Community Day in East Melbourne

November has been a very active and busy month for the East Melbourne community. On Sunday, November 20, we had a Community Fete and Sausage Sizzle in Powlett Reserve.  

Jenny Owen rallied the community to organise the event with the sponsorship of the City of Melbourne. It was a day packed with activities including e-scooter demonstrations, a dog parade, a Zumba party, craft stalls, local group information tables and of course the ubiquitous Suasage Sizzle and Devonshire Teas.

A huge thank you to all who helped organise the event and to those who participated in the fun.

Morning Coffee

Under a heavy sky and with humid conditions 35 congregated at the Henderson household for our monthly morning coffee get-together. 

It being November 11, at the appropriate time all present observed a minute’s silence. Given the situation in Ukraine at the moment it was a timely reminder of the suffering war brings to everyone concerned.

Once again, the issue of the white tiles at street corners was raised as a safety issue. There have been many incidents of pedestrians slipping and falling on them, sometimes leading to ambulances being needed. We continue to ask the council to replace them with the safer granite ones ...

East Melbourne Neighbour Network (EMNN) has incorporated, with a committee formed, and this has allowed us to apply for grants to pay such things as insurance. Thank you to Ann-Maree Eckersley for all the work she did to secure these grants for us.

• The City of Melbourne has provided a grant to help the community choir. This will begin in February next year and we are still accepting willing singers. This is an un-auditioned choir, so all are welcome.
• The City of Melbourne has provided a grant to assist with the operational costs of the group.

Tim Holland gave a talk about his links with East Melbourne through various family connections and provided some war stories about his career at the TPC/ACCC over the years in the area of mergers administration. We were all entertained by the “inside” stories and goings on.

East Melbourne Community Christmas Picnic

The EMNN and the East Melbourne Group invite everyone to come along to our joint Community Christmas party to be held at Bishopscourt on Saturday, December 17, 2pm to 5pm. 

Come and celebrate the festive season with neighbours, friends, children and grandchildren. Bring along a rug and picnic and enjoy and afternoon of Christmas carols, music and entertainment including:

Rechoired Community Choir singing Christmas songs

• Soloists – Lino del Guidice, Alexandra Lidgerwood, and John Lidgerwood.
• Children’s face painting
• Santa on a fire truck
• Market stalls
• Cake stalls

Health and Wellbeing Program

The EMNN is now working on our Health & Wellbeing timetable for Term 1, 2023 at Powlett Community Room. New ideas are sought from the community as we seek to provide additional meaningful, fun, and engaging activities for all age groups. Any resident of any age who would like to get involved – the EMNN would love to hear from you. Your ideas and involvement will help strengthen our community and enhance the health and wellbeing of your neighbours.

Contact – Susan Henderson or Ann-Maree Eckersley at [email protected] •