Mail - Mt Evelyn Star Mail - 13th December 2022

Mount Evelyn

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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Rotary donate presents to children in need

Mt Evelyn Christmas trail makes its return

Primary students display their artistic talents

Swimming lessons crucial for kids summer safety

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A rally of force

By Mikayla van Loon

Lilydale Youth Hub staff, members of the public and young people gather on the grass outside the Hub to rally against the closure of the service.

Pictures: MIKAYLA VAN LOON

Raising their voices, led by Youth Advisory Group member Candice, young people marched in solidarity through the streets of Lilydale.

As a partnering body with Cire, Anchor, Oonah and Eastern Community Legal, as well as headspace, Emma said the Hub has become an instrumental part of the region’s response to mental health support services.

“We take the pressure off of a lot of the other systems, the hospital system. We provide an early intervention and prevention service where you can walk in and get immediate help.

Where else can you get that kind of support?”

The Hub is asking for just $600,000 to keep

the Hub open until May next year when the Federal government, via commissioning funding body Eastern Melbourne PHN, completes an evaluation of the service and its outreach results.

“Our program is being evaluated for five months where we’re not open and not running. How can they have an accurate evaluation when we’re not here?” Emma said.

“All we need is $600,000. That’s all we’re asking for. So many young people have benefited

and this program is just crucial, young lives matter. Early Intervention matters. It works, we know this program works, we know we have incredible outcomes.”

The heart wrenching truth of the closure was quite emotional for Inspiro CEO Sue Sestan who said “we’ve done everything we can.”

“When you see people interacting, so much effort went into it, together. It’s not easy to do this stuff and it’s going to go to waste,” she said.

Holding out hope the evaluation will be positive, Sue said however, scientific evaluation doesn’t share the human impact and “all these kids are testimony. They’re the case studies.”

“Even if after the evaluation, something may surface then because we’re not going to give up on the model, the model is amazing.

People may not be listening but we’ll keep advocating and at least I know this actually makes a difference.”

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Happy Holidays from the team at Cire

On behalf of all of us at Cire, thank you for your support this year.

We wish you an incredible festive season and look forward to seeing you in 2023!

All the best from our team.

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With the closure of the Lilydale Youth Hub pending at the end of this year, young people and adult allies gathered to rally and march against the ceasing of funding for the service in 2023.

Organised by members of the Yarra Ranges Council Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and young people from the Hub, people came out in numbers to support the march on Saturday 10 December.

“Today, we gather outside the front of the Lilydale Youth Hub for a reason, to raise our voices for youth mental health support and to stand against this closure,” YAG member and rally organiser Candice said.

While the Hub itself has helped hundreds of young people themselves, with thousands of hours of support services given, Candice said “by extension, the Hub has helped hundreds of friends, partners, parents and carers.”

“The loss of the Lilydale Youth Hub will lead to the forced abandonment of hundreds of young people who access these services,” she said.

“It will lead to the loss of a vital safe space that young people have used to escape to when nowhere else has felt quite like home. It will lead to referral to other services with long waiting lists delaying much needed support.”

Lilydale Youth Hub staff member Emma said if you were to fill a football oval with the number of young people, their parents, carers and friends, that’s how many people the Hub has been able to support in just three years.

“The Yarra Ranges has the highest amount of youth mental health issues in the region, the highest amount and we have the least services available,” she said.

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IN BRIEF Montrose crash leads to death A 59-year-old has died in hospital following a collision in Montrose last month.

It is believed a white four-wheel drive utility and motorcycle collided at the intersection of Mt Dandenong Tourist Road and Leith Road Montrose, about 10pm on 24 November. The driver of the utility a 23-year-old male, from Ferntree Gully, did not receive any injuries.

The rider of the motorcycle, a 59-year-old male from Kalorama, suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital where he died on 29 November. The exact circumstances surrounding the collision are yet to be determined and Detectives from the Major Collision Unit are investigating.

Beresford Road works Youth Hub staff member Emma spoke of the impact the team has had for young people in the Yarra Ranges.

People of all ages came out in support of the Lilydale Youth Hub.

Raising their voice From page 1 For YAG member and as someone who used the Hub during a difficult time in her life, Charley said “I’m honestly more than frustrated.”

“In my own experience, the Hub ensured I was able to focus back on my university studies when I’d almost given up,” she said.

Having been turned away from other support services which were already overwhelmed, Charley said the Hub took her on in October to help guide her in balancing her university and personal life.

“It was only the Hub who decided to help 22-year-old me who struggled with boundary setting, understanding study strategies and allowing me to finally receive general support when things in my personal life weren’t always great.”

While Charley said her struggles were low risk, there are others who use the Hub who are not in the same category and the thought of this service closing may be terrifying or triggering for them.

“There are some who, I would say, are only alive because of the Hub today.

“For me, I am 23-years-old and with the Hub closing I will survive. I won’t enjoy it but I’ll be OK.” Urging anyone and everyone to raise their voice and encouraging people to speak with their MPs or contact government ministers, Charley said everything will help get the message across.

“All we need is someone who can fund the Hub. Even if for any reason this is within your means and you’re thinking about it, please don’t remain silent.”

Casey MP Aaron Violi attended the rally and march on Saturday and said it was a great sign of youth activism and democracy.

“It’s important I’m here as the local representative listening and supporting these young people. This is a youth generated rally because they’re so passionate about the Youth Hub,” he said.

“It’s just really disappointing the government has refused to meet with the Youth Hub, refused to commit $600,000 to finish the evaluation, so I’m doing everything I can to make sure these young people have their voice heard.”

Recently re-elected Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence was also in attendance and said to see the

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Men to be sentenced to murder Young people raised their voices, shouting chants all through the streets of Lilydale.

Yarra Ranges Council Youth Advisory Group members and organisers of the rally and march, Candice and Charley, spoke about the importance of the Youth Hub.

Candice led the chants passionately drawing attention from cars and passersby, sharing the message of ‘save the Hub’.

Pictures: MIKAYLA VAN LOON

turnout of people in support of this service just shows how valued it is.

“So many young people, teenagers and also their parents have told me how important this hub is, that young people feel welcome, they feel safe, included,” she said.

“Early preventative mental health care is so vital and if we lose this hub in our community, the Yarra Ranges community will have nothing…It makes no sense to lose this hub. I’ll keep fighting every step of the way.”

Sue said she was “incredibly proud” of all the young people who have raised their voice and been championing the funding of the Hub for their continued benefit.

“All we did was give them a space where they felt safe, where they felt supported and where they felt heard…and this is what we actually aimed as part of that model. The initial tender was about youth voice being present in the model. Today (10 Dec), it was demonstrated,” she said.

The Lilydale Youth Hub staff have found other positions within the local area to hopefully continue benefiting young people. The Hub space on Clarke Street will stand empty.

A petition has been started by YAG. To sign, go to www.change.org/p/save-the-lilydaleyouth-hub

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Two men will be sentenced for the murder of Melbourne grocer Paul Virgona after a jury found Aaron Ong guilty of the crime.

It can now also be revealed that Josh Rider pleaded guilty to murder days before the trial was due to begin.

Mr Virgona was on his way to a Melbourne market to sort his daily order of fruit and veg when he was shot and killed on the Eastlink freeway just after 2am on November 9 2019.

Eleven rounds from a semi-automatic handgun were fired into the driver’s side of his van, with seven striking the 46-year-old.

Ong and Rider watched Mr Virgona’s Croydon home for two hours prior to the shooting.

It’s not clear which of the men was driving the stolen car the shots were fired from, or who fired the shots.

Ong was convicted on the basis that he and Rider had formed an agreement to kill. Mr Virgona didn’t know the men, had no criminal associations and wasn’t associated with the Mongols outlaw motorcycle club, which Ong and Rider were both linked to.

“There was nothing in Mr Virgona’s background that explained why he was targeted and killed,” prosecutor Mark Gibson KC said during Ong’s trial.

Rider pleaded guilty to murder on November 9 after seeking a sentence indication. Ong’s barrister Mark Gumbleton had claimed his client was not present at the time of the shooting.

With their verdict, jurors rejected that argument. Both men will face a pre-sentence hearing on 1 March next year.

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Beresford Road is set to undergo reconstruction works. It will involve the reconstruction of the stretch of road between Cave Hill Road to Creek Bridge Road beginning Tuesday 3 January and running until later in the month.

Both day and night works will take place throughout the construction period, with access to the businesses that run alongside Beresford Road remaining open.

The schedule of works and road impacts are as follows (subject to weather conditions): 3 January - 8 January 2023 Beresford Rd between Cave Hill Road to Creek Road Bridge) open to Westbound traffic only, with detours in place for Eastbound traffic.

9 January - 15 January 2023 Beresford Rd between Cave Hill Road to Creek Road Bridge) open to Eastbound traffic only, with detours in place for Westbound traffic.

16 January to late January Beresford Rd open in both directions with some road works still in progress.

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Hope to open a new Lions Club

By Mikayla van Loon

Nominees and Award Winners with Yarra Ranges Council Deputy Mayor Sophie Todorov.

Picture: CALLUM LUDWIG

Recognising youth

By Callum Ludwig 2022 has been a big year for youth in the Yarra Ranges, as they got out and made significant community contributions as we emerged from two years of interruptions.

The 15th edition of the Celebrating YOUth awards was held at the Mooroolbark Community Centre on Wednesday 7 December to recognise some of the fine efforts of local young people.

There were 31 nominations in six categories: Resilience, Passionate Advocate, Creative Arts, Young Entrepreneurs, Environmental Sustainability, Community Improvement and special recognition for a local winner of ABC’s TakeOver Melbourne competition.

The Resilience award was first and it went to Burmese refugee Byak Hlei Par Kang. Byak missed a fair portion of her formal education in the time it took for her and her family to make it to Australia, but she knuckled down and the award recognises her academic efforts.

