Community
5 March, 2025
'Groove' is the heart of tightknit Julia Creek community
McKinlay Shire's volunteer of the year loves being involved and giving back to the community.
Volunteers are the heartbeat of a bush community and Julia Creek is blessed to have a decent crop of go-getters in 2025.
At the top of that list is Sheree Pratt, best known as “Groove”, who is president of the Dirt n Dust Festival, but lends a hand to just about every major event in the McKinlay Shire.
The proud Cloncurry girl, who has lived in and around Julia Creek for the past two decades, said she has been called Groove since she was still in nappies.
“I’m the youngest of five and I think we all had nicknames ... I used to wiggle on the floor and they said ‘that’s groovy’ and bang, I was Groove from then,” she told North West Weekly.
Many would know Groove from her time as the owner of the Julia Creek Post Office, however she actually started her post-school life as an electrician.
“Mum and dad owned a grocery store in town (Cloncurry) and I was working at the shop one day and Ed Morrison came in – his other apprentice wasn’t really working out – so I was just being half smart to him and said ‘Christ Ed, if you wanted an apprentice, I’d do it’,” Groove recalled.
“And then he came back the next day, he goes, ‘are you serious?’ I said, ‘shit yeah, I’ll give it a go’.
“I did my apprenticeship, which was four years, and then I did an extra year.
“My parents had bought a place up between Mount Isa and Camooweal with my sister and brother-in-law, so they were doing a heap of roadworks, and they were looking for a heap of workers and I was sick of being in town – most all my family was up there – so I went and did that and worked on the main roads for a while.”
A relationship blossomed with now-husband Tim and they now have three children – Abbie, 19, Sam, 18, and Bronte, 13.
Groove has since worked in many different roles, from station work to the post office – which saw her drive to Normanton and back twice a week – to helping run the family business, Pratt Cattle Transport.
However, her true passion is the clothing label Draft & Co.
Groove took over an existing business in 2020, rebranded it and has since made it her own.
“A lot of people in Julia Creek have different little businesses that are running off the back of other businesses ... I think it’s quite amazing,” she said.
“It sounds stupid but Draft & Co is kind of like a hobby, even though it is another business that I run.
“I go to camp drafts and show people that can’t come to town – they want to see the products – and because I travel to those different places, they actually get to see it, get a feel of it, and go, ‘yeah, I’m happy to buy this’, ‘I’m happy to pay that for it’.
“That makes a big difference.”
Groove said she was proud of the work to revitalise the Dirt n Dust Festival after it nearly collapsed due to the pandemic.
The event didn’t run for two years and it was a struggle to get it back in 2022.
“I love it,” she said of being in charge of the community’s biggest annual event.
“I’ve kind of always really been involved in the town, but running the Dirt n Dust, I don’t know, I just get a kick out of it.
“All of the town is enjoying it again, which is a huge thing, which is what we were moving towards when we took it back over.”
Changing the main event from a triathlon to an adventure challenge continues to be a popular decision.
“I think it makes it fun; the kids can do it, they love getting muddy and dirty and running amok and I think everyone really seems to enjoy that part and you can do that without training,” Groove said.
“There is a prizemoney component for your top competitors and they’re the ones that are doing the 10km and 15km events, but if you just want to do something fun that morning you can do that and still make it to the races and the rodeo.”
Groove said Julia Creek would be lost without the Dirt n Dust.
“Economically, every business gets something out of it,” she said.
“A lot more people are shopping back in town and they’re all coming in earlier now that we’re doing the kids run on Friday.”
Groove encouraged others to take up the challenge of giving up their time to volunteer.
“I just love when you’ve done an event and it’s all come off really good and you’ve made money for the committee that you’re involved in,” she said.
“With the Dirt n Dust, we’ve just been trying to build back up because we started with $12,000 four years ago so we’ve just been working our way up to actually be able to put on an event without the stress of putting it on.”
