Celebration to be a Christmas cracker

THIS December the town of Buninyong will come alive with Christmas spirit with the help of a grant from the State Government.

Member for Eureka, Michaela Settle, was at the Buninyong Men’s Shed on Tuesday to announce $28,000 in funding from the Tiny Towns Fund.

The annual Buninyong Christmas Festival unites locals in both its set-up and the event itself, and Ms Settle said this is what makes it special.

“It’s really about bringing community together and I think what is particularly special about this project is not only does the outcome bring everyone together in the fabulous Christmas festival, but getting it done is a whole of community effort,” she said.

“The Men’s Shed are going to be building a lot of the secret shapes that you’ll see around Buninyong but of course it’s also been driven by the Buninyong Community Events Inc.”

The event will include 12 dioramas, constructed by the members of the Men’s Shed and decorated by local artists, as well as a township treasure map and a Christmas box.

There will also be the shopping night, village Christmas market, carollers, and a visit from Santa and his elves.

“Buninyong Community Events is all about bringing the community together and we have so many different groups that are involved in this specific project,” said Buninyong Community Events Inc president Lisa Cressey.

“It’s lots of different little components for lots of age groups.”

Buninyong Men’s Shed vice-president Ross Hellman said it is critical to keep organisations like it alive.

“We always help around Christmas time. If you’ve seen the elves around the time, we’ve built those,” he said.

“We have people that donate a lot of stuff to us, and we help a lot of elderly ladies that may want a little bit repaired.”