Byak said learning English fluently has been her biggest challenge and she is still learning so that she can speak fluently and confidently with her friends. Byak’s advice to other young people in a tough spot was to never be negatively affected by their surroundings.

The Passionate Advocate award went to Telita Lenore, who was involved in the Victorian Youth Parliament’s push to mandate a Reconciliation Action Plan for all schools in Victoria.

Local schools had taken notice with Mount Lilydale Mercy College having previously enquired how the school can use the information provided in the RAP to address the upcoming compulsory teaching of cultural connection to

the land in science.

Hayden Pierson took out the Creative Arts award for his work with the MISFIT Project, a peer-to-peer initiative with young people in the YarraRanges offering options to be involved in theatre groups, hangouts, writing groups, camps, dungeons and dragons sessions and a glee club. Hayden couldn’t attend in person as he was involved in the MISFIT end-of-year performance but left a powerful video message encouraging adults to get on a similar level as young people and let them speak while listening to hear, rather than respond.

The Young Entrepreneurs Award was presented to Blaise, Oskar and Geordie from OBG Productions, who started up their video production company over the last two years to fill a gap in local talent. They have exceeded their customer expectations while also working and meeting a lot of cool different people. The three boys encouraged any young person with a passion to follow it, bring their skills together with others and bring it to life, and they wantto see the perception that young people are lazy and unmotivated change.

Candice Farrugia-Roberts was the winner of the Environmental Sustainability award, as she studies botany and is making the effort to be a ‘litter fairy who endeavours to keep rubbish off our streets and out of the environment, hosting clothes swaps and with plans for an organised rubbish pick up event. Candice said she has learnt the power of asking, by just posing the question or idea to someone often enough to get them on board and involved.

She wants to see the perception changed that young people can’t be entrusted with power

and that she enjoys the energy of a community coming together.

The lead volunteers of the Rural rainbows group, Harry, Teddy, Jessy, Kirsten and Razz were honoured with the Community Improvement award for creating a safe space among the local LGBTQIA+. Harry was in attendance to accept the award and said he has enjoyed hanging out with the people who have joined the group and connecting with them on the base level of just having a conversation. Harry said the group has been very popular and he encourages anyone with a similar idea for safe space to do so, and wants to change the perception that young people are apathetic.

Klarissa is boarding at the Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville, leaving her friends and family in the Tiwi Islands to learn in the Yarra Ranges. Klarissa shared her story for the ABC’s Takeover Melbourne and told of her desire to keep culture strong, something which she does by speaking three Indigenous languages and her artwork. Klarissa said she enjoys camping on country and watching the stars at night, remembering the stories her grandma told her. This year, Klarissa won first prize for her get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! poster and got to paint the boots of Hawthorn AFL players for the Indigenous Round.

Representatives of the Yarra Ranges Youth Advisory Group, Yarra Ranges Youth ambassadors and FreeZa committee members attended the event.

The entire event was organised and run by the Celebrating YOUth committee and all award winners received a certificate, a $200 gift voucher and a framed piece of artwork from Indigenous artist Billy-Jay O’Toole.

Meet the local police with Chips and Chat

By Mikayla van Loon Before the pandemic it wasn’t uncommon for Victoria Police members to host Coffee with a Cop events and since coming out of lockdown, any way of getting back out into the community has been a key focus.

That’s why on Thursday 8 December Yarra Ranges Proactive Policing Unit Leading Senior Constable Linda Hancock and Senior Constable Luke Egginton joined the Lions Club for a new initiative called Chips and Chat.

Setting up at Lilydale Village near Gami’s, the partnership between police, Lions volunteers and centre management company JLL, brought an opportunity for members of the public to mingle with community groups while enjoying some hot chips free of charge.

“Chips with a cop is a new thing because there’s no cafe there. So we’re doing SafePL8’s with Lions and we’re just going to meet there and engage with anyone who wants to have a chat,” Leading S/C Hancock told Star Mail prior to the event.

While Leading S/C Hancock said there had been a few events like coffee with a cop since the pandemic lockdowns ended, nothing had really been advertised like Chips and Chat.

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Hoping to help change the perception of authoritative policing which had to happen during the pandemic lockdowns, the social events invite the community to see police as people first. “People saw the police as very authoritative during Covid. So we want to present that we’re open for a chat and be a friendly face…and come back out into the community because it was quite them and us for a while.

That’s what it felt like. It felt like that for us too.”

Chips and Chat was also about encouraging people to re-enter the community, particularly by combining with the Lions Club of Mooroolbark Croydon to show what people can take part in. Covid is still impacting a lot of people.

There’s still a lot of concern about coming back out into the community and what they can do and there’s a reluctance to come back out.

“Volunteering is low. We’re seeing people not really engaging with activities.”

As a SafePL8 event, Lions Club volunteers were there to help install anti-theft screws on number plates to anyone who wanted that service.

“Lions is a service club so we try to do what we can when we can,” Lions volunteer Wendy Rowles said.

Lions Club volunteers Andrew Wale and Wendy Rowles with Lilydale Proactive Policing Unit Senior Constable Luke Egginton at Chips and Chat on Thursday 8 December.

Picture: MIKAYLA VAN LOON

Lions is looking to set up a club in Lilydale to help fill a need and provide for the community come 2023 and beyond.

Vice District Governor Lyn Perera said while there used to be a Lions Club in Lilydale a number of years ago a gap has now presented itself.

“We have Croydon Mooroolbark and then we don’t have anything up until Healesville. So we have a bit of a gap there where they’re not being serviced by the type of club we offer,” she said.

“There’s also probably an economic need for some areas and it gives the opportunity to help the community and people out there want to do things with the community.”

Also looking ahead 18 months environmentally, Ms Perera said it seems like the right time to begin setting up a club for that purpose given Lions is internationally and Australian backed.

“After these floods and everything are over, we are concerned that in the next 18 months, we might have fires with the amount of undergrowth around.

“So we have access through our international body to get grants and generally what happens is we get an immediate grant for an emergency, so that we can get in there and provide food for people who are without a home and in emergency centres.

“Then we can also apply for recovery grants. So it gives us the opportunity to help rebuild some of the areas. We’re not talking about infrastructure but things like helping a kindergarten get their books back or their tables and chairs back.”

Trying to raise the profile of Lions within the Lilydale community, volunteers Pat Mills, Jim Reynolds and Sylvia Nelsson have been helping man a Lions Christmas Cake stall at Lilydale Village where the sales will go towards funding regular activities and programs.

On a day to day basis, volunteers run op shops, help people in their garden if they are unable, organise diabetes camps for young people with type one diabetes and sponsor disadvantaged students to go to the Lions’ Licola Wilderness Village camp multiple times a year.

Lions was first established in Australia 75 years ago and has grown dramatically in size and impact with over 1200 clubs and 25,000 members now giving back through an array of communitybased programs and initiatives.

Ms Perera said a community engagement meeting will be happening in February to gauge interest from the local area and to provide information on what a Lions Lilydale would look like.

Lions Club volunteers Pat Mills and Sylvia Nelsson were helping sell Christmas cakes on Thursday 8 December.

Picture: MIKAYLA VAN LOON mailcommunity.com.au

NEWS

Advocating to Canberra

By Tyler Wright

Yarra Ranges Council Mayor Councillor Jim Child (left) and Cardinia Shire Council Mayor Councillor Tammy Radford (right) visited Canberra last week to advocate for a $300 million commitment from the Federal Government for major road projects throughout the municipalities. commitments by the end of the year,” Mr Millard said.

“We will inform the community of the result, including residents on roads currently flagged for future construction.”

Mayor Radford said the funding is vital to support community and council to seal hundreds of kilometres of roads.

“We’re continuing to advocate strongly for funding towards the entirety of this program.

On behalf of our communities, we’d be extremely disappointed should federal funding not be available for the entirety of this vitally important road safety program,” she said.

Both councils are awaiting an official response from the responsible Minister.

A spokesperson for the Minister for Infra-

Hip pocket pain from rise

By Parker McKenzie The Reserve Bank of Australia has raised interest rates for the final time in 2022 by .25 basis points to 3.10 per cent, as Australians continue to find making ends meet more difficult.

After a meeting by the RBA board on Tuesday 6 December, Governor Phillip Lowe said the rate of inflation in Australia is too high.

“A further increase in inflation is expected over the months ahead, with inflation forecast to peak at around 8 per cent over the year to the December quarter,” he said.

“Inflation is then expected to decline next year due to the ongoing resolution of global supply-side problems, recent declines in some commodity prices and slower growth in demand.”

Governor Lowe also said the unemployment rate declining to 3.4 per cent in October was the lowest rate since 1974. The cash rate is at its highest since November 2022.

The cash rate represents the interest rate on unsecured overnight loans between banks and serves as the benchmark rate for mortgages, savings accounts and exchange rates. Inflation is the increase in the cost of goods and services bought by households.

The continuous rise in the cost of maintaining a mortgage over the past year has contributed to a cost of living crisis in Australia, with 44 per cent of 1054 people who responded to a Finder survey saying they are running out of money before payday.

Head of consumer research at finder Graham Cooke said the rise in mortgage rates has been a “huge amount of extra money for mortgage holders to fork out.”

“The current series of rake hikes has added almost $11,000 to the annual cost of a $500,000 mortgage,” he said.

“Renters are also doing it tough; vacancy levels are at record lows and the latest Rental Affordability Index shows all capital cities saw a drop in affordability in this year.”

On Monday 28 November, Governor Lowe apologised “if people listened to what mailcommunity.com.au

structure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government told the Star Mail the October budget honoured the Albanese Government’s election commitments, and sought to deliver infrastructure projects in a sustainable way.

“The current economic conditions which are affecting the delivery of infrastructure investments, and increasing pressure on the Commonwealth Budget, so existing infrastructure projects have been reviewed, and in some cases, reduced or discontinued,” the spokesperson said.

