The Local December 17, 2018

December 17, 2018 Issue 139 Merry Christmas - Have fun! :-)

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

www.tlnews.com.au

2 About Us Front cover: We had a lot of fun making our front cover with a big thanks to, from left, James, Dani, Glen and Kevin. And Santa's helper Peta. For more frivolity see page 15.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

December 17, 2018 Issue 139 Merry Christmas - Have fun! :-)

newspaper reader “If you don't hit a ce, th your first senten between the eyes wi e.” writing a second on there is no need of - Arthur Brisbane

Image: Kyle Barnes

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

The Local is a fortnightly community publication covering the Central Highlands. The next edition is out on Monday, December 31, 2018.

Or online on Sunday, December 30 at www.tlnews.com.au The Local is a registered trademark of The Local Publishing Group Pty Ltd

Advertising deadlines for the next edition of The Local:

The content expressed within this publication does not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Local Publishing Group Pty Ltd.

Space bookings: Wednesday, December 26 Copy provided by: Thursday, December 27 Editorial deadline: Thursday, December 27

HE Local is a free publication distributed throughout the Central Highlands of Victoria. The first "monthly" edition was published in September 2013 and immediately became fortnightly thanks to the demand of our readers and advertisers.

Managing editor | Donna Kelly General manager | Kyle Barnes

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The Local is brought to you by a team of local journalists, photographers, columnists, sub-editors, graphic designers, book-keepers and, of course, great delivery people. So when we talk about being local, we really do put our money where our mouth is.

The Local's motto is to "connect the community" by bringing people closer with great features on amazing local people and ensuring you know what is happening around your community whether that's a festival, a fete or maybe just a great special from one of our fantastic advertisers. Content is key.

We love writing about local people doing inspiring things and even local people doing ordinary things. And as some people, mostly politicians, have found out, if you are not local you will not appear in the pages of The Local.

You will find The Local, and all the back copies, online at www.tlnews.com.au and we deliver bulk drops throughout the region along with smaller "cafe" packs to every cafe, hotel, bar and restaurant we can find. We've even heard of The Local turning up in places like a cafe in St Kilda and a bar in Bali! All up we have a print and online readership of about 14,000.

The Local's advertising rates have always been kept affordable so even small advertisers can advertise big. Colour is free, the sizes are an eighth, quarter, banner, half and full page and we can help with making up branding and graphics. The world is confusing enough, so we like to keep things simple.

Finally, from the start, we have offered two free adverts in every edition for notfor-profit organisations along with a rescue pet looking for a new home. It's just our way of giving back. We really hope you enjoy this edition of The Local.

Cheers, Donna (Ed)

The Pool Room!

The Local - winner of: *Daylesford Rotary's 2017 Employee of the Year *Rural Press Club of Victoria 2015 Best Feature Series *Daylesford Rotary’s 2015 Business of the Year *Kyneton Daffodil Festival Parade 2015 Best Commercial Entry

Sub-editors | Nick Bunning and Lindsay Smith Sales | Dani Bradley Writers | Kevin Childs, Kate Taylor, Anthony Sawrey, Peter Young and Donna Kelly Photographers | Kyle Barnes and David White Graphic designer & HLH coordinator | Dianne Caithness Columnists | Glen Heyne (gardening) and Indre Kisonas (design) Accounts | Julie Hanson Delivery | Anthony Sawrey Great editorial and affordable sales - 5348 7883 | 0416 104 283 news@tlnews.com.au | ads@tlnews.com.au donna@tlnews.com.au | kyle@tlnews.com.au See all our e-editions at www.tlnews.com.au See a photo you like? Photos are just $22 each, or $55 for commercial use, and will be emailed at high resolution. You can print as many as you like...

“The Local is the future of regional publishing!”

- former senator John Madigan in the Australian Parliament Just sayin’... :)

Splashdown!

It's summer, so what better place to cool off than the newlyinstalled water play feature at Kyneton Community Park? The interactive splash pad experience operates from 10am to 6pm during summer. Making the most of the fun were Sam, 10, Jasper, 9, and Tom, 10, pictured, and below centre, and Toby, 5, and Mabel, 6, pictured below left and right.

Images: David White

4 Our artists

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The art of visual thinking...

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ICHAEL Berry was born in Melbourne in 1951 and grew up in Murrumbeena in a family with a scientific background and a passionate love of the arts. His mother lived opposite Arthur Boyd’s family home Open Country and spent much of her childhood flourishing at the Boyds' property. He told his story to Donna Kelly.

"When I was four we moved to our Murrumbeena house, coincidentally on the opposite side of the old outer circle railway (now known as Boyd Park) which separated our street from Wahroongaa Crescent where my grandparents lived.

Arthur’s father Merric used to walk through a field of buttercups and across a small bridge over a creek to come to our home and draw me and my sister when we were young.

I began drawing as soon as I picked up a pencil, as communication with visual images was easier for me rather than trying to put the immeasurable into words. I made my first wooden aeroplane with a wingspan as wide as my arms when I was three years old.

My father Ray introduced me to the anatomy of the human body through Gray’s Anatomy at the age of three and then to the body’s cellular level via a microscope not long after. Viewing cells through a microscope taught me to see and identify positive and negative spatial shifts and the fact that in nature there is no inside and outside as life is a whole organism.

I became fascinated with drawing techniques and began spontaneously copying illustrations of all types, including cartoons and comic characters. I also studied books featuring the work of every great artist I could get my hands on, focusing upon the perceptive and visual challenges in the pictures and not on the words cobbled together to lamely describe and decant them, written by some expert, critic or philosopher.

In 1972 I commenced working in pharmacology at Melbourne University and soon after spontaneously began illustrating theses, slides and generally being responsible for supervising illustrations for the students and lecturers within the department.

In the early 1970s I briefly studied sculptural techniques with Robert Langley, then commenced stone carving while continually exploring privately the mastery of drawing by the ‘doing’ rather than being taught in a class by some artist to imitate a lifeless form. The sculptural practice continued until in late 1979 when I added painting to my skills and inquiry.

To me art is a universal visual language and one’s capacity to negotiate that language depends upon the mastery of visual thinking: which is having the mindscape perceptively prepared to allow the free association of that vision.

So (my) medium is visual thinking. The manner in which that manifests practically facilitates the use and implementation of a diverse array of materials embracing sculptural assemblage, acrylic or oil on canvas, drawing using a wide range of materials, collage and other inventive object manipulations and manifestations.

The onus is on the viewer to do the work of shifting his/her subjective position and move into pure perception and peripheral vision, as opposed to regurgitating recognisable image retention and personalised taste which only block pure perception.

My wife Patricia, Miró (the cat) and I had been happily living in Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula for many years until the house we were renting was placed on the market, prompting us to engage in entertaining a major lifestyle change…a move to the country.

Someone close to us purchased a house in Woodend and it is now our home and studio. A deeper motive for leaving the Peninsula was the fact that the lively art scene, which I had been part of for over 17 years, began to wilt and die, signalling that it was clearly the right time for us to re-establish ourselves in a more vibrant arts community.

I am now the vice-president of the Woodend Art Group and have a major exhibition of my work at the unique Convent Gallery.

Patricia works daily on our collaborative tapestries between yoga, exercise and reading, and I write poetry, draw, paint, cartoon, study art, and hold classes about ‘the art of visual thinking’."

