SUMMER 2022
SeniorsToday.com.au
They’re why we remember
Mangoes work their magic
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Setting quite the scene PAGE 6
Summer in the garden PAGE 17
It’s the season to be jolly, a time for Santa to visit both on the big night and before-hand for events like the Gladstone Regional Council Street Party. And because he can’t be everywhere, even with his magic, he picks some special helpers to lend a hand.
Loving the role Wesley Walker has been acting and directing in various forms all his life and he’s on his second stint as President of the Friends of the Theatre in Gladstone earning him induction into the Gladstone Entertainment and Conference Centre Hall of Fame for his service. However, one his biggest services to the community along, one of his most important roles ever is as an understudy - and he couldn’t be happier. After all, not everyone can be an understudy to the Big Man himself Santa. But that’s a role that Wes loves to
play and he’s more than happy to step in when the big man can’t be there. And it doesn’t hurt that he looks the part. Santa’s stand in is just one of the ways he has been able to help the community after moving to Gladstone from Brisbane (via a few other towns), so it wasn’t surprising he was given the honour of the hall of fame in 2021. “I was only the second one, which was a bit of a shock actually,” the retired psychologist admitted.
“I came to Gladstone in 1997 for three, maybe five years but as happens in these regional towns, I never left and I’m still here.” With a background in amateur theatre Wesley soon found a local niche becoming the Friends of the Theatre President for a stint before handing the job over only to come back to the job a few years later. His current stint is around a decade and counting. Theatre had been a life-long passion. Story Page 3
See Spain in style PAGES 18-19