The Local January 16, 2023

Rex revival

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

2 About Us

Front cover: The Rex has been bought by Daylesford locals, from left, Malinka and Eddy Comelli, and David and Yuge Bromley. Read all about their plans on page 4 and 5.

www.tlnews.com.au

271 Rex revival

January 16, 2023

The Local is a registered trademark of The Local Publishing Group Pty Ltd.

The Local is a member of the Victorian Country Press Association, with editor Donna Kelly, a former director.

The content expressed within this publication does not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Local Publishing Group Pty Ltd. The Local Publishing Group's editorial guidelines and complaints-handling process can be found at www.tlnews.com.au We welcome all feedback.

The Local is a fortnightly community publication covering the Central Highlands of Victoria.

The next edition is out on Monday, January 30, 2023. or online on Sunday, January 29 at www.tlnews.com.au

Space bookings: Wednesday, January 25 Copy deadline: Thursday, January 26 Editorial deadline: Thursday, January 26

Editorial: 0418 576 513 | Advertising: 0416 104 283 news@tlnews.com.au | kyle@tlnews.com.au

Managing editor | Donna Kelly General manager | Kyle Barnes

Sub-editors | Nick Bunning, Lindsay Smith & Chester

Editorial assistant | Eve Lamb 0493 632 843

Writers | Kevin Childs, Tony Sawrey, Jeff Glorfeld, Narelle Groenhout, Eve Lamb & Donna Kelly

Photographers | Kyle Barnes & David White

Graphic designer & HLH coordinator | Dianne Caithness

Contributors: Glen Heyne (gardening), Darren Lowe (gigs), Matthew Richardson (money) and Jen Clarke (recipes).

Off to a flying start: Creswick’s new Calembeen parkrun

THE new year has got off to a cracking start at Creswick with the town joining the nation’s list of locales to host a regular Saturday morning parkrun.

Parkruns are free, weekly, 5km community events that take place all around the world, with more than 450 different parkruns registered Australiawide.

Others in Central Victoria alone include parkruns at Maryborough, Castlemaine and Ballarat, and while they’re called parkruns, walkers are also very welcome to participate.

Calembeen parkrun director, Creswick’s Adam Crutchfield, is one of the main driving forces behind the establishment of this new parkrun and says there are a couple of reasons he was so keen to see it become reality for the town.

“Two reasons,” he says. “To engage with the community and also for tourism. To invite more tourism, because parkrun is well known in Australia.

“We’re keen on attracting visitation and encouraging other parkrun people from other towns.”

And so it was that, following a couple of initial practice runs last month, the new Calembeen parkrun had its very first official date on Saturday – January 14 – to the delight of the throng of keen local and visiting runners, walkers and volunteers.

As the name suggests, the location for this new addition to the global parkrun listings is Creswick’s own uniquely scenic Calembeen Park with its twin central water features and leafy bushland ambience.

“It reaches out to people on a weekly basis and I think it’s important that it’s a consistent event, but a great thing about it is that there is no commitment,” Adam says.

This means you can participate as a runner, walker or volunteer when it works for you.

Volunteers are a vital part of making parkrun the international success story that it is, and Creswick’s Chrissy Austin is one such volunteer whose husband Chris is a keen runner and parkrun enthusiast.

“It’s very exciting,” she says. “The course here at Calembeen is a couple of loops. It meanders off into the bush for a bit and it’s got a couple of undulating hills.

“If you want to register a run it’s really easy.

“You just go to the parkrun website to register and they will email you your own unique barcode which you can then use to register your time at any parkrun that you participate in, anywhere.

“Even if you don’t want to run or walk you can volunteer. It’s only for an hour and it’s got a really good vibe.”

Among the new parkrun’s eager participants, Creswick’s Kerry McKenzie says the health benefits of parkrun are a top reason to be part of it.

“I think it’s really good for mental health,” she says. “The main thing is just to get outside, and it brings people together.”

Adam says those interested in getting along or finding out more about the new Calembeen parkrun – which will now happen every Saturday at 8am - can do so via the run’s website and Facebook page.

“Just join up to be part of something special in Creswick,” he says.

“I think people are looking for something, and it sort of captures all ages from kids to grandparents. It’s something that’s going to evolve.”

Words & image: Eve Lamb

Above, Creswick’s Chrissy Austin, Kerry McKenzie and Adam Crutchfield at Calembeen Park

“Even if you don’t want to run or walk you can volunteer. It’s only for an hour and it’s got a really good vibe.”

The Rex: a few questions

Who are the Comellis and the Bromleys?

Eddy and Malinka Comelli are long-term locals. Eddy received a life membership of the Central Highlands Football League in 2021 after many years as president and describes himself as a farmer, businessman and property developer.

In an interview with The Local in 2016, Eddy said he had a desire to see Daylesford become a better place to live, with more maintenance, landscape and beautification.

Eddie's forebears came from Udine, in north-east Italy, spreading across the world in search of work in the 1960s. Eddie grew up in Preston, and his family began farming in Daylesford in 1969, moving to meat wholesaling, pig raising and on to buying the local abattoir in 1980. The Comellis own a number of rental properties and businesses throughout Daylesford and the wider region.

Artists and entrepreneurs Yuge and David Bromley have lived in Daylesford for the past 12 years but Yuge, also a lawyer, says her husband has had a connection to Daylesford for about 18 years.

On their website, the artist couple says they "usually take on projects based on our passion/obsession for art, design, interiors, fashion and generally liking to get our hands dirty with whatever creative scenario we can immerse ourselves in".

A biography for Harvey Galleries says David was born in Sheffield, England and emmigrated with his family in 1964. "Bromley emerged as a painter in the mid-1980s. In the early stages of his career, he held solo exhibitions in Sydney and Adelaide and represented works in state and regional galleries, to include finalist in the Archibald Prize, AGNSW, in 1999, 2001 and 2004." David's work is now known around the globe.

Will the Daylesford Community Cinema go ahead?

Neither the Comellis nor the Bromleys are ready to say either way if the cinema will be part of their plans. The volunteer-run cinema was already in The Rex when it was sold to the council in 2016. After some concerns it would not return after renovations, the council promised it would be a part of the Hepburn Hub. As pictured, opposite below right, a shell was constructed upstairs to house the cinema with room for seating, a ticket booth, the screen, a projector room and public toilets.

What about the long awaited public toilets?

Former Hepburn Shire Council CEO Aaron van Egmond first approached the owners of The Rex when they closed the public toilets in the building. The council eventually bought the property for $6 million in 2016 with public toilets, including accessible toilets, part of the deal for its reopening as the Hepburn Hub.

When asked by The Local if public toilets were on the agenda, Yuge said they "definitely plan to include toilets in line with our design". "We want it to be a place that people enjoy coming to and that includes providing even things like rubbish bins."

However Eddy said specific details including those relating to provision of public toilet facilities still needed to be worked out. "There'll definitely be toilets, but whether they're public ...we haven't had time yet to sit down and work that out yet."

Hepburn Shire Mayor Cr Brian Hood said CEO Bradley Thomas would prepare a scope to undertake a planning project reviewing possible solutions for staffing accommodation and community facilities that were to be included in the Hepburn Hub. "This will include consideration of accessible public toilets and will be carried out during 2023 now that The Rex has been sold."