Image: Contributed

Our artists 5

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solis changing face of gallery

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HE grand exhibition spaces of one of Australia’s leading regional galleries is both the location and the focus of an exhibition by sculptor and installation artist Louiseann King.

Her exhibition solis, on show at the Art Gallery of Ballarat until April 7, has prompted a re-hang of a part of the gallery's permanent collection so that her work provides points of contrast and dialogue with the paintings from the collection on the walls.

King, from Eganstown, is a gatherer and maker; she collects discarded ephemeral objects such as handmade lace, glass, mirrors and furniture and uses these objects to create sculptural installations based around themes of traditional ‘women’s work’ and her own relationship to the landscape in which she lives.

Through her work she gives a voice to the nameless and voiceless women who originally created the delicate pieces of lace and crochet which she transforms by casting them in bronze. She uses bronze casting, a field traditionally dominated by men producing monumental works, to create pieces which appear delicate and fragile.

Two exhibition spaces, which have been part of a chronological display showing the evolution of Australian art, have been overturned using a thematic approach. One space is now devoted to works which show aspects of women in society from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

These works surround a large installation which incorporates bronze castings of lace and crochet – women’s work – set within domestic and scientific glassware, creating interesting reflections and viewpoints.

A second room brings together traditional landscapes from the collection which have been selected to chart the course of a day from dawn to night. This room contains a large glass vitrine topped with delicate castings of natural branches, but is dominated by a soundscape featuring Australian bush recordings by sound artist Philip Samartzis.

The exhibition draws from King’s own experience living in the Australian bush at Eganstown and her work is partly a meditation on the experience of being surrounded by the calm of nature.

Gallery director Louise Tegart said that galleries needed to be open to the idea of artists being able to provide a different level of meaning to their history and collection.

"The mix of old and new works creates bold juxtapositions, questions our assumptions and reveals new conceptual connections. We are delighted to be supporting a regional artist to show us new ways of looking into and at the collection."

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6 Our people

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Local Voices

VCE approached, and like most teenagers my age, time had come to start seriously considering options after school. I knew that I wanted to go to university, with Lily Watt but picking my degree wasn’t that easy.

I began to eliminate things that I knew I wasn’t too OMING back home to Daylesford for the good at. Courses that revolved around maths, science weekend always seems like a secret getaway, or anything related to the human body was out of the except that’s not the case; prior to 2016 I’d question. One thing that did interest me was doing lived there my whole life. something related to writing and publishing. Growing Originally born in Adelaide, my mum and I made up I was always pretty creative; it was something that the move down to Daylesford just a few years later. just came naturally to me.

Both of my grandparents still lived in Victoria, my I explored what seemed like hundreds of courses grandmother lived in Bendigo and my grandfather lived and universities, even interstate. I ended up being set on locally, in Korweinguboora.

La Trobe, its Bachelor of Media and Communications, I attended Daylesford Primary, before making the with a major of media industries combined both public transition to Daylesford Secondary College in 2011 and relations and journalism, giving me experience in both graduating in 2016. I was one of those fortunate kids fields. who found high school pretty breezy; I was definitely I was thrilled when I received my offer for La Trobe; lucky. I had a good group of friends, took interest in less than 10 days I had packed up my whole life and in a wide range of subjects and didn’t find the actual made the move to Melbourne. “studying” part too hard.

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I lived on college campus for two years, which was an unbelievable experience. It was very overwhelming at first, living with around 25 people who you’d never met before, but it was worth it.

I recently completed my second year of university, with hopes to graduate mid-2020. Studying media is more rewarding than I ever imagined; I’ve had the opportunity to work with clients and their businesses, script and create podcasts, work on radio and even have the privilege to work with politicians and crisis management cases.

In the near future I hope to work alongside NGOs and humanitarian aid, but for the time being, I’ll be stuck in hospitality.

(Lily will be doing some writing for The Local.

Watch this space!)

END OF YEAR CLOSURE Council offices/Hubs/Libraries will be closed from 3pm on Monday 24 December 2018, reopening on Wednesday 2 January 2019.

Emergency Contacts:

Legal advice for all your personal, family and business needs

In the case of an after-hours animal emergency, please call Council on 0419 587 955. If you have any other after-hours Council emergency, please call us on 0419 583 573. If we are unable to answer the call, please leave a message with your name and contact number. For Mains Water Emergencies, call 1800 061 514.

Serving the community with integrity for over 120 years.

Andrew Baird > Neale Gribble > Julian Houzet Bill McGregor > Dale Brown > Tom Keightley

Waste Collection & Cleaning: For a missed bin collection or any waste issues, please call Wheelie Waste on 1800 999 690. Waste collection calendars for your area can be found on Council’s website – www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/kerbside-collectionservice/. For issues relating to the cleaning of our Shire public toilets, please call 0429 664 592 (leave a message if you are unable to reach the cleaner on duty).

Visitor Information Centres: • Daylesford – open 9am-5pm daily – Closed Christmas Day • Creswick – open 10am-5pm daily – Closed Christmas day • Trentham – open 10am-4pm Saturdays & Sundays only

Phone (03) 5348 2225

56 Vincent Street, Daylesford • Phone 03 5348 2225 9 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat • Phone 03 5331 3100 Email manager@bairdmcgregor.com.au • www.bairdmcgregor.com.au

• Clunes – open Thursday 27 December – 11am – 3pm,Friday 28 December – 11am – 3pm, Saturday 29 December – 11am – 3pm,Sunday 30 December – 11am – 3pm and Monday 31 December – 11am –3pm.

Closed on 25 & 26 December and Tuesday 1 January (Public Holidays).

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Also, manufacturers of custom designed engineered trusses from recycled timbers.

6 Lewis Drive Castlemaine • 0435 500 112 • www.thesalvageyard.com.au

Christmassy events The 5000 Club will be celebrating Christmas with a festive lunch on Friday, December 21 from noon at Stanbridge Hall, Christ Church Anglican Church, Central Springs Road, Daylesford. Join them for great food, music and an attendance by Father Christmas with his bag of gifts. All are welcome, especially children. Enquiries: Loretta on 0439 364 857.

A Twilight Christmas Market will be held in Burke Square, Daylesford on Friday, December 21 from 5pm to 8pm. All proceeds are to support Daylesford and District Xmas Cheer.

Christ Church Daylesford Christmas Service times are: Blue Christmas (a service of comfort and compassion, healing and hope for those facing Christmas after the loss of a loved one - all welcome) on Sunday, December 23 at 7.30pm; Christingle Family Service (PJs and Teddy Bears most welcome!) on Christmas Eve at 7.30pm; a Midnight Service from 11pm and a Christmas Day Service at 9am.

A Christmas Lunch, with all the trimmings, games and carols, will be held on Christmas Day at the Dean Hall from 1pm to 4pm. Bring a plate if you wish. Text bookings to Bec - 0403 452 449 or Sarah - 0400 618 580.

Country Carols at the Church will be held at the Scrub Hill Church, Newlyn on Wednesday, December 19 from 5.30pm. There will be community and school bands, BYO picnic, bar or BYO, a CFA sausage sizzle fundraiser and Father Christmas.

Macedon Ranges Shire Council, in partnership with Cobaw Community Health, is hosting a Christmas Day lunch at the Kyneton Town Hall. It's an afternoon of delicious food, good company and entertainment. Bookings are essential on kthtickets@mrsc.vic.gov.au or 1300 888 802.

