On Thursday 22 January, hundreds of locals flocked to Queens Park for Healesville Connect’s annual Twilight Picnic.
It was smiles galore as attendees of all ages cheered on a cacophony of races and happily wiped the grease of free sausage sizzled snags from their mouths.
Co-Founder of Healesville Connect Jo Bracken said, “The event was perfect.”
People turned up in droves, and it went without a hitch, so I am really pleased,” she said.
The event’s free petting farm was a major highlight, with rabbits, guinea pigs, chooks, lambs and baby goats with safe, tennis ball-clad horns all joining in the fun.
Several novelty races, including the mighty egg and spoon and sack races, were taken very seriously by children and adults alike.
Jo said, “Along with the children, even the parents competed and got really into it, especially the young fathers.”
“Older people also came along and had a cheer and watched the kids muck about,” Jo said.
Fun aside, a number of standby lolly bags were quickly called into action to quell the tears of those who weren’t too familiar with the concept of losing.
On top of the petting farm, sausage sizzle and novelty races, there were musical and theatrical performances from the Hills Act and duo Claire and Sam, a smoke ceremony, a coffee van, a raffle for the Healesville Toy Library, which raised $419, line dancing, free ice cream, and many community information stores dotted around the park.
The SES and CFA were also in attendance, along with a big red fire truck that was quite popular with the youth.
Jo said, “It was really great to have so many free activities available for everyone.”
“The Lions Club did a sterling job of cooking the barbecues.”
“There were almost 400 sausages to cook, so it was a very efficient system, and there were plenty of sausages to go around,” she said.
Albeit a little worn out from Thursday’s shenanigans, Jo is delighted with the outcome of this year’s Twilight Picnic and looks forward to planning the next one.
“We wanted to do as much as we could with the grant money the council gave us, and I think we did a great job,” Jo said.
“It was really good to have other community groups that weren’t a part of our committee come along and help out.”