Where is the Aboriginal artwork Fish Traps going to end up?

Cr Hood said with the sale of The Rex, the council had been working with artist Aunty Marilyn on an alternative site. "A council briefing report was completed prior to the end of year closure explaining that a range of council facilities had been explored, and we are currently working on final details of the preferred location. We are committed to the finalisation and installation of this artwork and will be able to provide the location in the near future."

Finally, will the Chips Rafferty signature remain?

When acting legend Chips Rafferty visited Daylesford in 1954 he left behind his signature on one of the walls of The Rex when it was still operating as a theatre. Historian Winsome Moffat remembers the day well.

“Chips was going around to all the theatres in Australia to try and drum up money for a film he was planning (Walk into Paradise). He came and made a little speech at The Rex and then just went into the street to talk to people." A council spokesperson said the preservation, or not, of the signature would now be up to the new

Words & images: Donna Kelly

As we enter our third La Niña summer in a row, forecasts suggest that the risk of major grassfires or bushfires across our region remain low. However, with so much new growth within our environment, it may only take a few days of unexpectedly high temperatures to increase that risk.

In the event of a bushfire, Central Highlands Water cannot guarantee continuous water pressure or uninterrupted water supply to all areas. If defending your property from fire this season, it is important to have access to alternate water sources.

Central Highlands Water continuously plans for fire, flood and other natural disasters by preparing our people and our water supply network to cope with extreme weather conditions. We work closely with government agencies to keep our infrastructure and our community safe.

For further information, visit our website: chw.net.au/bushfires-and-your-water-supply

We bought The Rex - Bromley/Comelli coup

CHRISTMAS came a few days early for two of Daylesford's best known families who discovered they'd just become the proud new owners of The Rex.

Following a unanimous councillor decision at Hepburn Shire Council's December 20 meeting, Eddy and Malinka Comelli and David and Yuge Bromley were delighted to discover their $3.75 million bid to purchase The Rex had been successful - from among the six EOIs formally submitted.

David Bromley said a clinching factor in their decision to submit their joint EOI together with the Comellis was a mutual love of the town and a wish to see The Rex become a vibrant contributor to showcasing its main street.

"Our mutual love of the town, our belief that the main street is one of the figureheads that you get to see when you come to town.

"We're really keen to see it come alive and stop the blockage in the street and, ideally, to become the complete opposite - a resounding symbol for how stunning the street is. We all have a similar feeling about it. Between us we think we've got what it takes."

Both the Comelli and Bromley families live in Daylesford, have strong connections in the community and say they're now keen to make the most of The Rex’s considerable potential. They would not be drawn on whether the cinema will stay - or not - at this stage.

"We want to make it a really culturally rich hub, whether it's retail, hospitality, art, entertainment. It's going to be a real combination," Yuge Bromley said.

"I think being part of the community, we are the consumers of those things ourselves so we feel like we do have a heartbeat connected with it.

“With both of our families local to the Daylesford community, the honour of purchasing and developing this iconic building into a thriving destination spot for both locals and visitors alike was our key driver,” Yuge said.

“We will take time to regroup and plan but our intention is to tap into our combined passions, connections and resources to transform the building into an evolving dining, retail and entertainment destination with a diversity of culture, food, art, music and entertainment.

“We have some initial plans regarding the arcade and atrium, making it a place where visitors local and from afar can frequent time and time again."

Malinka Comelli said “honouring” the heritage-protected building was part of their plans for the future.

“Let's see what we can do with it. It's like a blank canvas but we're going to honour the building for what it is," she said.

And the new owners are also not closed to creative ideas and input from the community either, Eddy Comelli says.

"I'm excited to work with someone as creative as the Bromleys. I think we can turn this into something," Eddy said. "We'll give it our best shot."

The price paid for the building - that's sited next door to the Bromley&Co Daylesford gallery - was just above the reserve price of $3.7 million set in accordance with an independent property valuation and the Local Government Act 2020.

Hepburn Shire mayor Cr Brian Hood said the sale proceeds would be used to repay the loan linked to the council's 2016 purchase of the site with remaining funds allocated to a financial reserve for future expenditure on staff accommodation and community facilities.

“We have begun our planning, and we will progress our investigation into options for staff accommodation and community facilities throughout 2023. This will include community consultation,” Cr Hood said.

He also acknowledged the challenging history of the building since the council bought it in 2016.

The council’s original purchase of The Rex building and other matters relating to the Hepburn at The Hub project remain under investigation by the Local Government Inspectorate.

Cr Hood was keen to point out that the council had cooperated fully with the investigation and called for the release of the inspectorate report.

"We've repeatedly asked for it to be released and we would welcome the release of the report as soon as possible," he said.

He also emphasised that the decision to endorse the Comelli-Bromley bid was unanimous among councillors and followed careful consideration of each of the EOIs against multiple criteria, of which price was just one factor.

Cr Hood said the sale of the landmark building enabled the council and community to "move on to the next chapter of what's been a long and problematic saga".

"The saga has brought damage to council's reputation and one thing I want to stress is that there is a huge difference between the 2016 councillors and management team and the current council and management team.

"It should never have been bought by council. This was a legacy issue, an inherited problem that we've had to fix.This is a decent outcome out of a very tricky and problematic situation."

As to what the future now holds in store for The Rex, Cr Hood admits he personally would like to see the cinema within the building retained but says that decision rests with the new owners.

"It would be lovely to see that retained. I suspect most, if not all, of the councillors would be keen to see the cinema survive and thrive. It would be a shame to lose it but that's now up to the new owners."

Mr Bromley says the path ahead for The Rex will not be rushed.

"I think we'll give ourselves a good three to four months if not longer to really make sure that we get it right," he said.

"We're going to be getting a lot of advice and really making sure that this time it is a big success. We're open to the challenges.

“We'll be making a lot of commercial decisions about its wellbeing. We'll have to weigh up everything with a common-sense approach."

Above, from left, David and Yugi Bromley's children and Eddy and Malinka Comelli's children and grandchildren, Sophie, Liana, Arlo, Wen, Joe, Edison, Adam, Amelia, Daisy in front of the iconic building

Words & image: Eve Lamb

Craig: A love of art and pared back simplicity

Creswick’s Craig Barrett is one of the region’s accomplished artists whose love of landscape and the natural world and the way human endeavour has interacted with it, resonates through his creative output. He has works held in the National Gallery of Victoria, the State Library of Victoria and the Shrine of Remembrance in addition to private and corporate collections. He chatted with journalist Eve Lamb about his love of art and his personal arts practice.

Eve: Does your arts practice conform to any particular genre and if so which?

Craig: None at all. All over the place, it depends on what interests me at the time. Over the past 45 years I have ventured through impressionism, abstraction, symbolism - wherever seems to be my sweet spot at the time.

Eve: How do you prefer to describe your artistic style?

Craig: For the past 20 years, since living in the south of France with my then wife Kendry, I have been heavily influenced by Romanesque art of the 10th-12th centuries. I like its pared back simplicity. Things are implied rather than spelt out. A stripping back of detail. Detail is a distraction from the essential, the important.

