A free ride in a specially decorated Christmas tram is just one more reason to come to town and absorb something of the spirit of the festive season.  

Other features of the city’s festive garb include light projections on landmark buildings, the State Library of Victoria and St Paul’s Cathedral.  Melbourne Town Hall will be ‘gift wrapped’, Flinders Street Station will showcase giant presents and the Docklands pillars will light up with Christmas carols.  An exploration of the city’s famous hidden laneways will reward you with decorations representations of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and if you are looking for a chance to be caught under the mistletoe make for the Southbank pedestrian bridge.

In decking the bridge with mistletoe is the Melbourne City Council hoping to see a mass indulgence in the ancient Kissing under the Mistletoe tradition or should we expect an appearance from teen idol Justin Bieber?  The much awarded Canadian 17-year-old’s recent album Under the Mistletoe shot to number one immediately after its release last month.  So if you visit the mistletoe-decked Southbank pedestrian bridge, you might like to sing along:

It’s the most beautiful time of the year

Lights fill the streets spreading so much cheer

I should be playing in the winter snow

But I’mma be under the mistletoe…

(You’ll be thrilled to know that you can install Bieber’s ‘Mistletoe’ as a ring tone on your mobile phone!)

•  To all our readers we send warm wishes for a happy and safe festive season and an active, healthy and fulfilling 2012.  Our first issue for 2012 will be published on 3 February.

Held at the Koornang United Church as part of Victorian Seniors Festival, the annual Leighmoor Tea Dance is a highlight event for clients, carers and families of the Leighmoor Centre Uniting Aged Care day centre in Moorabbin.
Co-ordinators Mary Ann DeSa and Sylvie Berchick say that the Tea Dance is a greatly anticipated event each year. “It is an opportunity for the community to socialise and have some fun participating in the singing and dancing.”
Now in its seventh year, the event is open to the public thus involving community members from the surrounding area. Live entertainment came from ‘Jamband’ playing old time favourites, one-man band Ron Mayne, as well as a Bollywood performance.
The Bollywood performance by Ignite Bollywood Dance Company was a special highlight. The company performs in the community, provides lessons to all and entertains at nursing homes.
“The great thing about their performance on the day was the interaction with the guests, their colourful costumes, uplifting and energetic music and their lovely disposition with all the seniors,” says Sylvie Berchick.

Victorian Seniors Festival 2011 gets off to a rollicking start with launch day festivities at Federation Square on Sunday 2 October from 10.30am to 4pm.  Catch some great acts including The Bushwackers. The Silver Grove Swingtet and the Louisiana Shakers on the main stage; explore the entertaining and informative world of University of the Third Age (U3A); find out about the many organisations that exist to make life easier and more fulfilling for seniors; and join the audience or become a participant in activities and performances from older Victorians who love to dance, keep fit and have fun.  And don’t forget to visit us at the Fifty-Plus News booth on the upper terrace at Fed Square to the right as you face the main stage.

The Festival Hub at Lower Melbourne Town Hall will also open on Sunday 2 October and remain a centre for entertainment throughout the Festival.  Open from 10am to 4.30pm daily until 9 October, the Hub is the free festival club and you’ll find concerts, talks, music and travel sessions going on there at all times.  It’s a place to relax with a cuppa and enjoy what organisers have provided for your entertainment.

The Festival Hub is also the venue for a couple of stand-out exhibitions: the Down South Exhibition, which focuses on Australian tradespeople who have taken the great adventure of a term (or more) of service to Australian Antarctic expeditions, providing essential skills to assist research scientists to complete their tasks; and the Evergreen Faces exhibition.

Evergreen Faces Photo exhibition (one of the finalists pictured above) presents the finalists in a competition run by communications company Evergreen Advertising and Marketing to challenge photographers to capture older people ‘Getting Out and About’ in images that celebrate the real story — that seniors are not a weight around society’s neck, but an inspiration to the community to enjoy life to the full in a thousand different ways.

Your chance to win $500

The Evergreen Faces Photo Exhibition has a People’s Choice Award.  Visit The Festival Hub, view the exhibition and choose your favourite image for a chance to win the $500 People’s Choice Award prize.  Or you can view the finalists on page 12 of this issue of Fifty-Plus News, fill out the voting coupon on the opposite page to make your selection and send it in for your chance to win that $500.  The photos are also available for viewing and voting online at www.evergreenfaces.com.au Voting closes on 9 October.

Make sure you have your festival program, available at Coles Supermarkets and on line at www.seniorsonline.vic.gov.au and have a wonderful Festival.

The Bushwackers, the band that had thousands of Melburnians bush dancing in the 1970s and 80s, celebrates its fortieth year in 2011, the International Year of Bush Dancing.  What better year to be a headline act for Victorian Seniors Festival?

Dobe Newton, the Bushwackers’ front man known for his ‘distinctive’ taste in suits, is this year’s cover boy for the Seniors Festival program.  He joined the band in 1972, so is a real stayer among a band personnel that has seen many changes over the years.

With some 25 studio and live albums to its credit, the band that had its origins at LaTrobe University 40 years ago is still winning awards, the latest being induction into the Galaxy of Stars at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2010.

The Bushwackers, whose current line up includes Roger Corbett, Mark Oats, Clare O’Meara, Michael Vidale, Ben Corbett and drummer Adrian Cannon in addition to Dobe Newton, will be one of the star acts performing on the main stage at Federation Square on the opening day of Victorian Seniors Festival, Sunday 2 October.

Sunday launch day at Federation Square (pictured below) will see non-stop entertainment on the main stage as well as displays, information, and performances from older Victorians.   A special focus of the day will be the Be Inspired! campaign led by leading aged and community care providers to promote positive ageing.  Be inspired as you witness racing legends and senior Victorians behind the wheel of a convoy of high performance cars roaring into Federation Square to launch the festival.

Don’t forget to visit the Fifty-Plus News booth at Fed Square from 10.30am to 4pm on 2 October.

You can pick up your copy of the festival program with Dobe Newton on the cover, at Coles supermarkets, libraries, council offices, neighbourhood houses and various community and seniors’ organisations.  It can also be downloaded from the new Victorian government website for seniors: www.seniorsonline.vic.gov.au, or call Seniors Information Victoria, 1300 135 090.

More about Victorian Seniors Festival inside this issue of Fifty-Plus News. Download the full issue from the left menu.

March 1991 saw the first edition of Fifty-Plus News published with an initial print run of under 20,000 copies which has grown to 60,000, a circulation that has grown at the request of Victoria’s seniors.  We now deliver copies to 1251 locations throughout the state.

You will note that our first issue headlined the birth of the Victorian Seniors Card, so congratulations are also due to successive governments and businesses who have supported the card that was introduced to be “a visible demonstration of the recognition and regard that both the Victorian Government and Victorian business have for the contribution of older citizens of this State” (Mrs Caroline Hogg, Minister in the Kirner Government at the launch of the Victorian Seniors Card).

To coincide with our significant birthday we have included a survey sheet in this issue.  Complete the survey on page 12 (download the March issue from the left sidebar), have your say about your newspaper and win a set of beautiful Jason tablemats and coasters.