“This includes the Sealing Roads projects in the Dandenong Ranges for the Yarra Ranges and Cardinia Shire councils, where future projects have been discontinued. A number of projects have already been delivered and

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Australians are feeling the pinch of interest rate rises and inflation.

Picture: ON FILE we said and on what we’d said and now regret what they have done” in regards to his guidance in February 2021 that interest rates wouldn’t increase the cash rate until 2024.

“If I can just take you back to the situation we were facing in 2020 and 2021, the country was in a dire situation. At the Reserve Bank we wanted to do everything we could to help the country get through that,” he said.

“My language was always caveated. I thought it was clear, from the central bank kind of perspective, but the community didn’t think it was clear. They thought it was clear that we weren’t raising rates till 2024.

That’s a failure on our part.”

According to the OECD’s Economic Outlook report for November, elevated inflation has eroded Australian households’ purchasing power.

“The recovery from the pandemic continued in the second quarter of 2022, with growth driven by strong domestic and export demand. High-frequency indicators suggest that household consumption has slowed somewhat in recent months,” it said.

“The labour market has tightened considerably, with the unemployment rate remaining at 3.5 per cent in September, a historically low level. Labour shortages are rife, with employment and participation rates near all-time highs.”

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Yarra Ranges Council and Cardinia Shire Council are awaiting confirmation on planned major road projects in the municipalities will be able to fully continue, after the federal government confirmed funding cuts to the ‘Sealing the Hills’ and ‘Roads for the Community’ programs in the October budget.

The programs were due to run until 2029 after $300 million of funding was announced in 2019 to seal 187 kilometres of unsealed roads in the Yarra Ranges and 110 kilometres of unsealed roads in Cardinia Shire.

The Star Mail understands Yarra Ranges Council received approval for funding of $98,577,380 in 2021 to help deliver the first six years of the Roads for the Community program.

Yarra Ranges Council Mayor Jim Child and Cardinia Shire Council Mayor Tammy Radford went to Canberra last week to meet with the federal government about their commitment to fund the remaining unsealed roads projects.

Yarra Ranges Council Director of Environment and Infrastructure, Bill Millard, said council is awaiting advice to see what extent of funding will be honoured.

“However, we are expecting significant cuts to funding which will impact community members right across Yarra Ranges,” Mr Millard said.

According to Mr Millard, the Roads for Community Program has delivered significant road construction projects, with associated drainage, that otherwise may not have been possible.

Feedback from residents - particularly those on constructed roads - has also been “very positive,” he said.

“We are extremely disappointed that the program will not be completed in full, but we are expecting more information on funding

we will continue to work with both councils to deliver works that are currently under construction or have tender processes underway to ensure minimal disruption.”

The spokesperson said the federal government is investing in road infrastructure that will support a better connected future for the Dandenong Ranges and surrounding region, including a $1.75 billion investment in the North East Link and $21.55 million in the Princes Highway Intersection Upgrades – Pakenham to Beaconsfield projects, both already underway.

“We are also continuing to roll out the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) program, which is providing funds to all Australian councils to deliver priority local road and community infrastructure projects, supporting jobs and the resilience of local communities,” they said.

Across the first three phases of LRCI, Yarra Ranges Shire Council is receiving around $12.06 million, Cardinia Shire Council nearly $9.15 million, and the City of Greater Dandenong just over $8.15 million.

“To continue this support, the Government has committed an additional $250 million to Phase 4 of the LRCI program, on top of the previously announced $500 million – taking the total commitment to this program to $3.25 billion. Councils will be able to access funding through Phase 4 from 1 July 2023, with projects to be delivered by 30 June 2025.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with all levels of government and local communities to build a better future for all Australians.”

For more information, please visit www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/sealingthehills and https:// www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Development/ Roads-drains-footpath/Road-maintenanceand-construction/Roads-for-Communityprogram

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Spreading festive cheer

By Mikayla van Loon The Rotary Club of Lilydale (RCL) is continuing to spread Christmas joy to children and families in need having organised the collection of over 1000 presents to be donated to local support services.

Bringing together 23 businesses who each received donations from the community of varying presents and gift vouchers, RCL was able to divide the gifts between Anchor, the Proactive Policing Unit (PPU) and OzChild.

Being the second year RCL volunteers Gerry and Anne Van Horick organised the Wishing Tree project, they weren’t sure how people would respond but were left overwhelmed once again.

“Given the economic circumstances we really appreciate this community support and it’s been very generous,” Mr Van Horick said.

Having only intended to give presents and vouchers to Anchor and the PPU, Mr Van Horick said because the community was so kind in donating as much as they did there were left over gifts that needed to go somewhere - so they selected foster care agency OzChild.

For Anchor, these presents will bring light and happiness to the children and teenagers currently living in transitional and social housing or who are in foster care.

“It just makes such a difference. The thought of kids not having gifts at Christmas time it’s just really devastating,” Anchor’s homeless services manager Peter Dinsdale said.

“The impact that it has for the families, particularly for the parents because they feel such, I suppose shame is the word, if they can’t be giving them gifts at Christmas time.”

Mr Dinsdale said these gifts, which have each been categorised by age and likes, will be delivered to over 70 children.

“We also have families that are in hotels at

Rotary volunteers Anne and Gerry Van Horick handed over gift vouchers to Yarra Ranges Proactive Policing Unit Leading Senior Constable Linda Hancock. the moment, and I think we have something like 16 children who are having to live in hotels, so this will also allow them to receive gifts as well,” he said.

Unable to thank RCL enough for their generosity and the individualisation of all the presents to ensure each young person received what they wanted, Mr Dinsdale said it brought a lot of happiness to the Anchor staff.

“It’s just happiness all around and for our workers too, it’s such a great thing to be doing after a really hard year to be bringing some happiness to clients.”

Yarra Ranges Crime Prevention Officer, Leading Senior Constable Linda Hancock said for the cohort of young people she works with, this will mean a lot to them to have something of their own for Christmas. “[These vouchers] are going to go to some of our high schools to the wellbeing nurses for distribution for them to choose which students might need it,” she said.

“And then the presents are going to go to

Anchor’s staff and CEO Heidi Tucker were so grateful to receive gifts from the Rotary Club of Lilydale to help support their clients this year.

Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS

some other unknown groups that don’t get funding around our community centres.”

This partnership between the local Lilydale community, police and different support services Mr Van Horick said was one of the main reasons people donated.

“The feedback we’ve had is that because it’s going to the local community and it’s going to other kids that may not be as well off as they are and even if they’re not all that well off themselves, they know other people are in a worse position,” Mr Van Horick said.

“So they’re grateful they can help out and I think it’s quite heartwarming to see that support.”

Many of the 23 businesses who signed on this year have already agreed to be a part of the initiative again next year.

“It’s a community effort… All the businesses we approached this year who were part of it last year didn’t hesitate and the new ones weren’t that hard to sign up either,” Mr Van Horick said.

“They were all very enthusiastic and we’ve had many who have said count us in again.

Without them we couldn’t do it and they’re the people who drive it within their business.”

Another lovely aspect of the project Mrs Van Horick said was the passing on of the value of generosity to younger children who were then able to put something in the box themselves.

However big or small the contribution, Mr and Mrs Van Horick said everything makes a difference to sharing some joy and cheer at Christmas for these children and young people.

“No matter what the contribution was, because it varies, every single thing makes a difference. You were part of it and every single thing makes a difference, even if there’s only one thing,” Mr Van Horick said “That one present is helping and that child may not have received anything at all so everything makes a difference,” Mrs Van Horick added.

Anchor staff member Adelaide was busy making balloon animals and flowers.

Face painting was a big hit with young and old.

Lilydale CFA crew members were so pleased to bring the fire truck to Anchor’s Christmas party.

Present time was one of excitement and joy.

Lilydale CFA and Santa arrived on the fire truck to hand out lollies to every child.

Anchor hosts a Christmas celebration for local families

By Mikayla van Loon For families living without a home in the Yarra Ranges community, a simple celebration of Christmas hosted by Anchor on Friday 9 December brought a little bit of cheer and happiness.

The event brought together families with children as young as a few months old to teenagers currently living in social or transitional housing.

While every family had a different story, all were grateful for the love, support and generosity shown by Anchor.

With bauble making, letter writing to Santa, a photobooth, face painting, balloon making, present giving and a special visit from Lilydale CFA with a man in a big red suit, smiles were seen on many a face.

Having received donated gifts from the mailcommunity.com.au

Rotary Club of Lilydale on Thursday 8 December, Anchor staff members were able to wrap each gift ready for handing out to the children on Friday.

Homeless services manager Peter Dinsdale said every year Anchor’s staff throws a Christmas celebration for their clients, one of the only homelessness services to do so in the outer east.

“It’s true these days for a lot of families, a lot of will really sacrifice to buy presents but it can be at the cost of paying rent and other things, particularly these days with the cost of living so high and to be able to alleviate that for them and you can see all the kids together and have a party together,” he said.

Anchor is looking to raise $50,000 to help families with essential items particularly coming into Christmas and the new year. To support, go to give.anchor.org.au

Each child received a personalised gift from the Anchor staff, thanks to the donations from Rotary and local businesses.

Pictures: MIKAYLA VAN LOON Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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NEWS

Trail bigger than last year

By Mikayla van Loon Christmas celebrations have returned to Mount Evelyn with the community inspired and focused event along the Warburton Rail Trail.

Discovery Church has once again put on the Mt Evelyn Christmas Trail for the community to enjoy free of charge, with prizes to be won from local businesses and a many number of activities for children, young and old, to enjoy.

One of the organisers Dan Hickingbotham said because the Trail event was so popular last year, the team, including Moriah Weston and Lissy Donovan, decided to go even bigger this year.

“The number one bit of feedback we received was that it was a really good community event and it was great to celebrate our local community,” Dan said.

“We decided this year, we really wanted that to be our focus for the year. So it’s really about how we can celebrate the community and Christmas in Mount Evelyn.”

