Macedon Ranges mayor Jennifer Anderson shares her wishes for the festive season.
After almost two years of the pandemic separating families, friends and visitors to the Macedon Ranges, it is wonderful to be able to think about sharing our beautiful townships and surrounding natural environment with loved ones and tourists again.
The past years have been difficult for most people with many milestones passing without celebration. People have been separated from sharing the joy of special occasions such as the birth of grandchildren, special birthdays and family reunions. This has taken its toll on many in our community and I would like to thank everyone who has reached out to others to support them if they were having a difficult time through all the changes in restrictions and the need to isolate or work differently.
While meeting “virtually” has been a wonderful temporary measure for some, many making use of technology for the first time, nothing beats the reality and power of a face-to-face gathering and being able to see people’s emotions.
It has been a time when it was often easier to recognise people by their dog, as masks obscured faces, and new routines had to be created. Many took the opportunity to take up new activities, but I am well aware that for some the loss of motivation, particularly with group exercise and activities, meant a decline in both physical and mental health.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our community for its overall kindness and compassion towards others during this time. The added complexity of the June storm event made things all the harder to cope with. I have always known we have a community who gives so much to others to ensure everyone feels a sense of connection to where they live and to those around them. This capacity during the more difficult times of the pandemic and the storm event simply demonstrated this further.
As we move into 2022 our resolution should be to not take life for granted but to embrace every opportunity and cherish our moments with those we love and care for. Always be considerate of all you encounter, as what you say to them may just be the positive words they needed to keep them going, or the negative impact that tips them further into poorer mental health.
It has been a year like no other for our first time and returning councillors, where we have been restricted in our ability to get out and about and meet people. I would like to thank our chief executive, Mr Bernie O’Sullivan, all council staff and volunteers and councillors for working together to continue to provide great outcomes for our community, even if we had to continually change how we went about business due to restrictions.
On behalf of my fellow councillors I would like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year full of togetherness, joy and happiness.
