Locals and visitors thronged through the gates to enjoy musical entertainment, food, produce, plant, craft and jewelry stalls, antique evaluations, children’s games, wood turning and competitions. The Taralga Ukulele Band struck a note with the crowd, as did the Al Fresco Jubilo, an archipelago choir, and the Goulburn Pipes and Drum band which played with typical pomp and ceremony. 

The day is one of the property’s main fundraisers, beside the annual garden fair held each November.

Goulburn MP Pru Goward took the opportunity to announce a $47,867 NSW Heritage grant. The money will supplement $50,000 in National Trust funding to repair and renovate the home’s walls, floors and ceilings and to address rising damp.

Riversdale property manager (garden), Ros Loftus said a garden path on the homestead’s eastern side was recently removed and replaced with road base and gravel to assist the damp problem.

Ms Goward also announced that owners of the CML building in Auburn Street, opposite Westpac, had won a $35,000 heritage grant for external painting and patching and internal upgrade to meet disability access standards. The Mill, of Goulburn, has also received $25,000 for restoration work.