Eve: How did you come to art?

Craig: Art came to me - by magic. Nobody in my family had any interest in art. As a child, there were no original artworks on the walls, only those classic flying ducks - and ceramics. A friend of my mother’s gave me a small box of oil pastels. The glory of that rainbow of colours and the smell of those pastels remain with me. My eldest brother gave me a small set of oil paints when I was about 13 or 14. New smells of paint and turps. Hooked from thereon.

Eve: Which artists, current or historic, have influenced your own work?

Craig: Wow! As teenagers, I think we all fell in love with the French Impressionists. As I grew older, learnt more and travelled the world, I became more influenced by artists that looked inward rather than outward. Someone like Pierre Bonnard, the way he could paint a bowl of fruit as a spiritual journey, as with a Chardin still life study. Perhaps the master of all, Giorgio Morandi who found endless possibilities in a few bottles, vases and tins. When in Spain, I discovered Arshile Gorky. I was moved to tears by his intensely personal abstract paintings and drawings. Gorky himself used to say he was "with" Cezanne, or Picasso or whoever was his influence at the time. I feel like that also. Since my time in France, my main influence has been that of the great unknown and nameless artists of antiquity. Extraordinary sculptures, paintings, stained glass windows and architecture. Not the current "celebrity artists" of our time.

Eve: What is your medium/media of choice?

Craig: I pick up whatever seems to suit the idea. Painting, drawing, etching, sculpture. They all have a particular response.

Eve: What is/are your subject matter of choice? Why so?

Craig: Crikey. What takes my interest at the time. I do seem to come back again and again to some subjects. I have great empathy for people working the land. The hardships and the rewards of that. So, there are a lot of rural themes returning. Also, I am a sucker for heavy industry as well.

Eve: What are you working on at the moment in your current arts practice?

Craig: In September 2022 I had a small retrospective exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery in Melbourne to celebrate the 25 years that I have been showing with him.

The Berry Consols works that were on loan to the Eureka Centre in Ballarat in 2021 will be touring to the

in 2023. Currently, I am about to start a new series - still secret.

Eve: When you work do you like to play music?

Craig: Always have music when I am working. Always Baroque. Cello, viola. Sublime. Music never got any better in my book.

Eve: To date, what have been your career highlights as an artist?

Craig: Buggered if I know. It is always one foot in front of the other and don't look back. I have works in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, the State Library of Victoria, the Shrine of Remembrance in addition to private and corporate collections. I did get a thrill though when I saw a drawing of mine at the NGV hanging between two heroes - Max Ernst and Paul Signac.

Eve: Do you have any unrealised artistic goals towards which you are striving?

Craig: In 2001 I had three exhibitions in Melbourne - at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, at the Shrine of Remembrance, and at McClelland Gallery. At the time, I thought this was the launch of a great career. By the time my wife Kendry and I returned from France, all I could think about were the truly great anonymous archaic and medieval art works that I had encountered. There was no ego in those works. They were simply great. Now, I am just happy to make what I make. If someone else enjoys that, that is enough for me. However, it would be nice to see in print the children's book Bonne Chasse! that Kendry wrote and I illustrated while we lived in France. There's a dream still to come.

Eve: What do you think are the main challenges for practicing artists today?

Craig: The absolute terror of online 'art' markets. Picture framing, I see so much digital crap that is just wallpaper. Why would any person of sound mind buy something they have never seen in the flesh? Also, the generations that used to actually collect real art are now disappearing. They are downsizing their homes and their collections. The young ones have no art literacy and are buying digital garbagevery sad.

Eve: And the main rewards?

Craig: For the true believers, art-making is its own reward. What else would we do?

Link: www.craigbarrett.com.au

Image: Eve Lamb

Central Goldfields Gallery (Maryborough)

Shire artisan grants

Hepburn Shire Council has awarded 18 Small-Scale Artisan Agriculture Grants worth more than $34,000 to farmers and producers in the Central Highlands.

Grant recipients came from a range of businesses including wineries, flower farms, organic growers and berry farms.

The grants aim to support product growth and efficiency in the artisan agriculture sector through development activities, training, marketing and equipment purchases. It is part of the council’s Artisan Agriculture Pilot Project, which is predominately funded by Agriculture Victoria.

“We have a strong and diverse group of farmers and artisan agriculture producers across the region. We’re very pleased to be able to offer this support through our grants program,” said Mayor, Cr Brian Hood.

Artisan agriculture accounts for one quarter of the value of Australia’s total production of food and fibre commodities.

“The grants program aims to help create an environment that will support the small-scale agricultural industry to innovate, evolve and thrive,” Cr Hood said.

“One of our strategies in our four-year council plan is to strengthen and protect existing agriculture to support the availability, sustainability and accessibility of local food sources.

“All farmers and producers play an important role in our shire – from small boutique operators to large-scale producers. We have a highly productive agricultural sector which is incredibly important to our community and local economy.”

Grants ranged from $936 to $2200 with recipients Pennyweight Farm, The Cottage Herbalist, Fleurs de Lyonville, Capell Farm, Passing Clouds, The Happy Winemaker, Black & Ginger, Two Good Acres, Truffle Treasures, Essential Alignment, Morningswood Farm, Mafic Winery, Springmount Fine Foods, Cloud Croft Farm, Guildford Vineyard & Cellar, Audrey’s Flowers, Tumpinyeri Growers and Mt Franklin Organics.

Chloe Smith Media

Driving after dementia

Driving after a dementia diagnosis will be the hot topic of discussion at Central Highlands Rural Health’s annual general meeting on Thursday, February 16 at the Kyneton Ambulatory Care Centre from 7.30pm.

According to a 2022 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, 517 people were living with dementia in the Macedon Ranges Shire, of which 204 were males, and 314 were female.

In Hepburn Shire, there are 389 people living with dementia, with 240 females and 149 males diagnosed.

Guest speaker at the public event is Professor E. (Joe) Ibrahim, pictured, a medical specialist and academic in aged care who has been a practising senior consultant specialist in geriatric medicine with over 30 years of clinical experience.

Several years ago, Professor Ibrahim produced an animated video addressing the complex issues involved in assessing whether a person with dementia is fit to drive. He believes screening this video at the annual general meeting will help generate discussion, and possibly debate, among the public and health professionals during a Q&A session.

“It’s not so much a discussion about how and when to decide to stop driving when a person receives a dementia diagnosis, more about how a person transitions to becoming a passenger,” Professor Ibrahim said.

“And the conversations and decisions with family and friends that follow.”

Over his long and distinguished career, Professor Ibrahim has been Head of the Health Law and Ageing Research Unit at Monash University and, more recently, Adjunct Professor at the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care at La Trobe University.

Professor Ibrahim’s ongoing research is investigating approaches to reducing harm to older persons and improving their quality of life.

To register interest in attending the 2023 Central Highlands Rural Health AGM, email communications@chrh.org.au

Image:

Springmount Fine Foods’ Brett and Carmel Masterson

Just briefly...

Hepburn Shire Council has used $300,000 from the state government to help eligible businesses provide outdoor areas and enhance streetscapes as part of Covid recovery.

