MPC turns 70… Community Spirit flourishes…

The very early morning of the kindy’s 70^th Birthday Party finally arrived, along with almost gale force winds. Would the inflatable children’s rides be okay to inflate? Power was also lost for a short time and the Popcorn machine wasn’t working! All problems found a solution thanks to an early call for help from skilled ‘friends’ of MPC and parents and staff members thinking ‘outside the box’ to problem-solve.

As Emma-Kate, current MPC Committee President said, “The party was an enormous success! The event was buzzing all day with very happy parents and children. The three politicians who attended on the day (thank you Andrew Wines, Mark Furner and Julian Simmonds) were blown away by the turnout we had and the overall community spirit you could feel. It was so lovely seeing people from the past, present and future of MPC.”

Everyone had their own special moments. For some it was patting an alpaca and sliding down the giant slide, others enjoyed playing the old wooden games and finding themselves in historical photos. The disco was surprisingly popular along with face painting and tattoos. The sausage sizzle and other treat food sustained (and hyped, I’m sure) adults and children alike.

For me, the joy was in the little moments. Parents racing home to get popcorn makers and to the shop for more sausages; being greeted by a Tawny Frogmouth who watched the fun from a fence for a few hours; being surprised by seeing many old faces, both children and parents, and hearing their stories; having older MPC children offering to ‘give the adults a break’ with putting on tattoos; seeing a child proudly show his parent the ‘bit’ of the ceramic mural tree he made and knowing that Chris and the staff team would pick up the ball that I had to drop a few days prior.

Events like the 70^th Anniversary Celebration take enormous effort by an enormous number of people. What’s the measure of success? How do you measure community spirit? Is it seeing the enjoyment on so many faces on the day? Is it the number of past families who were keen to see the ever-evolving changes and past teachers? Is it the current parent thanking a past parent and midwife for recommending MPC? Is it the stories beginning with, “Do you remember…?” Whatever the measure is, we had it in bucket loads!

As stated on the front of the Commemorative Booklet, which you are welcome to pop in and collect, MPC’s 70 year history is filled with stories of many, many dedicated men and women who worked hard and made ‘things’ happen for the benefit of many children. Long live community spirit!

PS. Our amazing birthday cake was made by one of our past parents – Sarah Campling whose 4 children all attended MPC!