Couple keen to start a tradition for new arrivals

One Kalgoorlie couple is hoping to start a new trend in the city, involving the old tale of the stork and the baby.

Announcing the arrival of their daughter Azarya two weeks ago, Kaleena and Graeme Cruickshank erected a 2m tall cartoon stork, complete with a cloth bundle in its beak, in the front garden of their Collins Street home.

A tradition in her hometown in the Netherlands, Mrs Cruickshank said she now hoped the trend would continue in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

“We now want to pass it on to the next family,” she said.

“If anyone has a wife or girlfriend in hospital at the moment and they want to surprise her when they come home with their baby, come knock on our door and collect it from us and display it in your garden.

“We just hope they pass it on in a couple of weeks to the next person who will do the same.”

The Cruickshanks wrote the name, date and time of birth of their daughter on the bundle the stork is carrying, which they hope the next family would paint over in white and write their child’s details on.

“Perhaps we could all write our names on the back to keep a record of where it has been,” Mrs Cruickshank said.

“We would just love to be driving around one day and see it up in someone’s yard in a few months or so, even if someone else made their own and there was multiple in town.”

The Cruickshanks are considering putting up a flyer at the maternity ward to inform new parents of the opportunity.

Anyone who is interested in being next in line to house the stork is encouraged to ask at 39 Collins Street.