Australia Day Celebrations to Bring Community Together

From 8.00am, the Lions Club will put on its traditional community breakfast followed by the City of Melville running its Australia Day citizenship and awards ceremonies at 9.00am.

There will also be a flag-raising ceremony and guard of honour by the Bull Creek-Leeming Scouts, music from the Leeming Community Band as well as face painting by the Bateman Star Guides, kite flying demonstrations by Michael Alvaez and a rope bridge for children.

Mayor Russell Aubrey said it was an event for the whole community. “Australia Day is a day of celebration and it is wonderful we have again been able to combine our Australia Day festivities with the Lions Club of Bull Creek’s traditional community breakfast,” he said. “Holding our events together allows residents from across the City of Melville to come together at one venue to celebrate what is great about Australia and being Australian.”

The day will start with the Lions Club of Bull Creek putting on a free community barbecue breakfast, made possible through the support from the Council and local businesses and community groups, including the State Emergency Service.

Formal proceedings will begin at 9.00am at the rotunda with a flag-raising ceremony and guard of honour. The City of Melville will then welcome 30 new Australians at the citizenship ceremony. The City of Melville will give each new citizen a gift pack, including a City of Melville calico bag, an Australian desk flag, a CD of Australian National Anthem versions as well as information on Australian traditions and Council services.

Mayor Aubrey said the Council would also present its 2008 Citizen and Community Group of the Year Awards at the event. “These awards provide an opportunity for us to publicly acknowledge outstanding citizens and community groups who have been nominated by friends, family or colleagues for the contribution they have made to the community,” he said. “They reflect the kinds of values we, as Australians, value and wish to foster.”

Centennial Park is on the corner of Parry Avenue and Benningfield Road, Bull Creek. For more details about the breakfast contact Cr Rasa Subramaniam on 9332 7036.

After the morning’s celebrations, residents are encouraged to head to Wireless Hill Park where the WA Bush Poets and Yarn Spinners Association will present its 13^th Annual Bush Poetry Showcase, starting at 1.30pm. It will be an afternoon of Australian rhyming poetry presented by many of the best bush poets in Western Australia. For more information, phone Brian Langley on 9361 3770.