by Gabriella Vukman
On Saturday May 11, the Healesville Senior Citizens club will be the hub for some ‘Brown Jug Polka’ and ‘Heel and toe’ jigging and jiving.
To raise money for refugees, locals are throwing a Bush Dance for the public equipped with violins, guitars, cellos and more.
The antics are scheduled to commence at 6:30pm with a donation upon entry and anyone is welcome.
Local music teacher and Bush Dance organiser Sally Banks said, “Come along and have some fun and bring your friends and family. The thing about a bushdance is that all ages fit.”
Sally has been organising bush dances in the Yarra Valley for almost fifteen years.
Sally said, “One of the reasons I’ve done bush dances in the past is to give my students the opportunity to play in a community event which is always enjoyable and a great way to involve the family.”
“I am a member of the Rural Australians for Refugees club (RAR) and they were talking about fundraising and I thought ‘We can do a bushdance.’ The idea of a bush dance which is very community-oriented seemed to suit the ‘RAR’.”
“I thought ‘that will be easy, I’ve got that down to a fine art’ and then I rang up my friend, the caller guitarist and sound man and he said that he was retiring. It has taken three people to replace him but we’ve managed it,” Sally said.
Healesville author, psychologist and ex-refugee Dr Bob Rich will also be attending the Bush Dance.
Bob said, “I came to Australia when I was thirteen. I was a refugee. I was born in Hungary.”
“I had an ongoing war with my stepfather. In 1956, there was a hole in the iron curtain about a million Hungarians escaped. My uncle organised the escape and my stepfather gave him some gold and jewels for my upkeep in case something happened to my family and they couldn’t come.”
“The truck came, my stepfather paid the driver off and told him to go and kept the rest of the family behind,” Bob said.
Proceeds from the Bush dance will go towards housing refugees through the Brigidines catholic order.
Bob said, “There are something like 10,000 refugees. 10,000 of these poor people who have been cast loose, with nowhere to live, not allowed to earn money, no medicare, they have to live off charity.”
Bush dance attendees are encouraged to bring a plate to share and tea and coffee will be provided.
Sally said, “My experience with doing concerts in Kensington for years is that you get a better response if it is donations rather than an entry fee. It gets people to think about what they are going to give.”
