Tag: ringwood lake

Maroondah Focus – February to April 2010

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Maroondah Focus is the City of Maroondah’s publication published quarterly to households within the municipality. The Mayor has a message in each edition and the content is as follows:

Welcome to the first edition of Focus for 2010, and my first as Mayor. I am very proud to serve our community as Mayor and look forward to championing the issues of importance to Maroondah.

Maroondah City Council has a culture of partnership with its community, which has placed our municipality in a strong and healthy position. I especially value the opportunity to work alongside the many community groups and individuals who contribute so much to the municipality.

We have a great summer of events in our municipality and have already celebrated Australia Day with a family day of fun at Ringwood Lake and the announcement of our Australia Day Awards.

Our Citizen of the Year was awarded to Tony Hart, who for many years has been an inspiration to the community through his volunteer work and membership of local organisations. Following the devastating 2009 bushfires, Tony delivered more than 20,000 loaves of bread and other baked goods to emergency services and relief centres.

James Andrews is the Young Citizen of the Year for his work with disability service provider Monkami and Event of the Year was awarded to the fundraising match between the Eastern Football League All Stars and the Victorian Amateur Football Association All Stars.

Along with my fellow Councillors, I welcome Tony Dib to Council after the official countback by the Victorian Electoral Commission, following the resignation of Peter Gurr from Arrabri Ward. Tony returns to Council having served the community as Eastfield Ward councillor from 2005 to 2008.

This month we farewell Maroondah’s CEO, Mike Marasco, who has chosen not to renew his contract. Mike has ably led the organisation since 1994, when Maroondah was formed from the former municipalities of Croydon and Ringwood. During this time he has taken the organisation through the amalgamation process, the election of the first Maroondah City Council, and ensured the financial sustainability of the city.

In more recent times he has worked closely with the State Government to see both Ringwood and Croydon designated to be major city centres with an exciting future ahead.

I look forward to meeting with many of you over the coming months, in what is already shaping to be a very busy and productive year.

Best wishes
Cr Alex Makin

Australia Day at Ringwood Lake

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After the Australia Day Awards and Citizenship Ceremony I joined the festivities at Ringwood Lake. The event included a free barbecue, as well as bands at the Soundshell situated at the Lake and is supported by community organisations, including the Scouts and Guides.

The pleasant weather ensured strong involvement from members of our community, who enjoyed the festivities. Ringwood Lake hosts a number of events over the summer months and it was great to see so many members of our community enjoying today’s festivities.

2010 Australia Day Awards and Citizenship

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Australia Day is a significant event within Maroondah, with Council hosting a Citizenship Ceremony and the Australia Day Awards at Karralyka Centre. In addition, Council provides a barbecue and bands at Ringwood Lake for the afternoon.

As the Mayor of Maroondah, I officiated the proceedings this morning, as we announced the recipients of the Australia Day Awards and welcomed 37 new citizens in Maroondah. The Australia Day Awards provide an opportunity for the City of Maroondah to recognise service within our community and consist of three categories:

Maroondah Event of the Year
Maroondah Citizen of the Year
Maroondah Young Citizen of the Year

We were fortunate to receive a significant number of nominations this year across each of the categories and each participant reflects the strong sense of community that we are fortunate to possess within the City of Maroondah.

Likewise, the citizenship ceremony enables Council to welcome new citizens in Maroondah, each of whom were extremely delighted to have now been declared Australian Citizens. Citizenship Ceremonies are one of the most enjoyable council functions, as it is provides a welcome to new members of our community.

It is an absolute delight as Mayor to be able to welcome these new Australians, as well as to congratulate the many people who contribute to the wellbeing of our community.

One of the projects I discussed as part of my inaugural speech as Mayor was the need to discuss the values we hold as a member of the Maroondah Community and events like today help demonstrate just how important it is to maintain a sense of community within our municipality.

The City of Maroondah holds regular Citizenship Ceremonies throughout the year, providing an opportunity to welcome these new residents within our community.

Media Release: Outstanding citizens recognised for Australia Day

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It just wouldn’t be Australia Day in Maroondah without recognising some of our community’s most valued citizens.

Mayor of Maroondah, Cr Alex Makin, said he was looking forward to presenting Australia Day Awards at a special ceremony on 26 January. Awards will be presented to Maroondah’s Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, and Community Event of the Year.

