By JESSE GRAHAM
Community 3777 winds up after job well done…
AFTER 15 years of advocating for Healesville and a mammoth 150th celebration last year, Community 3777 are calling it a day.
That is, unless someone steps forward to take up the reins.
C3777 chair Kath Holton told the Mail last week that the group would be formally wrapping up at a special general meeting on Monday 17 August.
Ms Holton said the decision to finish up had been made about three years ago, but she and committee members Anne Jenkins and Jeanette McRae, decided to stick it out for Healesville’s 150th celebrations last year.
“Like all things have their time, and sometimes it’s hard to recognise when things have come to an end,” she said.
“And we struggled on in the last four, five years – it was only last year that motivated us to really hang in there and do something worthwhile for the whole town.
“But now that’s over and we haven’t got anything to work on – because we don’t meet just for meeting’s sake, we only meet if there’s something really constant to be working on.”
The group was instrumental in the Healesville 150th celebrations last year, which featured a full calendar of events run by community groups, culminating in a 1000-person parade down the town’s main street and a party in Queens Park.
C3777’s involvement in the celebrations earned the kudos of the Yarra Ranges Council earlier in the year, when the group and the Healesville 150th Committee received the Community Group of the Year award.
But Ms Holton said the group had been involved in a number of other projects in the past, from establishing Healesville’s welcome sign, to discussions in the past about re-locating the post office.
“It was actually (former McEwen MP) Fran Bailey who wanted to set up a group called Strategy 3777 – and a group of about 10, 15 people came together and took over the idea and called it Community 3777 and we’ve moved on from there,” she said.
“It all started over the relocation of the post office – some people might remember that – and also when Red Rooster wanted to come to town.
“(But) we haven’t focused on pot-holes and being grumpy with the shire and taking a reactive view – we always tried to be proactive and tried to build things up.”
C3777 also worked on the transformation of Healesville’s BMX track on Don Road, among many other projects, and featured members from community groups around the town.
The meeting will be the formal end to the group, Ms Holton said, but the door was being held open for other residents to get involved and take over.
“We’ve been a great group for groups, and so it’s been a great way of keeping those groups connected,” she said.
“We do need people to step up to be on the committee and to keep that network happening, and we’d love to see someone with a bit of new energy or a bit of a new take on how we run things.”
If the group finishes, primary school-aged children in Healesville will have a lasting memento of its work – commemorative badges presented to students during Healesville’s 150th year, organised by C3777 and the Healesville 150 steering committee.
If a member of the community was keen to take up the reins of the group, Ms Holton said they would need to have paid their annual $15 membership and be attending the upcoming meeting.
Ms Holton invited anyone with thoughts on the group winding up – or its future direction – to post on the Community 3777 Facebook page at www.facebook.com/c3777.
Community 3777’s final meeting will be held on Monday 17 August from 7pm at Healesville Indigenous Community Services Association (HICSA), 1A Badger Creek Road.
To RSVP, call Kath Holton on 0438 171 776 by 13 August.