Involving more local businesses to give away prizes and working in with the activities they were already doing for the festive season, Dan said it has become a lovely collaboration.

“It’s about coming for the trail and staying for all the other things and it’s really about highlighting all those cool, small town things that we’ve got in Mount Evelyn that we’re really blessed with out here.”

Expanding the offerings this year, Dan said aside from the Trail where people can scan a code at each station to enter the competition for daily prizes, there is a scavenger hunt, letters of hope and a directory of what is happening in Mount Evelyn.

“People can download a scavenger hunt off the internet or participate online and that takes people around Mount Evelyn, around the shops to get people, not necessarily on the

Dan, Melissa, Taylah and Emily encourage young and old to take or place a letter of hope in the student designed letter boxes. 311799

Discovery Church’s Melissa Donovan and Dan Hickingbotham with Taylah Dunn and Emily McKaskill-Cosma from Mount Evelyn Bendigo Bank are excited to see the Christmas Trail up and Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS running again for 2022. 311799 trail, but more in amongst the shopping area.

“Then we’ve got letters of hope. So that is an installation on the trail in the centre of Mount Evelyn where people can come, have a look at the letter boxes, open the letterbox and take a letter out.

“The purpose of that is it’s just a place to

come for the kids to take a letter or for anyone to take a letter, or give a letter, that can be an encouragement at Christmas, because we want it to be the idea of spreading hope and joy at Christmas.”

Students from Mount Evelyn Primary School and St Mary’s Catholic Primary School

helped design the letterboxes, as well as writing letters to be placed in the boxes.

The directory shares what each store is doing in the town, like The Trail Cafe trading handmade Christmas decoration packs for treats or the Santa postbox at Nurture Tribe.

Being able to partner with Mount Evelyn Bendigo Bank and Professionals Real Estate this year, Dan said, was an incredible addition to the whole community effort.

Within the first week, Dan said the response had been incredibly positive with over 500 entries into the competitions already.

“The original concept of the Christmas Trail was to be a gift to our community and a gift to our traders.

“So we came up with the idea because we just came out of Covid and lockdowns and so we wanted to give a gift to our community, it’s all free and you can win vouchers, it’s a win win.”

The Christmas Trail started on 1 December and will run until 20 December. To find out more information or download some of the activities, go to www.christmastrail.com.au

Santa at the Marketplace Join Lilydale Marketplace for some Christmas Family fun now Santa has arrived at the centre to spread some Christmas Cheer.

The Jolly Man in Red is taking his throne for Santa photos by Scene to Believe at 11am, plus our Elves are creating some Christmas magic with free face painting and balloon twisting fun for the kids from 10am.

Get your photo with Santa - He’ll be there for photos right up until Christmas Eve with a special gift for every child, and pet photo sand sensitive Santa sessions for children with sensory issues too.

Subscribe to any of the

Star Mail Digital Editions for

FREE

Bookings are encouraged, visit www.lilydalemarketplace.com.au for more information and to book your Santa photo session Fill your stockings - and your table - with everything you need at Lilydale Marketplace this Christmas.

With Woolworths and Big W plus a huge range of your favourite stores and food options, Lilydale Marketplace is your one stop Christmas shopping and family fun destination for the festive season.

Lilydale Marketplace, 33/45 Hutchinson St, Lilydale Phone 9735 2833

· ·

Tuesday, 2 February, 2021

Mail New Aussies welcomed

Sanders relives rally

Brown’s AFLW debut

Tuesday, 2 February, 2021

Mail New Aussies welcomed

Sanders relives rally

Brown’s AFLW debut

PAGE 3

PAGE 8

SPORT

A Star News Group Publication

PAGE 8

PROPERTY GUIDE Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808

PROPERTY GUIDE Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808

Back to school!

12477081-JW03-21

A Star News Group Publication

SPORT

12477081-JW03-21

PAGE 3

Mail

School students across Victoria made their return to school following summer holidays, while 2021’s preps got their first taste of primary school life. Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Murphy conducted a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony for Badger Creek Primary School students and staff.

See page 7 for more back to school excitment.

Back to school!

School students across Victoria made their return to school following summer holidays, while 2021’s preps got their first taste of primary school life. Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Murphy

By Jed Lanyon

Centre in the lead up to Christmas. Many locals far and wide were able to keep up their Christmas tradition in getting a family photo with ‘The Real Santa’ who they had grown to love.

The unlikely tandem tallied upwards of $30,000 from their family Christmas photos and then selected four charities to each receive

$8400 to help make the lives of children better.

The four recipients of the funds included: Backpacks 4 Vic Kids, A Better Life For Foster Kids, HeartKids and Chum Creek’s Good Life Farm. The organisations shared how the funds had already been put to good use.

Backpacks 4 Vic Kids CEO and founder Sally Beard told Star Mail the donation came as a “delightful surprise”.

“We’re very, very grateful on behalf of the children, whose lives that it will impact,” she said. “We have absolutely put that money to good use.”

Ms Beard shared that the $8400 donation from Branded is aiding 112 children in need with care packs filled with toiletries, spare changes of clothes, a toy and more.

Continued page 2 12477022-SN06-21

It’s February, but Santa Claus’ gifts keep on coming for several charity organisations who benefited from a partnership between Saint Nick and Seville’s Branded Burger Bar. The burger bar came to the rescue when they partnered with Santa, who had seen his role replaced at Chirnside Park Shopping

12481673-SN07-21

A worthy brand

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

Santa will be at Lilydale Marketplace until Christmas Eve. mailcommunity.com.au

NEWS

Record weekend for trees

By Mikayla van Loon Despite living expenses rising, the community were quick to purchase their real Christmas trees again this year in Montrose, selling out in just five days.

For the Mazzella family from Montrose Christmas Tree Farm, the excitement of opening their gates to hundreds of people on the last weekend of November is always a joyous occasion.

But Anthony Mazzella said with many more factors in play this year about whether people would spend money on a real tree left the family overwhelmed with the positive response.

“We were a bit skeptical this year because last year with Covid everyone had to stay home but this year everyone was able to travel interstate,” he said.

“Then also because of inflation we weren’t sure if everyone was still going to be wanting to spend that money on a real Christmas tree? Were they going to want to spend it elsewhere?”

Opening up to the public on Friday 25 November at 9am, Carlo Mazzella counted at least 50 cars waiting to collect their tree before school, work or just starting their day.

“Right from the get go that Friday just went nuts in the first couple of hours, everyone just trying to get in to reserve their free.

During the day it chilled out a little bit and then in the afternoon after school it just went berserk again and even on the weekend like Saturday, Sunday, was very consistent the whole day.

“We were just really run off our feet, which caught us off guard. We knew we were going to be busy but this year was just unbelievable how busy we were.”

Although excessive rain did impact the growth of some trees, Anthony said the majority were unaffected by the rain.

“This year’s batch for us wasn’t too affected

by the rain, there were a few trees that did get a little bit too much water but overall, I’d probably say upwards of 95 per cent of our patch was unaffected.

“We were pretty lucky here compared to New South Wales farms, they just had a terrible time up there with the weather. So we’re pretty lucky with this year’s sales.”

While the weather led to some shortages across the country, Anthony said because of higher demand, this also contributed to the shortages seen elsewhere.

“We already knew going into this year we were going to have a few less trees and we thought we were going to sell out quicker but then the amount of people that just came through the doors earlier than last year really helped us sell out quickly.

“But then this year’s batch sold so quickly that we had to start [dipping] into next year’s batch as well.

“By Sunday night we were already going into next year’s batch, so after three days we’d sold that many trees and we’d hate to turn away customers on our first weekend that we just tried to get the biggest trees from next year’s batch to help them out.”

This won’t have any effect on the quantity of trees available next year having a larger section of trees planted for 2023 but it did come as a surprise. Yet again, Anthony said he and his family were extremely grateful for the support from the community.

“It’s always great to see the support we receive from the customers, being Christmas time they’re generally pretty happy but the people we see there, they always come in with a smile on their face.

“It’s really good for us and rewarding for us to see them come in, have a great experience and see the trees cut down, the kids get a real kick out of watching their tree get cut down and get thrown on the back of the buggy and taken up to their car.”

Montrose Christmas Tree Farm sold out in just five days after a very busy opening weekend.

Picture: SUPPLIED

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MAIL 9

NEWS

Anthony’s fight of his life

By Mikayla van Loon A promising young gridiron player has had the rug pulled out from under him with a recent and rare cancer diagnosis which has seen his family and friends rally behind him to get him to New York for treatment.

Anthony de Benedictis, a 19-year-old Croydon Rangers Gridiron Club player, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in early August after experiencing extensive pain in his arm and shoulder.

Having taken a gap year to train one-onone with a gridiron coach and prepare his body in the gym to hopefully be scouted to an American college, Anthony’s dreams were within his grasp.

In July he went to his mum, Kat Cecho, complaining of what they both thought was a torn muscle but when a lump formed on the left side of his neck and into his shoulder, Kat knew a doctor was needed.

After CT and CAT scans, the results came back with Anthony having a very large tumour going from the top of his shoulder to the base of his armpit - a size of nine centimetres by seven centimetres.

“Until then we had absolutely no idea that there was anything going on because he was healthy,” Kat said.

Doctors initially thought the diagnosis would be Hodgkin’s but after a biopsy it returned as the rare Ewing’s Sarcoma.

“It is a bone cancer but in Anthony’s case, it’s even more rare. He’s got the soft tissue cancer.”

While majority of the time Ewing’s Sarcoma is found in the bones, on a rare occasion the same cell compound forms Ewing’s in the soft tissues around the bones.

Around 2,460 people are estimated to have been diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma in Australia in 2022, the only difference being

Croydon Rangers Gridiron Club player Anthony De Benedictis has been diagnosed with a rare form of Ewing’s Sarcoma and is now seeking treatment in New York.