Daylesford Community Brass Band will be playing carols at: Carols on the Bus Daylesford on Monday, December 17; Carols by Candlelight, Hepburn Sound Shell on Friday, December 21 from 8.30pm; and Carols in Vincent Street, Daylesford on Saturday, December 22, morning.

Merry Christmas from The Local

8 Opinion

www.tlnews.com.au

Pick me, pick me...

Just sayin’...

By Donna Kelly

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O THIS is Christmas. Well, close enough. The decorations are up, the yucca is dotted with red baubles and the order for turkey and ham is in.

There are no presents under the tree, which is just as well seeing it's outside, but Kyle has told me he has ordered three presents for me. One "experiential" which has me worried a little. But as long as it's not the same gift he organised for my 27th birthday, all will be well.

We had met working on Hamilton Island and he was jetting off for New Zealand "to tie up a few things" which I later found out was saying farewell to his long-term girlfriend, and then we were meeting up for a new life on the Gold Coast.

In fairness to Kyle, while we were living together on the island, we did get a couple of phone calls from my former long-term boyfriend in Japan. They were both the sort of relationships where you know it's over but the other party has other ideas.

Anyway, just before he left he organised a birthday present for me. I had no idea what it was and on the day in question was woken by two girlfriends and driven, as they giggled away, to the airport.

There, in all its glory, was a Tiger Moth. And there, in all my glory, was someone who is not even that keen on a really modern plane with a roof. Anyway, a girl's gotta do, and all that, and I did. I strapped on a leather helmet, like that was going to help, and sat in the back seat and gripped tightly as we took off into the blue sky. And it was OK, well, OK until the pilot asked if I would like to do a few loops. Perhaps he couldn't hear me yelling "Noooo", or perhaps he was a masochist, but either way, off we went, loop after bloody loop.

To my credit, I kept down breakfast. And managed to climb out unaided. I even called Kyle to tell him how wonderful the whole "experience" had been. Perhaps that's where he picked up on that bit.

Anyway, a couple of years later I got Kyle a lovely experiential gift - a horse ride along a beach on the Mornington Peninsula. How was I to know that he is distrustful of anything bigger than himself, including animals. He seemed happy enough while we were walking along on our mounts - until the instructor decided it was time for a bit of a canter. Next minute, I hear a high-pitched scream as Kyle's horse, with three other perfectly functioning legs on steady ground, slipped a tad on a rock. That was the end of cantering. And trotting.

We were all back to boring walking.

I guess I could check his browser history to see what he's found but what's the fun in that? I will wait, like all good girls and boys, until Christmas Day to see my presents unfold.

But if there's a leather helmet under the tree, I'm out of there. Just sayin'...

(Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

Thanks for being a part of The Local! )

Hey there, I am Arlo. I am a young male puss, just nine weeks old. But while I am a typical playful kitten, you can see I am going to grow into a very handsome boy. So come to Castlemaine and pick me!

MC#956000010105329 Mount Alexander Animal Welfare is at 24 Langslow Street, Castlemaine.

Phone 5472 5277.

(Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie and Curly - we picked them!)

The Local - Connecting the Community

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he Local is all about Connecting the Community. We run good news stories about amazing people and places, and festivals and events. And our fantastic advertisers run great deals for locals and visitors alike.

To give back to the community, The Local has been running its Connecting the Community adverts for five years. The adverts are for not-for-profit groups and organisations to lend a hand when finances can be a bit tight - or just don't exist. We all know how hard it can be to make volunteer-run organisations work on the smell of an oily rag!

To apply just email donna@tlnews.com.au with your event or organisation. We also put call-outs on our Facebook page and those of the various communities in our wonderful region. We work on a first-in basis, with a nod to time-lines too.

There are a few conditions, well mostly that nonfor-profit bit, and also that you aren't grabbing a free advert and then we see a whacking big paid advert in other media. That wouldn't be fair.

Cheers, Donna (Ed)

New Year's Eve Daylesford's annual New Year's Eve Parade and Gala will be held in Vincent Street from 6pm to 10pm on Monday, December 31.

Kyneton's Mick Day will Ride to Break the Silence next month, riding from Sydney to Melbourne to raise awareness of charity Lifeline.

The 1200km bike ride will take place over 10 days and also raise awareness of the many ways Lifeline helps those in need.

To follow Mick's preparations and ride, follow him on Instagram and Facebook at: Ride to Break the Silence.

Donations: Mick on 0477 055 505.

There will be all the old favourites including the kids' corner, roving entertainers, woodchop, food vans, and performances by Eric the Red along with dance and circus troupes.

The parade will kick off at 8pm followed by the announcement of prizes and a new sound and light show at the Daylesford Town Hall.

Our poets 9

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Poet wins Australia's richest poetry award

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OET Ross Gillett had an inkling, going in to the awards presentation for Australia’s richest poetry prize, that it might go well for him.

The first three sections of BUYING ONLINE

The Daylesford resident claimed second place in the Newcastle Poetry Prize in 2016 and had been told then, too, that it would be “worth his while” attending.

And so this year he did. And he won. And he took home $15,000 for a single poem.

“I was pretty amazed, my acceptance speech was ‘this is amazing, I’ve heard so many amazing poems this afternoon, I’m amazed’,” Ross said, managing to still sound amazed at his win.

Technically the Hunter Writers Centre's Newcastle Poetry Prize is Australia’s joint-richest poetry prize, but it seems pedantic to highlight that equality when it comes to such an impressive accomplishment.

It is more than just the cash prize, however – it will look great on Ross’s CV, it is an excellent bit of publicity for him and, of course, it is a nod of acknowledgement from those who judge the best of Australia’s literary community.

Ross’s poem, Buying Online, is beautiful – it comprises 93 lines, in nine sections, with the writing style both brilliant and understandable to the regular person at the same time.

"I wrote it over a month or two this year. The first two lines just came to me one morning,” Ross explains.

"The poem begins ‘If the book arrives bent, Put it down to the curve of the earth’.

"For many years I’ve bought a lot of poetry books online, mostly from the United States and England, and like a lot of things in Australia these things come to us over the curve of the earth and I suppose that was in my mind.

"It goes on to be about bigger things than just buying books, I think. But it’s not a hard poem to get."

Generally, in poetry, quite a lot of the works tend to be around five to 10 lines long – but the Newcastle Poetry Prize acknowledges longer poems, up to 200 lines.

"I write both, longer and shorter poems, but it’s great to have a competition that gives a longer poem a chance - and those longer poems are usually sequences, a series of shorter poems around the same idea that make up a sequence."

It was only in his late thirties that Ross began writing publishable poems, after a career as a literature teacher and finding that he needed to move away from that to find his own space to write poetry.

Since then, writing publishable poems has become a fairly normal event for Ross.

“My first book in 12 years will be published mid-next year, it’s my best poems from the last 10 years and it’s called Instructions for the Day.” To order the Buying Online anthology go to www.hunterwriterscentre.org or Google Newcastle Poetry Prize.

1 If the book arrives bent put it down to the curve of the earth.

Money heads for the horizon and disappears.

It comes back as poetry.

Such small amounts of money, so many poems responsive to the gravity of being in the world.

2 Our days are salt-stained.

They come to us from some hidden anchorage, they have passed through the straits.

They are cargoes of time and light.

We are safe harbours for them.

Put everything on the line.

Risk your details, trust your carrier, order all the days you can afford.

