Community events and AGM

The day after Melbourne’s coldest and most miserable spring day for more than 30 years, the brooding rainclouds receded.

The very long odds of good weather for our Spring Sizzle on Sunday, November 9 shortened dramatically as the morning wore on.

Much to our relief, the sun broke through and began to shine brightly. Just as well. Most of our community events – neighbourly BBQs, Easter egg hunts and the like – are held outdoors at the mercy of the weather and this was no exception.

The blue skies and sunshine drew a pleasing crowd of young children, parents and other residents to the Galada Ave Reserve for an ample barbecue of halal sausages and vegie burgers plus apples and mini muffins.

Two colourfully dressed performers from the Diaspora Artistic Collective had the kids enthralled. Santi’s amazing performance on stilts, like racing across the reserve with kids in his wake, was nicely complemented by Paola’s engagement with her young audience.

What we love to do is to bring people together in a safe space and see them connecting as friends and neighbours. On that score, we had every reason to be satisfied with our success this time round, thanks to the teamwork of committee members and the skill of our entertainers.

Our second event of the week was very different in character but similar in spirit. The Annual General Meeting of the Parkville Gardens Residents’ Association was held on the evening of Thursday, November 13. It’s a challenge to excite people about AGMs, so we were pleased to see about 20 new and familiar faces in the hospitality space at 81 Galada Ave.

The agenda included all the standard items – President’s Report, Treasurer’s Report, office-bearer elections and general business – followed by light refreshments.

After making an invaluable contribution during their year of service, committee members Jane Flanagan and Melody Trueman stood down because of demanding work commitments. Long-standing team member Jose Torres also finished up.

Happily, four new attendees offered themselves as candidates and were elected to the committee. All other office-bearers were re-elected unopposed.

That means the committee now consists of Tom Knowles (president), Faye Ryan (secretary-treasurer), continuing members Ian Aitken, Michael Main, and Jay and Uma Iyengar, plus new members Maureen Sexton, Vicky Boyle, Shirley Zambrano and Rob Saya-Allen. It’s a great mix of veterans and newcomers. We look forward to working together for the good of the Parkville Gardens community.

Our next event will be a women’s security workshop held over two nights in February and March next year. More on that next month. •