Picture: CROYDON RANGERS GRIDIRON CLUB many are known cancers of the soft tissue.

“He was in so much pain and he couldn’t manage the pain at all because nothing was working…He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t do anything,” Kat said.

“So we ended up going to Peter Mac and stayed there for five days for him to manage the pain and this thing was just growing by the day.”

Eventually undergoing both chemotherapy and radiation because the tumour was growing rapidly, Kat said “it has helped a lot but it didn’t get rid of completely.”

That’s why now the family are looking at options overseas where more research has been done on this type of soft tissue cancer

and where experimental treatments are more available.

“There’s not many options now here in Australia. They’ve given us what we can do. We need to do something else, we need to start looking overseas because they have very strict protocols here that they have to follow,” Kat said.

A friend of the family for over 20 years, Trudy Hymas organised the GoFundMe page aiming to raise $50,000 to help cover some of the costs of getting to New York.

Within 48 hours, half of the funds had been raised after beginning the fundraiser on Tuesday 6 December.

“It’s just mind blowing. He’s an awesome

human being so I think everybody just wants to be behind him and support him,” Kat said.

“It’s just so hard because he’s been so focused and he knew what he wanted to do, he was working towards it, and it’s just all been ripped away.

“I’m not saying his dream is gone and he can’t do it once he gets better but right now we really have to focus on finding something that can help.”

Looking at getting Anthony into an immunotherapy treatment in New York, Kat said one cycle is $100,000, meaning the money raised through the GoFundMe will support travel expenses and part of the overall cost.

“Whatever we have to do, we will do. We just have to make sure we have all our options, everything and anything we can do, we’re gonna try to do for him to get better.”

Still undergoing two more rounds of chemotherapy in Melbourne to see whether it has any further impact on reducing the tumour, Kat said she still needs to be prepared to go overseas.

“I don’t want to just wait for the end of it and see if it’s working or not, I actually have to have something else in place and if we need to leave, then we’ll leave overseas, that’s the plan.

“As soon as we get enough money and get the chance to go, we’ll be going.”

Eternally grateful for all the support from family and friends, as well as the Croydon Rangers for their ongoing support, friendship and monetary donations, Kat said “thank you to absolutely everyone who was involved and has tried to help us get Anthony better.”

“Everybody’s been amazing and it’s very overwhelming because we were not expecting this kind of response from everybody. We’re extremely grateful.”

The fundraiser can be found here: www. gofundme.com/f/help-anthony-to-kick-thisaggressive-beast

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NEWS

Tourism optimistic for summer trade

By Parker McKenzie Tourism bodies are confident that 2022 will be without much of the pain experienced by the industry in 2020 and 2021, however, it isn’t without challenges for Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges businesses.

Yarra Ranges Tourism CEO Simon O’Callaghan said the tourism industry is expecting a strong summer period of trade.

“We are balancing that with a lot of businesses still recovering from the pandemic, a lot of things haven’t quite got back to normal,” he said.

“The whole industry is optimistic but we also have workforce challenges at the current time, which will make maximizing patronage difficult.”

According to the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, 4.2 million domestic travellers will pass through Melbourne airport over the Christmas period.

Mr O’Callaghan said it is an important period for the region because people have time off to visit for extended periods.

“We are encouraging people to stay longer, that’s one thing we’ve been working to speak to our visits and make sure they make the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges more than just a day trip,” he said.

“Our industries have had goods and facilities impacted by the recent floods, which we need to be conscious of. There are businesses out there that have been delivering great services, but there is still a shortage of supply.

“The great news is that we are full of over 80 different wineries and distilleries; most of their production has been well kept so we can put it on show for visitors.”

Victoria Tourism Industry Council CEO Felicia Mariani supported O’Callaghan’s optimism and said the holiday period looks very

The festive holidays are shaping up as a strong trading period for tourism businesses throughout the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley.

Picture: ON FILE different than it did 12 months ago.

“December 2021 saw the emergence of Omicron along Australia’s eastern coast, triggering border restrictions and throwing holiday plans into chaos,” she said.

“This year will be the first Christmas travel period without border restrictions since 2019, and consumer travel demand is at an all-time high.”

1.7 million international travellers are forecasted to pass through Melbourne airport, representing 95 per cent of pre-Covid travel.

“At our lowest point in March 2021, total tourism spend in our state had fallen from the lofty height of $32.5 billion to just $9.8 billion,”

Ms Mariani said.

“Fast forward 12 months to March 2022, and that number had climbed to $16.5 billion; and three months later to June, total tourism spend had more than doubled to $20.7 billion.”

Mr O’Callaghan said locals to the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley play a key role as ambassadors for the region.

“When you see a visitor, help make their day and point them in the direction of our hidden secrets,” he said.

“We are trying to get them to visit as many different businesses as possible, to spread their spending around the region.”

Rain delays for Yarra Valley berry growers

By Callum Ludwig The heavy rainfall we are continuing to see across the Yarra Ranges is posing a risk to some of our freshest fruits and juiciest berries.

Some of the early harvest varieties of berries have had to be pushed back due to the recent weather conditions, with pickers unable to pick the wet fruit at the risk of damaging it.

Owner of Jay Berries Jon Stewart said from every farmer’s point of view, most of the challenges this year have been related to the wet season.

“We’ve got issues with wet soils, which are creating rots and delaying harvests. For example, I might decide that this week I need to start picking red currants, but at the moment I can’t be sure if they will be ready this week or the week after, whereas previously it has been far more predictable,” he said.

“At least this year, we haven’t got problems with casual workers, we find that with the influx of tourists looking for visa extensions then I’m getting plenty of inquiries which is welcome after the last two years. Only problem is I can’t now guarantee them a full week’s work.”

Jay Berries also offers U-Pick, where visitors can visit the farm and pick their own fruit off of the trees, which is also slowed down by poor weather as people stay inside or seek shelter.

Mr Stewart said his crops can suffer a day or so of rain before problems start to develop.

“This week we’ve had fine weather, then a few showers coming through which is not a big issue, but some fruit can’t be picked wet, definitely strawberries. After one day, you might notice chip damage which downgrades them from first-grade to second-grade fruit,” he said.

“With strawberries, you notice two things happen. The direct contact of the rain on the soft flesh makes the flesh break down and just go to pulp. Secondly, the flavour is not there when it rains, even the fruit that ripens we need the sunshine to increase the sugars.” mailcommunity.com.au

A local pop

By Renee Wood Following reports of a French champagne shortage for the festive season, Yarra Valley residents are being encouraged to ditch the internationals and get behind local producers.

Growth in global demand, supply chain issues and a lower champagne harvest have been raised as reasons why bottle shops could be starting to look bare however, local wineries say they have plenty of stock to fill your bubbly needs.

Coombe Cellar Door Wine Club Manager Min Gallagher said the Yarra Valley has some of the best method champagne noir and sparkling wines in Australia which can stand their own against international bottles.

“We’ve got a unique soil composition here in the Yarra Valley so it’s really old, rich volcanic soil, which means that we get a level of depth and flavour in our bubbles that’s not necessarily achieved overseas,” Ms Gallagher said.

Ms Gallagher said although locally produced wines won’t be called champagne, they are created in the same methods.

“If you look at a sparkling wine bottle that says method traditional or bottle fermented or methode champenoise... those are wines that are fermented in the bottle and made in the same way as the champagne,” she said.

Methode champenoise is a sparkling wine production method where wine undergoes a second fermentation process in the bottle to produce carbon dioxide.

Supporting Australian producers these holidays will also help to boost the sector after several setbacks over the last couple of years, with bushfires rolling into Covid rolling into storms and floods.

“The Australian market needs locals to shop local this year… particularly this year is maybe going to be on track again for another challenging vintage because of all the rain.

“Fingers crossed we’re going to get a bit of sunshine and that might actually push the fruit along but most producers in the Yarra Valley lost 50 per cent of their yield last year.”

But the drop in yield didn’t affect the bubbles, with Ms Gallagher saying there is an abundance of stock across all wineries.

“People need to look local this year and shop for Australian sparkling wine because it’s an incredible quality and standard and we’ve got an abundance of it so there’s no need to be without this Christmas and New Years.”

Proseccos, sparkling wine with chardonnay and pinot noir, Blanc de Blanc are just some of the varieties that will give you that glorious pop to start the festive celebrations.

Online wine clubs, cellar doors and bottle shops will have local wine selections you can choose from.

Paying a visit to cellar doors will also allow for tastings to make sure taste buds enjoy the sparkle.

“I really encourage people to come and visit over the summer months with international tourism and in a sense domestic tourism down somewhat… We need all the visitation that we can get.”

Toast with local sparkling this festive season.

Picture: SUPPLIED Berry season is being delayed by rain, with strawberries particularly affected.

Picture: ON FILE Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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MAIL 11

NEWS

St Mary’s Grade 3/4 students were first to take to the carolling stage.

Pictures: MIKAYLA VAN LOON

Family and students were excited to see the wonderful array of artworks on display.

Grade 5/6 students took to drawing their take on American Gothic.

Artistic talents displayed

By Mikayla van Loon St Mary’s Catholic Primary Schzool students, teachers and parents were excited to celebrate an artistic school year with the annual art show, combined with a performance of Christmas Carols.

Held on Thursday 8 December, artworks were presented in an array of forms and mediums, with various themes and subject matter from all year levels at the school.

Principal Angela Glennie said the artworks are the culmination of a year’s worth of work in different study areas and once again she was amazed at the work of visual arts specialist Eliza Kelly and of course the students.

“It’s a great undertaking and there’s some beautiful pieces. There’s library [work] in there and there’s Italian in there. There’s the religious aspect. There’s all sorts of creative bits in there. So it’s always a thrill,” she said.

“I was blown away. Absolutely blown away.

They’ve done it again.”

Originally holding the art show and carols on separate nights, Ms Glennie said prior to the pandemic the school brought the two events together which was a hit with everyone.