3 There’s the olive leaf concept, the dove returning with an image of the saved world.

It takes a whole branch to mean peace but Noah was thankful for the immense small mercy.

How many love poems from the last century does it take to save this one?

Send for them and they fly in like fierce doves.

As for the raven who never returned, who knows what poem he has become.

“For many years I’ve bought a lot of poetry books online, mostly from the United States and England, and like a lot of things in Australia these things come to us over the curve of the earth and I suppose that was in my mind."

Words: Kate Taylor | Image: Contributed

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10 Opinion

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Kyle’s Rant

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O, ANOTHER year draws to a close, with a plethora of Christmas parties and gorging on all of the animals, birds and sea creatures we can get our hands on. I can see the benefit to me but not so good for those guys!

Anyway, it’s nice to sit down and break bread with family and friends, although I must admit I do prefer the friends bit the most. I mean, my close family memories aren’t exactly rose-coloured. At the tender age of 15 my step-father asked me to help him with a project the day before I left for the high seas.

The project was to convert my bedroom into a new dining area, so I slept my last night at home snuggled up on the family couch with the dog, comforted by the assurance that if my adventures went tits up there was no place like home. Literally there was no home to come back to.

Not like the moody “teenagers” of today who lurk in the shadows of my friends’ houses, 25–30 years old and still “chillin’ out” in their rooms.

But back to Christmas. (The other stuff I have loads of time to unpack and talk to friends and therapists about.) This lead-up to Christmas has been a bit of a slow one, unlike the panicked ones of the past where it seems the world will stop on its axis on midnight of the big day. For me it has been a little more genteel.

The thing is I have had a spot of back surgery, which these days is not such a big deal and the recovery is relatively speedy. I have employed the great big old man’s toilet seat so as not to go too low and a bit of bed rest and a small amount of walking should see a speedy recovery. I suppose the thing is I went in pretty match-fit with two months of pilates under my belt and a bit of a crash diet.

The staff who rented me the thunder seat extension from the chemist (or as I like to call it, my Christmas Chair – you know the play on the word Cheer?) said it was rated to 100kgs and I weigh in at around 105. But I employed my knowledge of nautical breaking strains and argued the safe working load of most things is around one third of the breaking strain and convinced them all would be fine. So far, so good.

Anyway that’s my Christmas 2018. I hope you and yours enjoy and stay safe.

Underwhelming Christmas Chair rant over.

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Markets 11

To market, to market, to buy some Xmas decorations

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OU can find everything you need at weekend markets, from fresh fruit and veg to handmade jewellery and wares, throughout the Central Highlands and surrounds. Here are just a few.

Daylesford Sunday Market – every Sunday Wesley Hill Market - every Saturday Daylesford Farmers Market – first Saturday Trentham Neighbourhood Centre Makers Market - first Saturday Golden Plains Farmers Market - first Saturday Woodend Farmers Market - first Saturday Castlemaine Artists’ Market – first Sunday Trentham Community Group Market - second Saturday Kyneton Farmers Market - second Saturday Ballan Farmers Market - second Saturday Kyneton Rotary Community Market – second Saturday Maldon Market – second Sunday Clunes Farmers Market - second Sunday Trentham Farmers Market and Makers Market - third Saturday Glenlyon Farmers Market – third Saturday Leonards Hill Market - third Saturday Creswick Market - third Saturday Talbot Farmers Market – third Sunday Woodend Lions Market - third Sunday Trentham Station Sunday Market - fourth Sunday Buninyong Village Market - fourth Sunday

The Trentham Farmers Market has joined with Trentham Makers Market

Third Saturday, 9am - 1pm

TRENTHAM PETROL & STUFF 1 Market St PH 5424 1611 Mon - Sat 8am - 6pm Sun 9am - 6pm Petrol, oils, swap & go gas, firewood permits, farm produce / produce store, ice, milk, soft drinks, take-away pies, coffee, confectionery, local honey etc. rusty junk, secondhand books, old wares

Parker's Mini Circus will be performing on December 23 and 30!

Summer time tips to care for our elderly citizens

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OT summer days, Christmas celebrations and school holidays are all great times to enjoy with family and friends. It’s also a time when the most vulnerable in our community need special attention.

The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a warmer and drier 2018-19 summer than usual.

This could bring with it extreme weather conditions and heatwaves, which historically result in increased deaths and serious impacts on people with underlying health conditions.

You can assist the elderly during extreme heat periods by looking out for elderly neighbours and family members and checking their cooling systems are working.

Encourage them to wear loose-fitting clothing and to take in fluids regularly.

Hepburn Health’s Manager Integrated Community Aged Care Gabrielle Kirby says: “It can be a particularly stressful time for many of our older clients. Our staff are there to help, whether it be a reminder on a home visit to drink more water and stay cool or a phone call to the vulnerable to check in on them.”

On extreme weather warning days, or those categorised as Code Red or Catastrophic, Hepburn Health will implement some essential changes for safety reasons. Home visits may be cancelled or rescheduled, care visits may be requested to be held at a relative or friend’s home, or elderly people at risk in their homes may be relocated to hospital, a care facility or motel.

All of these options will be discussed with Aged Care Residents or Home Care clients ahead of forecast extreme weather days.

Finally, take time during your family gatherings to gauge whether your parents, grandparents or any other relations are showing any noticeable signs of changes to their memory. Signs of delirium could be the result of dehydration brought on by the heat, or other health complications. If you have concerns contact your GP or health professionals.

From all of us at Hepburn Health have a merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. For any further enquiries regarding extreme heat days contact Hepburn Health on 5321 6500.

To access the CFA Your Guide to Survival go to www.cfa.vic.gov.au

Advertorial

Seasons Greetings from Hepburn Health

HEATWAVE CHECKLIST FOR THE ELDERLY Ensure cooling systems are working

The Management and the

Encourage loose-fitting clothing

Board of Hepburn Health

Ensure cold drinks are accessible

send best wishes during the Festive Season and hope all of the communities we serve have a Happy and Safe New Year.

Acu te Care

ted ra ary g e t m In Pri are C

d ate ty gr uni are e t In ommd C C ge A

Close curtains and blinds to keep homes cool Encourage small, frequent meals Encourage sunscreen protection if in direct sunlight Advise to seek shade when outside between 11am-3pm Look for signs of heat stress including nausea or changes in skin colour, red/pale/dry

al nti are e d esi d C R ge A

For all general enquiries: P: 03 5321 6500 | F: 03 5321 6546 E: info@hhs.vic.gov.au https://www.hhs.vic.gov.au

For all general enquiries: P: 03 5321 6500 | F: 03 5321 6546 E: info@hhs.vic.gov.au https://www.hhs.vic.gov.au

Disability action plan

M

ACEDON Ranges Shire Council is inviting residents to share their thoughts and help inform a new Disability Action Plan.

The plan will then form part of the shire’s overall Council Plan 20172027, rather than being separate.

Mayor Janet Pearce said incorporating the DAP into the Council Plan highlighted the council’s commitment to improving the shire for people with disabilities and their carers, as well as for the community as a whole.

“We want to reduce barriers and discrimination for people with all types of disabilities. We also want to increase inclusion and participation, and we are eager to hear everyone’s ideas.”

Submissions can be made until January 20, online at mrsc.vic.gov.au/yoursay, emailing mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au or mailing it to PO Box 151, Kyneton, 3444.

