Highs and lows of 2010 in Dandenong

3 Jan 11
by Nicole Precel
Source: Dangdenong

A FAKE Vietnam veteran, a Melbourne Cup winner from Dandenong and a multimillion dollar contract for Bombardier transport made news in 2010.

In February Colin Maurice Gibbons, 57, of Dandenong, shocked Victorians when he was sentenced to prison after impersonating a Vietnam war veteran.

Gibbons joined Dandenong RSL in 2009 and marched at its Anzac Day parade in the red beret of a military policeman and medals he had bought on the internet.

In Dandenong, two astrologers, both posing as Ganapath Raj, had been potentially fleecing thousands from unsuspecting shoppers, telling them they were cursed.

VicUrban development director Michael King drove the Revitalising Central Dandenong project, but frustrated traders said they were fed up with the parking chaos caused by the project.

The Dandenong owner of Melbourne Cup champion Americain, Gerry Ryan, celebrated his win.

VCE high achiever, Lynn Wang, Keysborough, scooped top results of 99.95 for Haileybury College.

Duncan McLean proved age doesn’t matter as he pumped iron as a 64-year-old body builder.

Dean Mashado was one of many Bombardier technicians happy to have won a $303 million contract to build 50 new low-floor trams at the Dandenong site.

Students at Minaret College, in Springvale, raised money for breast cancer awareness with a Pink Hijab Day.

In other news, sympathy swelled for Dandenong mother Yasmina Cirak, whose son was born without eyes, and who blamed her child’s deformity on toxic waste dumped near her former home.

Safety at Springvale railway crossing was put under the spotlight when an 80-year-old woman was killed after she lifted a boom gate and tried to cross in May.