It’s Christmas time once again and with this comes excitement, joy and stress. The shops are crowded, roads are busy and children are excited.

Mystic imaginings of lazy waves lapping at the bows of the vessels as they make their way up the Maroochy River or down the Bribie Passage evoke pleasant thoughts today. However in the early 1880s these vessels provided a vital lifeline to the embryonic settlements along the shore.

Sunshine Coast Council will have some changes to hours of services during the festive season.

This is a story of family friendships forged during holidays and a love of life at the beach.

If we started talking about the Wax Works in Nambour during the 1940s you could be forgiven for thinking of a local Madame Tussauds.

This holiday season, experience a time gone by as we reminisce about what Christmas would have been like for three generations of the family who called Bankfoot House home for 134 years.

Time passes quickly but memories stay in your heart, especially fond memories. These memories can be of a visit to the beach, flying a kite, kicking a ball, a picnic, being with family and friends and dare we say – of school times.

Work began on the Kawana Island development between Mooloolaba and Caloundra in 1960.

The arts help to shape a region’s identity, foster community wellbeing and develop the economy – so what infrastructure will this region need as the Sunshine Coast local government area grows into a major region of more than 500,000 people by 2041?

Sunshine Coast Australia Day Award nominations close on November 18 so nominate a deserving local today - we know they are out there, but we need your help to find them.