VicHealth win

Y

OUTH Live4Life, which was founded in Macedon Ranges and is based on Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s Live4Life initiative, has won the Improving Mental Health category at the 2018 VicHealth Awards.

Shire mayor Janet Pearce who attended the awards ceremony, along with Youth Live4Life board members, council staff, and current and former Live4Life crew members, said it was a great thrill to see the program spreading more widely to help more young people throughout Victoria.

“Live4Life helps support, improve and invest in young people’s mental health both in our shire and beyond. (It) is a mental health promotion initiative that also builds resilience, and that’s incredibly powerful.”

The Live4Life model runs in Macedon Ranges Shire each year and has now been introduced in Glenelg and Benalla shires through Youth Live4Life Inc.

Christmas & New Year

OPENING HOURS We wish everyone a happy and healthy festive season DATE

DAYLESFORD

SAT 22 DEC SUN 23 DEC MON 24 DEC TUE 25 DEC WED 26 DEC THU 27 DEC FRI 28 DEC SAT 29 DEC SUN 30 DEC MON 31 JAN TUE 1 JAN WED 2 JAN

9am–12.30pm CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED 8.30am–5pm 8.45am–5pm CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED 8.30am–6pm 8.45am–5pm 8.30am–6pm 8.45am–5pm 9am–12.30pm CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED 8.30am–5pm 8.45am–5pm CLOSED CLOSED Resume normal hours

If you have an urgent, non life threatening health concern after hours or on a public holiday, call the After Hours GP Helpline 1800 022 222 WELCOME DR SANDEEP DHALIWAL TO SPRINGS MEDICAL

Dr Dhaliwal is now consulting at Springs Medical following the closure of Coliban Medical Centre Kyneton.

SPECIALISING IN: Wellness Management (including diabetes, respiratory & heart disease), Sexual Health, Men’s Health, Aged Care, Emergency and Acute Care, Skin, Infants/Children and Family Medicine.

APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE AT TRENTHAM AND DAYLESFORD.

www.springsmedical.com.au In an emergency always call 000 Daylesford 10 Hospital St | tel: (03) 5348 2227

Holy moly. What a brow transformation! Part of our job is restoring the hairs on a compromised brow, trust in the process and we promise it’ll be worth it ! Photos taken two years apart.

TRENTHAM

Our brow appointments take 30mins and cost $50 this includes tinting.

Book in online at www.jasminebeautytherapy. com.au or call us on 5331 5055.

Trentham 22 Victoria St | tel: (03) 5424 1602

Jasmine Beauty Therapy welcomes Alex to our team in Daylesford!

BOOK ONLINE WITH

14 Happy & Healthy

www.tlnews.com.au

Dr. Susanne M. Heringslake Chiropractor Moments To Ponder a little gift from me to you

No matter where you are in life, No matter your circumstances or beliefs, Reach within.

Touch the inner knowing.

Connect with nature’s greatness.

Then celebrate the real gift of Christmas. [\

May you truly enjoy the beauty of Christmas and the magic of an abundant New Year.

For all enquiries and to book appointments, please contact: Dr Susanne M Heringslake Chiropractor Mobile: 0407 301 352

Thanks to the crew for their participation, in the front page photo shoot.

Here is the cutting room floor stuff.

Merry Christmas!

16 Our history

www.tlnews.com.au

Down the Shaft with Anthony Sawrey

B

ACK in 1853, at the conclusion of the Eureka Stockade skirmish in Ballarat, miner Peter Lalor was the man of the hour.

Having lost his left arm in the fight, he was briefly a fugitive but with the overwhelming support of his fellow miners, he soon became the member for Ballarat in the Victorian parliament several years later - a position from where he championed the cause of law reform and equal justice for the working poor.

By 1873, those heady days were well in the past. He was a now a man of capital with substantial business interests tied up in nearby Clunes, specifically the Lothair Mine on the southern side of town.

However, in this role he was not a popular man, along with the rest of the directors of the operation. Mining in the 19th century was a dangerous occupation with abysmal safety standards and the Lothair Mine was an especially sordid example. It was significantly undercapitalised and considered to be one of the area’s most dangerous operations as summed up by 'A Miner’s Wife, One of the Union', in a letter to the Ballarat Courier concerning impoverished wives and children: “Having been obliged to leave the district...with bleeding hearts at being torn from the remains of the beloved one who had made this earth their paradise...But directors, not satisfied with the old process of slowly poisoning our husbands, seem determined of making it both wholesale and rapid.”

So clearly the workforce was already restive when the announcement came on Monday, September 15, 1873 by management that the workers' contract system was to be abolished, and two extra shifts (Sunday night and Saturday afternoon) introduced. This was the last straw and 110 employees of the Lothair Mine went on strike.

After two and a half months the belligerents were still at an impasse. An appeal for white miners from Ballarat to break the strike was rejected and in early December the directors of the mine decided to get Chinese miners in from Creswick.

By the morning of December 9 rumours circulating about the striking workers had anything from 50 to 150 Celestials escorted by 12 police troopers advancing in five coaches towards Lothair. The strikers were ready to resist, and the melee was short and sharp.

A mob of 1000 people met the party along the Creswick-Ballarat Road at a barricade hastily thrown together. They pelted the coaches with rocks and stones prompting the troopers to call a retreat. As the coaches disappeared out of sight, the crowd gave three cheers, the barricades were dismantled and, led by the Clunes brass band playing God Save the Queen, they paraded back to town.

The incident, while brief, has retained a presence in Australian history due to its involvement of Chinese miners. The presence of the Chinese on Australian goldfields had led to numerous clashes right through the second half of the 19th century. The most notorious was the Buckland Riot of 1857 at Porepunkah in north east Victoria and Lambing Flat in New South Wales in 1860. But while the disturbance at Clunes was at its core an industrial dispute, it was quickly defined as another race riot, as pointed out by local historian Jerome Small in his thesis Reconsidering White Australia.

“The Clunes riot, later described by Labor parliamentarian William Spence as a heroic battle against ‘capitalistic greed and Chinese’, is usually recorded at the start of a second wave of agitation that saw new restrictions on Chinese immigration passed in 1881 and led eventually to the systematic exclusion of Chinese and other non-whites.”

However, Small notes that while "any history of the development of the 'White Australia' Policy has to include the role of the working class, it is questionable whether working class racism can be accurately portrayed as anything like its driving force".

Thus, if anyone chooses to visit Clunes and the site of the Chinese Riot on the Ballarat Road they will find the sign politely obscured by some extra information to remind us all that this infamous skirmish was above all an industrial dispute concerning workers' rights.

Above right, Disturbances at Clunes - Miners resisting the introduction of Chinese labour. S. Calvert (1873) Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria, middle, the site of the Lothair Mine, below, Clunes Museum president James Curzon-Siggers at the site of the 1873 disturbance Words & bottom two images: Anthony Sawrey

HOUSE.LAND.HOME. Your local real estate guide to the Central Highlands

House.Land.Home.

Bells Water Gardens @ Newlyn

Bells Water Gardens has been in the water garden business for over 25 years, building and maintaining ponds and growing a diverse range of aquatic plants for the nursery trade and public.

We are passionate about building natural eco-system ponds, adding beauty and encouraging wildlife, allowing interaction with nature. Water gardens built by us are quiet, contemplative places to rest and energise the senses.

Visit our display water gardens, water plant nursery and new pond shop for advice, inspiration and pond accessories in Newlyn.

