Seniors Day Out
St. Mark’s offers many ministries for our elderly parishioners – as well as visitation to the housebound and the St Mark’s Over 50’s club who meet weekly at Mercy Hall for friendship and Bingo, the parish also organizes bus trips two to three times a year for the more mobile parishioners to enjoy fellowship and a social activity. All these ministries help combat the feelings of isolation and loneliness that many of our senior parishioners experience.
The coordinating team member of the Care and Concern ministry of the parish, Mrs. Doris Heffernan who herself is in her senior years, makes all the necessary arrangements for the bus trips. The last excursion was on Thursday, January 17th 2019.
We were twenty, in all, for the day and were there at the parish ready for the day out well ahead of time. This time the presence of Fr. Peter Bang SVD our Assistant Parish Priest was very much appreciated.
The trip began at around 9.00 am heading towards Noela’s Garden, located near the coastal holiday village of Donnybrook. This beautiful 10 acre garden is meticulously created and maintained by John & Noela – two hardworking, friendly and hospitable people. When we arrived, Neola was at the gate to welcome us with a broad smile and she served us a delightful morning tea with a number of delicious homemade cakes and
pastries which she herself made. After a relaxing hour under the fan over an enjoyable morning cuppa, the couple then took us for a tour of the garden. In spite of the scorching heat of the sun the luscious greenery, the beautiful plants and shrubs and flowers of various kinds cooled our minds and delighted our eyes. We were out in the open for more than hour so we rested a while before moving on to our next destination.
The second part of our tour was to the Historical Village at Caboolture, where we also had our lunch. It is the largest tourist attraction in the region, with over 70 buildings, and more than 110,000 museum pieces. Visitors are first welcomed at the Visitors Centre and then from there they can step out into the Village of yesteryear. The street with the old post office, barber, butcher and general store etc definitely brought back memories of bygone years for most in the group. There was so much to see in this historical village including exhibitions from the Queensland Prison’s Museum, the old Caboolture Hospital, the historical St. Lawrence Anglican Chapel, several small cottages that were moved from various sites around Caboolture, the old Caboolture Railway Station, and a popular exhibit with models of ships from the First Fleet to arrive in Sydney in 1788. We were free to move around the village at our own pace but were asked to be seated in the bus by 3.00pm to make our way back home.
Content with the experiences of the day and thanking God for the wonderful day we had with one another, we truly were a happy crowd, as we reached back the parish at 4.30 pm.
May God bless us all and our parish!
Sr. Philo SSpS
