With Santa’s reindeer still a no show and the sleigh unable to power itself, it was a Hino tilt tray to the rescue for the Moulamein present run. A generous donation started after Heather Theodoulou witnessed the biggest flood on record isolating the town.

Heather committed to buy every child in Moulamein a present. 142 presents later and her dream to fill a trailer had grown, filling a portable building strapped to the back of a tilt tray.

Reluctant to be in the spotlight, Heather’s husband David claimed to be more of a Santa’s helper than the big guy himself.

“It was really all Heather’s idea,” said David.

“She chased around and got donations and purchased gifts.

“It was a lot of work for her more so than me, I was just the lacky.”

David and friend, George, had left Melbourne at 6am with the load destined for Moulamein.

“I’ve been coming up here for years,” said David.

“It’s been a great pleasure for us; we’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

The presents were dropped at the Moulamein Rural Fire Service shed and the meticulously labelled and categorised presents are being distributed across the flood effected community.

Early reports from children who couldn’t wait for the big day suggest that the presents exceeded expectations! All these happy faces and Christmas cheer generated from the kind hearted work of a woman who had visited the town once more than 50 years ago.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 22 December 2022.