Opening hours are: Friday and Monday 9am-5pm Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm Call Richard - 0418 567 195 or Sally - 0412 090 850 www.bellswatergardens.com.au

Design with Indre Stairway to heaven I may be a bit late to put out the Christmas lights and decorations this year. I am a Christmas humbug and find it hard to spend time on something that I have to pull down in a few weeks and then store for the rest of the year. Yes, it gives others pleasure. I get it. It brings people together. I get that too, which brings me to the topic of holidays, time at home and ladder use.

Ladder use in a domestic setting increases exponentially from November 25 to January 31. There are lights and decorations to hang, high shelves to access, free time for home maintenance and gutter clearing, plus everyone is more rushed. Between 60 per cent to 80 per cent of ladder injuries requiring hospitalisation occur in domestic settings. Data indicates at least six fatalities and 2500 hospital-treated ladder injuries each year in Victoria (Cassell & Clapperton 2006).

Tips for ladder use not surprisingly include no alcohol or high heels which, together with ladders, (not always using all three at the same time) lead the reasons for Christmas falls. So, closed-in non-slip shoes please, without heels, with the ladder footings on a stable, firm base.

Please don't place the ladder on another object to gain extra reach. Warning bells at the mere thought.

The ladder must be sturdy and in clean repair and only use the ladder outside in good weather.

The ‘three points of contact climb' is recommended where two hands and a foot make contact at all times, or two feet and a hand in contact when working.

There is also a 4:1 rule. Every 4m of ladder height requires 1m of pitch or angle from the structure.

Let's not copy bloopers and fall backwards holding the ladder. It isn't funny.

Ideally you have one or two people standing idle that can foot brace the ladder for you when you are on it. If not, brace or tie off the ladder near the base and tie the top at support points or attach hooks.

Ladder stabilisers can be used at the base to increase the base support or at the top of the ladder, making the contact area much wider. If you intend getting off the ladder at the top, please have three rungs past the height of the structure.

This time of year is about bringing together friends and family. About enjoying good company and sharing the table with plenty of good food and drink. If we are fortunate to have time free, slow down and don't rush it. We know that is when accidents happen. We want to see you all back in one piece for another fabulous year. Enjoy the festivities and good health to all.

Indre Kisonas, principal designer iok design www.iokdesign.com.au | indre@iokdesign.com.au

Under Offer

Just Listed

2 3

1

1

Price: $560,000

Bright And Airy With Bucketloads Of Opportunity!

1

3

Price: $395,000

1A Thompson Street, Elphinstone

18 Maxwell Street, Kyneton 2

1

3

This striking small home is nestled into a beautifully-positioned corner block within walking distance of Kyneton’s shopping precinct, bistros, sporting facilities and railway station.

An attractive kerbside hedge affords wonderful privacy to the property that offers a crisp and spacious interior. Magnificent mature trees grace the front page of the well-planted garden filled with a delightful variety of plants and trees including towering pin oak, maple, peach, plum, Julian roses and many others.

Davies All services are connected. Subdivision potential STCA. Land size: 1012m2 (1/4 acre).

0439 802 323 NRZ10 (Neighbourhood Residential Zone, Schedule 10). julian.davies@woodend.rh.com.au rh.com.au/woodend

(03) 5427Davies 3200 Julian 0439 802 323

julian.davies@woodend.rh.com.au rh.com.au/woodend (03) 5427 3200

If you are looking to downsize, maintain your independence and create new friendships, McAuley Retirement Community is the perfect choice for you.

Nestled in the quaint township of Trentham, McAuley offers two and three-bedroom units in the community you love.

• Spacious, open plan living • Kitchen with quality fittings • Landscaped courtyard • Single and double garages

Orchard Cottage

This delightfully-renovated small home, so convenient to freeway access to Melbourne and only ten minutes’ drive from Malmsbury Railway Station is an unmissable opportunity for first home owners, a young family, downsizers, weekenders, Airbnbers, or retirees 1 2 3 champing at the bit to realise the dream of a simple country lifestyle.

A modern kitchen, extensive Julian Daviesnewly-laid tiling and carpets, a recently renovated bathroom, town water, reverse-cycle climate-control, solid fuel heater and a three-bay Colorbond 0439 802 323 shed all add appeal, comfort and value. julian.davies@woodend.rh.com.au

‘Orchard Cottage’ is situated about fifteen minutes’ drive from Castlemaine and Kyneton rh.com.au/woodend and twenty-five (03)minutes 5427 3200from Bendigo and Daylesford, a fantastic position to access most of Victoria’s country attractions. Land size 2996m2.

Julian Davies 0439 802 323

julian.davies@woodend.rh.com.au rh.com.au/woodend (03) 5427 3200

House.Land.Home.

They're back and this time they mean business!

They're tough, brown thumb resistant, droughtproof, most of all, they're succulent and now they're virtually everywhere.

For years, except for a stoic band of enthusiasts and those really in the know, the very mention of the word succulent when talking of plants, brought forth memories of spiky potted plants on Nanna's doorstep, old-fashioned rockery gardens, or dusty survivors in outback homestead gardens.

With the coming of the more architectural modern garden designs, notably for civic and commercial sites, the striking effects created by their unique shapes, colours and textures no doubt helped to bring about a renewed interest in the so-called succulents and their near cousins, cacti. No doubt their ability to withstand long periods without water was also an incentive.

Succulents, once obtainable mainly from community garden stalls, markets, or the occasional enthusiast growers' nursery have really hit the big time. They're simply available in an ever-increasing range of varieties from markets, garden stores and nurseries everywhere and especially noticeable at some outlets, potted up into decorative containers as desirable gifts.

But succulents haven't really gone away over the years, well that is the immediately recognisable ones - those with the little spiky leaves or cabbage-like coloured forms may have - they have lived amongst us, bringing colour and delight to our gardens, all this time unrecognised.

The descriptive term succulent covers an incredible range of climbing, groundcovering plants and even trees, all of which have one common thread. They have thick, porous leaves, stems or roots, all camel-like in that they are able to absorb and store large quantities of water to carry them over long periods of drought, which makes them perfect for growing in arid conditions.

Some species are actually epiphytes - those without actual roots, but live in branches of trees etc., absorbing the moisture from the surface of the host plant and gaining nourishment from collected decaying plant material. These, like the stag ferns and some species of native orchid, are best grown mounted on a board, or potted into a very porous mix of sand, peat moss and bark.

The downside is that they are all highly susceptible to root rot and other fungal disease so should be watered sparingly at all times.

Apart from the obvious, regularly grown varieties: the cabbage-like echeverias, supervivums and taller aeoniums and crassulas, among which is the jade tree, but perhaps you weren't aware that such plants as the aloes, yuccas and boab or bottle tree are succulents as well.

More surprising, or on reflection, perhaps not, plumeria, the beautifully fragrant tropical tree is also a succulent, as are that magic glossy-leaved climbing plant with waxy pink or white flowers - hoya carnensis.

Because the spiky-stemmed euphorbia family (crown of thorns) are succulents, you shouldn't be too surprised that the beautiful international floral emblem of Christmas is also - that is if you knew that its botanical name was euphorbia pulcherrima.

