Front page: Richard "Tommy" Campion has moved from out of the darkness to Hepburn light.
Image: Supplied
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The Local is a fortnightly community publication covering the Central Highlands of Victoria.
The next edition is out on Monday, December 2, 2024. or online on Sunday, December 1 at www.tlnews.com.au
Space bookings: Wednesday, November 27
Copy deadline: Thursday, November 18
Editorial deadline: Thursday, November 18
General manager: Kyle Barnes on 0416 104 283 or kyle@tlnews.com.au
Editor: Donna Kelly on 0418 576 513 or news@tlnews.com.au
Editorial: Eve Lamb on 0493 632 843 or editorial@tlnews.com.au
Sub-editors: Nick Bunning, Lindsay Smith & Chester the Cat
Writers: Eve Lamb, Kevin Childs, Tony Sawrey, Kyle Barnes & Donna Kelly
Photographers: Kyle Barnes & Eve Lamb
Graphic designer: Dianne Caithness
Contributors: Glen Heyne (gardening), Darren Lowe (music), Sarah Lang (recipes), Clive Hartley (wine) & Bill Wootton (poetry)
Accounts | Julie Hanson Delivery | Tony Sawrey
New Hepburn Shire councillors sworn in
Hepburn Shire Council has formally welcomed its new councillors as they were sworn in last Thursday afternoon.
Don Henderson, Brian Hood, Lesley Hewitt, Tony Clark, Tim Drylie, Pat Hockey and Shirley Cornish were sworn in as councillors during an event attended by the CEO Bradley Thomas, friends and family, and council staff.
Over the next couple of months, the councillors - four of whom have previously served in the role of councillor for Hepburn and three newcomers to the role - will be taken through the induction program.
They will meet to elect a mayor and deputy mayor on November 26 with the community welcome to attend this meeting at the council chamber in Daylesford’s Vincent Street from 5.30pm.
The meeting will also be live streamed via the council’s Facebook page. The meeting will also be live streamed via the council’s Facebook page.
Bradley Thomas, Hepburn Shire CEO, said he congratulated councillors-elect on their election to council.
“We look forward to a productive four years ahead. We acknowledge the contribution of our returning councillors, and warmly welcome those representing Hepburn Shire for the first time,” Mr Thomas said.
“It is an honour to represent this community, and we look forward to supporting and working closely with councillors over the next four years. I wish the group all the best in their roles."
Above, from left, Cr Don Henderson, Cr Brian Hood, Cr Lesley Hewitt, Cr Tim Drylie, Cr Tony Clark with Timmy, Cr Shirley Cornish and Cr Pat Hockey
Image: Hepburn Shire Council
Paver fundraiser for Courthouse Theatre
Creswick Theatre Company is determined to pave the way to improving accessibility to the town’s historic Courthouse Theatreone paver at a time.
The theatre company is inviting everyone to pitch in by purchasing a personalised paver, thus paving their own way to becoming part of Creswick’s Courthouse Theatre history.
CTC secretary and fundraising coordinator Heather Ingram, pictured, says the main aim is to build an accessibility ramp leading up to the front entrance to the Courthouse Theatre which is the theatre company’s home.
They’re also keen to see the venue used by more groups, and to ensure that it is readily accessible for all.
Last month CTC started selling personalised brick pavers that will be used to build a paved path linking to the planned all-abilities access ramp.
So far the fundraiser has been gaining good momentum but the chance to be part of history ends on November 28.
“Construction will take place next year and we’re now in the planning permit stage. We are hoping to secure a grant as well. The ramp is going to look gorgeous and the path will be part of the landscaping. Inside the theatre we’re also going to get the foyer raised so as to be at the same level as the theatre.”
The pavers cost $50 for an individual or $75 for businesses and they can be obtained online at events.humanitix.com/bricks.
“They’ll be there for posterity and they will be engraved, so you can get them engraved in your own name or as a memorial to a loved one.”
At the moment the main front entrance to the historic theatre - that once served as the Creswick’s courthouse - is accessed by some fairly large steps making it extremely difficult for some to get in.
“It doesn’t even have to be someone in a wheelchair,” Heather says. “It’s difficult for anyone on a walker or even just someone with a bad knee.”
The ramp and flooring upgrades are estimated to cost around $50,000 all up, and if sufficient funds can be raised fast enough, CTC members hope work can get started by the first half of 2025 and in time for CresFest.
Words & image: Eve Lamb
Bronwyn
Dr Ashvin Dr Loshna
Working alone is a contributing factor in the majority of farm workplace deaths.
No matter if it is a perfect day, or a storm is coming and you only have a short window to get the job done. Whatever it is, take a minute to think through what you’re doing. For strategies to stay safe while working alone, visit worksafe.vic.gov.au/working-alone-farms
It’s never you, until it is.
Commemorative event honours lives
Families, friends, community, emergency services and Hepburn Shire Council staff gathered earlier this month to honour and remember the lives impacted by the motor vehicle collision in Daylesford last year.
Held on Tuesday November 5, exactly one year since the collision that claimed five lives, the commemoration offered a moment of reflection, bringing together those who have been forever joined by the tragedy.
An estimated 200 people gathered near the site of the collision, outside the town’s Royal Daylesford Hotel and heard heartfelt tributes from many, placed wreaths in memorial, and took a minute of silence, honouring those impacted and those who continue to carry the memories with them.
“Today’s commemoration paid respect to the profound loss experienced by many, but also the incredible courage showed on that day to be there for those in their suffering,” Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas said.
Those who placed floral and other tributes included family members of the deceased, emergency service workers and volunteers, council representatives and members of the wider community.
Right, about 200 people attended the memorial with any playing wreaths
Vicki and Luke Iris of Miracle Paws Therapy and Wellbeing Dogs with Chilli and Milo attended on the day after the fatal collision to help support those impacted
Words & images: Eve Lamb
If you need to talk...
Highlands Rural Health - (03) 5321 6551
Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub - (03) 9192 8100
and Cobaw Community Health - (03) 5422 2161
Just briefly...
Entry to Hepburn Shire Council pools will remain free for the 2024/2025 season, with new pool opening times.
The council operates pools in Daylesford, Trentham and Clunes, along with a Splash Park and Toddlers pool in Creswick.
Pools are closed on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and when the next day weather prediction is 21 degrees and below, using the Bendigo forecast for Clunes and the Ballarat forecast for Daylesford and Trentham.
The VicSwim Learn to Swim program will be offered again in the 2024/2025 season and the council plans to explore opportunities for events and other pool activation.
If you've ever considered keeping bees then an afternoon workshop coming up at the Trentham Neighbourhod Centre may be for you.
Beekeeping for Beginners will be part of The ABC of Rural Living workshop series that the local neighbourhood centre is hosting. The four-hour workshop will take place from 1-5pm on Saturday, November 23 and cost $10.
The course is an introductory guide to beekeeping which focuses on what tools you'll need and how to keep both you and the bees safe. It also explores beekeeping regulations as well as when and how to harvest honey.
Register at https://ow.ly/b8Mc50TGpnC online.
DJAARA hosted a Welcome Baby to Country ceremony in partnership with Bendigo Health on November 19 for more than 50 babies born on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, at the Garden for the Future.
DJAARA general manager Cassandra Lewis said the ceremony honoured and acknowledged an infant’s connection to the lands on which they are born.
“DJAARA is proud to share this Dja Dja Wurrung cultural ceremony formally welcoming new babies to Country,” Ms Lewis said. “The smoking ceremony and traditional Welcome connects babies to Country and offers them wellbeing and protection.
“We hope that, by nurturing babies’ connection to Dja Dja Wurrung Country, we are not only enriching their own lives but also fostering greater understanding and connection to Dja Dja Wurrung People.
“Practising our traditional cultural ceremonies helps Dja Dja Wurrung People to heal from the impacts we still experience as a result of colonisation, keeping us connected to our Culture."
