Armed with blobs of Blue-tac and three dozen little laminated markers – made to the correct dimensions – we planned out exactly where the popcorn, doughnut and fruit kebab stands will be on the afternoon of Sunday, August 26.

This is when, for the seventh time, we will pull off a huge party called Operation 19:14.  

With 30 sites to situate, the guidance of our electrician was essential to ensure access to power for the inflatable obstacle course, mechanical surfboard and littlies’ rides.  

Not wanting anything to go pop, but definitely wanting the urns and deep fryers to froth and fizzle, power cords and equipment will be tagged, tested and purposefully protected.    

Hopefully we’ve also made sure the ponies won’t be spooked by the mechanical bull, the zoo animals won’t get loose onto the miniature railway tracks and the zorb balls won’t roll into the human foosball.  

Safety is a full-time job, so with our safety officers, first-aid attendants, stage manager, local talent and sound man locked in, we’ve finalised prudent placement of all the activities at our free family fun day.

We‘ve proofed our posters and decided to purchase a few more perks to place in the giveaway goodie bags.  

With hundreds of volunteers needed to deliver all the free rides and food, we now have to knuckle down to build up our teams for each activity, collecting Working With Children Check numbers as we go.  

Ordering a beautiful sunny day for the end of August means we could really do with a deluge of drenching rain between now and then.

Because while soggy grass is not much good for picnic games, those crops don’t grow without water. May the heavens open.

As we actually got down to the nitty gritty of counting trestle tables and gazebos after our map was completed last week, I think this thing is actually going to happen.

Our team seems capable of anything, as this year we launch our own app, which will be accessible from our already up and running website.  

We’re getting the band back together so lock in the date.