“I’m a natural leader, and sometimes that means stepping off the cliff and not really knowing what’s going to happen and just trusting that you’ll be able to grow a few wings! Rural women end up being quite brave. In the city people may have mentors & support, here its not like that – sink or swim”
Cassy standing in front of ‘Lucinda’ - the Horsepower Highway installment dedicated to rural women.
In Cassy’s words meeting her now husband Tim, was a real life “farmer wants a wife” story! The couple met at a mutual friend’s wedding and were married within the year. Coming from Adelaide where Cassy studied a Bachelor of Music, she hit the ground running in Gnowangerup teaching everything from music to sex ed, growing and learning things she may not have had the opportunity to do if she’d been in a bigger school & town just teaching music. Being involved in many different groups and developing leadership skills has lead to a very diverse ‘resume’ for Cassy.
“I’m a natural leader, and sometimes that means stepping off the cliff and not really knowing what’s going to happen and just trusting that you’ll be able to grow a few wings! Rural women end up being quite brave. In the city people may have mentors & support, here its not like that – sink or swim!”
However, despite the lack of professional support systems in small communities, Cassy acknowledges that the networks you form in small towns are arguably stronger!
In 2018 Cassy worked on a big project to improve the towns water security and reduce reliance on scheme water by capturing water run off in a big dam. The incredibly difficult process of acquiring extra funding when the quotes doubled from the original application really “toughed [Cassy] up”. The hard work paid off as the Gnowangerup school now has an oval!
The Horsepower Highway project came about as a way to get visitors off the Albany Highway and through the Gnowangerup Shire as they through the Stirling Ranges. Cassy & the GNP360 group have worked tirelessly to not only restore & display vintage tractors, but to tell stories of the area through the instalments. One instalment named 'Lucinda', is dedicated to rural women who in Cassy's words are "the backbone of rural communities". Alongside the tractor (pictured) is 'Lucinda Tanks" which feature artworks of 8 local women by Jerome Davenport.
A couple of the women that inspire Cassy are Fiona Gaze & Wendy Gordon. Cassy says that Fiona is an important leader in the community who has a special ability to recognise things in people that could be developed and encourages them to grow. And Wendy, Cassy says, is a “behind the scenes here” bringing important infrastructure and resources to the area.
Cassy has been working this year with NSPNR on a new instalment for the Horsepower Hwy & is excited to see it come to life in 2023! The Stirlings are our X-factor, and as a shire Cassy hopes we all continue to work together to promote and shine a light on our incredible part of the world.