Resident Interviews

Valerie Aristar first discovered the quaint village of Rushall Park when she was a child. It was another 60 years before she ‘found’ her way back. Valerie has called Rushall Park home for almost 11 years and this year took over as librarian after the retirement of her friend, Joan Hutton.

Mary Wallace is starting over at Currie Park OCAV’s village in Euroa. Her move to the village this year followed a few tough years that Mary doesn’t want to dwell on. She’s more interested in the future and what the next phase of her life at Currie Park has to offer. And so far so good.

Ann Greenwood might be a newcomer to OCAV’s Braeside Park village in Berwick, but in the art world, she has been admired as a textile artist for decades. Ann has spent much of her life telling stories and creating ideas using thread as her medium, firstly as a weaver and then as an embroiderer.

Age is no barrier to a lot of things – including social activism and two Rushall Park residents are evidence of the willingness of ageing Australians to try and make the world a better place.

Veronica Andrew takes seriously the old adage, ‘get back on your bike’. In recent years she has had some pretty serious falls and injuries but works hard to get herself up and riding again. She loves riding her adult tricycle around not just for the beneficial exercise, but for the chance to better see the people, places and gardens around her new home.

Most blokes love their shed. Now, a newly renovated Men’s Shed and workspace recently opened at OCAV’s Leith Park village, means men won’t have to give up their shed when they move into retirement. It’s important to a lot of the Leith Park men to be able to continue building and tinkering and Barry Lay is one of the residents who has made it possible.