“One day we just said why don’t we just combine them and it boosted the numbers for both and everyone just felt like it was worthwhile coming out, to catch up and it’s lovely to see the families on their picnic rugs.

Being the first time in two years St Mary’s has been able to host the two events in person again, Ms Glennie it was such a joy to see parents and families filling up the school grounds again.

“Through Covid we did online Carols, the first one we tried to do live and then we did a movie and so this is obviously one of our major events since coming back.

“We’ve been able to do our school produc-

tion and our junior showcase, and this is our third event this semester. It’s been a lot but it’s been great to have people back.”

After most people had toured the art space, families and students gathered on the grass to watch as each year level took to the stage to sing some carols.

Over the last few weeks, during performing arts and choir, students were recorded singing to a backing track which was played as a guide on Thursday evening so that students could sing over the top, making it louder and much easier to hear down the back.

“They were all very excited to think they were recording artists over the last few weeks when we did that,” Ms Glennie said.

“It’s just a thrill for the parents to see their kids up there in their glittery bits for a photo opportunity and it’s not necessarily about the singing, it’s just about being together.”

Talents shone through in all forms.

12577193-AI50-22

New store now open in Chirnside Park

Come say hi!

266-268 Maroondah Hwy, Chirnside Park 12 MAIL

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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HARRY BROWN GRAND OPENING

Owner, Adam Sevas, has 28 years of experience in both liquor retail and wholesale. 309874

Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS

Stephanie from Harry Brown can assist you in store.

Local liquor specialists for premium spirits sampling – the ultimate try before you buy experience.

Owner, Adam Sevas, has 28 years of experience in both liquor retail and wholesale and was the General Manager of a gaming venue in the Northern suburbs (Melbourne).

A sporting enthusiast, Mr Sevas is keen to support the local sporting communities in Lilydale and the surrounding areas.

Mr Sevas said, “Our focus is on old fash-

ioned service with a smile. We want our customers to feel welcomed and to enjoy the experience of browsing a range that is tailored to their preferences and interests. Whether you’re after a celebratory gift, a hard-to-find bottle or something refreshing for the weekend, Harry Brown staff are here to help you find it.”

HARRY BROWN BRINGS BIG BOX RETAILING TO INDEPENDENTS LMG on track to deliver on expansion plans for Harry Brown in nationally. Four stores

·

were opened in 2022 with six to follow in 2023.

brand (+19.5Million growth in · Fast-growing annual sales) that gives independent retail-

·

ers a real opportunity to compete in the big box space Harry Brown retailers benefit from collective buying power on an extensive range, centralised marketing support including digital and print catalogues, online store via website and customised app, click and collect and home delivery services.

12582154-AV50-22

Independently owned and managed big box liquor retailer Harry Brown opened its doors in Lilydale last week and has a strong focus on catering to the tastes of the local clientele.

The Lilydale store is over 500sqm and has over 2,500 wines including a large range from around the Yarra Valley, 1,000 spirits and 600 beers and ciders from local, national and international suppliers for customers to choose from.

Customers can make use of the tasting bar

mailcommunity.com.au

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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MAIL 13

NEWS

Now’s the time for giving Yarra Ranges Council is working to make Christmas a little brighter for all, but it needs the help of the community to do it.

Several Christmas wishing trees have been set up at Community Links across the Yarra Ranges to give back to those who are doing it tough.

Donations of toys, non-perishable goods and pet food will go toward supporting local charities including Holy Fools, local food banks and Animal Aid. Yarra Ranges Holy Fools CEO Neal Taylor said the appeal was even more important this year, given the financial difficulties brought on

by Covid-19, and the storms and floods.

“This year we’re aiming to hand out 500 food hampers because we know the demand

Deputy Mayor Sophie Todorov and Neal Taylor from Holy Fools at the council wishing tree.

Picture: SUPPLIED for help is higher than ever.

Understandably it’s a tough time for everyone, but this is a great way to give back to the

community and make a difference for people who really need it and we’re really trying to meet that growing demand.”

“Next time you’re out shopping, please consider picking up some items and dropping them off at your local Community Link or charity.”

Wishing Trees are up in the Civic Centre and in the Community Links at Yarra Junction, Monbulk, Healesville, Upwey, and Lilydale.

Yarra Ranges Council Deputy Mayor, Sophie Todorov said that Council is a proud supporter of this initiative and thanked the community for their continued generosity.

“To make sure families in the Yarra Ranges have a good Christmas, we have set up several Wishing Trees at our Community Links so our

community can donate gifts for those families,” Cr Todorov said.

“Donating a gift can change a life and bring a smile to the faces of children and their families at this special time of year.”

“Our links are open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, so just come in and talk to the team here, let them know and leave food under the tree.”

If you can’t make it to one of these locations, you can find out more about other donation collection sites by visiting the Holy Fools, HICCI or Philanthropic Collective’s website.

Find out more here: https://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Business-Yarra-Ranges/ Your-Reason-Your Season/Community-Wishing-Trees

Last chance to vote for your favourite festive window This year’s Yarra Ranges Council Christmas Window Competition is celebrating the Yarra Ranges’ beautiful communities, resilient businesses, and all things merry and bright.

First year entrants, Rob and Judy Thompson from Vintage & Collectables Marketplace in Lilydale said it was great opportunity to spread the Christmas cheer.

“For us it’s our first Christmas in Lilydale and we wanted to bring some joy to Clark Street,” Rob said.

“We have so many Christmas things in our shop here that we were able to do a really nice display and brighten up our windows.

We’ve designed our window decoration to embrace a combination of craft and retail and have shaped some timber coat hangers into a Christmas tree to represent the vintage clothing available and the selection of retail items available to purchase.”

“We also have a metre tall Christmas elf to watch over festivities. It’s a great bit of fun and just a great wholesome way to spread the Christmas cheer and promote our township and make it look nice for visitors.”

Residents who vote for their favourite window go into the running to win prizes all while supporting local businesses.

There are four local prizes up for grabs from the Urban, Hills, Valley and Upper categories.

The businesses with the most votes from each category will also receive a hamper of locally sourced goodies.

Yarra Ranges Council Deputy Mayor, Sophie Todorov said businesses were getting into the Christmas spirit across the region.

“Every year, our businesses make a great effort to dress their windows and get involved

with the competition and each year we see the number of entries becoming more creative,” Cr Todorov said.

“While we have a range of fantastic prizes up for grabs, this isn’t about who wins or loses; it’s about coming together as a community to provide everyone with a fantastic shopping experience in our region.”

“We have the opportunity to provide a unique Christmas shopping experience to the public while also increasing visitor numbers which is why participating is so important, so let us show everyone our sparkle this Christmas.”

Voting closes on 15 December. For more information and to vote visit: https:// www. yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Business-YarraRanges/Your-Reason-Your-Season/YarraRanges Christmas-Window-Competition

Judy Thompson from Vintage & Collectables Marketplace with their window display.

Picture: SUPPLIED

The Summer Edition of your favourite family magazine is out now...

Pick up a printed copy of Yarra Ranges Kids Today Magazine from outlets everywhere.

Or, read the full digital edition as it appears in print now!

12580181-JW50-22

Read it now Scan the QR CODE

OR VISIT: yarrarangeskidstoday.com.au/digital-editions 14 MAIL

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

mailcommunity.com.au

ADVERTORIAL

The Eagle Twilight Christmas The Eagle Twilight Christmas, held from 5pm until 9pm on Tuesday, 20th December, is the premier event of the Eagle Christmas Festival.

While the Festival itself runs from December 1st until December 24th, the Eagle Twilight Christmas is a once off community Christmas event held onsite at the Eagle to raise money for Mums Supporting Families in Need (MSFIN).

MSFIN is a grass roots, local charity working to support local families doing it tough. Working with over 80 welfare agencies to provide material aid support for families in crisis, the charity aims to ensure no family is living without their basic daily needs being met, and that no

child goes without essentials.

For a community minded business like the Eagle, it was the perfect charity to support.

“The Eagle is a business run by locals with deep roots in our community” explains Sarah Cottrill, Eagle Marketing Manager, “and it’s wonderful to be able to open up our world class facilities for the community, in support of the community. Supporting MFSIN is something that we are very proud to be able to do.”

The Eagle Twilight Christmas will be held on 20th December from 5pm until 9pm. “We chose the 20th December because it’s the date when all the locals schools

break up for the holidays!” Sarah enthuses. “We thought – what better way to finish up the school term than with a family friendly Christmassy celebration!”

The Eagle will be offering heavily discounted $50 Family Tickets during the Twilight Christmas event, enabling more local families to ride, and with all profits being donated to MSFIN. Gondola rides will be available until 9pm, including the new green and red ‘Christmas’ gondolas!

A sausage sizzle will complement the Eagle café’s delicious menu: festive sweets and treats to get even the grouchiest grinch into the spirit of the season! Kids activities

will run throughout the evening, along with free face painting and roving entertainment. A Christmas concert will be held under the gondolas, with local performers eager to get together to support this fantastic event.

Even Santa himself is coming to visit during the evening! He knows there’s always something on at the Arthurs Seat Eagle this Christmas!

Th e Eagle is open every day until Christmas. It will be closed on Christmas Day, before reopening for a jam-packed Summer Festival from December 26th until January 26th.

For more details visit aseagle.com.au. To donate to MSFIN visit msfin.org.au

12582128-MS49-22

mailcommunity.com.au

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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MAIL 15

GET THE

RIGHT HELP FOR YOUR

RECOVERY

12576262-SN50-22

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

mailcommunity.com.au

NEWS

Dive in swimming skills

By Callum Ludwig According to a new survey conducted by the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), almost half (47 per cent) of children missed out on swimming lessons and opportunities to develop water safety skills due to the Covid pandemic.

The National Child Health Poll, titled Water safety warning: Australian kids at risk, raises large concerns about the safety of children around water heading into this summer.