After an expression of interest process in March last year, the council received 42 eligible applications and delivered 99 tables, 190 chairs, 17 umbrellas/bases, 58 heaters and other items. The council also purchased 24 single rubbish bins and installed 43 planter pots and plants across the main towns, with a further 58 locally made steel planter boxes and plants still to be installed.

Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year and Community Event of the Year will be announced, and new Australian citizens welcomed, at the Daylesford Town Hall on Wednesday, January 25.

The 2022 winners were Danny Moynihan, pictured, Katie Topp and Feast on Fraser Street – Christmas in Clunes. The 2023 short listed nominees are: Citizen of the Year - Terry Bolton, Gayle Chappell, Michelle Clifford, John Drife, Margaret Giles, Natasha Hall and Jennifer Hind; Young Citizen of the Year - Flossy Haughie, Lucinda Lowe, Atticus Punt-Trethewey and Sasha Taylor; and Event of the YearAltWave Youth Music Event, CresFest, Reconciliation Walks and Wombat Trees Community Project. The event, from 2pm, is free with refreshments provided.

One of the most misspelt acronyms has changed.

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is now the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA). On January 1, 2023, planning functions were transferred to the Department of Transport and Planning and DELWP was renamed DEECA - "supporting thriving, productive and sustainable communities, environments and industries".

World-first technology, developed in Denmark, is being used to assess the condition of the Victoria’s flood-ravaged roads.

The Australian Road Research Board’s Intelligent Pavement Assessment Vehicle will assess the condition of more than 8400 kilometres of roads. iPAVe assesses both the structural and functional condition of the road, using laser technology to look at roughness, surface texture and rutting. Cracking and other surface data is assessed using an automated 3D monitoring system, while cameras will give road maintenance experts a first-hand look at the state’s road network.

The Real Gardens of Lyonville, on Sunday, March 26 from 10am to 4pm, will showcase the region's cool climate gardens.

Spokesperson Vicki Jackson said idea for the event was first hatched by the Lyonville Garden Club. "It then made its way into the Lyonville Community Plan and this helped when applying for a grant from Hepburn Shire Council to assist with the cost of setting up this inaugural event. All proceeds from the day will go towards the many other projects to enhance our township that are in the community plan."

Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/the-real-gardens-of-lyonville

Five sustainability and resilience workshops will be held at the Trentham Neighbourhood Centre between February 2 and 23.

Run in conjunction with the council’s Storm Recovery team, the workshops aim to build resilience and sustainability in the community. The first workshop, on February 4, will teach participants how to create a wicking bed. The following classes will cover composting and worm farms, Hepburn Seed Savers, food dehydrating and preserving, and bee keeping. Bookings: www.trenthamnc.org.au/classes

The Big Rainbow's final location remains a mystery.

Daylesford was chosen Tinder project last year with Hepburn Shire Council then asking people to choose a location, by November, from Lake Daylesford, the Community Park, the Lost Children’s Reserve or Victoria Park. Last Thursday a council spokesperson said the council was liaising with stakeholders and considering community feedback with an announcement soon.

KINGSTON AVENUE OF HONOUR RESOURCE CENTRE OPENS

On Saturday 5th November at the Commercial @ Kingston Hotel, Dr Robert Webster OAM, Victorian RSL State President, opened the ‘Kingston Remembers’ Resource Centre. Kingston was the chosen site of the Creswick Shire Avenue of Honour, planted over 100 years ago.

Fifty invited guests listened to several speakers including Montanah McMillan and Campbell Spittle, both in their twenties, whose relatives are commemorated in the Avenue. Guests also viewed a short film called ‘Kingston Remembers’ produced by Terry Hope.

Kingston Friends of the Avenue Inc. were successful under the State Government and Victorian Veteran’s Council Victoria Remembers Minor Grant Program which funds projects that honour and commemorate veterans' service and educate Victorians about veterans' contributions.

Dr Robert Webster OAM thanked the Victorian State Government and the Victorian Veterans Council for their support of the project. He continued "the Resource Centre honours the World War I service of men and women commemorated in the former Shire of Creswick Avenue of Honour".

The Resource Centre will preserve and share the stories and history of the Avenue. It consists of film, interviews, resource books and memorabilia. Photographs and certificates are displayed in a beautifully crafted diorama installed on the wall of the Commercial @ Kingston.

Multimedia equipment will show the recorded interviews, short films about the Avenue, and Peter Rickard’s Sentinels of Service – Volunteers of the Kingston Avenue of Honour in eBook format.

It is a place where visitors can stop, reflect and learn more about the people commemorated in the Avenue. Visitors can also drive along Kingston Road, through the Avenue of 286 magnificent heritagelisted trees.

The Friends are indebted to Trace Williams for her creativity and for project managing the team that made the diorama and to Sue Gunn for providing the space to display it and other pieces.

We are grateful to the many local people who assisted in the creation of this Resource Centre, and to all those who loaned or donated memorabilia for display, and those who provided interviews or photographs for the project.

Julie Baulch, president of the Kingston Friends of the Avenue, thanked all those who contributed to this project by sharing their skills and resources.

The committee of the Friends of the Avenue awarded Julie an honorary life membership for her persistence, vision, and dedication to the Kingston Avenue of Honour. This certificate was presented by Dr Robert Webster OAM.

The Resource Centre can be visited during The Commercial @ Kingston’s opening hours, from 12pm Friday, Saturday or Sunday, or by appointment. The Commercial @ Kingston is located at 410 Kingston Road, Kingston, Victoria, 3364. For more information, call 0408 007 464 or 5345 6576 or visit http://kingstonavenueofhonour. org.au or the Kingston Avenue of Honour Facebook page. Kingston Friends of the Avenue can be contacted at kingstonfoa@gmail.com

Top,

Alan Morris - the Norman family donated items to the diorama; centre, viewing the Resource Centre diorama, from left, Robt Haughie (designer) with the Spittle family, who donated photographs; and below, from left, Montanah McMillan and Campbell Spittle

Images: Top and centre - Leah Armstrong Below - Julie Spittle.

from left, Victorian State RSL president Dr Robert Webster OAM, Sue McPhan (nee Norman), Kingston Avenue of Honour president Julie Baulch, Peter Norman, and Creswick Smeaton RSL Sub-Branch president

Your say

LOLOne of my favourite things to do is read The Local and today I grabbed a copy of the first issue for 2023.

When I turned to page 14 to read Kyle’s Rant, I laughed so much. Loved what Kyle wrote but honestly thought the Ed’s comment (thanks Donna), was the best.

Great way to start the year with a laugh. Thanks to The Local for all that you do. It is so important to have a community newspaper to keep us connected, living in country Victoria.

- Leonie, Daylesford

Short stay accommodation

In May 2022, I wrote to The Local – Edition 256 – detailing the many issues relating to short stay accommodation within the Hepburn Shire.

To achieve the necessary and immediate implementation of local laws/ regulations/codes of conduct governing short stay accommodation, residents of the Hepburn Shire who are affected by or potentially affected by neighbouring short stay accommodation properties need to collectively challenge the Hepburn Shire Council.

