COVID-19 has placed Greater Shepparton - and further afield - in lockdown but it hasn't stopped people from recognising milestone birthdays.
After an outdoor stroll with the family recently, I sat down on the couch and began lazily scrolling through Facebook.
A few absent-minded minutes of browsing had passed, when a post stopped my fingers in their tracks: a video taken on a mobile phone of a fire truck, then cars festooned with balloons, streaming down a street in Eildon.
The camera then turned to a resident named Jeannie Gribble, who beamed as she was cheered on by neighbours and presented with a tray of pale pink cupcakes arranged to form the number 100.
Wanting to find out more, I contacted the man who’d made the post – Greg Harriman.
Mr Harriman is the owner of AQUA Bar & Cafe which, like so many venues, was forced to temporarily close and scrap all functions as a result of the pandemic.
Among the cancelled events was Mrs Gribble’s 100th birthday party.
Not wanting Jeannie to spend her big day in self-isolation, Mr Harriman quickly hatched a Plan B.
“We wanted to do something special,” he told me during a FaceTime call.
Keeping COVID-19 measures in mind, Mr Harriman organised for members of the community to get behind the wheel for an essential shop and take a detour down Mrs Gribble’s street.
The centenarian’s neighbours broke out the coloured chalk and decorated their footpaths to mark the milestone.
Eildon Country Fire Authority (CFA) also jumped on board, agreeing to lead the convoy in the drive-by celebration.
“We were really conscious to ensure we were doing the right thing by only having a single member in the truck, wearing disposable gloves and not decorating the truck,” brigade captain Nicki Lund said.
At about 11 am on Sunday, Mrs Gribble went outside to tend to her garden, completely unaware of the magnificent surprise about to burst to life.“She was blown away. I think it made her day,” Mr Harriman said, adding with a laugh that Mrs Gribble “had her eye on the Audi” that was part of the motorcade.
“Probably the most heart-warming thing was to see everybody enjoy it, and more importantly, send it off to Jeannie's family, who even though they couldn’t be with her on her 100th birthday, got to see her.”
More than 20 000 people have now viewed the special moment on social media, with strangers from places near and far commenting on the joy the video has brought them.
They are not alone.
Lexie Jeuniewic is a Nine News Border North East reporter.
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