Life Saving Victoria (LSV)’s 2021-22 drowning report also shows that between 2012-13 to 2021-22, most drowning incidents within the Yarra Ranges local government area occurred at private swimming pools, and most in the Maroondah local government area occurred in bathtubs or spas.

LSV’s manager – research and evaluation Dr Hannah Calverley expressed sympathies to those whose loved ones were represented in this year’s drowning report.

“Despite slightly fewer fatalities than last year’s record-breaking toll of 61, the reality is that 53 lives were lost to drowning this year – that’s 53 too many. We’d like to send our sincere condolences to everyone affected,” she said.

“This is the second consecutive year that the Victorian drowning toll has bucked what had otherwise been a downward trend. We’re urging Victorians to be vigilant around water to help put an end to drownings and prevent further tragedy.”

The most at-risk age group for the Yarra Ranges were people aged 25 - to 64-years-old, and the main activities preceding death by drowning were walking or playing near water, Yarra Ranges Area Manager for Belgravia Leisure Darren Allen, which owns and operates pools such as the Yarra Centre, Monbulk Aquatic Centre, Kilsyth Centenary Pool and the Lilydale, Healesville and Belgrave outdoor pools, said swimming lessons have never been more important.

“We’ve missed millions of swimming lessons since the start of the pandemic, an extraordinary amount of opportunities for kids, as well as adults to learn the life skill that is swimming. People are aware that they’ve lost confidence in or entirely lost that skill over this time, ” he said.

“Thankfully in the Yarra Ranges, we have seen participation rates return really strong since we have really valued it. We have had our lessons booked out since September in the most popular timeslots for our classes.”

Among the 35 per cent of children who

The recently-reopened Monbulk Aquatic Centre is one of a few locations to access crucial swimming lessons. missed swimming lessons due to the pandemic, half (49 per cent) have not yet caught up on their swimming skills, with 45 per cent of primary school aged children, 60 per cent of pre-schoolers and 58 per cent of toddlers not having had catch-up lessons.

Mr Allen said the Yarra Ranges is really passionate about swimming, particularly in our pools.

“The damage that was sustained to the Monbulk Aquatic Centre during the storm event of June last year meant that the pool was closed for 15 months and it had a really huge impact on the community, but when we reopened on 1 September, we saw extraordinary rates of the local community reconnecting with the facility,” he said.

“We just really encourage parents in particular to be really engaged with their children’s swimming. The best thing they can do is participate and the second best thing they can do is make sure that they supervise their children whilst they’re in the water. If children are under five, they’ve got to be within arm’s reach and if they are under 10, they still have to be actively supervised.”

Half of the 2036 parents surveyed (49 per cent) were not aware that young children should always be within arm’s reach of an adult in the water and 44 per cent were not aware that drowning is often silent.

Paediatrician and Poll Director Dr Anthea Rhodes said the findings show there is a critical need to improve water safety knowledge among Australian parents.

“With drowning the leading cause of death in children aged less than 15 years in Australia, water safety and swimming skills are critically important. Our report found that while most Australian parents believe that children are never too young to start learning about water safety, there were some concerning gaps in parents’ knowledge about drowning risks,” she said.

“Half of the parents surveyed (49 per cent) falsely believe it takes more than 20 seconds for a child to drown. There were also misconceptions around flotation devices with a third of parents mistakenly believing that a lilo or inflated toy will prevent a child from drowning.”

Picture: ON FILE

According to the polling, one in five preschoolers (21 per cent) have ‘no swimming skills at all’, and almost a third of primary school-aged children have either ‘no swimming skills at all’ (4 per cent) or ‘beginner skills only’ (27 per cent) and one in 10 teenagers have ‘no swimming skills at all’ (2 per cent) or only beginner skills (7 per cent).

Dr Rhodes said they had found that one in six Australian children have never had a swimming lesson.

“The leading barrier was cost, followed by convenience and family logistics. Only half of children have accessed catch-up swimming lessons following the pandemic, leaving many children vulnerable and at risk of water-related accident and injury,” she said.

“As we enter summer, many families will be planning to have fun around the water. Supervision is the single most important protective action parents and carers can take to keep their children safe. We encourage all parents to remain vigilant and stay close to their children when around water this summer, for young children that means staying within arm’s reach.”

Be aware of river safety before taking a dip in summer

By Callum Ludwig With the weather warming up, the cool rivers around the Yarra Ranges can be an attractive prospect for a dip.

The Yarra River through Warburton, the Pound Bend Reserve in Warrandyte and Laughing Waters Swimming Hole in Eltham are all popular nearby spots for a swim but it’s important to stay safe in the water this summer.

Sean Marler spends a lot of time on the river as a kayaker from the Warburton and Alexandra River Dogs group (WARD) and said the key concern for people entering the water over the summer is a lack of understanding of the dangers that our inland rivers and lakes present.

“This is especially for people who are inexperienced, or who don’t have a basic swimming education. I can’t encourage you enough to go and learn how to swim, there are some great swimming schools in the area, doesn’t matter if you are three years old or 33 years old,” he said.

“Sadly, there are a lot of people who drown every year, and a lot of those deaths will be entirely preventable.”

According to Royal Life Saving Australia National Drowning Report 2022, 339 people lost their lives to drowning between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022. An estimated 686 further people experienced a non-fatal drowning incident. mailcommunity.com.au

The Yarra River through Warburton has been raging in recent times with heavy rainfall creating dangerous conditions.

Picture: CALLUM LUDWIG Mr Marler said there are a lot of hazards in rivers at the moment.

“Logs and trees in moving waters present a real hazard to swimmers and paddlers because if you get swept onto those logs, the force of the water can hold you in those posi-

tions and once you tire you can be held under the water and drown,” he said.

“At the end of the day, all the experience in the world won’t save you if you do end up in the wrong place. Try to mitigate the risks and be conscious of where you’re choosing

to swim, check the water first by walking out and probing with a stick and try not to swim in moving water because of the risks of what’s under the water that you can’t see and keep out of those dangerous areas.”

Rivers and creeks had the highest percentage of the death count, at 34 per cent, with beaches miles off with 21 per cent in second.

Swimming and recreating were the top activity at the time of a drowning incident at 22 per cent.

Mr Marler said the third consecutive La Nina event also continues to make river conditions more dangerous.

“We’ve got really saturated soils and lots of inflows in our high alpine streams like the Yarra River, which is great for kayakers, but definitely poses big problems with more water and stronger river currents,” he said.

“Find an eddy, where the water is still and guarded upstream by some sort of barrier, whether it’s a log or a rock, that is deflecting the flow into the centre of the stream into the deepest part of the river, never swim alone, always in groups and avoid alcohol or a big feed right before swimming as well.”

An eddy is an area of swirling water that forms behind an obstacle like a boulder in a river. Often the water in the eddy will reverse the direction of flow and will flow upstream. Eddies are almost always formed on the inside of the corner when a river turns a corner.

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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MAIL 17

Teaching changes lives in every part of our state.

Are you ready?

Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne.

18 MAIL

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

12571335-AI50-22

Visit vic.gov.au/teachthefuture mailcommunity.com.au

Michael Alexander giving a snake safety information session at Wandin Silvan Field Days this year.

Picture: ON FILE

Snakes start to slither in

By Callum Ludwig With warmer weather arriving (albeit in fits and spurts), the snakes of the Yarra Ranges are beginning to emerge.

A large snake was spotted in a Warburton backyard over the weekend and there have been three reports of dogs being bitten and occasionally killed by snakes in Wesburn, Wandin and Montrose so far this year.

Founder of wildlife conservation and education business Blacksnake Productions Michael Alexander said while snakes in the area are venomous and dangerous, they are an important part of the wildlife of the region.

“The animals have as much of a right to live here as we do, and it is actually illegal to remove or kill a snake yourself, with fines from $2000 to $5000, as well as being the number one reason for snake bites in Australia with more than 80 per cent of bites caused by people intentionally interacting with snakes,” he said.

“The best thing to do is either leave it alone if it’s near a bush block or call a snake catcher and if there is a dog involved, make sure they have snake avoidance training from professionals.”

If you find yourself in a situation where a snake is presenting a direct risk to you, an animal or others, or has remained in a location close to your home or business that is dangerous, it is best to call the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) wildlife emergency number at 136 186 and they will refer you on to your nearest local snake catcher. Avoid calling for a snake catcher unless absolutely necessary as snakes will likely leave you alone.

Mr Alexander said one of the best things to do to avoid being surprised by a snake is to keep your property nice and tidy.

“Try and make sure that you’re not providing habitat for snakes or leaving tarps, sheet metal wood lying about and if you have those and are trying to move them, always try and pull them towards you or drag it out so if there is a snake underneath, you aren’t standing over it,” he said.

“Always wear elbow-length gloves if you are putting your hands in and around vegetation or large bits of material so that all the way up your forearm is protected, as well as good footwear, long loose-fitting pants and if you’re working in really thick vegetation to wear snakebite gators, which will protect you.”

Mr Alexander described four of the six different types of snake likely to be encountered throughout the Yarra Ranges.

“North of the old railway line from Yarra Glen to Healesville, and up through Dixons Creek is the only place you will get red-bellied mailcommunity.com.au

black snakes, in alpine mountainous areas like the Black Spur, Kinglake, Warburton and Powelltown you’ll find highland copperheads and in low-lying areas such as Yarra Glen, Woori Yallock, Launching Place, Coldstream, Mt Evelyn, Montrose or Monbulk areas you’ll have the lowland copperhead,” he said.

“Tiger snakes, which are absolutely everywhere in the Yarra Valley, the fourth-most venomous snake on the planet, with the longest fangs and highest venom yield of any snakes in Victoria. They are also very instinctive and will turn around and bite pretty much every single time they are frightened or threatened.”

The small-eyed snake and white-lipped snake can also be found all throughout the Yarra Valley, with the former found around Launching Place in particular and the latter known to make a home of Lilydale Lake as well as in the Dandenong Ranges.

