Celebrating the Magic of the Walk: Our 2026 Winners Event
Our second Photo Competition Winners Event brought photographers, families, sponsors and supporters together at the Lara Sporting Club on Wednesday 16 September. We were delighted with the turnout and the warm, celebratory atmosphere.
It was especially wonderful to have Beverley Hoffman and her family — Joanne, Brad and Madeleine — with us. Kevin’s dedication gave us the Walk we know and love today, so sharing this occasion with his family meant a great deal to us.
A conversation with Jim Szabo
Before we announced the winners, our President, Greg Wilson, sat down with guest speaker Jim Szabo for a relaxed and fascinating conversation.
Jim spoke about his connection to the Lara Sporting Club, his photography journey and his role as President of the Corio Bay Camera Club. He generously shared practical advice, too: “capture your best image in-camera”, “shoot in RAW and post-process”, and, a favourite with the audience, “stop and take the photo”.
Jim was engaging and generous with his time, and we are grateful to him for making the conversation such a memorable part of the evening.
Revealing the calendar and celebrating our winners
Then came the moment we had all been waiting for: the reveal of our 2027 Kevin Hoffman Walk Calendar and the announcement of our prize winners.
This year’s competition theme, The Magic of the Walk, invited photographers to capture the details and moments that make the Walk special to them. Seeing their photographs brought together in the calendar was really wonderful.
Congratulations to our winners:
- First place and calendar cover: Julie-Ann Ricci
- Second place: Julie Eckstein
- Equal third place: Helen Steer and Jo Readings
A special thank you to the local businesses whose generous contributions provided prizes and gifts for our winners:
- Lara Sporting Club: a $50 gift voucher for first place
- The Produce Corner: a $40 gift voucher for second place
- Anna’s Café Lara: two $20 gift vouchers, one for each of our equal third-place winners
- Cobram Estate: gifts of olive oil for two of our placegetters who attended on the night
We also celebrated all the photographers whose images appear in the calendar. Each photograph offers a different view of the Walk, and we are grateful to everyone who entered and shared their work with us.
Estelle Gardiner, Graham Lee, Sam Das, Julie-Ann Ricci
Deb Shae, Graham Gardiner, Estelle Gardiner, Sam Das
More photographs to share — and a milestone ahead
We unveiled two new packs of blank cards featuring photographs taken at the Walk. The cards give us another opportunity to showcase the work of talented photographers, including some whose images were not featured in the calendar.
We also announced the theme for our next photo competition: The Walk Through Your Eyes. Next year’s competition will be our tenth, making it a particularly special milestone. We cannot wait to see the different ways people choose to interpret the theme.
Thank you for making it special
An event like this comes together through the efforts and generosity of many people. Thank you to every photographer who entered, everyone who joined us on the night and our committee members for their work behind the scenes. We are also grateful to the Lara Sporting Club for hosting us.
The evening gave us an opportunity to publicly thank all our sponsors, whose support is so important to preserving the Kevin Hoffman Walk as a significant community asset.
We were delighted to welcome Geelong Travel as our newest Gold Sponsor, having joined us just a month before the event. We look forward to a wonderful partnership and are grateful to them for becoming part of our supportive group of local businesses.
Platinum Sponsors: Community Bank Lara District, Lara Sporting Club, Lara Smile Group and Nurse Next Door
Gold Sponsors: Lara Window Shutters and Geelong Travel
Silver Sponsors: Ray White Lara, Anna’s Café Lara, Lara Health & Fitness Centre, Lara Quality Meats, IDAWS, APCO, & Clickity’s
Kevin tended the landscape for so many years. Through the photographs, the calendar and evenings like this one, we can keep sharing the beauty of the Walk and the story behind it.
Carol, Lara Sporting Club
Natalie & Tejana, Community Bank Lara District
Eugene & Shalini, Nurse Next Door
Zil, MM Spot
Take a little of the Walk home
Want a closer look at the photographs? Read more about the 2027 calendar and its featured photographers in our calendar blog.
The 2027 Kevin Hoffman Walk Calendar is available online and at newsXpress Lara. Our new blank card packs are also available online. Visit our shop to explore them. Every purchase helps support the ongoing care and preservation of the Walk.
Thank you for making our second Winners Event such a happy occasion. We look forward to seeing the Walk through your eyes in next year’s competition!
Friends of Kevin Hoffman Walk Committee