Daylesford turned on the sunshine for the Barefoot Bowls "Fun"draiser at the Daylesford Bowling Club on Sunday, November 10. The event definitely lived up to its name with off-duty fun police in attendance and lots of laughs from all the teams. The competition was so tight that it ended in a threeway bowl off to determine the winners
Thanks to the generous sponsors, donors and players $4752 has been raised so far for Daylesford Health's operating theatre that will assist to purchase an emergency response trolley and new defibrillator. The new equipment is needed to provide lifesaving care in the event of an emergency in the new operating theatre.
The silent auction remains open for anyone in the community to bid on paintings by local artist Adele Perry and donations are welcome to fund the equipment needed. Please bid here: https://forms.gle/3PE9KppeqLWjMjMt7
Special thanks to the Daylesford Bowling Club's Neil Jordan and volunteers Chip and Joan who assisted the teams throughout the day and selected the best dressed winners. Each team was named after a sponsor or a current/past supporter of Daylesford Hospital.
Congratulations to the winners: 1st place: The Donald McLeod team, 2nd place: Mr James Daly team, 3rd place: Adaptive Housing team, Best dressed team: Cr Lesley Hewitt team and Best dressed individual: Melissa Murphy.
Got
RESTORING OUR RIVERS 2024
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - NOW OPEN REF: ATM_2024_2750
The Australian Government, represented by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, is inviting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to sell water from water rights owners the Southern Connected Murray-Darling Basin who were not eligible for the Restoring Our Rivers: 2024 Selected Catchments Open Tender This includes water right owners from within Irrigation Infrastructure Operator areas.
Owners of eligible water rights in the catchments listed below, including unregulated entitlements and section 51 licences, are invited to express their interest stating the proposed volume and price at which they want to sell their permanent water rights to the department
LIST OF CATCHMENTS:
NEW SOUTH WALES
Murray River
Murrumbidgee
Lower Darling
VICTORIA
Broken Kiewa
Goulburn Mitta Mitta Campaspe Loddon
Ovens & King Victorian Murray
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
South Australian Murray
Expressions of interest will close at 12 midday AEDT, 27 November 2024.
The decision to participate is completely voluntary. You must submit an EOI through this process if you want to be considered for any subsequent water purchasing in 2025
To read the Request for Expression of Interest and register your interest, please visit AusTender www.tenders.gov.au - and search for Restoring our Rivers.
MORE INFORMATION: For more information on voluntary water purchasing, visit www.dcceew.gov.au/watertender
ASSISTANCE: For help with using AusTender, visit help.tenders.gov.au If you can’t access AusTender or have questions about the expression of interest process, please email watertenders@dcceew.gov.au
Finding small wins and sharing stories
After a long period of closure, retired sportsperson Chris Anstey re-opened the refurbished Trentham Hotel last January.
While it is still early days, the return of this beloved pub to the main street has had an extremely positive effect on both locals and visitors alike. In that time Chris has hosted numerous guest appearances and events, even getting Trentham included as a stop on the official 2024 Melbourne Cup Tour last month.
Operating a business such as this is a great commitment and no doubt a challenge. But challenge and commitment are the two pillars that make up the former basketball champion philosophy both in his sporting career and now as a businessman.
His playing career spanned from 1994 to 2010. In that time he played for the Melbourne Tigers, South East Melbourne Magic and Victoria Titans in the National Basketball League and spent several seasons with the American National Basketball Association. He was also away for three years playing in Russia and Europe, and played with the Australian Boomers in the 2000 and 2008 Olympics in Sydney and Beijing. After retiring he continued coaching.
Playing at the top level in any sporting discipline is a specialist world, one that most of us will never experience. It is for this reason among many that people look up to athletes for some wisdom gleaned from the sporting ring that will help with the challenges of daily life.
One of those questions we may ask is what does it take to operate under the expectations and pressure of fans, coaches, management and other players. Surely there is something as ‘non-combatants’ we can learn from an athlete to manage our personal endeavours. However the reality of being in this world, at least according to Chris Anstey, is enlightening as it is surprising.
“Pressure is not real, pressure is only other people's expectations,” says Chris. “That’s one thing you learn as an athlete. If you are prepared and if you have done the work, then whatever the results are the results. That’s what a lot of people who haven’t been around sport don’t quite understand. They just see the scoreboard at the end. But for us, it's more about process and finding small wins on the way, making or contributing to others around us, getting better and trying to achieve something collectively."
After his retirement, Chris moved easily into the business sphere and like so many sports people who have made this step, he sees parallels, significant contrasts, but also a realisation that the desire to improve, found so readily in sporting teams, does not always make it over into the working world.
“A general observation is that in the workplace people don’t come in seeking to improve themselves, they just want to turn up, get paid and go home. Whereas being around sport for a long time, you know that everyone turning up to work isn’t just doing so because they get paid to do it. They are (there) to improve themselves and improve the group. A lot of athletes invest in themselves in their own time and that's a big one for me. (In daily life) it’s a little bit rare for people to invest in themselves in their own time. They want to do it on company time or team time.”
Now that the Trentham Hotel is up and running, Chris has the business where he can apply his personal philosophy to growing as a person along with the people and staff around him. Perhaps his approach is unique or the way of the courageous. But Chris prefers to see his attitude as being a little bit naive in the way he approaches things and not worry about setbacks. He sees this as one of the most important things he learnt as a player, having your eyes wide open and accepting that if you fail you come back the next day and start again. It’s not fatal.
“Over my career I learnt as much at the end of my career from the rookies as I did from those that had been coaching for 30 or 40 years. Having a very open mind and being open to different personalities, different ideas and different challenges. I think one of the most dangerous phrases in the English language is: ‘We have always done it this way so it is the right way to do it,’ whereas I was always looking to something a little bit different. I like to ask ‘why not?’ instead of ‘why?’
An important thing to note is even though Chris has written books on his experiences and been placed in the role of motivator to aspiring sportspeople and business leaders, he does not consider himself to be a mentor in any sense of the word. He just has a story to tell like all of us.
“I don’t consider myself a teacher,” he says. “I’m simply a big believer in whatever question you ask, the answer is going to be the people around you. Furthermore I just like to share stories and if it resonates with people that's great. But everything is only a suggestion, and as much as anything, I like listening to other peoples stories just as much as I like telling my own.”
Pictured, a packed pub with Chris Anstey on the right and former Carlton Football Club player, Anthony Koutoufides, left Words: Tony Sawrey | Image: Contributed
From out of darkness to Hepburn light
The scars are still there. Not only mentally from the cruel abuse Richard “Tommy” Campion and his sister suffered in a home after being abandoned when young but also on his back from beatings.
Their parents didn’t want them, he says. Their mother “caught a train to somewhere”. A couple of days later their father left them in a children’s home never to be seen again.
Somehow, he emerged after 14 years to eventually carve out a career as an awardwinning news photographer. Now he and his partner Marilyn have left the traffic, crime and high-rises of the Gold Coast for the tranquillity of Hepburn Springs.
But at 76 he continues a 20-year campaign to bring to justice those responsible for the whippings, bashings, floggings and starvation by staff at the Church of England North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, NSW.
A brief reprieve did come when his sister Suzanne, who is two years older than him, was adopted by a family when aged eight, mainly he believes, to look after their seven children.
“I fretted and so I was sent to join her. That family reckoned I had been raised by animals, so a few weeks later I was sent back to the home and didn’t see my sister for eight years.
“When we did meet there was no heavy connection. We thought about each other, but the love was not there. She was far more emotional than me, yet later we came to love each other dearly.”
To him, what happened at the home was sexual, psychological and physical abuse. Anglican Ministers used leather belts on children who were cheeky, had not made their beds properly, or for stealing food to supplement the gruel.
Frightened, skinny, asthmatic and pigeon-chested, he was found a job in a hardware store at age 16. With the help of a matron, the home had “come good” the year before he left.
Now he was mixing paint, “a tough gig”, while paying board at the home. He laughs at the contradiction.
