Lois Pearson
Just six days out from the Kingsford Christmas Light event registration, the President of Bullsbrook Resident and Ratepayers Association, Anne Janes, contacted me to ask if the Swan Home Schooling youth would help knock up a display quick smart for BRRA — but they had to make it out of recycled/repurposed/actual rubbish items, with an allowance for the addition of solar lights — as the display rules are it has to have lights on it.
6 days…at Christmas time…when most youth have knocked off school work for the year! All the people Anne had asked said, “Nah, wait for 2023!”
But our local home schooling youth were well up to the challenge! In fact, they love a challenge, and love working with recycled/repurposed items. They weren’t so keen on using the trash Anne had collected from a local Bullsbrook street!
And so came about the BRRA display which was located on Chittering Road opposite the fire station. We utilised the permanent sculpture of Loveabull — a locally created metal art piece that was jointly purchased by Anne and Frank Sibbel and Okelands. Anne Sibbel was a powerhouse of a community member and I am sure would have been well pleased with our display, consisting of a Lego Man roping the tail of Loveabull near an Aussie Christmas tree.
The Lego man is made of a repurposed molasses tub filled with actual rubbish Anne collected. His arms are made from old storm water pipes and hands made from old milk bottles. The head was from the recycling shop, as were his boots; he is dressed in Keep Australia Beautiful trash bags; his lasso was from Bullsbrook Recycling Centre — as is much of the Australian Christmas tree. It’s branches are refrigerator shelving and old insulator wires from a cut down fence, and the trunk is reclaimed stormwater pipes.
Loveabull’s antlers are old baby clip ons off a playmat; the wreath is old used retic black pipe; his hat was made from an old takeaway cup and recycled paper.
The tree decorations were made from reclaimed repurposed lanterns, thongs, light jars, bottles, and old photo frames, The wonderful Sandman was created by a family who felt that you can’t have a snowman in WA during summer!
That’s our story! We wanted to show our community — many of whom are on limited budgets and simply can’t afford to spend big bucks on fancy Christmas lights and decorations — that you can still spread joy in our community without spending big bucks and adding to the mass of landfill.
We didn’t win a dollar prize, but we did win in community collaboration and spreading some festive spirit.
