out against bullying," her father Tick added.
One in four students are bullied and one in five are cyber-bullied. Do It For Dolly Day aims to empower and educate the community to prevent this behaviour.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