Next, he spotted a newspaper ad for a cadet photographer who “must be keen and outgoing”. He had probably only taken a couple of snaps in his life, so he borrowed some and, to his amazement, got the job. Even then, he thought he was letting down those in the home because they had found him the hardware job
Joining the Northern Star in Lismore aged 17 was exciting, even though it meant mixing chemicals, proofing and filing.
“I learnt more in a month than I had from age two to 16. I learnt how to talk to people, look them in the eye, react, be responsible.
“Somehow, I got ambition, yet I was nearly sacked so many times for not dressing properly. I couldn’t wear a tie because we were choked in the home. When I told the pictorial editor this after he retired, he cried.”
The new-found ambition had him trying for about seven months to join Queensland’s major paper, the Courier Mail.
“I was told I would never get a job there until someone died. And then someone did.”
He spreads his hands to show the width of the pages of this big broadsheet, excitedly telling of the arrows down the page showing where a car went off a cliff.
“I learnt a helluva lot. And I also had a job lined up at The Australian.” In the then traditional way, he was interviewed in a pub by three photographers.
Not only did he get this job but he worked for six other Murdoch papers while based in Brisbane. “It was the bees’ knees…ever heard about knocking a bastard down and he gets up again?”
These were amazing, thrilling newspaper days, which for him included getting grabbed by security when he got too close to the future King Charles at a media scrum. “I was so pleased to go to work. I hated taking holidays.
“Crimes, pop stars, The Beatles, Joe Cocker, Johnny Cash, movie stars such as Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra, important news events I shot them all, as well as an action shot of a dog chasing a cat.”
He turned down the offers of jobs in Sydney because he was married and had a daughter to care for. There are now two grandsons who shine at sport and music.
When he was able to leave Brisbane a freakish encounter stopped him. When he paused at traffic lights he was spotted by a sports editor who asked what he was up to. This editor was scathing of Sydney and talked Tommy into working two days a week for the Gold Coast Bulletin, which led to five years in News Ltd’s bureau there covering murders, kidnappings, fashion, sport, social and huge court cases. His national award for spot news came when, thanks to an alert reporter who spotted the dog squad, he zoomed in on one of three child kidnappers who firstly wanted a $1million ransom, halved that and reduced it to $250,000, but was then caught.
But a court story led to disaster. His photo of alleged prostitutes, some masked, supporting a charged nightclub owner outside a court, was not used. Tommy’s instructions to ignore a picture of three college girls going into the court, which was on the same roll of film he sent in, was disregarded. The newspaper mistakenly identified the girls as prostitutes. Within two days he was gone. No one would talk to him. He was in despair. No newspaper would use him for a few years. Much later, he was exonerated when he found that the pictorial editor, who sacked him and ruined his career, had written the erring caption.
Tommy was reduced to living on handouts in a two-roomed house. The pain of abuse still hurt, so he wrote a five-page letter to the Royal Commission on Institutional Child Abuse, telling of the nightmares he suffered and wondering about the other children and how they were coping.
The response was an apology from a leading Minister who said that Tommy had “lived in an Anglican home which should have been safe, but clearly was not.” Tommy adds: “I was believed and asked to fill out a form and would get $78,000 compensation.” He refused the offer because others had to know that they had the right to compensation if they had been abused.
Tommy put advertisements in 20 papers asking for anyone who lived in the home to get in touch. His phone rang off the hook.
“The church then began fighting back and the fight went on and on, causing abuse again.”
So powerful is the church, he said, that only the Royal Commission was able to order proper compensation. He began to cry as he told of giving evidence for most of a day of the three-week hearing.
“The church lied, even at the Royal Commission.” He does not hold back. “They are a sneaky, nasty, hypocritical pack of bastards.”
In an effort to have the Bishop who was in charge defrocked he has written hundreds of letters, becoming an advocate for about 70 people. “I got a Bishop and a Minister kicked out of the church, but they were still able to call themselves Bishop and Reverend. They were not involved in the abuse but in the cover-up and failed to act within church rules.
“If the church had been like a church and said sorry and acted it would have been different. They wouldn’t have ended up in the Royal Commission.” And there may not have been the deaths, jail terms and the like for those from the home.
Although embarrassed, he stood for two days outside the Anglican church in Brisbane with a protest sign, denouncing the abuse and failure of duty of care, while copping abuse from some passers-by. After waiting six years he got in to see the leader of the Anglican Church of Australia six times.
His letter writing campaign continues, and so does his photography, now with gentler pictures, such as kangaroos nearby, interesting people and serene scenes. He and Marilyn share their house with their two cats, Garry Barry and Alice. “As soon as I walked into the house here, I knew this was home.”
Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Contributed
Council news
ELECTED COUNCILLORS
The Victorian Electoral Commission declared the results of the Hepburn Shire Local Government Election. The successful candidates are as follows:
• Don Henderson
• Brian Hood
• Lesley Hewitt
• Tony Clark
• Tim Drylie
• Pat Hockey
• Shirley Cornish Councillors were sworn in on 14 November 2024, and will commence their induction as required by the Local Government Act 2020. Council will consider the election of a Mayor and Deputy Mayor on 26 November 2024, before ordinary Council meetings resume in December.
Council would like to thank all candidates for their commitment and putting their hands up to represent our community.
CHANGES TO AQUATICS OPERATIONS
The pool season is fast approaching, and FREE entry is back!
We’re making a few changes to our aquatics operations this season (from 7 December 2024 to 10 March 2025), including a slight reduction to pool opening times. We’ve made these changes based on our analysis of past usage and running more efficiently.
During the season we will communicate unforeseen changes to pool operations, for example closures due to reactive maintenance or vandalism, on our website at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/pools
Read our full media release on our website at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Latest-news
Z-NET Roundtable
JOIN AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
If you’re passionate about taking action on climate change and helping our community reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then the Z-NET Roundtable could be for you.
Sustainable Hepburn Advisory Committee
Are you passionate about the local environment? We are looking for community members from diverse walks of life to partner with us to deliver the Sustainable Hepburn Strategy through targeted advice, communication, outreach and engagement.
Both expressions of interest close on Monday 25 November. You can find out more and apply on our Participate Hepburn website at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au
COUNCIL PLAN FOCUS AREAS
IMPROVING OUR ROADS
The arrival of better weather means more opportunity to improve our roads. Council is commencing its road reseal program by stabilising patching on selected roads. As part of our $450,000 contract awarded in September, our contractor has begun work in Creswick.
Stabilised patching helps enhance road pavements using cement or other additives. We will also be resealing selected roads over the summer period to improve them. Our patching program will focus on preparing roads for resealing before we tackle other areas in the Shire. Our works teams have been busy repairing pavements, especially around West Berry Road in Allendale. If you are travelling on our roads and you see the road reseal teams, please keep them safe by following all traffic signs.
FREE GREEN WASTE NOVEMBER
There is still time to take advantage of FREE Green Waste November. Hepburn Shire residents and property owners can dispose of green waste for free at transfer stations in Daylesford, Creswick and Trentham during November. As the upcoming fire season approaches it’s important to take steps to prepare your property and stay safe, for more information visit: www.cfa.vic.gov.au
Things to remember:
• Bring along some proof of residency.
• Separate your load - green material should be separated from other items being brought in.
• Noxious weeds should not be transported or brought to the transfer stations.
• Excludes commercial quantities of waste.
MAKING A SERVICE REQUEST
Did you know...? You can report issues or make service requests relating to Council services or assets via our website. You will be issued with a reference number so you can track progress on your request. It’s easy!
Visit www.hepburn.vic.gov.au and click on “Report an issue” in the quick links, or go to www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/request. We’re here to help.
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.
EAT | DRINK | ENJOY
Out & About in the Central Highlands
The wisdom of Sage
Sage Roadknight 19, is a singer from the Macedon Ranges creating in her own words, ‘futuristic folk music’. She comes from a musical family, has been involved with music for pretty much her whole life and first started with the piano at age six.
