Bringin Rosalie Back!

posted by Navvii

The year 2011 will certainly be the most memorable year for those born after the 70’s flood – seeing major parts of Australia going literally “DOWN UNDER”! It was devastating to see the news coverage on all the suburbs that had taken the blow from mother nature’s emotional breakdown. Rosalie was amongst the many affected areas which had suffered tremendously during this period has finally gotten back on it’s feet again; celebrating Rosalie Recovery Day on Saturday, April 9^th. As Vida Latina was one of the many affected in the surrounding area, we were invited to join the party in the Rosalie Village towards supporting and welcoming back all the businesses.

VVL crew of the day: Simone, Annette, Ronan & Navvii

The best part of the day for me would have been the walk from our studio on Railway Tce to Rosalie Village – 3 girls in the most colourful Zumba® gear & then there was Ronan in all black (just to cater to the rest of the community :P). Being me, I decided that it would be a good idea to carry our Zumba® sign facing the road so that it was visible to all motorist and they could either toot their horn or shout “Zuummmbaaaa” out their window or just follow our colourful bums to Rosalie. And true enough we got a group of high school boys yell out “Zooombaaaa” from across the road. Quoting Simone: “They must have stated ‘shout-able to random pedestrians’ as one of their criterion when they were coming up with the name for Zumba®.

When we got there, we were told that Mr. Gold Pants was up before us and he actually sang a song with all the names of the businesses in the area which was quite interesting to say the least. Ronan was up next with his “Prruuumm” song, Navvii going back to Africa with “Waka Waka”, Simone “Chillin” it out & Annette shakin’ it to “BumBumBum.” Many stood shyly watching with their families but I bet they were itching to bust out a move or two. The spectators couldn’t refuse the flyers as I was bouncing around and singing to BumBumBum while handing them out. I had a little giggle as I saw myself from their eyes and I would have thought “what a nut?!” But… I was simply having fun and probably running on the adrenaline from my other 2 Zumba classes that morning!

The organisers of the event were really lovely and offered us ‘cold beverages to quench our thirst’ (just like Sheldon would say it) and some lil sandwiches and of course the very nice air conditioned room which we were reluctant to leave. We hung around for another hour or so talking to many mothers who were interested in Zumba classes and for their kids (If you didn't know already, YES WE DO ZUMBA FOR KIDS aged 4 years and above!) and even met some of our students who heard our songs from their unit and came running down.

It was great to see all Rosalie traders banded together towards the re-opening of their great quaint village and all their shops and popular restaurants. Everyone had a story to tell and one of them was from a student from Europe working at one of the very popular restaurants in the Village. She was stunned by all the support from the day the flood subsided to date. Having come from a culture where she claimed that does not take generous offerings of help very easily to the community spirit she experienced in Australia was very touching. Way to go Aussies!

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon with live bands, food (was sooo tempted to get some Cold Rock but I would have had to fight 5 year olds for it), drinks & kids running around with their parents. To top off our day, Annette wanted some Easter eggs….soooo.. decided taking a picture with the Easter bunny would be an excuse to get an some chocolato without having to fight the kids. And….Annette walked away a happy child ‘cause she did get one!

Wishing all the traders and residents of Rosalie & other participating supporters all the best for their new beginning!