By Jed Lanyon
Healesville’s Monda Lodge is celebrating Christmas by creating a nativity scene for residents to enjoy.
The inspiration for the nativity scene came on Christmas Eve last year when lifestyle coordinator Filidea DiBianco asked residents, ‘What does Christmas mean to you?’
“One resident said she missed putting up a nativity scene with her family and that she enjoyed seeing the nativity scene when visiting church,” Ms DiBianco said.
From October, staff and residents have been busy putting together their own nativity scene based entirely on donations.
“I incorporated it into our activities and I went around to residents and gave everyone the vision of what we were doing.
“Residents who don’t usually come out of their rooms started collecting newspapers for paper-mache.
“Another resident who was a carpenter, he collected palings for the stable and it just snowballed from there.
“It was a labour of love and everything was donated. It’s come together with a lot of help from the residents.”
The residents celebrated the unveiling of the nativity scene with the Healesville community choir, who sang for the occasion.
“I hope the residents can take away the real meaning of Christmas,” Ms DiBianco said.
Plans for next year’s theme are already set as Ms DiBianco said they are hoping to turn their donkey into a Rudolf to lead Father Christmas’ sleigh.