The last time we featured Sage in 2021 she had just won the Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s Battle of the Bandwidth competition and since that time she has continued writing and producing music with vulnerability and insight delivering messages focusing on political, environmental and existential issues.
Now it’s three years later, a very long time in the shifting world of pop music. But Sage is ticking along, producing albums and singles while attaching an increasingly sophisticated production quality to her growing repertoire.
“The last couple of years I’ve been juggling school and music,” she says, “but I’ve managed to get a couple of notable things done. I was short listed in the environmental music prize in 2022 and after that I had this song called Trust the Dead that I produced for a music industry class, selected for the VCE Season of Excellence and exhibited at the Melbourne Museum.”
Sage has also completed her first full studio album Living Thing released in June 2023. Coming in at around 42 minutes, it consists of 13 tracks delivering a highly emotive and transporting experience asking you to confront the question: what is it to be a living thing?
“The response to it has been absolutely incredible and It’s lovely to have things I’ve written out there accessible to the public.”
However Sage is not one to sit back now this major project, four years in the making, has been completed. She has recently released Wake Up. It has a different feel to what she was doing with Living Thing. That work was essentially an epic concept project featuring fairies, robots and an apocalyptic flood. But Wake Up is a 80s electronic pop work inspired track with a serious message regarding contemporary class struggle.
“I hope listeners see the seriousness. With a lot of songs, people choose to not listen to the lyrics and that’s their loss. But with that song it is pretty prominent, I’m not really hiding anything or being metaphorical. It’s all out in the open."
Having amassed such a strong back catalogue, Sage is now at a point in her music career where she wants to merge the character of her studio productions with that of her performances. Presently her live shows are a simple affair, that of a single guitar accompanied by her ethereal voice.
“I’m looking to start a band. We’ve been talking it over in the household saying: ‘I really need to make my stage act a little bit more pa-pow!' It is currently very acoustic and I would like to have a bigger sound.
"What I’m aiming for right now is to be able to grab my mic and dance around on stage instead of being stuck in the same spot with my guitar. It would be nice to get a bit of movement around because I am really starting to feel myself on stage and the vibe and energy of the audience.”
As 2024 concludes, Sage is busy collaborating with producers Ricky Ray and Shane Ray on her next studio album which is slated for release next June. If you want to see Sage play, her next live appearance will be at the Newstead Folk Festival in January. After that? Well, who knows.
“As for remaining around regional Victoria or Melbourne, I guess we’ll see. If something happens and there is an opportunity for me then I’ll go where the wind blows me.”
Words: Tony Sawrey | Image: Jaqueline Rae
Gypsy Cobs at Show
The Daylesford Show will have its first ever Gypsy Cob class competitions at the this year in the Horse Section.
This is very exciting fas while Gypsy Cobs are in the show circuit there is not a lot competing as yet as they are relatively new to Australia.
Gypsy Cobs arrived as a breed in Australia in the early 2000s so introducing people to this remarkable breed is wonderful.
Gyspys are a type of draught horse with lots of mane, tail and feather (leg hairs), that were originally bred as a family horse that pulled the vardo or gypsy caravan of Irish and English travellers.
After a day of travelling the Gypsy Cob was unhitched and then the kids had their fun with their furry friend. Due to their sensible and calm temperaments, and beauty, they were much cherished by their owners who had a saying “Gypsy gold does not clink and glitter, it gleams in the sun and neighs in the dark”.
There are many names for the Gypsy Cobs including Gypsy Vanner, Gypsy Tinker and Gypsy Cob. There are even miniature Gypsy Cobs being bred now. The average size for a Gypsy Cob is 13-15hh and they are fast becoming much loved family friends As a breed they are extremely versatile and are happy trying different activities.
Gypsy Cob crosses are very popular as they combine the intelligence, tractability, muscular strength and strong bone of the Gypsy.
Teresa Cook from Daylesford’s Boomerang Ranch remembers seeing the Gypsy Cobs when holidaying in Ireland and there will be a talk with both Teresa and Gypsy Cob owner Rebecca McLennan about Gypsy Cobs at 150th Daylesford Show on November 23.
155th Kingston Show
The 155th Kingston Agricultural Show is on Saturday, November 30 and will be held among the elm trees and in front of the heritage listed grandstand.
The Kingston Show aims to provide good family fun, children under 6 are free with gate entry for adults just $10.
President Fraser Hutchison said: “We are excited that this year Kingston hosts the State Final of the Dog High Jump along with working yard dogs which includes Australian champion trainers and dogs.”
A major attraction this year is the Fizzics shows which present amazing and fun science to everyone.
Throw a gumboot, visit the poultry and pat a chook, inspect the goats and watch the heavy horses and harness horses competing. The sheep will be there and so will the Creswick Brass Band.
The recently updated pavilion hosts children’s Arts and Crafts as well as new cookery classes. The Rich Fruit Cake and Carrot Cake winners will qualify for the Midland championship. Children can decorate a plate of four cupcakes.
If you have weeds (and who doesn’t?) enter the weed competition, put them in a bucket and bring them into the pavilion by 9.30 on Saturday - it’s free. Raid your pantry and place the preserves, jams, chutneys, eggs, honey or anything you have produced or grown in a basket and enter the Produce Competition for a great prize.
Watch the Rural Schools Challenge for primary school teams of five. This will test their rural knowledge, problem solving ability along with fun physical team challenges.
Free parking is available on the grounds. On the next day Sunday, December 1, horse competitions and working yard dogs continue. Entry on Sunday is free for spectators.
The full program is available #kingstonshow
Ritchie: Gregarious, flambuoyant, kind
Richard Herr, otherwise known as Ritchie Rich, is a Daylesford icon. There is no doubt about that. Many people are familiar with his sartorial excess as part of his many appearances in the yearly Chill Out parade. Others know him as the best dressed Santa in town.
Flamboyant, gregarious, larger than life, you could call him the soul of contemporary Daylesford. A living encapsulation of the town's inclusivity, exclusivity and idiosyncrasies.
Like so many of the eccentric creative types who have found their way to this town, Ritchie's journey has been a long and convoluted one and began in Melbourne.
“I was born from German Polish parents with a very traditional European upbringing in the suburbs of Springvale. I was bullied at school for being both European and effeminate and while my grandpa was an artist and my mother was very creative, my father tried to suppress all my creative inclinations.”
Ritchie, like any boy with dreams of a career in a creative field, decided to go to art school. But his father put a stop to all that. "He said ‘no, you’ve gotta go and get a job’."
Consequently Ritchie began running little cafes, became a film crew caterer and also travelled widely in Europe with his then girlfriend. It was the 80s, an age of neon, punk, gender bending and artistic decadence and certainly a great time to be swanning around the continent soaking up ideas and influences. But if there is a time in his life, a point upon which everything pivoted, it was at the grand age of 36.
“That’s when I took on Merricks General Store (built in 1922 by the Joyner family on the Mornington Peninsula),” Ritchie says, "and it was also the year I came out. It was an era of madness and creativity, alcohol, happiness, sadness and table top dancing. From that point in my life I just went full steam ahead. Ever since then I’ve never had any boundaries. I’ve had businesses, I’ve lost money and I didn't care. I would just shrug and think: ‘right, that chapter’s over’ and go and do something else.”
But thrive he has and one of the things that helped was his segue into the world of philanthropy and fundraising. It was both a way of helping people in need and best of all, another way to express himself.
But the film catering gigs remained a constant. He could not get enough of the intrigue and glamour of visiting Hollywood productions with their pampered superstars and people with big bad egos. And if there is any department privy to the gossip, stories and tantrums of a film set it is the caterer. At one point or another everybody will pass through the dining marquee, eating, drinking and letting their guard down over bountiful food. And ultimately, it was film production catering that brought Ritchie to Daylesford in 2001, sparking his love affair with the town that smoulders to this day.