Recently, over the Christmas/New Year holiday period I had to formally contact the short stay accommodation property management organisation regarding several immediate and ongoing issues I have with a neighbouring short stay accommodation property.

Consistently, these management organisations do not want to hear complaints, or any problems associated with their short stay accommodation properties. More so the owners of the properties – they never contact me to discuss these issues, live outside the shire and rarely visit – they simply snub their nose at any challenge or authority. They do not care.

We, as residents are expected to accept this situation – with no avenue of recourse or support. Council empowers these property owners by allowing this uncontrolled and unregulated situation to continue.

Council has no immediate plans to implement laws/regulations/codes of conduct to protect neighbourhoods from anti-social behaviours and amenity loss issues. The short stay property owners are not legally bound or obligated to do anything, but they collect exorbitant and lucrative holiday rental incomes. There is no accountability.

The Yarra Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula shires have implemented strict local laws, regulations and codes of conduct to administer the short stay accommodation properties within their respective shires. Their precise intention is to protect neighbourhoods and residents from anti-social behaviours and amenity loss issues caused by short stay accommodation properties.

The state government has a role to play. The Hepburn Shire has not introduced any laws, regulations, codes of conduct primarily because the state government has not legislated or directed accordingly.

If there is enough community pressure, the Hepburn Shire must act. Planning laws and regulations relating to the approval and establishment of short stay accommodation properties, also need to be amended.

In order to gain some momentum to force the necessary change and to further understand the depth of the current situation with short stay accommodation within the Hepburn Shire, I would like to hear from those community residents that have been, are currently and are potentially affected by neighbouring short stay accommodation properties. Planning laws and regulations relating to the establishment of short stay accommodation properties also need to be amended.

With the growing volume of short stay accommodation properties in the Hepburn Shir, all these many issues will be ongoing. To empower all the affected community residents by implementing strict controls over short stay accommodation properties, their respective owners and management organisations will go a long way to restoring our lost amenity.

There is absolutely no possibility that these or similar short stay accommodation properties would be made available on the permanent rental market. It is simply far too lucrative.

Availability of permanent housing rental properties within the Hepburn Shire will continue to decline and be unaffordable. This short stay accommodation issue is extremely serious – it has and is damaging the shire. The growing and lucrative short stay accommodation industry in the Hepburn Shire places enormous pressure on this sector.

If any community residents have any relevant issues or specific opinions relating to short stay accommodation within the Hepburn Shire, please email me at davemclachlan53@gmail.com

- Dave McLachlan, Hepburn Springs

Shapeshifters

I heard whispers of a trail, in a reserve, on the outskirts of Riddells Creek that I was yet to walk.

It’s an hour-long loop full of undulations and changing scenery.

I have walked it many times since, and came to discover that a change in light, time, or season transforms the place, and it becomes almost new again. Changing along with it, was my idea of what a place can offer to those that know it well.

On my most recent walk along the trail, the new season and high rainfall offered an abundance of changes in the landscape. Below are my observations.

I am sunk down in the understorey, a leafy canopy of peppermint gums (eucalyptus dives) above me. At my feet, between short tufts of poa grass (poa labillardieri), chocolate lilies (arthropodium strictum) reign in their rich purple dress, spear-like and stretching for the sky.

Tree roots bulge throughout the rocky path as I move further inwards and dodge the many anthills that have recently sprung up, which host small and precious civilisations. The path lengthens, before taking a sharp right and heading uphill.

I admire the small and reserved beauty of the bluebells (wahlenbergia stricta) which line the path and bashfully nod their heads at me as I pass.

I have to resist the urge to pick the flowers along the way, as I know they serve a greater purpose here, and are more useful than they would be in a vase upon my desk.

When I climb a small crest that perches me above the creek, the sounds of running water and birdsong wash together and over me. I pass a tree stump that has rotted down into a dark, rich mulch which mycelial threads run through like lightning strikes against a black sky. The nutrients in this organic matter smells as strongly as a perfume, it smells of life and function.

Hardenbergia (hardenbergia violacea) creeps nearby through the understorey, almost anonymous at this time of year without its vibrant flowers. It’s most likely strengthening itself on the plentiful soil that the rotting tree stump has made.

A few yam daisies (microseris sp.) remain, though inconspicuously, with their dandelion-like appearance. Passing them, I contemplate the survival of their species against the forces of grazing livestock with heavy, blundering hooves. This thought makes me tread carefully, an ally of these plants.

I round a corner, and know that I am approaching the end of the track as I start to glimpse a dirt road between the trees. A spray of golden sticky everlastings (xerochrysum viscosum) farewells me as I reach my car.

I drive home reflecting on the walking trail, about how I’ve come to know it so well, and yet, I don’t know it at all. It is a shapeshifter, I decide, and an endless source of wonder because of it.

- Jojo Beard, Macedon Ranges (& image)

Letters, ideas and musings are always very welcome in The Local. We are all about connecting the community. Just keep them to the point and shortish, or long and interesting. Email news@tlnews.com.au Any addressed Dear Sir will be deleted. You know why! :)

Council news

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

Welcome to 2023! I trust you and your loved ones had an enjoyable festive season and are now enjoying our wonderful summer weather. There are many entertaining community events to enjoy across the Shire for the remainder of the school holidays, and of course the pools are open!

The new year has got off to a positive start with Council announcing a $300,000 investment in street furniture such as dining chairs and tables. These have been delivered to businesses across the Shire to promote outdoor dining and as part of Council’s ongoing support of local traders. The usual permits and fees have been waived. Planter boxes have also been installed as part of the streetscape beautification program. Funding was provided by the State Government and is designed to stimulate economic activity post-COVID and in the aftermath of storms and floods. Community members are encouraged to attend Council’s civic ceremony at the Daylesford Town Hall, commencing at 2pm on 25 January. The event will be a wonderful opportunity to welcome new Australian citizens and to acknowledge the valuable contributions made by the nominees for the Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year and Community Event of the Year awards. Nominees for the Citizen of the Year are Terry Bolton, Gayle Chappell, Michelle Clifford, John Drife, Margaret Giles, Natasha Hall and Jennifer Hind. Nominees for the Young Citizen of the Year are Flossy Haughie, Lucinda Lowe, Atticus Punt-Trethewey and Sasha Taylor. Nominees for the Community Event of the Year are Altwave Youth Music Event, CresFest, Reconciliation Walks and Wombat Trees Community Project. Congratulations to all for reaching the final stage of these prestigious awards, and thank you all for your significant contributions to the community.

2022 ended with Council announcing The Rex building has been sold to well-known local business people Eddy and Malinka Comelli and David and Yuge Bromley. In a sale process that attracted significant interest, their bid was the stand-out. At $3.75m the price was above reserve and the independent valuation, unconditional and most importantly includes scope for the provision of community facilities. Council will use the sale proceeds to repay the loan linked to the purchase of the site and remaining funds will be allocated into a financial reserve for future expenditure on staff accommodation and community facilities. Council’s principal objectives of the sale process were to identify a proponent with the financial capacity to purchase the land and develop the property; identify a proposal which provides an economic and social benefit for the local community; responds to the Council Plan; and achieves an optimal financial return to Council.

Council is optimistic that the Comelli and Bromley families will breathe new life into this historic building as it enters its next chapter.

