Hi, we are really looking forward to saying hello to everyone as we resume our action packed Friday program. It has been great to get some phone calls and emails from our regulars already.

This year we will be running a similar program to last year - but with a few tweaks to the timing of things, so please note …

Community Gardening/SHEd

From 10am, come along and join Clare and Corrado outside as they work to improve our lovely grounds. Over the year you will have the opportunity to learn about growing and maintaining an urban orchard and vegetable garden, composting and pruning and how to save seeds, grow seedlings … all the things! And depending on interest, there is also the opportunity to work collectively on small scale projects in our community shed.

If you have passed by recently you will see that our raised garden beds will be looking for some love after a month of wild growing (the tomatoes definitely need staking!). And as always I am sure Clare has lots of creative plans for the year ... This is a great opportunity to meet local people. No need to enrol, just come along with your hat and gloves and join in.

Community Craft

From 10.30am we’ll be running our inside craft group - suitable for knitters and crocheters etc. We are always delighted to welcome new people of all abilities and skill levels to join in. Bring your own materials along if you’d like to work on your own project, or you can use our donated stash if you’d like to make things that we can sell to support the program. Again, no need to book, just come along and join in.

Community Lunch

At 12pm you can join us for a light lunch. We’ll come together to enjoy foods such as pasta bakes, soup, toasties etc. with a cup of tea or coffee and dessert, including fruit. This program is supported by our lovely friends at the Alphington CWA who donate amazing sweet and savoury home cooked dishes. Yum!

AAA Art in the Shed

For anyone needing to access all abilities programs, you can join Clare, Corrado and Hazel from 1-2pm for some arty fun. This program is tailored to the interests of participants. It costs $5 weekly, and you must book in for the term on our website. Please note that places are limited.

What a lovely, connected community we live in!

Another fabulous year of carol singing last night - Jan (our unflagging and entertaining host) and Jan (on piano for the first time) led a packed out Alphington Bowls Club audience through nearly every song in the ACC songbook once again. You never miss out on your favourite carol at this event - because they all get sung 🎵.

And it was just lovely to hear our local choir The Alphingtones perform. They sounded gorgeous.

Thanks David for your bagpiping … and Anne - always a powerhouse behind the scenes. And Mish for her running around! And Geoff (secret Santa business).

And everyone who comes along every year and contributes by leading a carol etc.

These carols have been running for around 40 years … and have been hosted at the Scout Hall, in the outdoor amphitheatre at Kate’s house (1 View Street) and now at Alphington Bowls Club. Last night I heard someone say they typed up the original songbook! Amazing.

And we raised about $275 through our gold coin donations. This year we’ll support some people doing it tough through The Salvos.

Merry Christmas.

If you are here this week and would like to contribute to our solar light project please put your hand up and we’ll give you the materials to make one! We’d love you to contribute.

Oyr little hill of dreams is coming along now, with lots more lights added this week.

Hi,

Kalimna here. I just wanted to say a big thank you to the many supporters and volunteers that brought the Christmas Makers Market together.

This year we were supported by Nelson Alexander with local billboards, Brenta Meats with great sausages to sell, the Ivanhoe Rotary Club volunteers wrangled the BBQ and the Alphington Open Studios artists shared their wonderful works inside.

We would also like to thank our own volunteers like Marie-Louise, Elaine, Monika and Anne who looked after our new kiosk and the craft and preserves sales. And Cheryl and Richard who helped out with kids activities.

There were stalls raising funds for various charities and causes this year - which we love supporting. These included Friends of Baucau coffee sales, CWA craft, fundraising for Ivanhoe Grammar’s Cambodia community service trip and Manu’s fundraising to support children in India.

And lastly thank you to all the stall holders - we hope you enjoyed the day.

There were lots of shoppers and the market provided many great Christmas gifts to the people that visited from our community.

It is fabulous to be able to support locals to shop locally.

Join us on Friday 15 December for Christmas lunch at ACC. We’ll have a cold buffet of ham and chicken and salads, with a selection of Christmas desserts - including fruit and mince tarts, shortbreads etc. We’ll have it in our garden - weather permitting. It is always so lovely to catch up with everyone! Let us know if you plan to make it by emailing here. You can of course always just drop in … but a general sense of who is coming will help us with catering!

And a lucky door prize to win (just for coming along!) … and we’ll also have a visit from Santa.

We hope you can make it.

ALSO

Don’t forget that Christmas Carols are on again! Sing your heart out at Alphington Bowls Club - from 7pm on Sunday 17 December. A gold coin donation will go to a charity. Thanks once again to our wonderful community organisers for this event - and the Alphingtones Choir members who step up to lead the singing and keep us all vaguely in tune and in time!