“I was working on the short lived TV series Ponderosa at Kataminga near Newbury and ended up living here for two years,” he says. “I then moved to the town permanently in 2014.”
But then life bowled Ritchie another curveball around 50 years of age. He got diagnosed with HIV and two shots of cancer. “I also got my first tattoo,” he adds.
Of course Ritchie remains here today to tell his tale which means he conquered his bouts of cancer and is managing his health. To say he is a survivor is stating the obvious but to thrive is another thing entirely.
“First up I walked 740 kilometres from the Mornington Peninsula to Canberra with artist Clare Whitney in 2008 raising $50,000 for the Scaffidi Foundation. After this I helped raise approximately $100,000 for the Kids in Cambodia Charity. I have also assisted the local CFA and organised a ‘homeless couture’ event at the Daylesford Town Hall in 2018 - raising money for the purchase and distribution of backpack beds for Central Victoria.”
Ritchie has spent enough time in the town to be acutely aware of the changes that have taken place over the years and the things that have stayed the same. His first impression of the town over 25 years ago was one of an absolutely vibrant Vincent Street with very eccentric people and fabulous shops, something Ritchie contributed to with own place, the sorely missed Ruby Slippers on Howe Street.
“I look at Daylesford now and it has gone so mainstream and very business oriented. But what I still like about the town is Monday to Friday, as daggy as Vincent Street is, the colourful people are still there and they all come out.”
Pictured, Ritchie Rich as Santa
Words: Tony Sawrey | Image: Inkdfotogrfa Daylesford
Let’s support our community and shop local!
“Locals supporting Locals” Restaurants, Bakers, Butchers, Cafe’s, Local vineyards, Distillers, Brewers and of course each other.
Remember we offer free delivery, T&Cs apply. Delivery times are Monday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm. We accept credit cards over the phone or we have an on-board eftpos machine. You will need to be at home for the delivery with proof of age if asked by the driver. Give the Foxxy team a call on 5348 3577. Keep safe, everyone.
Artists of the Central Highlands with Eve Lamb
The large-scale sculptures that Jannie Alday make are sophisticated works of beauty as much as they are fully functional one-offs, designed to appeal to the connoisseur. Middle-eastern architecture is among the influences that ignited this talented creative’s passion for simple elegant form and fluidity of line. Alday deploys traditional fabrication methods, welding and rendering, alongside modern technology to make sculptures that are sensual, tactile and alluring. Right now she is preparing to celebrate the launch of her new Newlyn studio.
Eve: Your studio here at Newlyn would be the envy of many an artist. How high is that ceiling?
Jannie: It’s about five metres. I need it to be that high to fit the lifting equipment. This studio developed over Covid lockdown and now I’m ready to open it. My studio is rendered with a product made from recycled glass… Before, I had been building my sculptures in the re-purposed Railway Goods Shed in Creswick. But that was a short term solution. I needed a crane to move my work so I decided to build this purpose-built studio here.
Eve: Well, while we’re on the subject, we should take a look at why you need that lifting equipment. Your sculptural work is clearly large-scale.
Jannie: Yes all my sculptural work is functional as well. So that bathing sculpture you can see taking shape will be fully functional, as will the pool of reflection.
Eve: Your work is incredibly imposing.
Jannie: My work is for the right setting only. I’m really fussy about where they go. What I do isn't for everybody. It’s for aesthetes, people who really invest in the environment they live in.
Eve: What materials do you use to make these pieces?
Jannie: I use stainless steel, marine grade steel, mild steel for my armiture. All my fittings are marine grade stainless steel and it’s got to be absolutely bullet proof. Burnished marble, cement fondue… The armature for everything is hot-dipped galvanised which means there can never be any rust. With my materials I’m always trialing different products. At the moment I’m trialing silica sands.
Eve: Have you always worked in the arts sector?
Jannie: I used to work in the health sector and in project management, but when my father died about ten years ago I decided it was time to get serious about my work. My father, Max, has been a major inspiration and influence. He was a fitter and turner and had a natural talent for all things engineering. When he died about ten years ago I realised the time had arrived for me to focus on my sculpture.
Eve: These pieces look incredibly complex. How much time goes into them?
Jannie: The complexity is in the design and the research and development. Easily a month of design, and then the making-of and fabricating elements are probably an eight-month process. They’re all one-offs… A lot of problem-solving goes into them and there’s a lot of complexity that people don’t see, like the internal plumbing. It’s got to be absolutely bulletproof.
Eve: Who, or what, are your influences?
Jannie: I was captivated with renaissance drapery back in art class, the dramatic shadows created between the folds I found mesmerizing… Rembrandt and Leonardo’s use of chiaroscuro technique created a sensual intrigue…Middle Eastern architecture ignited my love of simple elegant form and fluidity of line. I am also fascinated by the qualities of water, the way it moves and flows.
I’ve come to realise my grandmother has been an enormous influence too. She was a potter with a wonderful sense of colour and form and worked from a tiny studio in her garden…And my father taught me so many skills…I turned my hand to wood carving, furniture making, welding, building, painting, sculpture and drawing.
At the rubbish tip one day I found a section of a burnt out mannequin. I was excited and inspired. I knew I could use it to form part of the internal structure for a sculpture I had designed. Using my partner as a model I built my first serious sculpture Arlechino (which became The Palais centrepiece during a Daylesford ChillOut Festival).
Eve: Do you have any special events coming up?
Jannie: Yes. I’m having a private showing here at my new studio in December. Or people can reach by at jannie.alday@gmail.com
Apricot Glazed Ham
BY RICHARD CORNISH
Serving up a whole leg of ham, beautifully glazed to a golden brown, is one way a home chef can really bring a sense of seasonal occasion to the Christmas table. Not only does a glazed ham look great, but it is also super tasty, with a hint of sweetness in every slice. This version has a touch of honey and Chinese five-spice to add another layer of deliciousness to the big day.
Daylesford Meat Co Ham on the bone
²⁄₃ cup brown sugar
¹⁄₃ cup apricot jam
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
Preheat the oven to 140°C (130°C fan).
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
24 whole cloves (optional)
Place the ham skin-side up. Using a sharp knife, cut the skin to the bone at the knuckle end of the ham. Cut around the flat edges of the ham about 1 cm deep, just enough to be able to remove the skin. Carefully peel the flap of skin away from the ham, trying to leave the layer of fat on the ham intact. You may need to use the tip of the knife blade. Use the knife to cut a diamond cross-hatch pattern into the fat. Insert the cloves at the intersections of the cross marks.
In a saucepan, add the sugar, jam, mustard powder, Chinese five-spice, honey, and salt. Cook over medium heat until the sugar has melted. Brush most of the glaze onto the ham using a pastry brush.
Enclose the ham in aluminium foil, ensuring it is well-covered, and place it on a baking tray. Cook for 1 hour 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and discard the foil. Brush with the remaining glaze and cook for a further 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, rest, carve, and serve.
For more recipes, and to order online, head to our website. daylesfordmeatco.com.au
OUR FAMOUS LEGS OF HAM
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without our famous smoked legs of ham! This year, we have again teamed up with award-winning German Fleischmeister Ralf Fink from Oakwood Smallgoods in Castlemaine. Celebrate Christmas this year with a taste of Australia’s finest ham— one that is not just a dish; it’s a tradition steeped in rich flavours and meticulous craftsmanship. A ham that will please all, glazes perfectly and is very easy to carve. Available as full and half legs on the bone as well as our smaller boneless hams.
DEUTSCHERS TURKEYS
We have secured a small quantity of the last Free-Range Heritage-Breed Turkeys in Australia. These are truly exceptional birds and considered by many to be the best turkeys in the nation.
SOMMERLAD CHICKENS
With the Deutchers Turkeys being much larger than most, we are also thrilled to be offering you these wonderful Sommerlad Chickens from Bungarra - regenerative farmed, pastured and completely free-range. These are the size of a small turkey (around 2.5-3kg) and are a spectacular addition to your Christmas feast. Processed using traditional European butchery methods with feet intact.
