We had a wonderful day enjoying the lovely gardens and meeting many nice people at the Fannie Bay Senior’s Village Open Garden Weekend!

On Saturday August 11th, Keep Moving, in the capable hands of Kelly Basnet, presented an excellent display of aids to assist those with arthritis and disabilities in their daily lives. McNeils Surgical also provided a number of similar aids which were displayed on Sunday August 12th. Stephanie Webster, a physiotherapist from the Movement for Life Physiotherapy Clinic, gave a really great and useful talk about safe gardening for seniors on both days. Her talks and demonstrations were backed up with a very good handout, which was also supported by AONT’s brochure and notes on Healthy Gardening Tips. Our Healthy Gardening Tips brochure is available to download or from our office (8948 5232). Please feel free to contact us if you would like a copy. We also provided attendees with the NTG’s Centre for Disease Control’s factsheet on Melioidosis as it is important that gardeners are aware of this bacteria.

Thanks go to Harrison’s Pharmacy for the raffle prize of a Gardener’s Care Kit and to Sue Dibbs, the Open Garden Co-ordinator, for donating the second prize of a pair of secateurs, specially designed to be kind on the hands.

We also greatly appreciate the donations of cakes and goodies which contributed towards the yummy spread already supplied by the Fannie Bay Senior’s Village and the members and friends of the NT Branch of Open Gardens Australia.

Last but not least, a special thanks goes to our very own volunteers, Alison Mclay, Ash Daly, Carolyn Marriott, Estelle Harris, Hilary Fowler, Janet Durling, Joan Kovich, Morgan Tilbrook, Nigel Green and Peter Brown and to the Darwin Patchworkers & Quilters members, Jenny and Tony Armour, Toni Gullifer and Bernadette Izod, for giving up their time to set up our display and spend time talking with people about arthritis, osteoporosis and associated musculo-skeletal conditions as well as to sell tickets for the Open Garden and the Quilt raffles.