A Christmas message from our Mayor, Councillor Mike Symon

With Christmas fast approaching, it is time for families and friends to come together and enjoy the festive season and say goodbye to 2021.

This time of the year provides us with the opportunity to spread cheer and celebrate the joy of giving. It’s also a time to remember those in our community who are less fortunate and to extend goodwill wherever we can.

This Christmas, I encourage you to support local charitable organisations and give where you can, as I know many of you have been doing throughout this 2nd year of dealing with COVID-19.

After living through the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 21 months, I am looking forward to 2022 being a year where we can get back to enjoying the ordinary things we have been missing in our daily lives, and the events and celebrations that are often highlights of the year.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or other traditions, I’m sure many of us are ready for a break and reset after a long and frustrating year.

So, let’s make 2022 a year of reconnection with family, friends, community organisations and catching up with work colleagues as everyone of us looks forward to the return to normal life.

A great number of us will be travelling over the Christmas and New Year period, whether to see family and friends, or to take a holiday and I urge everyone to take extra care and to drive responsibly, in what will be a very busy and stressful time on our roads.

I am so pleased that we were able to host our Maroondah Carols event earlier this month. After nearly two years of not being able to host any large community events, it was wonderful to see so over 5000 people from our community venture out to participate in the fun and celebrate the occasion.

While our events calendar did not pan out the way we had planned this year, I for one am looking forward to focusing on some new and exciting events, including the launch of the 2022 Karralyka Theatre Season program in February.

We also received a range of entries in our 'Light Up Maroondah' Christmas house decorating competition from houses across the city who have really embraced the Christmas spirit. With more than 1000 votes in total the People's Choice Award winner for best Christmas lights display in Maroondah went to 50 Kincumber Drive, Croydon. Congratulations to the Koetsier family and thankyou for sharing your spectacular display with Maroondah and beyond. Our thanks go to all those who entered the Light Up Maroondah competition.

As our daily lives slowly return to normal, Council will continue to support our community as we re-engage and recover from the pandemic. If anyone in our community requires extra support at this time, I would urge them to please reach out to Council’s community support phone line, MaroondahConnect, on 1300 88 22 33. This is where residents can access a range of emotional, practical and social supports.

Local businesses have done it really tough over the past 2 years and I would encourage everyone to support our local traders and hospitality providers across Maroondah as they need our business now more than ever. Who knows, you might discover some hidden gems in your own neighbourhood that you haven’t visited before.

On behalf of my fellow Councillors and all the staff at Maroondah City Council, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and a safe, healthy and prosperous new year.

Cr Mike Symon

Mayor of Maroondah