OTHER CHRISTMAS MEATS
Porchettas, Greenhills Lamb and Beef, Whole Ducks, Goat - whatever you love to celebrate the festive season with - we have got you covered!
Finding Trentham
The Trentham Visitor Information Centre is in The Mechanics Trentham building at 66 High Street.
You can access the building via the front entrance on High Street or the rear carpark entrance in Albert Street. It is wheelchair-friendly with ramps at all entrances, giving easy access for all.
Whether you are here for a day trip, or short or long stay, the staff are all familiar with the district and can point visitors in the right direction, even sometimes finding you places that are obscure and often overlooked. You should commence any visit to our wonderful town by finding out what it has to offer and thereby making your time in Trentham, a memorable one.
The centre stocks a generous array of maps, leaflets and booklets covering every aspect of Trentham and its surrounds. Whether you want to walk, shop, dine, go to a gallery, visit a winery or simply immerse yourself in the history of the area, they have it covered.
It is open Tuesday and Wednesday (run by Hepburn Shire Council staff) and also all day Friday and Saturday morning assisted by the small volunteer team.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer contact Libby Rigby via email lrigby@hepburn.vic.gov.au
Finale for Christ Church series
The last concert in this year’s Daylesford Christ Church concert series will be held on Saturday, November 30 at 2.30pm - and it promises to be memorable. Featuring Daylesford Community Brass Band, the upcoming Fire-Water-Wood concert features a special commissioned piece by renowned band composer Dr Jodie Blackshaw. For There is Nothing Lost was inspired by the landscape of regional Victoria, especially that of the Hepburn Shire.
Bookings through www.trybooking
Former Glenlyon Primary School.
- Approx. 4857m2 of land the pretty hamlet of Glenlyon
- Open plan kitchen, dining and living space
- The beautifully renovated school has five-metre-high ceilings
- All three buildings have operated as successful B'n'B rental properties
- Butler's pantry with endless storage possibilities
- Two separate garden studios, both with verandahs, bathrooms and kitchenettes
- Generous covered deck facing north perfect for entertaining - Frontage onto the beautiful, alternating oak and elm Avenue of Federation
- A short stroll to the Glenlyon General Store, the Glenlyon Dam and the Glenlyon Reserve
The Rex revived
Fundraising for the new Rex Cinema has kicked off, fittingly enough, with a film.
Radius Gallery in Hepburn Springs hosted a Flicks and Feast evening with an impromptu boost.
Keen movie-goer and Rex supporter Dr Charlie Qi, of Qi Wellness in Daylesford, was involved in planning the Radius event and laid on a spectacular vegetarian Asian feast beforehand.
The film was a delightful, animated fairy tale about the Clocks’, a family of “little people” living in a doll’s house who steal (or borrow) goods from the humans’ home. All is well until humans discover the family’s daughter and they flee for their lives. The message of the movie is about living together with nature in peace and harmony, a concept close to Dr Charlie’s heart.
After this start, a host of other fundraising and promotional moves are in the works. They include raffles, a Christmas event, patron packages, business sponsorship, merchandise sales, such as vintage movie posters, t-shirts and badges, and a dinner.
The Rex has a remarkable history of money raising, as recorded at the Daylesford Museum. The cinema’s founder, Aubrey Moulden Christie, began with weekly then twice weekly plus “weekly occasions” pictures at the old Drill Hall in Bridport Street, now the Daylesford Fire Station. Next he bought an old hotel in Vincent Street and began building the Rex, securing more than 10,000 pounds, a massive amount for the time, to build a “Spanish colonial theatrical” style cinema.
More money was needed to strengthen the foundations and flooring after old mining works caused some cave-ins.
The Rex opened on Boxing Day 1929, showing an early version of The Student Prince, dubbed with synchronised sound before the modern integrated soundtrack, and before Mario Lanza..
One of the first small theatres, beyond Ballarat, Bendigo and Melbourne, to have CinemaScope in 1954, the Rex was badly hit by the local advent of television in 1960-61. After 34 years' operation the Rex was shut by Aubrey Moulton Christie’s son Max in May 1963, only to start again on a small scale, being run by dedicated volunteers between 2012 and 2016.
To get involved contact Daylesford Cinema Group president Jules McDonald on 0400 455 993.
Gigs with Darren Lowe
Mick Thomas and The Roving Commission
Mick Thomas' Roving Commission, the hard-working band led by ARIA awardwinning singer songwriter and former Weddings Parties Anything main man Mick Thomas, is headed our way as part of their All you Christmases tour. In the tradition of ‘Weddings, Parties, Anything’, Mick will play a series of festive shows, this time on an extensive tour, including two shows up our way.
The band are fresh from recording a new album in Neil Finn's Roundhead Studios in Auckland with award-winning producer Steve Schram.
To help make the record, which will follow their 2023 ARIA Top 40 Coolin' By Sounds record's release Where Only Memory Can Find You, the band has announced a number of pre-order crowd funding packages.
Mick has explained the decision to cross the Ditch: "It’s a really important thing for us to keep going forward each year and actually make new music and even though there’s been plenty out in the past few years, the origins of this album go way back to pre-Covid lockdown days when we had planned to go to America to make another album."
Expect a selection of Mick's recent solo material with the band featuring stalwarts Jen Anderson (fiddle), ‘Squeezebox Wally' ( Mark Wallace on accordion), Brooke Taylor (vocals/guitar), Mark Foley (drums) and Ben Franz from The Waifs (bass).
Playing at the Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine on November 29 and Leavers in Creswick on December 1.
Leavers, Creswick
Isobel Knight - Friday, November 23
Emily Lubitz and Tom Woodward - Friday, November 39
Mick Thomas - Sunday, December 1
Elly Mack and the Unbelievers - Friday, December 6
The Royal Highjinx - Saturday, December 7
Ben lee - Sunday, December 8
Creswick Chorus to join massed choir
Taking music of the Torres Strait to Ballarat Creswick's own local choir, the Creswick Chorus, is preparing to be part of a special massed choir concert bringing songs of the Torres Strait Islands to Ballarat's Goods Shed Terminus Theatre on Sunday December 1.
ALWAYS LIVE and The Boîte, in collaboration with artistic director Deb Lowah Clark, cultural director Luke Captain, and choir director Stella Savy, are joining forces to present the massed choir event Boite Voices: Maiem - Songs of the Torres Strait Islands, for one show in Ballarat.
Boite Voices is a project involving hundreds of singers from all over Victoria who will come together under the artistic direction of proud Meriam artist and educator Deb Lowah Clark and cultural direction of Luke Captain to perform traditional and original songs of the Torres Strait Islands.
This event will feature songs in English, Meriam Mir and Kala Lagaw Ya, and is a rare chance to experience the culture and stories of the traditional peoples of Zenadth Kes, the Torres Strait Islands.
The Ballarat concert happens on Sunday, December 1 from 2.30pm-3.45pm.
Tickets: www.trybooking
Words: Eve Lamb | Image: Contributed
Hydroponics, a means of growing plants without soil, has long been recognised as a means of producing food in areas where traditional agriculture is unsuitable. Its also a fascinating and rewarding hobby. Flowers, vegetables and herbs can be produced in a limited space without digging, mulching or weeding.
Hydroponics is not a new science, nor is it difficult for home gardeners to produce lush, healthy plants with a minimum of equipment or effort. In fact, anyone who has grown sprouting vegetables, struck cuttings or grown a pineapple top or an avocado seed in a tumbler of water, has dabbled in hydroponics.
To put it in its simplest form, the plants are grown in a watertight container, anchored by a clean medium such as cinders, pebbles, sawdust or peatmoss, and fed by having water, to which the correct balance of a soluble mixture of plant nutrients is added having passed through the medium to keep the roots fed and moist.
The solution can be recycled until the effectiveness of the nutrient mix is diminished, after which it can be changed or simply recharged or replaced with a fresh mix.
