IT didn't take long after Ramu Metpally and his business partner Sri Rangineni took over the ownership of the Perthville Village Store for them to understand the importance of the local Rural Fire Service.
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They have also been struck by the apocalyptic images of the bushfires that have torn up and down the east coast of Australia this summer.
So this Sunday, Mr Metpally and Mr Rangineni will mark Australia Day by doing something very Aussie: having a barbecue and raising money for a good cause.
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Mr Metpally said the store and service station will have a barbecue out the front for the majority of the day selling hot food for a gold coin donation.
Inside the store, whatever is made from the hot food, fried food and coffee sales over the counter will be added to the money made from the barbecue to be presented to the Perthville/Georges Plains RFS as a donation at the end of the day.
"That [the money collected from the hot food, fried food and coffee] will include the cost price, not just the profits," Mr Metpally said.
He said the Perthville/Georges Plains RFS will also be at the store on Sunday.
"We spoke to the RFS and they said they're coming down here at 12, one o'clock with a couple of crew and the fire truck," he said. "People will notice [the truck] and see that we're doing something."
The barbecue will run from around 10am to 4pm, though the finish time will be extended depending on the number of customers.
"It will depend on how busy it is and the crowd," Mr Metpally said.
READ ALSO: Photos from Bathurst's Australia Day in 2019
The fundraising inside the store from the food and coffee sales will run for the entire opening hours on Sunday, from 7am to 7pm, and could end up totalling hundreds of dollars, he said.
Mr Metpally said he and Mr Rangineni had been pleased with their decision to go into business in the area.
"We travelled here a few times during the races a few years ago with friends, but we never explored the area," he said.
"We have been here for the last five months. It's a nice place - except the cold."
Having said that, he said he was used to cold from his time living in Canberra.
Australia Day celebrations in Bathurst will begin early when the Australia Day awards are presented at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre from 5.30pm tonight.
On Australia Day itself on Sunday, activities will begin with a barbecue breakfast at 8am hosted by the Eglinton War Memorial Hall and will continue with a citizenship ceremony from 10am at BMEC.
Free entry will be offered to the Manning Aquatic Centre from 11am to 3pm.
