WANGI Lions Club has arranged a dinner dance at Wangi Workers Club to welcome new arrivals to the district on Saturday, October 27.
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Wangi Lions president, Bruce MacFarlane, said the surge of interest in local real estate had prompted the initiative.
“What better way for all the newbies to make new friends than by rocking along to the music of the retro-rock band, the Blue Suede Boppers, at Wangi Workers Club” Mr MacFarlane said.
Local real estate agent and Wangi Lions Club member, Allison Heffernan, said Wangi Wangi and the surrounding district had attracted a flood of new arrivals.
The area had seen a 10 per cent increase in house prices over the past 12 months, Ms Heffernan said.
Mr MacFarlane said the Wangi Welcome Dinner Dance had dual objectives.
The main one was to introduce newcomers to everything the area had to offer.
“We have a myriad of clubs, activities and points of interest to attract new arrivals,” he said.
“They may like to delve into the life and achievements of Wangi’s most famous son, one of the greatest portrait artists of the 20th century, Sir William Dobell, or Wangi’s Aboriginal heritage, or the history of the Rathmines RAAF seaplane base.
“Or maybe they have a passion for landscape painting, quilting, creative writing, yoga, pilates, golf, netball, bowls, dining out, service clubs, line dancing or men’s sheds.
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“The Wangi Welcome Dinner Dance is designed to provide instant access to it all.
“The other benefit is for clubs and organisations in the district that are looking for fresh members, customers and clients to come along and meet them first hand.”
Proceeds from the evening would support Allira House Women’s Refuge, at Bonnells Bay, he said.
“The night fits Wangi’s sense of community, both past and present. It’s all about building our community and supporting each other.
“History reminds us how Wangi became a refuge for out-of-work miners during the depression in the 1930s.
“And in recent times, Wangi townsfolk have often gone to extraordinary lengths to support one another - from helping to pay for medical emergencies to opening their homes in the aftermath of storms.
Why wouldn’t anyone want to live in Wangi?
- - Bruce MacFarlane
“A few years back when storms blacked out the town for almost a week, Wangi became the venue for a string of shared candle-light dinners with everyone pitching in with whatever they had.”
Wangi Lions was building on that community spirit,” he said.
Retirees now make up a big percentage of new arrivals in Wangi Wangi.
“Sixty-three per cent of Wangi’s population are 55 or older,” Mr MacFarlane said.
Wangi’s relaxed lifestyle was a definite attraction, he said.
“Often newcomers are swapping a crowded city for a community where the main traffic problem is avoiding a family of wild ducks promenading the main street.
“Why wouldn’t anyone want to live in Wangi?” he said.