Commercial growers in areas where water supplies are either non-existent or unreliable have found that the water can be recharged more often if is aerated in much the same way as an aquarium.
On the smaller domestic scale, the plants can be watered, simply by using two plastic containers. the outer one to contain the solution and the inner one, several sizes smaller and raised on small rocks, to level their rims.
Drill at least a dozen small holes in an even pattern around the bottom and insert them to protrude through to bottom of the outer container to draw moisture through the growing medium to the plants. Nutrients are replenished by topping up the water level in the outer container.
The term hydroponics was coined by Californian Dr. W. F. Gericke from two Greek words hydro (water) and ponos (labour or work). It was through the professor’s laboratory experiments and trials in the late 1920s that hydroponics was able to developed to a commercial reality.
It was World War II however that brought about fulfilment of Gericke’s dreams.
Troops stationed on remote islands needed fresh fruit and vegetables - and hydroponics was the answer. One of the best examples of this was on rocky, soilless Wake Island where from tanks, 11 square metres in area, grew 15 kilograms of tomatoes, 20 heads of lettuce, 9 kilograms of string beans, 8 kilograms of marrow and 20 kilograms of sweet corn weekly.
Hydroponics of a kind was practised by the Babylonians in their famed Hanging Garden, and the Aztecs who grew crops on soil-covered rafts tethered on shallow lakes. The roots grew through the soil layer and down into the water.
Records of hydroponics experiments as far back as the 17th Century show that John Woodward of England experimented with growing plants in water to which were added different types of garden soil, to show that certain substances were obtained from the earth itself and not from the water.
The experiments of Sachs and Knop in the late 1860s were recognised as the real scientific breakthrough and beginnings of hydroponics when these two plant physiologists proved that plants were able to grow in a solution of in organic salts, showing that they were essential plant nutrients.
It may seem at first that hydroponics could create a lot of unnecessary work to provide much the same as growing plants in a normal garden bed, but there is no doubt that a soilless culture has distinct advantages over traditional methods, apart from making it possible to grow plants where normal gardening is out of the question.
Plants growing by hydroponics require no digging or weeding, and are usually pest and disease resistant due to being healthier, while at the same pests and diseases are more readily detected and controlled.
Most important of all is that when the crop is harvested, the old plants can be easily removed, old beds readily cleaned and renewed and new plants quickly planted.
Got a gardening query?Email glenzgarden@gmail.com
Safety on Public Land Act 2004 NOTIFICATION OF PUBLIC SAFETY ZONE DECLARATION
I, Jason Hellyer, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Grampians Region, as delegate of the Secretary to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, give notice pursuant to section 7(1A) of the Safety on Public Land Act 2004, that I have made a public safety zone declaration published in the Victoria Government Gazette ( Special Gazette S574-24) dated 28/10/2024.
The declaration made on 28/10/2024 takes effect from 1/11/2024 to 30/06/2025 inclusive specifies areas of State Forest which have been declared public safety zones for the purpose of the maintenance of public safety and the safe management of storm debris management activities.
The declaration specifies the period for which the areas have been declared public safety zones; the times or periods during which access is restricted or prohibited; restrictions or conditions (if any) applying to the public safety zones; and persons or classes of persons exempt from their operation.
A copy of the declaration, and maps showing the location of the public safety zones, may be inspected at:
1. Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action offices at Ballarat, Bendigo and 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002
2. Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action web site: www.ffm.vic.gov.au/permits-and-regulations/closures-of-parks-and-forests
JASON HELLYER Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Grampians Region as delegate of the Secretary to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action www.deeca.vic.gov.au
Kyle’s Rant
The cruise so far…
We picked up the ship in Los Angeles on November 7 for a 17-night voyage, down the west coast of south America through the Panama Canal and eventually onto Florida - where there is a bit of concern about a hurricane visiting the port at the same time we dock.
Anyway, we have just left Antigua and find ourselves at the half way point. And to steal a line from Good Morning America “it is hot, dam hot, hot and wet, which is okay if you're with the ladies but not so good if you're in the jungle.” And this is their autumn, and according to the locals summer is “hell”.
The food halls onboard, particularly the buffets are full of huge Americans, an older mob, mainly an eat-in crowd. But you can’t let the copious consumption of canapes fool you, although half of them are electric chair bound, as it turns out they can move fast. Even faster if they are on their feet, as two couples from either side of the Trump camp found out. There was a bit of lip to one another followed by a bit of biffo, and then the wives joined across the buffet. Their cruise ended the next day with an unceremonious departure from the boat, after being locked up, while everyone else went onto their shore excursions.
One thing that has left me gob smacked and with a feeling of throwing my hands up in the air in terms of climate change is the pollution. This seems to be due to the rich getting richer and the poor getting the picture. Thanks Midnight Oil. Most of these countries however seem to be rich in resources with oil, jade, silver and coal to name a few, being hauled out of the earth. Where are the royalties going?
Then there was an information session on the ship, just asking the usual questions like how many eggs do you need onboard and what happens to the food we don’t eat. All I suppose in an effort to justify the never ending whirring of the turnstiles at the buffet. But Donna piped up and asked a beauty with the 20-minute answer from a senior officer flooring me. She asked “what happened during Covid?”
So they had left Sydney in early March with a full complement of passengers aboard. They got word that the world was starting to shut down and tried to re-enter Sydney with their mainly Australian passengers to no avail. So, they bounced up and down the Pacific eventually tying up in Hawaii. The company chartered planes for the passengers and then took off for Miami where they sat for months. By this time, they were onboard distancing with the crew maintaining the two-metre rule wearing masks 24/7. All but a couple of decks had been closed to preserve power and all the bars, restaurants and meeting rooms were covered with sheets.
Eventually in October, 2020 the Norwegian Jewel, which we currently call home, was ushered to a private island in the Caribbean where she was pressed into action as a quarantine ship. Most of the crew went home via other ships leaving a skeleton crew of 98 keeping things going for two years while some of their family members died back home.
This has got me thinking about the bad old days of Covid and how there has never actually been an end, it just kind of drifted away. It has not exactly been like the celebrations around the end of WWII and we have no way to mark the event, and process our feelings. Long lockdown days that drove us all spare and tore families apart.
Extra-long rant over…
Local Lines
The Flicking Half-light
It sits there – headless. The building excitement makes me pace quickens my breath I can almost taste the psychotic fear that always follows the final touch. I go to bed leave it there waiting two more days and sleepless nights my thoughts perusing the garish prickling tights and stripes I’ll force it to wear my mind circling its ankles checking the thick black blanket Frankenstein sutures from skin to shoe skin to glove skin to collar this evening by the fire the neck to a stake. Now the head but not the face - not yet.
Local Lines features poetry by locals about local and any other matters. Please submit poems to Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com
I gather its features in a dish. Take a deep breathstitch-hitch a sardonic smile. Ah, the nose the nose how to cripple the nose? I hold its eyes against the skin of my palm in the back of my throat the fear giggles… a little hysteria escapes like a laboratory beaker-bubble bursting. I’m so close my eyes cruise half-shut with satisfaction. Now the needle slips through from socket to sight socket to sight circles again. Its eyes dance watching me in the fire’s half-light! The last stitch – I must knot the last stitch then plunge the stake into the cornfield and leave the crows to deal with it!
- Jan Price
Jan lives in Ballarat and her poetry continues to be published in Australia, the United States and England. Her art and photos occasionally appear on literary covers.
Pick me, pick me!
G’day!
I’m a gentle soul
and
when given the
I love to run, play and I don’t mind a cuddle when sitting on a nice warm lap either. Come and meet me here at the MAAW shelter.
Phone: 5472 5277.
Microchip No: 978142000038866
(Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie & Curly - we picked them. And proudly supported by Daylesford's petstock - where pets are family.)
Just sayin’...
By Donna Kelly
I am sitting in an information centre in Puerto Rico - trying to finish The Local - after finding the promised high speed internet on our cruise is not so high speed.