“Australia Day is an opportunity for all of us to take pride in our citizenship and reflect on the meaning and importance of being Australian,” Cr Makin said.

“It will be a pleasure to recognise the contributions of Maroondah residents to the community during Council’s annual Australia Day awards,” Cr Makin said.

Australia Day in Maroondah is again shaping as a fun-filled affair with a range of activities on offer for the entire family.

The action gets under way between 11am and 2pm at Ringwood Lake Soundshell with a flag raising ceremony to mark our national day.

Head on down and enjoy a free community barbecue & childrens activities including art workshops, animal farm, jumping castle and face painting.

And there’s plenty of entertainment on offer throughout the early afternoon, with a live performance by the Ringwood Folk Band and a childrens stage act.

Media Release: Maroondah to welcome 37 new citizens on Australia Day

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The City of Maroondah is preparing to welcome 37 of Australia’s newest citizens during a special ceremony on Tuesday 26 January.

Mayor of Maroondah, Cr Alex Makin, said Maroondah was home to people from countries around the world. He welcomed the opportunity to meet those who had decided to become Australian citizens on Australia Day.

“Australia Day is an opportunity for all of us to take pride in our citizenship and reflect on the meaning and importance of being Australian,” Cr Makin said.

“On Australia Day, Maroondah is set to welcome new citizens from countries including India (10 people), Myanmar (seven people), and China (five people) – a reflection of our ever-growing cultural diversity,” Cr Makin said.

“Through citizenship we can all celebrate our democratic values and commitment to a fair go, equality, freedom of speech and religion, and the rule of law,” Cr Makin said.

Maroondah residents making the citizenship pledge on Australia Day will be among 16,000 others taking part in naturalisation ceremonies across the country.

The Maroondah Australia Day Awards ceremony will kick start Australia Day celebrations at 10am at the Karralyka Centre, Mines Rd, Ringwood East. The awards will be followed by Maroondah’s Citizenship Ceremony.

Maroondah’s Australia Day Ambassador Dr Hass Dellal will address the audience during the awards ceremony.

Dr Dellal is executive director of the Australian Multicultural Foundation. He has over 20 years experience in policy, management, community development and programming for cultural diversity. Dr Dellal has extensive experience nationally and internationally in multicultural affairs and serves on various committees, spearheading initiatives for the development of the general community.

Elsewhere, the local highlight of our national day will take place at Ringwood Lake from 11am to 2pm. Bring the family along to celebrate what makes Australia great and enjoy a free barbecue, face painting and community activities.

Eastern Volunteers – Multicultural Spring Festival

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Eastern Volunteers is a not-for-profit community based organisation that provides volunteer recruitment and transport services for the frail aged and people with disabilities.

The organisation is preparing a number of events over the course of this year to strengthen volunteering within our community, including a Multicultural Spring Festival at Ringwood Lake.

As a board member of Eastern Volunteers I have been chairing the Festival’s working group, which is charged with seeking sponsorship and organising the event.

For further information please visit www.easternvolunteers.org.au.

Maroondah Journal: bid to restore cottage

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The Ringwood Miner’s Cottage, a reminder of Ringwood’s history with antimony mining, was tragically destroyed by arsonists on the 20th of November.

The Maroondah Journal has reported on the aftermath of the cottage’s destruction and council’s efforts to date:

Mayor Alex Makin said discussions between the council and the historical society would take place early next year.

Maroondah Council will be considering options to restore the cottage in consultation with the Ringwood and Croydon Historical Societies. This will ensure that any replacement to the cottage is relevant to Ringwood’s history, as well as being prominent and accessible to the wider community.

“These discussions will also consider the location of the building to ensure it has greater viability and accessibility. Unfortunately there’s little that remains of Ringwood’s history and it’s therefore critical that we have some ability to recollect and remember the past.”

It is imperative that Ringwood’s history is accessible to the wider community so that we can appreciate our local history.

“The destruction of the miner’s cottage demonstrates the need for our community to assess the values we hold and to demonstrate that unacceptable and destructive behaviour will not be tolerated.”

We have the right to expect that our history will be valued by everyone within our community. Discussions need to be started around civic pride so that we can demonstrate that such behaviour is not acceptable within our community.