Above, the statuesque aeonium sempervivums "Cyclops" and left, a thornless cactus schlumbergera gaertneri, sometimes known as rhipsalidopsis gaertneri

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03 5464 7380

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Hepburn Shire & Ballarat

Phone: 03 5464 7380 or Michael 0422 643 901 Email: sales@onsiteflyscreensballarat.com.au www.onsiteflyscreens.com.au

REIV regional wrap

P

LANNING on selling your home, purchasing an apartment or moving rental properties in regional Victoria this summer? The Real Estate Institute of Victoria and its members are often asked for advice across all segments of the property market: here are some tips from us.

HEPBURN EARTHWORKS All aspects of earth works

Don’t get sucked in by gimmicks: The selection of an agent is integral to achieving the best result possible. Real Estate Institute of Victoria agents are qualified, have local knowledge, are insured and bound by principles of conduct and regulations. You can find an REIV member in your area on the ‘Choose an REIV Member’ section of the REIV website.

Presentation is key: With a competitive sellers’ market and the popularity of home renovation and decorating, presentation has never been more crucial to the lucrative sale of houses and apartments. It may seem daunting to shell out for a fresh coat of paint, new carpets, fresh blinds, professional window cleaning or some landscaping work, but any of these measures could fetch you a significantly higher sale price which could far exceed the cost of the works.

Know your local market: Do your research. The REIV website’s Market Insight section allows you to quickly and easily get a snapshot of the property market in your suburb. It will give you recent sales, the median sale price, quarterly price change, days on market, auction clearance rates and more.

Don’t overcapitalise: Set a realistic and practical budget and stick to it – whether you’re buying or renting. We are often ruled by our hearts over our heads when it comes to our home but you don’t want to find yourself and your family under mortgage or rental stress. It’s no secret that the banks have implemented tighter lending conditions too, so you want to make sure you can afford a property before you commit to purchase.

Don’t rule out a bridesmaid suburb: REIV data shows that buyers can save tens of thousands and renters can save hundreds per week by moving to a neighbouring suburb. For example, Lara renters could save $110 by renting in Corio and buyers could save $95,000 if they purchase in Point Lonsdale over adjacent Queenscliff.

Gil King - CEO REIV

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Home style foods cooked with passion Eat in or take home House-made cakes and pastries Open daily 8am - 4pm

77 Vincent St, Daylesford | 5348 1677

www.tlnews.com.au

Dine review 23

Feed Me menu at The Argus Dining Room

T

HE Argus Dining Room at Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel in the heart of Hepburn Springs has long been an excellent place to go for quality dining.

MONDAY IS LOCALS' NIGHT AT THE ARGUS DINING ROOM $45 pp feed me (normally $65) includes glass of house wine or beer.

Bookings essential. Open Monday from 6pm to 9pm.

CHRISTMAS DAY $125 pp includes glass of bubbles – 3 course sharing menu.

Bookings essential. Closed for Dinner.

NEW YEAR’S EVE $140 pp includes 2 hours of canapés and bubbles on the lawn with live music 4-6 then the feed me option for dinner.

Bookings Essential.

NORMAL HOURS Open Monday – Sunday for Breakfast and Dinner Open Saturday/Sunday for Lunch. www.mineralspringshotel.com.au Bookings: 03 5348 2202 124 Main Rd Hepburn Springs

But with the arrival of head chef Elizabeth Payne six months ago the menu has been going through some very interesting changes, as our host for the evening Nicole Armitage explains: “Lizzie has swapped the menu over in the past six weeks, it was more of a fine dining menu previously, but we’re trying to approach all of the public so it is now farm to table, and more of a sharing menu.

"The offerings have now changed to smallers, largers and desserts as opposed to entrées, mains and desserts and are more about encouraging people to share plates of food and enjoy it all together.”

We arrived at the Argus early Thursday evening and set about the task of experiencing the new menu. Nicki suggested the Feed Me option which is a fantastic way to sample what’s on offer while providing terrific value for the budget conscious.

If there are two diners, they pay $65 a head and get three smallers, two largers and two desserts to share.

On Monday it's locals' night and even better value at $45 per person – which includes a glass of wine or beer. If you are a group of three, for the same price per person you will get four smallers, three largers and two desserts and yes, it remains only $45pp on Monday. We choose the Feed Me option for two.

To start with, we ordered drinks. They have 20 wines available by the glass and I ordered a 2012 Newbridge Bendigo shiraz at $13 a glass while Amanda, a pink wine fan, went for the 2017 rosé from Sailors Falls Estate for $13 a glass.

Very soon our smallers arrived, and the first was Tempura mushrooms with lemon and truffle salt ($16). It consisted of field mushrooms in a crisp seasoned tempura batter with a tangy enoki mushroom garnish. Up next was Braised spring lamb in a filo pastry ($16) with delicate slivers of asparagus, pickled onions and a hearty relish.

Smallers were completed with a Duck pate in choux pastry ($6 each). Imagine a tangy savoury éclair and you are close to what this tasted like.

We were ready for the largers but Lizzie was keen that we sample a few other smallers and sent out more for us to try. How about La Luna curd ($15)? A delicate goat’s cheese from Sutton Grange Organic Farm with sprigs of honeycomb, or perhaps some smoked local trout at $16 wrapped in rye with a web of fennel and sprouted peas. Or some sublime Burrata (a form of mozzarella) with heirloom tomato and aged vinegar for $18? We had to try them all even though we knew it would be hard getting through the largers which arrived soon after.

I went with the Local lamb which featured great pieces of tender, so tender, lamb with broad beans, sugar snaps, peas, kale, preserved lemon and feta $30. My BFF (Best Foodie Friend) went for Potato gnocchi ($25) and spring vegetables marinated in a wonderful beurre noisette (a French style savoury butter). Just in case we were still a bit hungry we were then offered some more largers. We got the chance to sample Caramelised pumpkin with dukkah (Moroccan nut and spice mix) and smoked labneh (Greek yogurt) with a sprinkling of cranberries rehydrated in vinegar ($19). There was also Chicken wellington in filo pastry with Istra ham, silverbeet and mushrooms to be had at only $28.

Let me remind you once again that this night out was not about getting your dishes and hogging them. This was a sharing menu and we were passing plates back and forth, mixing up smallers and largers, trying this, sampling that and generally having a great ol’ time.

Finally, after all these wonderful dishes were cleared away, we had a chance to experience dessert. And if we thought that things were going to be low-key after all that came before we were wrong and pleasantly so. First to come was a dish called an Eton mess ($14) which is essentially a deconstructed pavlova with rhubarb, strawberry and mint and some little jelly-like taste treats called pearlers. I don’t have the space to fully describe them but if there was a single reason that you should dine at the Argus Dining Room, then they are it. Finally, we got Doughnuts with lemon sorbet, thyme jelly, honey and shards of spun sugar ($16).

The Argus Dining Room wants more locals to come and try the wonderful new array of food on offer. So, take advantage of their great dishes and amazing prices. You will not be disappointed and the friends you bring along will remain impressed with your knowledge of fine food and where best to enjoy it for a long time afterward.

Words & images: Anthony Sawrey

PINOT & PETANQUE EVENT Saturday 19 January 2019 From 12 - 5pm Ticket includes a glass of Pinot & cheeseboard Various packages available

Experience: Tastings in our Underground Cellar Door Woodfired Pizza | Local made liquors & Boutique beer Donald & Tuck Food Van | Live Music Petanque Tips | Plus much more!

. .

EAT DRINK LOCAL . DRINK . LOVELOVE . .