Council’s original purchase of The Rex building in 2016 and other matters relating to the Hepburn at The Hub project remain under investigation by the Local Government Inspectorate. Council has repeatedly called for the release of the report.

Cr Brian Hood, MAYOR

COUNCIL PLAN FOCUS AREAS

COMMUNITY GRANTS

If you’re a member of a community group or not-for-profit organisation don’t forget that the next round of our Community Grants will open on 25 January. Check out the guidelines on our website www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/grants

LISTENING POSTS & MEET THE MAYOR

Everyone is invited to Meet the Mayor and Listening Post sessions, which provide an opportunity for residents to speak with Councillors and staff. Listening Posts are open to everyone to drop in, without the need to register.

For the Meet the Mayor sessions, community members can book a 30-minute private meeting to be held either online or in person. The next session is Meet the Mayor on Wednesday 22 February. For more information or to secure your place visit https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au

SUMMER SCIENCE SESSIONS

Don your lab coat and enjoy some fun summer science activities at the library. Discover different experiments and learn all about chemistry in these engaging and hands-on sessions designed for children aged 5 to 10. Places are limited and bookings essential. Phone the library to secure your place.

• Creswick Library - Tuesday 17 January from 2pm to 3pm. Phone 0428 964 419

• Clunes Library - Wednesday 18 January from 2pm to 3pm. Phone 5345 3359

• Trentham Library – Wednesday 18 January from 2.30 to 3.30pm. Phone 5424 1326

• Daylesford Library - Tuesday 24 January from 2.30 to 3.30pm. Phone 5348 2800

HAVE A SAY

We have worked closely with our Disability Advisory Committee to develop a draft Disability Action Plan. Did we get it right? Please take a look and let us know your feedback. Complete a survey at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/DisabilityAP or collect a copy from your local library or Council hub.

The survey closes on Sunday 22 January.

HEPBURN LIFE

Sign up to our monthly e-newsletter, Hepburn Life, via the QR code or at https://mailchi.mp/ hepburn/sign-up

If you are already a subscriber and would like to let us know what you think of this publication visit https://participate.hepburn. vic.gov.au/hepburn-life

The Council Plan 2021-2025 describes how Council will strive towards our vision, where to focus efforts, and how to measure progress. Each Focus Area has a series of priority statements, with actions against each item.

To market, to market

You 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

Want to advertise your market? Email news@tlnews.com.au It's free

Gig guide

Radio Springs Hotel, Lyonville

The Martini Set - Sunday, January 22, noon

Djangology - Sunday, January 29, noon

The Martini Set - Saturday, February 4, 6pm Djangology - Saturday, February 11, 6pm

The Prayer Babies - Sunday, February 19, noon

Palais-Hepburn, Hepburn

Flynn Gurry - Friday, January 20, 7.30pm

Rufino and The Coconuts & Mikelangelo - Saturday, January 21, 8pm

Alex Lloyd & electronica inspired pop - Friday, January 27, 8.30pm

Steve Lane and The Autocrats CD launch - Saturday, January 28, 8pm

Odessa at Leavers Hotel, Creswick

Stella Savy Avek Frers - Saturday, January 28, pictured below

Got a gig you want to share? Email news@tlnews.com.au

At last, a return to live music over this traditional, albeit slightly early Australia Day long weekend from Friday, January 20 to Monday, January 23.

This festival has been running for over 20 years, originating in Chewton. It is best described as a folk-roots festival, where a range of diverse international and national artists perform in live music venues, concert spaces, workshops, impromptu sessions, spoken word performances and open-mic sessions over three days and nights.

There are plenty of local venues including The Troubadour Live Music Venue based on Andrew Pattison’s acoustic music venue in Melbourne in the late 70s and early 80s. The venue honours the tradition of this venue, where acts reflect Andrew’s artistic vision. The Newstead Community Centre has the festival reception based in the foyer and the main hall is the prime concert venue of the festival.

For the rest of the year Lilliput is the town's kindergarten. It features children’s shows in the mornings, and is a popular spot for more intimate performances in the afternoons. Shedshaker Stage & Bar bring its portable bar to Newstead Park, next to The Men’s Shed, largely a blackboard concert venue. Meanwhile, the Anglican church is where you can immerse yourself in the acoustic sound in this tiny country church while the Enviroshop is the refurbished workshop of an old service station, where you will find music workshops. Finally, Live 'n' Local stage is a free stage showcasing local artists of all ages from around the region.

Some of the many 2023 performers include We Mavericks, Kate Wilson, Enda Kenny, Kerryn Fields Rich Davies & the Low Road, Michael Waugh, pictured right, Ado Barker, Alana Wilkinson, Anna Smyrk, Apolline, Bruce Watson, Cat Canteri, Dan Duggan, Dingo's Breakfast, Ernest Aines, Evan and Mischa, Gee Whiz Kidz, Great Aunt, Ian Bland, Joshua Batten, Justin Bernasconi, Kathyrn Clements, Liz Frencham, Lloyd Dodsworth, Loz Irwin-Ray, Mandy Connell, Mariah McCarthy, Mast Gully Fellers, Matt Glass, Peter Anderson, Red Raven, Rhiz and the Sugarplums, Sarah & Silas, Skiffle Party, The Blenders, The Ugly Uncles and Tuck Shop Ladies.

Playing times and artist bios are available on the festival website. Punters can buy a range of day passes or full weekend tickets.

Words:

Darren Lowe | Image: Contributed

with Darren Lowe

Middle Eastern Lamb Shoulder With Moghrabieh Salad

BY RICHARD CORNISH

A beautiful rich slow cooked shoulder of lamb served on a salad of moghrabieh. You can buy these hand-rolled balls of semolina at Tonna’s in Daylesford. They are used in Middle Eastern cooking and soak up the flavours of everything they are cooked with. You can use them in a stew or cook them gently, so they soak up all the cooking liquid. Make sure you try the moghrabieh to make sure they are done before you turn off the stove. Some brands take longer to cook than others. Add some more liquid and cook longer if not done. You can substitute pearl cous cous but you may need less stock – check the instructions on the pack.

For this recipe and many others, click on the QR code below or visit daylesfordmeatco.com.au

Richard Cornish, award winning journo, food writer and author, is writing a series of recipes for his favourite local butcher, The Daylesford Meat Co.

Summer in the Central Highlands

w w w. h e r b a l l o r e l i q u e u r s . c o m

Image: Kyle Barnes

Lyonville Woodchop

The 50th Lyonville Woodchop will be held on Saturday, February 25 from 10.30am at the Lyonville Hall.

Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King MP will present the $1300 woodchop championship prize to the winning axeman.

Ms King will also supervise the ladies’ nail drive competition and award the prize to the fastest hammer wielder.

Spokesperson Vicki Jackson said woodchop events had been a feature of rural life for many years to celebrate the strength and speed of the local axemen.

"Lyonville was a timber town for many years and our woodchop is a great way to commemorate this part of our history. All proceeds from the Lyonville Woodchop go towards the upkeep and development of the historic Lyonville Mechanics Institute (the hall)."

