The team from Woollahra was proud to attend the 8th MADALAH Ball on Saturday 7th August at the Crown Towers Grand Ballroom, complete with an Indigenous inspired menu, silent and live auctions! The MADALAH Ball is coordinated to raise much needed funds for our scholarship program and allows us to showcase the many talents of our students.
Hosting the night were the wonderful duo of Yarlalu Thomas and Brianna Ozies who stepped up as joint Masters of Ceremonies; proudly representing MADALAH and what they stand for!
The night got off to an incredible start with Shaun Nannup providing a Welcome to Country that left the room in awe! This welcome was followed by an amazing performance from the Hale boys and Indigenous music artist Flewnt that filled the room with excitement.
After the entrée was served, MADALAH Chair; Jeanice Krakouer welcomed all guests on behalf of the entire MADALAH Board and Staff. IGO Limited was then welcomed up to the stage to accept a gift from MADALAH students, Rory Charles and Tj Walker, for being the platinum sponsor of the 2021 MADALAH Ball. Dana Woodley, a year 7 student from St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, then shared her story and what it means to her to be a recipient of a MADALAH scholarship.
MADALAH – Water Corporation Scholar Emmet Hodder-Ryan was then invited to present a hand painted message stick to the Water Corporation, acknowledging the partnership that was launched in April of this year.
Following a number of acknowledgements and thank you’s, Lavinia McKenna, a year 8 student from St Mary’s College Broome came to the stage and performed a beautiful rendition of “I Have A Dream”.
Guildford Grammar School and South Summit then took to the stage singing the famous “Black Fella White Fella”, followed by current tertiary scholar Isaiah McKenna and secondary scholar Dallmyn Kelly from Scotch College who performed “Don’t Dream It’s Over”.
After these performances’ guests were treated to a marvellous Indigenous inspired dinner while also having the opportunity to buy raffle tickets! The raffle tickets were acrylic coasters designed by our students, with a different design representing the 9 regions of WA and a 10th design that represented the entire MADALAH family.
Following dinner, Keira Laylan, a year 10 student from St Brigid’s College gave a fantastic speech and welcomed the auctioneer for the evening to the stage.
The live auction is a highlight of the Ball each year and went off in spectacular fashion this year, with bids skyrocketing throughout the proceedings! The auction included many items, from student paintings & artwork, to sports memorabilia and most impressively a luxury cruise experience in the Kimberley!
Following the live auction and an exquisite dessert, South Summit were invited back to the stage as the headline act for 2021. The band is an ensemble of 3 MADALAH students/alumni and two of their mates, who we recently supported to produce their first EP.
To finish off the evening, Broken Tides, a leading rock band from the Pilbara region took to the stage to get everyone out of their seats and on to the dance floor.
The MADALAH Ball 2021 raised enough to support an additional 22 secondary and 12 tertiary students in 2022!
On behalf of the team at Woollahra Group, we would like to recognize and thank the team behind Madalah for putting together such an amazing, inspiring and memorable event. We already can't wait for next year!