EAT LOCAL EAT DRINK LOVE LOCAL Book tickets at clevelandwinery.com.au Kickback back in the best be Kick and and relax inrelax the region’s bestregion’s beer garden

Kick back and relax in the region’s 03 best 5424beer 1516 . garden Cnr High St & Cosmo Rd, Trentham . www.thecos Tel:1516 (03) .5429 9000St &CCosmo leveland 03 5424 Cnr High Rd, Trentham . www.thecosmopolitanhotel.com.au @ClevelandWinery 03 5424 1516 . Cnr High St & Cosmo Rd, Trentham . www.thecosmopolitanhotel.com.au

55 Shannons Rd, Lancefield

winery resort & events

Daylesford

Cellarbrations @ foxxy’s - our region’s largest local and boutique wine specialists.

Open every day until late.

55 Vincent Street, Daylesford.

5348 3577

www.tlnews.com.au

Meal Deals 25

Meal deals for locals...and visitors too!

E

VERYONE loves a good meal deal. So here are some of the dining establishments offering great food and great prices!

Sunday:

Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn - Roast - $16-$22 - depending on time Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford - Roast, a pot or glass of wine or soft drink - $25

Monday - Friday (Not available public holidays or school holidays)

Monday:

Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford - Monday Meatball Madness - $20 (Vegetarian too) Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn - Parma Night - $16-$22 - depending on time Daylesford Cidery, Musk - Pot of Daylesford Cider & any pizza - $20 Peppers Mineral Springs, Hepburn - Feed me - includes a glass of beer or wine $45pp

Tuesday:

Galley Diner, Daylesford - lunch deal - burger, soft drink, fries - $17 Casa El Rey, Daylesford - lunch deal - burrito, soft drink - $15

Community Lunch:

The 5000 Club, Daylesford is open for lunch from noon every Friday at Stanbridge Hall, Central Springs Road, Daylesford. All welcome.

Raffles:

Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford - Burger Night with chips - $20

Wednesday:

Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford – Pot (or glass of house wine) and Parma - $20 Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham - Locals' Night. Weekly specials @ $18

Fundraising raffles for local organisations are held on Friday evenings at the Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn, the Farmers Arms Hotel, Daylesford and the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham.

Thursday:

Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford – Steak Night - $20 Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn - Burger Night - $16-$22 - depending on time The Plough, Trentham - Locals' All Day Dining - 2 courses $27/3 courses $32 The Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham - Woodfired pizza specials

Friday:

Criterion Hotel, Castlemaine - Express Jalapeno Poppers $12, Fried Chicken Wings $12, Refried Bean Rolls $12, Fried Baby Calamari Tostada $16, 12-2.30pm Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn - Parma Night - $16-$22 - depending on time

It’s about real mates.

It’s about real community spirit.

It’s about a real pub. Since 1857.

Eat. Drink. Be Local.

Since 1857, a constant stream of patrons have walked through our doors. Best mates, new friends, strangers, locals, visitors and travellers. They all gather together to share a pint, break some bread, and regale a good tale or two.

So if you or someone you know, is involved in a local project or community organisation that could use a helping hand, come into the pub and see Mel or Megan.

We’d love to be able to host a Friday night meat raffle to help you raise much needed funds.

It has served as a gathering place for locals to come together in times of need and in times of great celebration.

Cos the spirit of giving shouldn’t just be at Christmas. It should be every week of the year.

And that is why we dedicate every Friday night to host our meat raffle where all proceeds go to a local community organisation.

SEASONAL TRADING HOURS

1 EAST ST DAYLESFORD

•

03 5348 2091

XMAS EVE: 12 NOON TIL LATE XMAS DAY: CLOSED

• OPEN 7 DAYS LUNCH & DINNER

From our Farmers Arms Family to you and yours, we wish you all a very happy and safe festive season.

NEW YEARS EVE: CLOSING AT 4PM NEW YEARS DAY: 12 NOON TIL LATE

•

THEFARMERSARMS.COM.AU

A heart-felt thank you from Clint Stretton

T

HERE have been so many this year who've helped making Christmas cards and hampers and donating cards and gifts.

So many who have volunteered to give their time to promote the commitments to service of our military and emergency services. It's been very humbling for me at times.

The talks to schools and seeing the enthusiasm in the children and the teachers is pretty rewarding. Woodend Primary School, pictured above, was amazing. The questions from the children were so well thought out and intelligently presented.

Pictured are the students with retired soldier and Invictus Games competitor Matthew Blunt (in the green and yellow), myself, plus Bella the service dog, (obscured) laying loyally by Matthew's feet.

I haven't counted all the cards and gifts yet but the hospital common room will be full of positive energy and well wishes from so many. The messages on the cards and presents will undoubtedly let soldiers and emergency services patients in hospital over Christmas know they are still valued and not forgotten by the public.

I'd like to thank Woodend Primary School, Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School, Kyneton Primary School, Trentham Primary School, Myrniong Primary School and Ballan Primary School.

Thanks also go to: Singers and band members Adam Brand, Matty Cornell and Gretta Ziller; Trentham newsagent Michelle; Trentham Tai Chi Lilac Moon's Patricia Kent; Battlefield Blue poppy artist Ron Davis; Trentham Post Office - Elizabeth Parsons; John and Ron from Lyonville;

Ken Vallance, Smeaton; Julie Baulch - president of the Kingston Friends of the Avenue centenary; Creswick Smeaton RSL sub branch; VIC West sub branch of the military Brotherhood Military Motorcycle Club; The Green Store Trentham; Trentham IGA; Woodend store Endangered; Kyneton Woolworths; Paint Right Kyneton; Boltons Motorcycles Kyneton; Autopro Kyneton; and Ballan Kyokushin Karate.

And thank you to everyone who took the time to write messages of support to the soldiers and emergency services patients in hospital over Christmas.

Woodend Primary School grades 5 and 6 donated $500 to charity Soldier On. The members of that charity will be so pleased with the school's donation. What a magnificent effort by the wonderful school children. Well done!

Also, a special thank you to retired soldier and police officer Rob Atkins and retired soldier and Invictus Games competitor Matthew Blunt.

Cheers, Clint Stretton

Portarlington RSL St Leonard's sub branch Philip Neil McLean; Ballan Women's Auxiliary and Fred Moore;

Advertorial

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Vanessa Craven & Lunar Dust - Saturday, December 22, noon-3pm Little Wigtown - Saturday, December 29, noon-3pm

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News 31

Bravery medals

G

LENLYON'S Jamie Grant and Creswick's Daniel O'Connor have been presented with bravery awards from the Royal Humane Society of Australasia.

The pair were among 12 Victorians presented with bravery awards on Thursday, December 13 at Government House.

Mr Grant and Mr O'Connor went to the rescue of a man in a crashed and burning car at Newlyn on October 20, 2016.

On that day at 6.20pm a car collided with a tree and the pair witnessed the collision and stopped to render assistance.

Mr Grant went to a nearby farmhouse to obtain a fire extinguisher whilst Mr O’Connor ran to the burning car in an attempt to free the driver.

The driver’s side window was down and Mr O’Connor tried to rouse the driver who was unresponsive and trapped.

Mr Grant returned with the fire extinguisher but it made little impact on the burning car.

Both men were unable to open the doors as they were jammed due to the collision and once the fuel tank ignited they were forced to move away.

Emergency services arrived shortly afterwards but could not save the driver.

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The Local wishes its clients and readers a very merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Catch you in 2019!

(Where did that year go? Just sayin'...)