Ms Jackson said all the usual attractions will also be available at the woodchop - a bar, BBQ, barista coffee, cakes and light lunch stall along with a raffle and spinning wheel with lots of great prizes to be won.

Entry cost is $5 for adults with children free.

Berends Landscape Rakes

One of the only Australian made landscape rakes on the market, this machine is ideal for raking light material, harrowing pastures and for final soil surface preparation - whether it be on the driveway, the garden or even the horse arena.

Some like it cool

La Niña! I can scarcely say the name without bringing to mind the devastation and despair it brought to so many these past months. But for the rest of us the cooler introduction to summer, not to mention the soaking rains has meant that many cool climate plants will not only survive, but will thrive for another year.

One beautiful, but extremely heat-sensitive plant group, is the spectacular hydrangea. These are sappy-wooded shrubs that should never be allowed to dry out when in flower.

Given the right conditions they will thrive with little need for attention - cool and shady with protection from direct sunlight, especially on hot afternoons. First hot sunny day with or without loads of water and you’ll have a mass of floppy wilting leaves, and bleached flower heads. Rich, loamy soil, with an addition of well-rotted compost and good drainage will ensure healthy plants and loads of flowers.

The natural colours of hydrangeas range from white, pink and red when grown in alkaline soils, but if planted into naturally acid soils, such as those of volcanic soil, the flowers will be turned to shades of blue. Their natural colour will determine whether they will be pale lavender or deep purple. If you have alkaline soil you can alter the shades with alum powder or copper filings sprinkled next to the roots.

Sometime in the 1850s my great-grandfather Ernst Heyne planted a pink hydrangea in a sunken copper in the old family home garden. It was still there in the 1950s, a massive multi-coloured shrub ranging from dark pink at the centre through various shades of mauve and blue then back to pinks, dependant on the roots’ proximity to the copper.

This would more than likely explain the cause the variance of colours of the blooms on the massive hydrangea pictured right. It would indicate that the mass of roots have discovered several sources of different minerals in the soil. Not too surprising considering the plant was growing alongside a very old building in Ballarat.

Hydrangea flowers are great for cutting for indoors. They last quite well providing they’re treated first. The stem ends should be crushed or scalded and the flowers left to stand in a deep bucket of water for several hours before placing in a vase.

A teaspoonful of alum or a patent flower-keeping powder placed in the water will ensure long-lasting blooms.

Cool, clear water

Experts tell us that the population of the world will be ultimately limited not by land mass and other demands of civilisation, but by the amount of water available for food production.

We use water in our homes, gardens and industries, and there are many ways in which we strive to cut down consumption in these fields. But the problem is that the amount of water used in these ways is almost negligible compared with the water used by plants and animals in the production of food.

Although it may take 500 litres of water a day for industrial and domestic purposes per person it takes up to 50 times that amount for the foodstuffs in the daily diet of each person each day.

For a start, a normal loaf of bread requires more than 2000 litres of water for the plants that produced the grain.

For a single egg some 800 litres are needed, starting with the production of the poultry food and the needs of the hen up until the egg is laid...and so on.

We may not have to worry about the problem of not enough water to produce our food but our grandchildren certainly might. Time to plan ahead!

Got a gardening query? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

2023 MEMBERSHIP AND CLASS ENROLMENT

U3A Hepburn Shire welcomes new and returning members.

Class enrolments open online at 10am, Monday, Jan 23 www.u3ahepburnshire.com

Have a look at the variety of great programs on offer.

To renew your membership and enrol in classes in person, drop into the Courtroom, Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre, 13 Camp Street, Daylesford

Monday, January 23, 10am - 1pm Tuesday, January 24, 10am - 1pm Wednesday, January 25, 10am - 1pm

Looking forward to an engaging and inspiring year of learning, support and social contact.

For enquiries and further information, please email: info@u3ahepburnshire.com

Kyle’s Rant

IAM never too sure when to stop saying Happy New Year. Is it after the first day of the New Year or do we wait about a week or so?

I watched the TV with interest as the year drew to a close, we were all encouraged to cook up heaving tables of food for the big day. We were meant to waddle around visiting people, imbibing ourselves to the point of alcoholic poisoning. And then wake up on New Year’s Day to find the message had dramatically shifted, to the reality of the diet, exercise and home gym equipment advertisements.

Hot cross buns miraculously take the place of the chocolate Santa sacks and although the wrapper has changed to a bunny, the chocolate rabbit looks suspiciously like a reindeer when denuded from its casing.

So, it’s onwards and upwards into the great unknown of 2023. Will Covid finally settle down into a garden variety common cold? And are we able now, after three years, to get on with our lives and hug strangers, travel and not lurch away when children get too close?

When I celebrated 2019/2020 New Year’s Eve, myself, the wife and a couple of mates welcomed the New Year watching fireworks from the safety of a highrise apartment in Melbourne. Right on the chime of midnight we kissed, hugged, laughed and cheered. A big difference to the latest celebrations as a bunch of neighbours sat around the balcony at TL HQ and one remarked “oh, it’s five past midnight, we should go home” - an anticlimax of a midnight celebration if ever I have seen one.

But maybe that’s the key. 2023 was not so much back slapping and celebration, more by a “by the way “comment. We kind of slipped into the year gently without huge expectations and less pressure on the resolutions or maybe it’s just my age.

Our Christmas break was a lot of fun as Donna and I winged our way to see our whanau (family) across the ditch. It was great to finally catch up with everyone.

My niece Melissa, pictured, is a single mother, a demure woman who has a pighunting dog and a 303 bolt action shotgun. As well as long walks down the beach, photography and sunsets, this pocket rocket likes to kill her own lunch up in the mountains behind Kaikoura. She sometimes gets a bit lazy and instead of hiking the 40 kilometres into the bush, she and her girlfriend get a lift on a helicopter to a bush hut where they kill wild deer and boars. (A sort of a chip off the old block, really.)

The name Kaikoura means literally to eat crayfish, so not keen on venison, I asked Melissa if she wouldn’t mind grabbing me one and like that I found three large crustaceans flapping away in my sink the next morning without a note.

However, I am the son of a cray fisherman so I know a thing or two about cooking crays (not). So, after 10 minutes Googling the subject, I drowned them in freshwater, chopped them in half, cooked them on the barbeque and gorged down on two and a quarter, leaving three quarters for my traveling companion. Yumbo.

So that was my memorable end to the year and I hope we are off to a better 2023 and the sadness of the last three years is now behind us. Happy New Year rant over… (Ed's

Heralded days

We never got it delivered ourselves but after school I mounted my Malvern Star and did a Herald run.

On his lounge chair after work Dad would snap open The Herald and run his eyes over Garth and Mandrake the Magician.

He’d know before Mum, in the kitchen, who’d been picked for the Tiges that week, then let the rest of news settle on his face.

Things only happened twice a day then. After morning, evening had its chance to announce fresh events.

Having caught up with the news you would put the paper down, refold it in the wrong spots and later, take the papers out.

Now things just go on happening. News is one perpetual herald practically writing itself into copy.

- Bill Wootton

Bill cops all his news from his iPad & phone now - and of course, The Local!

cottlesbreedge@gmail.com

home with a choice companion or two.

