Terence Moyana

Volunteering leads to fun, friendship and funds raised for charity

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The Lawn Bowls Bar has long been a hub for community connection at Seachange Arundel. Now it is a place where residents can contribute their time and skills, with a total of 25 volunteers attaining Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) qualifications that allow them to run the bar and simultaneously raised much-needed funds for local charities. Volunteer Bar Manager, Howard Wallace, who has been living at the resort for five years, said “community spirit truly comes alive at our venue”. “A lot of those working the bar love it because they get to know other people in the community. It’s a great way to connect. People rally around. It’s a very social community and everyone wants to do something,” said Howard, who has managed the bar for two years. As a function venue, the Lawn Bowls Bar has raised more than $10,000 for various charities as well as hosted welfare seminars with information from hospitals, legal advice on wills, first aid and many other subjects.

 

“Pre-COVID19, we could have up to 400 people at a function, however, now we must restrict numbers,” he said. “Two of the largest events of the year were functions to raise money for breast cancer, which last year saw more than $3000 raised, and for prostate cancer in November, which resulted in donations of $8000.” Funds raised from the bar contribute to a large proportion of administration costs, various community events, regular activities, and to the Home Owners Association (HOA). HOA president Marjorie Gerlinger said “we are so fortunate to have an amazing group of volunteers who put a huge amount of time and effort into organising and running all that goes on, and it is a lot. Without those volunteers we wouldn’t be able to provide a small fraction of what we are able to offer our residents.”

 

 

Meet and greets are held once a month for new people, with events organised throughout the year, plus 38 regular activities available for residents. Anzac Day is also huge at Seachange Arundel with about 400 of the 700-odd residents expected to attend various activities throughout the resort. Coming up is the Seachange’s Got Talent show in April with two sold out performances, regular travel shows and a sold-out Olivia Newton-John History Show in May. In fact, currently with restricted numbers all events and shows are sell-outs!

 

Meet our Toowoomba Community manager – Leisa Porter

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Leisa Porter spent two years as community manager at Seachange Emerald Lakes but in November the call of family drew her back to her home city of Toowoomba. She took up the position of community manager at Seachange Toowoomba in November, joined by husband Rodger, as facilities manager, and Ziggy the (cavoodle) as site manager, she joked! “We originally come from Toowoomba and we made the move back here mainly for family and the love of the country feel,” Leisa said. “Two of our children, Nikohl and Kieran live in Toowoomba and Lauren lives not far away in Brisbane. Our four grandchildren also live here with two COVID babies, Flynn and Evi, born last year. “I also wanted to be closer to my parents, especially as my father fell ill last year.”

 

The couple transformed their lives a few years ago. Rodger had been a FIFO worker for many years and the couple decided it was time for a career change. They bought a caravan and both did a Certificate III in Tourism and went on to manage a residential and tourist resort on the Sunshine Coast for three years. “We had been apart for so long we decided we wanted to work together. It was pretty funny because I’d been working in admin since I was 15, and Rog was a mechanical engineer. So I worked in the office and he worked in the field,” Leisa said. “We complemented each other, and the arrangement proved to be quite successful.”

 

At Seachange Emerald Lakes they lived above the community centre and Leisa said had ‘a wonderful time’ getting involved with the community and running different activities. “Because I’m from Toowoomba, the flower city, I started the first Flower Fest there. What I found on the Gold Coast was it was all palm trees and greenery, but no flowers,” she said. “So I started the Flower Fest and it was a real highlight for me because it was during COVID and the residents had a lot of fun creating different things. It gave them a purpose and something to do. I’m pretty sure they bought out all the flowers in Bunnings. “Toowoomba is different to Emerald Lakes, which is a fully completed resort. The community here is still growing so I am actually working across sales and community management. “And because of Roger’s engineering skills, he’s enjoying watching it develop and liaising with different contractors on the site, and of course Ziggy is the site supervisor and goes to work with Rog every day.”

 

 

Leisa has big plans for community events at Seachange Toowoomba starting with a flower display to rival any in the city during the September Festival of Flowers. “I’m hoping to get the residents involved to do a display at the grand entrance at the front gates. I want people to drive past here and wonder what’s behind the gates. We may not pull it off this year, but it’s definitely on the cards.” She also plans to introduce yoga classes and “Guess who’s coming to dinner” with residents hosting dinner parties and guests they possibly don’t know attending. “No one knows where they are going for dinner or, if you are the host, who will be coming. It’s a great way to meet new people and get new residents mingling with the existing residents. It’s lovely that the residents can have conversations with people they might never have spoken to before and it’s a great community building exercise,” she said.

