love Story KERRY AND JAMES

Alove story about the power of love, adventure, and innovation. They met at a dating night in Sydney, where James entertained the crowd with his classical guitar, and Kerry was captivated. The two fell in love and started dating immediately. James, an adventurous person, invited Kerry to see the yacht he was building from scratch. What started as a simple invitation would lead to the start of their fruitful journey.

The couple spent most of their dating years building the yacht together and enjoyed this quality time on a passion project of theirs. After eventually selling the yacht years later, Kerry and James started a family and moved off-grid to a farm in western NSW, where James restored over 90 cars, particularly VW Beetles, to supplement their income from sheep farming.

During this time, James became interested in fruit grafting and started experimenting with his findings. He successfully grafted an old tree in the yard, not with just one fruit variety but with an assortment of 30 different fruits from the same family. Thus, "The Fruit Salad Tree" was born. Kerry and James founded the Fruit Salad Tree, a company that sells trees with multiple fruit varieties grafted onto them. James' innovative approach to fruit grafting has been featured in many home and garden magazines. Today, Kerry and their children run the company with James' vision in mind.

At a recent Valentine's Day celebration at Regis Port Macquarie, where James now resides, employees supported the couple to ensure that they could spend this romantic day together.

A high tea was put on for the couple so that they could honour their love and connection with each other.

Regis Port Macquarie General Manager, Jennifer Phillips shares, “it was a pleasure for our team to set up a romantic date for our resident James and his lovely wife Kerry. It’s always special to see how strong their connection is after many years of marriage and we loved learning more about their life.”

“Kerry and James’ love story is a shining example that love is the one thing that connects us all.”

James also revealed that he has discovered novel and creative methods to stay in touch with Kerry and his family while residing at Regis Port Macquarie. One of these methods involves utilising his "virtual assistant" to engage in video calls, thereby enabling him to maintain regular communication with his loved ones when they aren’t visiting in person.

Regis offers a diverse range of care options including residential aged care, home care, retirement living, day therapy and day respite. Regis is one of the largest providers of aged care in Australia and cares for more than 7,000 residents each year.

The Glasshouse Port Macquarie presents ‘An Afternoon At The Proms’. A promenade of formal special guests in an afternoon of magnificent entertainment. Bring your flags!! Bring your noise-makers and come join the fun and frivolity for the most exciting concert of the year, The Proms Spectacular. This stunning spectacular salutes the famous BBC Proms Concerts of London’s Royal Albert Hall. Join one of Australia’s Multi Award Winning musicians and Gala MC, Ian Cooper, as he presents Opera Australia Stars, a Pipe Band and The Blue Danube Orchestra under the baton of Conductor Glenn Amer. Enjoy the 2023 program, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Mario Lanza’s, The Loveliest Night of the Year, Stranger in Paradise and beautiful selections from South Pacific.

The Governor Macquarie

Memorial Pipe Band salutes the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and will also perform many classics with the Orchestra. An Afternoon At The Proms is on - Saturday 3 June - 2.00 pm - 4.30pm

- Tickets available at the Glasshouse, Port Macquarie.

Dementia rates in Australia continue to rise with it now overtaking heart disease as the leading cause of disease burden* among Australians aged 65 and over, according to a report from the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (AIHW).

The report says that in 2022, over 400,000 Australians were living with dementia, a number that is expected to double over the next 30 years.

Locally, the Port Macquarie state electorate has the second highest prevalence rate for dementia in Australia. In response to this need, St Agnes’ Catholic Parish, through its aged care service provider St Agnes’ Care & Lifestyle, has commenced building Emmaus Village, a residential community based on a proven, innovative model of care specific to the needs of people with dementia.

St Agnes’ Care & Lifestyle Executive Manager for Residential Care, Paul Shields says the Emmaus Village model is designed to cater to the specific needs of individuals living with dementia.

“The model helps residents with the behaviours associated with dementia, normalise their living within a community environment, and slow the onset of the condition,” Mr Shields said.

“Broadly, I believe the aged care industry will be looking at adopting this approach to care in the long term and move away from the traditional nursing home model,” he added. Paul Shields said that during the construction phase of Emmaus Village, the project team has been working with organisations such as Dementia Australia and the Dementia Friendly Community Alliance (DFCA) - Port Macquarie, to seek input into the design and fitout of the Village.

A focus group involving DFCA and the Emmaus Village Project Team convened on Wednesday 1 March, the third in a series of sessions to gather ideas and feedback about the project. DFCA Chair Margaret Allen said members were keen to contribute to the project.

“So far our members, some of whom are living with dementia, provided input on the design of garden areas, signage, kitchen fittings and appliances, pathways, acoustic issues, building colours and windows,” Ms Allen said.

“It is very exciting to be involved in the co-creation of such an innovative project that is based locally,” she added.

It is anticipated that the focus groups will continue in the leadup to the opening of Emmaus Village in late 2023.

*The term “disease burden” applies to the loss of healthy life through injury, illness or premature death.

Further information on the AIHW report is available at: aihw.gov.au/reports/dementia/ dementia-in-aus/contents/about