December 2006: Orange Christmas Street Party 15th Dec

If you can just imagine the main street closed off and the street lined with stalls, entertainment, street theatre, face painting, artwork, food outlets, Christmas decorations and activities for children everywhere. Well this was exactly what happened in Orange on the 15th December when Orange City Council along with several sponsors got together and planned the Orange Christmas Street Party. This was a special year because we celebrated the 10th year of this successful event.
The street was full of people from Orange and surrounding towns who joined together for an evening of laughter, excitement and fun. Of course the major attraction was a visit by Santa who gave children much joy with a sing a long of Christmas songs. There was something for everyone even a Volvo car was painted by local artists. The Orange Christmas Street Party has always been a huge success and of course something that children and families look forward to.
This is a committee that I played an active part in and along with Council staff who worked incredibly hard behind the scenes and on the evening we brought together an evening full of fun, laughter and a great Christmas atmosphere for our community.

Aids Memorial Service 3rd Dec

Remember I mentioned last month that I had been to an Orange African Cultural Group meeting and I said that we learnt to sing a song called "Down to the river to pray" well this is the song that we sang at the World Aid's Day held in the Southern Court in Orange. My children joined me in the service and learnt more about Aid's and unfortunately the impact of the disease.

The afternoon focussed on a memorial service dedicated to the memory of all who have died of HIV/AIDS related causes. People were remembered with love and joy and we gave thanks for the gift of their lives and their love. A vow was made to keep the promise to STOP AIDS, to continue to raise awareness and encourage responsible attitudes.
There were several speakers, singing and music throughout the service. The service was designed to give people a place to come together to reflect on the disease which has claimed the lives of millions of men, women and children across the world. Flowers were laid by individuals around the bottom of a water feature and the Aids Memorial Quilts were laid out on display.

Home Start Volunteers Graduation 1st Dec

Home-Start offers support, friendship and encouragement to families with young children under the age of five years. Families are referred to Home-Start for a number of reasons and the volunteers are parents with a wide range of skills and experience. The volunteers undertake a course prior to being linked to families. It is about parents supporting parents.
I was invited to officiate at the Graduation ceremony and had much pleasure in presenting the awards to the new volunteers who had completed their course. There were 7 new graduates who will be supporting families in communities. This is a wonderful initiative and I can see it decreasing the feeling of isolation for parents with young children. Having used this service myself I can assure people that it certainly gives you something to look forward to when getting out becomes difficult. Having someone call in and say hello makes a big difference.
For more details on this service Phone 63691455 or email admin@homestartor.ngo.org.au

Mobility Challenge 1st Dec

This year Orange City Council celebrated “International Day of People with Disability” at the Civic Theatre. The main guest speaker spoke about his life and how he became disabled after a tackle in a sporting game. This was a very personal story and the speaker spoke about the trials and tribulations of having to adjust to a new life in a wheel chair. He even went as far as to tell us how he accidentally met his wife and now has beautiful children. Along with that he has been a successful contestant in the Para Olympics and now enjoys his new hobby sailing. This was a truly amazing story and made you realise how fortunate we are as individuals.
The remainder of the day was made up of a range of challenges including hearing and vision impairments, limb loss and being in a wheelchair. This is the second year I have been to this event and I can say in all honesty that being in a wheelchair for me proved extremely difficult to navigate and my wheelchair was motorised. There are plenty more changes that can be accommodated by businesses and Council to help disabled people carry out daily activities such as shopping.