You might think it is not a bad place to be but it is hot, really hot and humid, and a pretty poor country. At least the internet works.
The info centre has a nice lounge suite, a round table with four chairs, some banner signs and two people sitting under aircon which is set at 23 and struggling to keep the temperature down. The big swinging glass door is not quite built right and every time someone comes in it sounds like it is breaking. Outside people perch on concrete steps, with colourful flags trying to wave in the wet conditions.
I guess I am not Hepburn Shire Toto.
But the internet is whirring away and I have managed to download the photo of Jack and various other images. The download is not really the big problem, it's when we finally finish and we need to upload this big ol' edition of The Local.
I just asked Kyle how long the ship is in port and he answered: "Until we get The Local up." Hmmm.
Now we couldn't get our regular sub-editors involved, Nick and Lindsay, so I have done my best to edit, but I am sure there are a few typos. If you find them please don't tell me. It's a need to know basis and I really don't need to know.
Last edition, after all our work, I had an email saying I had chosen a European/ Asian crow as an image for a funny letter about some breakfast cereal. They said I should build up an Australian bird catalogue. Sadly I don't know my birds and my free web photos come from a site that mainly sources from Americans, Europeans and Asians. Not so much Australian content. Anyway, I will check from now on.
The cruise has been interesting. Long, but fun, although sadly we have lost two of our people so far. As in they died. I guess people die on land and with the age and, let's be honest, some of the health issues of the passengers, there has to be a few who don't make it.
There was also that brawl that Kyle has already mentioned over there on the left. It wasn't actually in the buffet but a high end restaurant. Apparently one bloke stood up and said "Make America Great Again" and another bloke punched him in the face. Then the wives got involved and it was on. The blokes went to ship jail and the wives were contained to their staterooms - and all four were escorted off the following morning. I wonder if they get a refund.
Talking of America, there is a great piece by Jeff Glorfeld on the back page about the election results over there. And if you are over that you can read where you can listen to his radio show, The Down Under Hour. All good fun.
Anyway, I think I better get going now. Time for a beer. It is 12 o'clock somewhere - and it is actually just 12 in Puerto Rico. I wonder if they have chardy?
So see you when we return in a week or so. Another column about travel perhaps. Did you know you need an electronic form so you can waiver needing a visa for the US? Neither did we until we tried to check in at the airport. Always something to learn. Just sayin'...
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W RD CROSS
Here is the crossword solution for Edition 317. How did you go?
All words in the crossword appear somewhere in the same edition of The Local.
Markets...
Every Sunday - Daylesford Sunday Market
First Saturday - Daylesford Farmers Market, Trentham Neighbourhood Centre Makers Market, Woodend Farmers Market, Woodend Lions Market
First Sunday - Castlemaine Artists’ Market
Second Saturday - Trentham Community Group Market, Kyneton Farmers Market, Ballan Farmers Market, Kyneton Rotary Community Market
Second Sunday - Maldon Market, Clunes Farmers & Makers Market
Third Saturday - Trentham Farmers and Makers Market, Glenlyon Farmers Market, Leonards Hill Market, Creswick Market
Third Sunday - Talbot Farmers Market, Malmsbury Farmers Market
Fourth Sunday - Trentham Station Sunday Market, Buninyong Village Market
Business Directory - Buy Local
The people have spoken and said 'yeah, nah'
From California, Jeff Glorfeld pops his head up above the parapet and surveys the wreckage.
Blame-storming
Anyone who has worked in a corporate setting has experienced the phenomenon known as blame-storming, the action that always occurs after an organisation has experienced a colossal screw-up.
Under the guise of figuring out what went wrong and why, the most important task is to decide who's to blame.
The US presidential election is over and the Democratic Party has had its collective ass - or arse, if you prefer - handed to it. Thus far we have seen pundits blame Kamala Harris for a multitude of mistakes, including not distancing herself sufficiently from Joe Biden.
The Guardian published a story citing a "masculinity researcher" (is that even a real job?) who said Harris lost because she failed to impress young men. Several commentators blamed the outcome on the racism and misogyny inherent in US society.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent darling of the liberal Left, blames the entire Democratic Party, which he says has abandoned the values and needs of working-class people.
These are all fair criticisms. But looking beyond the all-important assigning of blame, the choice of Donald Trump to be the next US president reveals some fundamental facts: most voters in this country have turned their backs on principles such as the rule of law, the separation of church and state (Christian nationalism is now firmly entrenched), the equality of all people (white men to the front) and no longer believe honour and integrity matter.
The US system is often called an experiment: a democracy. It is weighted down by checks and balances, making it slow to produce action but hopefully allowing it opportunities to be fair and deliberative.
To all these attributes, US voters have said, yeah, nah, no thanks, not any more.
Sane-washing
This campaign cycle saw a couple of new terms emerge in political commentary. One is "sanewashing". We started seeing it more often in the closing months of the presidential campaign, as the deterioration of Donald Trump's mental abilities became increasingly obvious.
Writer Jeff Tiedrich explained it in his Substack column as "the cleaningup of Donny’s incomprehensible blitherings, to hide his obvious cognitive disintegration and make him sound coherent".
Because of this sanewashing, most voters never saw the 78-year-old Hitler fanboy at his demented worst.
Wishcasting
Now that the sanewashing of Trump has had the desired effect, the newest media practice to emerge is called "wishcasting", sort of magical forecasting. How that works is, commentators ignore the Nazi stuff, the criminal convictions, the cognitive decline, the overt sexism and racism, the dictator-on-day-one remarks, the "suckers and losers" sneers, the promise of mass deportations and concentration camps, and the punishing of his rivals and critics.
Instead, they predict - wishcast - that, as opposed to hateful, vengeful candidate Trump, a new Trump will appear and be reasonable, dignified and rational - none of which he has ever been at any time in his life.
Upfront
I'm not hiding anything here; my family contributed a couple hundred dollars to the Democratic cause and in return received a Harris-Walz sign, which we put up in our front yard, clearly visible from the street. Over the next few weeks I joked (?) to friends that, happily, there were still no bullet holes in the sign.
Also, in honour of my dad, who was a proud veteran and rusted-on Democrat, we hung his US flag off the front of the house, which we never do. Americans display the flag like a fetish - it’s abso-bloody-lutely everywhere and I think it most often denotes false patriotism and cheap virtue signaling. But I wanted to send the message, combined with the Harris-Walz sign, that we vote Democrat and respect the country's core values.
Time to take the tinsel down
After the election disaster, the next morning I went out and removed the Harris-Walz sign. Why? Because we lost, the election was over. But, after I thought about it a bit more, I realised that I felt fear that leaving the sign there might make my home a target for MAGA people, who, emboldened by their victory and, Trump-like, would be seeking to punish those who opposed them. I’ve also left my dad’s flag up, as a sign that we’re good Americans too.
Daring liars
The distinguished American journalist H.L Mencken, whose career stretched from 1900 into the 1940s, is quoted as saying, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people", which is a paraphrase of the actual quote: "No one in this world, so far as I know - and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me - has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby."
He also said: "The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth."
How has Trump managed to prevail? He has demonstrated time and again that he lacks compassion and empathy, that he is wholly motivated by personal gain and greed, and cares nothing for concepts such as the common good. He will do and say anything, as long as it benefits him. Powerful forces came together to put him into power. We can only guess at what happens next.
Jeff Glorfeld and his wife Carol left Wheatsheaf for the US some years back. They have survived wildfires, floods, Covid and one Trump presidency so far. They are not so sure if they can survive two... Jeff was a former editor with The Age and also wrote for The Local from time to time.
Jeff now has a weekly radio show, The Down Under Hour, which is broadcast every Wednesday at 1pm in California, on radio KKRN 88.5FM. The show can be live-streamed at KKRN.org. In Victoria that’s 7am Thursday. Several programs have been archived on the website, so check that out too.
