The Wingham (and wider Manning Valley) community are going to be experts at making lanterns, if Burrell Creek woman Jennifer Granger has any say in it.
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Lanterns have become ‘a thing’ in Wingham, now the second annual Winter Solstice Lantern Walk has firmly cemented the event in the town’s annual calendar.
A lantern walk was originally put forward by Jen and her daughter Mia in the 2017 Wingham Place Activation community meetings as a possible activity.
But it wasn’t until the Manning River Turtle Conservation Group (MRTCG) was founded that the event was brought to life.
As MRTCG was looking for an activity that could bring awareness to the plight of the endangered Manning River helmeted turtle, Jen, as one of the five founding members, suggested a lantern walk through Wingham Brush.
The group took the idea and ran with it and it is now a delightful family event to celebrate not only the Manning River turtle, but the winter solstice. All five members of the group work collaboratively to organise the event, with Jen the creative force behind the lantern workshops.
This year MRTCG held four workshops leading up to the lantern walk, held on Saturday, June 23.
“Wingham Scouts was first on our list and it was truly delightful with a great group of kids making some unique lanterns,” Jen said.
“Our second stop was the Envirofair at Taree. We had a steady flow of kids and adults come through and it was really lovely seeing many on the lantern walk, with one family coming from Forster.
“Our third lantern workshop was held at Wingham Court Nursing home (Whiddon Wingham) with a wonderful eager group of our more mature locals getting involved and it was very special that a number had kept their lanterns from last year’s workshop. Unfortunately this year we were unable to take our walk to them due to the flu season also visiting,” Jen said.
“Here's hoping we can take our walk to them again next year.”
The final workshop was held at the same location as last year at Wingham Brush.
“It was wonderful to have Rotary alongside us this year feeding hungry tummies,” Jen said.
“The workshop started promptly at 2pm and from then on, with the wonderful help of local ladies, we had a very busy afternoon. Some of the most popular lanterns were designed and taught by Linda Gill.
“All up we had a total of four designs with our lotus lanterns remaining popular. On the evening approximately 300 lights were given for lanterns, which is a great indication of the number attending.
“Our community is sharing and inspirational. Thank you so much for being so fabulous,” Jen said.