Takes for granted

www.gippslandtimes.com.au

High honour for Sale resident

Stefan Bradley

THE shock of being nominated for Australian of the Year for Victoria has still not subsided for Sale resident Joey Blake, but she does not plan on slowing down anytime soon, as she balances family and work commitments with her dedication to the Animal Rescue Cooperative (ARC). Ms Blake, who is the ARC Sale Hub coordinator, says she was speechless when she found out she was nominated. “I was shocked. I’m still shocked. Shaking the Governor’s hand, that’s a big thing to do. I didn’t even think about winning, I was just shocked that I was nominated,” she said. The 2023 Victorian Australian of the Year recipients were announced on November 8 at a ceremony at Government House in Melbourne. From a selection of 16 nominees, four Victorians were named as the state-based recipients of the 2023 Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year, Local Hero of the Year and Senior Australian of the Year awards. “I added another once in a lifetime event to my bucket list. It came down to the last four … for Victorian Local Hero,” Ms Blake said. “The three of us were pipped at the post by another amazing human, and I couldn’t be happier for her. What a journey and humbling life experience.” Belinda Young, founder of the Mums of the Hills Facebook group in 2015, became 2023’s Victorian Local Hero of the Year. Ms Blake said she was completely overwhelmed by the enormity of the whole experience. “Being a country girl, I was blown away by just being in the big smoke - I haven’t ventured out that way for at least five years - let alone what was about to follow,” she said. “While I was sitting on my gold chair waiting for

Animal Rescue Cooperative Sale Hub coordinator Joey Blake has been nominated for Australian of the Year for Victoria. Photo: Stefan Bradley

the time to stand up and collect my certificate of community achievement, I rehashed the last three years of what life as a volunteer had been like.” As someone who rescued animals in Gippsland during the Black Summer bushfires and the floods, as well as delivering food to pets of people in isolation during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Ms Blake has plenty to be proud of. The Animal Rescue Cooperative is a registered charity, founded in 2019, in response to the bushfires in East Gippsland and surrounding areas. The ARC’s mission is to save animals by providing support programs and supply donations helping rescuers, peak bodies, and aligned industry partners to get help where it is needed. “It was a collaboration of volunteers here to start with, but it’s gone across Australia now,” Ms Blake said. “I was the only one here in Gippsland, running all of Victoria, but they’ve set a hub up in Melbourne now to help me out. From there, it’s just continuing to grow and grow. “Every time there is a mass weather event or there are issues with animals and rescue, we help out with donated food. “Due to family living in Lismore, I was able to establish an instant support hub for vets and volunteers to obtain supplies from, from there the other states, ARC team were able to deliver and coordinate supplies to and from that point. Sale ARC hub also continually supplied donations of animal support to the Kingdom of Tonga, before, during, and post the tragic Tongan volcano and tsunami. “This is made possible by collaboration with exdefence friends. From being in the army together, we had formed a strong bond that we now utilise to support the Kingdom of Tonga and it’s people and animals,” Ms Blake said. ARC works with Ramahyuck and GEGAC (Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-Operative), and supports mental health clients and domestic violence victims with their animals. “Some clients love their animals more than themselves or their families. They provide comfort for those who have suffered trauma,” Ms Blake said. “They spend money for pet food before rent or their own food.” With clients and animals everywhere needing support, ARC is calling for more volunteers, sponsors and donations. “My main focus is to build community awareness towards ARC being a local charity, and support Victorian and Gippsland communities going through hardship; obtain local sponsorships and support from larger organisations; and outreach to mental health clients and those affected by domestic and family violence,” Ms Blake said. “We’re looking for donations such as food, toys, collars, leads, coats and medical supplies to help us rescue animals across the state. For both humans and animals, we’d love to get donations of toiletries and personal hygiene. Or Christmas gifts for animals. “If you want to volunteer we have plenty of jobs ... unloading B-doubles carrying pallets of donated support - that never stops. “We have a huge warehouse continually being emptied and restocked, and our volunteers help and support our clients and their family and friends.” To get involved, email joey@arcsupport.org.au or go to arcsupport.org.au

Give me one good Reason how this could happen

The Reason family was shocked by an unexpected midnight visitor, none other than a brushtail possum.

Photo: Contributed Zoe Askew

CAN you say there has been a possum clinging to your hallway doorframe, camouflaged by the shadows of the night? Well, Air Force veterans Steve and Louise Reason can. Ants, mozzies, spiders, mice and mothers-in-law are on the list of common unwanted house guests, a choir at the best of times but relatively easy to rid. A few sprays of Mortein, a crumb of cheese in a trap, pretending like you’re not home, should generally do the trick, but ridding a brushtail possum from your home, well that takes a bit more consideration. On Monday, November 14, Mr Reason made his usual nightly round, checking all the doors were closed and locked before retiring and joining his wife in bed. As Mr Reason checked the final door, a large sliding glass door opening to their garden, he pulled it open just wide enough for the Reasons’ cat to dart through, disappearing into the darkness of their yard. “I left the back door open so the cat could get back in,” Mr Reason said, “I fell asleep waiting.” As night met morning and Monday became Tuesday, Lousie Reason woke to the ardent highpitched barking of their three Shetland sheepdogs. Thinking the dogs needed to go to the bathroom, Mrs Reason ripped off the doona, leaving the warm comfort of her bed and headed down the hall. “All of a sudden, the dogs just stopped barking,” Mrs Reason said. “I looked up and saw this shadow in the doorway; immediately, I thought, ‘Oh my God, someone’s in

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the house, someone is in the house’.” Mrs Reason moved further down the hallway, closer to the mysterious shadow, moonlight revealing that this intruder was, in fact, not a person, but rather a large brushtail possum. The dogs began to stir as Mrs Reason examined the unexpected house guest. After careful consideration, she decided she was too short to try and remove the mammal on her own, returning to the bedroom to wake her six-foot two-inch husband. “I didn’t even notice it; I wasn’t awake yet and walked right passed it,” Mr Reason exclaimed. “Once I woke up properly, it was definitely a shock to see a possum in the house.” Mr Reason, who now volunteers as a kennel attendant at Animal Aid in Fulham and is an instructor with the East Gippsland Dog Obedience Club in Sale, made his action plan: grab a doona, grab the possum, go back to bed. The possum, who had wandered from the back door, through the dining room, through the kitchen and climbed the wall into the crevasse of the hallway doorframe, clung for dear life as Mr Reason wrapped the doona around the mammal and pulled the possum tight against his chest. “He was really gripping the doorframe,” Mr Reason said. “I held it tightly against my chest so it couldn’t bite or scratch me, went outside and placed it down. “As soon as I put the possum down, it bolted down the road.” Animal guests are a regular occurrence in the Reason house; they currently have three dogs and one cat of their own. Throughout the years, they have welcomed dogs, ducks, rabbits, lizards; you name it, they’ve probably had it, and after this recent midnight surprise, they can confidently add possum to the list.