While I wait at the shelter they describe me as: “Max is a male, desexed, three-anda-half-year-old, brindle greyhound. Max is a very sweet boy who loves being around people and having attention. He has bursts of energy and runs around like a mad man but settles down quickly. He is dog-friendly but is not good with cats. He would love a home where he can have lots of attention and exercise.”

So, if you’re in need of a new best mate, you know what to do. Contact the Mount Alexander Animal Welfare shelter in Castlemaine 5472 5277 and we can meet up.

Microchip no. 956000006796416. Link: www.maaw.org.au (Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie & Curly - we picked them.)

Just sayin’...

By Donna Kelly

SO, MYER Frankston has closed. The final shopping day was Sunday, January 15 but according to social media, most of the bargains were long gone.

Myer Frankston opened in 1972 when I was just seven years old. Eight years later it became my first workplace. I was in form 5, or today's year 11, and tired of pocket money being dependent on whether I had been good or bad.

Up until that stage I had been pretty good but in form 5 I swapped from Mt Eliza High to Frankston High and met a whole new group of people and it all pretty much went downhill from there. Grades wise that is. Social life wise, I had the best time of my life, but back to Myer.

I had already failed an interview at Target, just over the carpark from Myer. The feedback was I was "too slow". Now that's a bit rude. How you can be too slow in an interview? I think I answered everything but maybe I was too considered. A slow burner. Anyway, I am nothing if not determined, and quickly decided my skill set would be more appreciated at the then, upmarket Myer.

Unlike Target, I passed the interview with flying colours and after a couple of days of training in cash registers, customer service and how to check for stolen credit cards by looking up a huge piece of paper with numbers stuck under the till - this was before computers, kids - I started my first day.

Actually, it was an evening shift, Thursday night, from 5pm to 9pm. I was in the children's shoe department, a good starting place, and ready to do my best. At 5.05pm the phone rang. Now, we had done the training but no-one mentioned phone calls. Who would be calling? Why were they not shopping in person? Like a deer caught in headlights, I stood still and listened to it ring, and ring, and ring.

I looked up and saw a saleswoman, aged about 20, striding across from children's clothing. She was very made up, well dressed, high heels. Yay, I thought. My saviour. But sadly no.

"Are you f...king deaf?" she screamed. "No," I said, clearly a hearing person because I answered her question. "Then answer the f...king phone." And I did.

It was a mostly a good job for five years, helping me pay my way through two years of high school and three at university. I can't say I really enjoyed fitting school shoes to kids with smelly feet, strange ulcers on their legs and runny noses. But then I moved to ladies' shoes, ladies not women, and that was great.

Many women just came to grab a seat and have a rest, others were keen for a chat and the saleswomen I worked with there were lovely and encouraging. I remember coming to work one day sans stockings, a bit worried, but was told kindly by one: "It's OK, you young ones can get away with anything these days".

I also remember wearing heels every work stint, nothing of out control, but you know, a couple of inches. Those long days, 12 hours, over the school holidays were a real killer. I didn't dare take my shoes off for any of my breaks in case I couldn't get them on again. Of course, we also got a shopping discount, and also knew when the shoes were going to be marked down so could hide a pair out the back for that date. Wrong but, you know, there have to be some perks.

I think I was last in Myer Frankston about a year ago and it was looking tired and worn out. Fifty years is a long time for a store to hang in there and while many loyal shoppers will be sad to see it go, I will always feel happy I was a part of it, for a short time anyway. Myer was really my store. Just sayin'...

Ageing DisGracefully members, including Max Primmer, get together at the Daylesford Mill Markets cafe on Thursdays at 11am. All welcome. For information email ageingdis3461@gmail. com, call 0427 131 249 or head to the Ageing DisGracefully Facebook page.

Ageing DisGracefully is an initiative of Hepburn House.

Here is the crossword solution for Edition 269 just in case you missed it.

How did you go?

All words in the crossword appear somewhere in the same edition of The Local.

(There was no crossword in Edition 270.)

Carol calls time on her Lavandula property

CAROL White is calling time on Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm, putting the historic Shepherds Flat property up for sale.

Carol said it was time to move on from working seven days a week and return to travelling around the world.

“Covid has been a bit of a nightmare, reopening every time after lockdowns just took every bit of my energy. It was like a juggler getting their six plates back in the air and then realising the stick was bent. It really crushed our momentum.”

Carol, who bought the property 35 years ago and started out with just 1000 lavender bushes “from some guy in the Dandenongs”, said she hoped a new buyer would bring new energy and continue to conserve the history of the property.

“It would be lovely if they ran it in a similar way, with weddings and events, it is perfect for that, but I am not going to tell anyone what they can and can’t do. Whoever it is will probably do a better job than I am doing now and take it in a slightly different direction. I just hope they respect the history and the stone buildings.”

Carol said when she bought the 38-hectare property it was pretty much bare farming land with a couple of derelict buildings still standing.

“My marriage was on the rocks and I thought I would start a business with a little patch of lavender, a romantic notion from my trips to Provence. I thought ‘I can manage that’ and started from there.

“You couldn’t get lavender in those days, it was hard to find and not in fashion at all, not like it is now as people have become more herby and realised their true value. A guy from the Dandenongs brought up 1000 bushes and I did some research on growing them but it was pretty much trial and error. Lavender doesn’t mind snow but it doesn’t like the harsh frosts we get, but it worked.

“And there were no trees here. I got in touch with the forestry place at Creswick which had all European trees and dragged thousands of them here. I just started planting in swathes, a swathe here and a swathe there, and then people started coming and I started making product.

“It was really popular and then we started with our festivals, European-style festivals, and we had up to 10,000 people and the police told us we had to stop because we had cars banked up on all the roads.”

Not one to give up, Carol then held seasonal festivals, which also proved extremely popular although the one in winter was dropped because it was too cold.

“So many people came, they wanted to see the farm in each season, but they were a lot of work and if you asked me to do one next week I just couldn’t. I am done.”

Carol, a former nursing sister who said that job gave her the organisational and delegation skills needed to run her own business, said Lavandula would be open until the end of May and then close for a period of time.

“I want to sell but I am not forced to sell and I will certainly be around in the background if someone wants to buy and needs some help to start with. But it may take some time to find the right person.”

So by winter Carol will be thinking about travel: “Probably the south of France, and I have friends in Italy and Norway and family in England, so some sort of world trip of gardens which is how I travelled before and was probably the inspiration for the farm.”

And will she miss what is pretty much her life’s work?

“Yes, I will miss the stone buildings and we have had some fabulous people work here, some so dedicated they have worked with me for 35 years, and our repeat customers have been extraordinary. But I won’t miss having to say no to every single social engagement on the weekend, or that I can’t take Easter off or plan a holiday. They are the things I am looking forward to.

“It is the end of an era but if I dropped off the perch that would be the end of an era as well, so this is a decision. I am time poor and there are things I need to do and want to do. I might even sit at home and do my own garden for six months. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm is for sale through McQueen Real Estate in Daylesford.

Words: Donna Kelly | Main image: Kyle Barnes

“And there were no trees here. I just started planting in swathes, a swathe here and a swathe there, and then people started coming and I started making product.”