 

She has already organised a fashion parade with a designer who designs for the over 50s market and there’s plans for more. “There will definitely be a full calendar of events,” she said. “The community spirit here is high and, as we are still growing, it is only going to get stronger.”

 

A Seachange change is as good as a holiday

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You know you are doing something right when your buyers love the Seachange lifestyle so much they move from one resort to another. That’s exactly what Matty and David Flavel did when they moved from Seachange Emerald Lakes, where they had lived for two-and-a-half years, to Seachange Riverside Coomera. “We were drawn to the community at Emerald Lakes and all it had to offer but then we decided Coomera was for us in terms of the more rural-like setting, as opposed to the Lakes’ more cosmopolitan one,” Matty said.

 

And while they’ve now also been living in Coomera for two-and-a-half years, it doesn’t mean they will be going anywhere else any time soon. “No, we’re not planning on another move … this is it … we like it here too much,” David said. One of the main drawcards, according to Matty, was the thriving community literally on the doorstep and especially having people they can rely on and friends they can relax with. “The concept and the facilities are fantastic. We love the lifestyle, that it’s on the river and it offers an incredibly quiet, country-style life,” she said. “It was the country atmosphere that really drew us here because it is like a rural setting but so close to everything still. We love it.”

 

 

The couple have been making the most of Riverside Coomera’s facilities with David regularly lawn bowling and playing bocce while Matty enjoys line dancing and arts and crafts. They also enjoy swimming in the village’s two pools, walking around the nearby Coomera Lakes, trivia nights and dinners out with their new group of friends. In addition, they are able to have solar power at Coomera and now never receive an electricity bill. In fact, they are actually owed money!

 

“We really enjoyed living at Emerald Lakes. It was a different atmosphere than here, a different neighbourhood feel,” Matty said. “It’s got a much more rural feel here – it’s like the city vs country. We loved Emerald Lakes – in fact, David still plays golf there – but we also love it here and we won’t be moving again.”

 

Downsizing home upsizes Del’s lifestyle

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Moving from a rural property to a two-bedroom duplex was a huge decision for Del McCoy, yet it’s proved a great lifestyle choice. Del sadly lost her husband Kevin three years ago and determined that while she still loved the large property she shared with him, she needed to make the big move so she could thrive in a new community. “I’m a fairly social person and it got a bit lonely with not many people around,” Del said.

 

So, the decision was made and she moved into Seachange Toowoomba in July last year. Over the nine months since, Del has become a keen participant in the activities available at the resort and country club, including lawn bowls and relaxing in the pool. “I really enjoy catching up with people for coffee and chats and getting to know them. I’ve met a lot of people who have come off the land who know people that I know,” she said. “I’ve made three or four really good friends. It’s the sort of place you can be social if you want to, but you don’t need to if you don’t, and you have your own private area to get away. I do miss the space of living on the land and being in a small rural community but it’s very quiet here, which I enjoy.”

 

 

“I also spend a lot of time with my two sons, one in Roma and the other in Goondiwindi, where I help muster the cattle and get my granddaughter to school and because I miss the farm life so much, I do a lot of farm sitting.” The independent 74-year-old also recently bought a 6m self-contained motorhome and spends plenty of time travelling to meet friends and go camping.

 

‘Project 70’ leads to Seachange lifestyle

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When Peter Zagdanski’s daughter launched ‘Project 70’ little did he know it would irrevocably change his life … for the better. “My eldest daughter, Kate, told me mid last year she had initiated Project 70 – I’ll turn 70 in April,” Peter said. “She told me all I do is sit at home, I don’t socialise, I don’t get out, I don’t do anything, and it was time to figure out something to do. “So, I went on a two-week holiday up north and somewhere along the way I saw an advertisement for Seachange and the idea to move into one of the resorts sprang into my head. “I looked at Seachange Toowoomba and the ones on the Gold Coast, where my other daughter Kristen lives, and Toowoomba, for me, stood out from the crowd.” Peter moved into the resort in October and began an active life taking part in all the activities.

