A Saturday afternoon party, nothing out of the ordinary . . . except it was.
The first of its kind in Donald, a community Christmas party – all welcome, bring a plate.
Born out of a desire to reach out to newcomers to our community, particularly those who are a globe away from their families, Donald local, Ruzel Mansibang, had an idea last year. What if your new community family celebrated Christmas with you?
Gathering with family and friends is a lynchpin of Filipino culture, and Ruzel was eager to expand this loving welcome to all locals, particularly those without extended family nearby.
Funding many of the party items herself, months of planning was needed and Ruzel was eager to point out that it couldn’t have happened without the help of her support network and the Wimmera Filipino Australian Group. MC Bryan Echivaria in particular helped to conceptualise the event, teaching the dance number and the portrayal of children’s nativity scene, adding colour and culture to the day.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it by myself,” she said.
“I’d like to say thank you to Glenn Sumahit, Maricor Borden, Jane Dyer, Josh Canoy, Loise Sale, Nestor John and Corazon Stopps.
“And the Buloke Shire too; they were very supportive of the event”.
So Saturday came and locals arrived with plates in hand. The resulting buffet offered an outstanding array of food with roots from India, Nepal, Cambodia, Venuatu, Sri Lanka, South Africa, England, Italy, Australia and Fiji and Venuatu. It was devoured by a guest list with roots from even more nations.
Tradition
Part of the Filipino tradition at many gatherings is to play party games, sing and perform, so plenty of laughter was heard throughout the afternoon as players were sought for “Mary goes to town”, “egg relay”, “trip to Jerusalem” (musical chairs to some), and a sack relay. The kids didn’t miss out either, with their own sack race and a very amusing game of “statue dance”.
Bryan Echivaria was the unflappable MC who corralled teams, danced and performed two musical numbers “karaoke style”. The party had a nativity play, sisters Shai and Kai dancing, and musical numbers by Reinhard Vix.
Staff from the Buloke Shire were eager to extend their own thank-you to the organisers of the event, clean-up was thorough and the park looked untouched – thank-you.
After the recent success of Donald’s first Multicultural Day, the Community Christmas Party is another strong showing of community strength and spirit.
Planning is already underway for next year’s event, and donations of party prizes have been pledged already. We can’t wait, Merry Christmas.
See all the photos in the issue.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 22 December 2023.
