Marianne becomes an Aussie

Marianne never suspected when she arrived in Sitges in Spain back in 1974 that it would eventually lead to her becoming an Aussie citizen.

The event was held on Australia Day (January 26) in the Brolga Theatre in Maryborough. The event started at 9 am and lasted two hours.

The usher in the blue jacket is a volunteer at the local hospital where I receive my infusions so I know her very well. She's quite a character, over 80, and two years ago went dog sledding in Lapland. We tease each other a lot, but she made sure I got a seat where I did not have to climb stairs. She pretended to growl at me which puzzled my neighbour until I explained about being friends.

Robin and I sat right behind the section where the new citizens were seated. There were over 140 so they filled the lower section. The boy just in front received a 'Citizen of the Year' award for his volunteer work with the local ZBus which is a converted bus that provides a safe sleeping place for some of the homeless in the area.

New citizens.

The theatre was filled with relatives and friends.

The Fraser Coast is lucky to have a wonderful Mayor, George Seymour. His blog posts entries about events in our area. In Australia, the Citizenship Ceremony is a local affair run by the local council, not by a Federal Department. 

Local politicians need to be seen. The lady in the green dress is of indigenous descent and read a welcome to country.

A group called Man Song sang some well-known Aussie songs such as Waltzing Matilda and 'I still call Australia home'.

When I was living in the USA, I used to fly to Oz every year. Occasionally, I would fly across the Pacific on Qantas. As the plane descended into Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, they would play this song by Peter Allen and all the Aussies would get teary-eyed.

There were too many peope to fit on the stage all at once, so this was an early group reciting the Pledge.

Marianne was in the last group.

Walking on stage. 

You can see her little grey head between the ladies in red and blue.

Reciting the pledge.

After the Citizenship Ceremony, presentations of certificates were made to various volunteers from the Fraser Coast. It was wonderful to see them receive their awards in front of such a large audience. The occasion was a happy, uplifting experience.

The new citizen. She received a native plant which we will plant out at Teddington. Robin came up here by train and will return to Sydney by plane tomorrow.

We returned home and had a meat pie for lunch!