 

 

Meanwhile, Kristen was instrumental, along with family friend Sue who works at Animal Welfare League – Queensland, in finding Peter a new little companion – a seven-year-old Maltese cross Shih Tzu called Princess. “Don’t blame me for the name … she came with that,” he laughed. “We think she might have been puppy farmed as she’s quite timid. “I had mini Schnauzers years ago but haven’t had a dog for a long time. But I think Princess is going to add years to my life. “She’s a great companion and follows me around like a shadow. Wherever I go, she goes. She’s already made a big difference to my life and I’ve only had her since the end of January.”

 

Dogs at Seachange Toowoomba must weigh less than 10kg and there are currently four dogs living their best lives at the resort. Peter and Princess enjoy their daily strolls around the facilities and there’s no more ‘sitting at home doing nothing’. “Before I moved here, I lived in a little 1920s mining cottage in north Toowoomba and I never really got to know the neighbours as they really kept to themselves,” he said. “It wasn’t as social as it is here and it’s very easy to become isolated.” Now his social life has turned completely around, and both his daughters can’t help but tell him, “I told you so”. He participates in happy hours, open days, the gardening club and has been known to organise trivia nights. He also makes full use of the facilities, including daily swimming in one of the resort’s pools to ease the arthritis in his back. “There’s always something on and my social life has picked up about 100 per cent,” he said.

 

Lifestyle ‘Blooming Great’ for Marilyn

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Marilyn Schefe has been guiding visitors around Toowoomba’s Carnival of Flowers Spring festival for about 22 years, but it was a pickup of a tour bus at the city’s Seachange Lifestyle Resort that changed her life. “A tour group from Seachange Arundel came up from the Gold Coast to see the carnival and I was asked to pick them up at Seachange Toowoomba,” said Marilyn, who estimates she’s done about 180 tours of the popular flower festival. “It was the first time I’d been there, and I looked around and thought ‘oh my, I could just live here’. And I went home to my husband Gary and said, ‘I think we are going to live here’.” And that’s exactly what happened with the couple moving from their 160-acre hobby farm on the Darling Downs into their new home just before Christmas. “It was a lovely Christmas present. We wanted to move into town to be closer to my mum and dad as they got older,” she said. “Our farm was 30km out of town, so it was a bit of a drive to do the round trip.”

 

Another consideration was their drought-affected farm where the couple used to run cattle. “We lived there for 23 years but we had to sell the cattle because of the shortage of feed during the 2019 drought, it was so bad. “Plus, Gary is 70 and I’m 64. We really liked the idea of resort living. As you get older you don’t want to be mowing lawns and gardening but still want to be able to enjoy it all and that’s what Seachange Toowoomba provides.

 

“We’ve made lots of friends. Everyone is so lovely. We’ve met quite a lot of people we kind of knew through other friends, because we have lived in the area all our lives. You get to know people living in the district, other people who have come off the land.” Marilyn keeps busy, also leading two or three tours of Toowoomba history throughout the year. “It’s promoting our city and promoting the Carnival, which has been running since 1949. Toowoomba is noted for its parks and gardens including Queens Park, Laurel Bank Park, the State Rose Garden and the Japanese Garden. “Something is in flower here all year around and the city actually holds another summer display in February/March.

 

 

“Toowoomba was declared a city in 1904 and it has always been a farming district. It’s the main city for the Darling Downs and, in fact, is the largest regional city in Australia west of the Great Dividing Range. “A lot of people retire here from the Western Downs because with a population of around 140,000 they still feel like they are living in a country town.” The city is also well known for its historic buildings including Clifford House, the home of Mayor James Taylor, also known as the King of Toowoomba, built in the 1800s, and churches such as St Patrick’s Cathedral and St James Church. “People can come and stroll around the city and see all the historic buildings and there are also now about 50 murals painted on walls to view,” she said.

 

Marilyn and Gary spend their downtime strolling around the Seachange Toowoomba resort, however, that can be quite time consuming – in the most enjoyable way. “It’s a relatively new resort so we often just go for a walk to see what’s happening and how the building works are coming along. You think you might be out for half an hour but next thing you know it’s two hours later because you’ve met loads of people on the way and stopped to chat,” she said. The couple have already made good use of the facilities including the pool and lawn bowls and have plans for more. “There’s always something going on. One lady has started Qigong classes, there’s plans for yoga, there’s a craft room, gym, tennis courts, trivia nights and games on a Saturday afternoon. “There’s even happy hour every second Friday.”