Mr Alexander said if you find yourself very close to a snake, stay still.

“Watch the snake’s reaction because it will most try to get away, they are terrified of us. If it doesn’t move away, move back slowly and avoid sudden movements. If further away, still leave slowly and call a snake catcher,” he said.

“Before a bite even occurs, you need to be prepared. Have a mobile phone on you, and have snakebite bandages around, in your car, on your person if away from your car or house.

A first aid kit and a minimum of two pressure bandages are required for an adult’s leg.”

Mr Alexander recommends having SMART bandages, invented specifically for snake and funnel-web spider bites. The extremely durable SMART Bandage is 2 metres long and 10cm wide, with a rectangle pictogram that stretches to a square to show when optimal tension has been reached.

“Don’t touch, wash or do anything to the bite site, especially if there is venom on the skin because that’s good and will help identify the type of snake, so don’t worry about chasing after and taking a photo of the snake to identify it,” Mr Alexander said.

“Start applying the bandage from the bottom of the limb if the bite is on the lower end of the limb, if you’re bitten above the joint, start up from the top of the limb, such as from the top and down to the elbow or from the ankle up the limb. Then immobilise it and stay as still as possible to help prevent the venom from spreading.”

Some other local snake catchers include Jessica Bridge in Woori Yallock, Danny Goodwin in Woori Yallock, Russell Grant in Launching Place, Mike Taylor at Healesville Sanctuary, Pete Whybrow in the Black Spur and Raymond Hoser at Snake Busters in Park Orchards.

CHIRNSIDE PARK Meadowgate Milk Bar 3 Meadowgate Drive CHIRNSIDE PARK Coles Supermarket 239-241 Maroondah Highway CHIRNSIDE PARK Woolworths Supermarket 239-241 Maroondah Highway CHIRNSIDE PARK 7 - Eleven 242 Maroondah Highway CROYDON NORTH Croydon Hills Milk Bar 158 Nangathan Way CROYDON NORTH Eastfield Milk Bar 11 The Mall KILSYTH Woolworths Supermarket Churinga SC, Russo Place KILSYTH Kilsyth News & Lotto 520 - 528 Mt Dandenong Road KILSYTH Kilsyth Laundrette87 Colchester Road KILSYTH Woolworths Supermarket Canterbury Road Kilsyth KILSYTH TSG Tobacco Churinga Shopping Centre Mt Dandenong Road LILYDALE Lilydale Marketplace SC 33-45 Hutchinson Street LILYDALE Lilydale Village SC 51-59 Anderson Street LILYDALE Coles Supermarket Lilydale Village Castella Street & Maroondah Highway LILYDALE Lilydale Community Centre 7 Hardy Street LILYDALE Eastern Laundries. 2/4 Williams Street East LILYDALE Lilydale Lakeside Conference and Events Centre 1 Jarlo Drive LILYDALE United Petrol Service Station 473 Maroondah Highway LILYDALE Caltex Lilydale 346 Main Street LILYDALE Caltex Woolworths 31 Hutchinson Street LILYDALE BP Service Station 87 Warburton Highway LILYDALE Shell Service Station 469 Maroondah Highway LILYDALE 7 - Eleven Lilydale Cnr Maroondah Highway & Cave Hill Road LILYDALE Coles Express 469 Maroondah Highway LILYDALE Hutch & Co Cafe 251 Main Street LILYDALE Round Bird Can’t Fly 170 Main Street LILYDALE The Lilydale General 110 Beresford Road LILYDALE Yarra Valley Smokery 96 Main Street LILYDALE Bee Seen Cafe 178 Main Street LILYDALE Blue Turtle Cafe 222 Main Street LILYDALE Gracious Grace Castella Street LILYDALE Melba Coffee House 33-45 Hutchinson Street LILYDALE Lilydale Munchies 7/75 Cave Hill Road LILYDALE The Mustard Tree Cafe 3/28 John Street LILYDALE Freda’s Cafe 2 Clarke Street LILYDALE Ray White Real Estate 164 Main Street LILYDALE Stockdale & Leggo Real Estate 281 Main Street LILYDALE Professionals Real Estate 111-113 Main Street LILYDALE Grubs Up 1 Industrial Park Drive LILYDALE Olinda Creek Hotel Maroondah Hwy LILYDALE Crown Hotel Maroondah Hwy LILYDALE Yarra Ranges Council 61 - 65 Anderson Street MONTROSE Montrose Authorised Newsagency 912 Mt Dandenong Road MONTROSE Bell Real Estate 896 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road MONTROSE IGA Supermarket 916 Mt Dandenong Road MOUNT EVELYN Fast Fuel 1 Hereford Road MOUNT EVELYN IGA Supermarket 38- 40 York Road MOUNT EVELYN Post Office 12 Station Street MOUNT EVELYN Authorised Newsagency 1A Wray Crescent MOUNT EVELYN Red Robin Milk Bar 35 Hereford Road MOUNT EVELYN Library 50 Wray Cresent MOUNT EVELYN Milkbar 28 Birmingham Road MOUNT EVELYN York on Lilydale 138 York Road MOOROOLBARK Coles Supermarket 15 Brice Avenue MOOROOLBARK Corner Milk Bar 38 Bellara Dive MOOROOLBARK Fang & Yaoxin Mini Mart 108 Hayrick Lane MOOROOLBARK BP Mooroolbark 103 Cardigan Road MOOROOLBARK Coles Express 2 Cambridge Road MOOROOLBARK Mooroolbark Coin Laundrette28 Manchester Road MOOROOLBARK Professionals Real Estate Brice Avenue MOOROOLBARK L J Hooker Brice Avenue MOOROOLBARK Fletchers Real Estate 1/14 Manchester Road MOOROOLBARK 7-Eleven Manchester Road

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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12539754-AV11-22

NEWS

MAIL 19

NEWS

Pre-loved glasses wanted Optometrists across the country are asking the people of Lilydale to donate their pre-loved glasses to help communities in need, after new research has found that on average, 75 per cent of Australian households have at least one pair of optical glasses or sunglasses lying around at home that they no longer use.

This equates to a whopping 36 million pairs of unused optical glasses or sunglasses across the country that could be used by those in need.

As we head into the Christmas period, it’s the perfect time to help Specsavers Lilydale reach their goal of collecting 200,000 pairs of glasses. To put that into perspective if the glasses were placed end to end, they could stretch from Lilydale to Melbourne CBD. Local Lilydale Specsavers retail partner, James Gittings said that this time of year is a fantastic time to think about donating glasses.

“We see a huge influx of people wanting to use their health insurance benefits to purchase a new pair of glasses. We’d love to see more people donating their old specs in store so they can benefit people in need.”

In partnership with Lions Recycle for Sight, Specsavers is now into their fourth year of the recycling program, which sees quality glasses and sunglasses being delivered to people in need overseas.

In 2018, Lions Recycle for Sight sent 334,860 pairs of refurbished spectacles to 20 destinations overseas.

More than one billion people worldwide are living with vision impairment because they do not get the care they need for conditions like short and far sightedness, glaucoma, and cataracts.

Additional research shows that almost one in five Aussies, the equivalent of 3.5 million Australians, will be purchasing a new pair of optical or sunglasses this year – adding to the older or pre-loved glasses sitting at home

Specsavers Lilydale has been collecting donations of pre-loved glasses to give to people in need. which are perfect for donating.

While some discarded specs will collect dust, as many as one in four, or 4.5 million people, are simply just throwing them in the bin.

“We’ve loved being able to directly work with the community in helping them to recycle their older pairs of glasses. It’s such a great feeling – being able to tangibly see the impact that you’re making.” James said.

All pre-loved glasses that are sent to Lions Recycle for Sight from Specsavers are quality tested, cleaned, categorised and boxed according to prescription. The best of the glasses collected are provided to charity, while the rest of the glasses are recycled.

Over the past four years, Specsavers Australia have donated over 700,000 pairs in partnership with Lions Recycle for Sight and are

Picture: SPECSAVERS hoping to collect another 400,000 by the end of 2022 – heading toward a goal of over one million pairs of glasses donated only five years since the partnership began.

To head in store to donate any of your own pre-loved glasses, visit Specsavers Lilydale at 65/45 Hutchinson St, Lilydale, or visit https:// www.specsavers.com.au/stores for more information.

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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A VISION SPLENDID – 40 ACRES CARRINGTON PARK boasts 40 acres of high-yielding pasture in the equestrian heartland of desirable Dixons Creek. This property has seen only 3 owners since its original selection by the pioneering Lorimer family in the 1800s. It is an address steeped in a continuing history of agricultural excellence that makes it one of the Yarra Valley’s most premium properties listed for sale right now.

You will fall in love with: · a country property serviced by mains water and fixed wireless broadband · 500 sqm plus of shedding · 360 degree panoramic views of the Yarra Valley from Mount St Leonard to the Dandenongs The homestead is a well-appointed 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom brick veneer home with covered entertaining and four car accommodation. There is a view from every window. Practicality is front-of-mind with an open plan flow-through kitchen / meals area

adjacent to a spacious living room. Laundry / mud room provide ease of access when maintaining the grounds. Features of the home include double shower, reverse cycle split system and wood heating.

The property’s showpiece is its 20 m x 60 m well-drained menage. In addition, the main shed of 390 sqm under-roof (incl. veranda) is thoroughly thought-out, with rubber-floored concrete stables (ideal for the safety and security of your horses), size-and-a-half breezeway capable of securing two horses, and two large access doors to maximise air flow.

Yarra Glen township is only a 9-minute drive with all essential services.

Furthermore, Hoddle Street is only 44 minutes away. If you are seeking a mediumsized acreage property with essential agricultural facilities, quality pasture, fantastic views, and a comfortable home under an hour from Melbourne, you will not find a better match. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: Carrington Park, 220 Bottings Lane, DIXONS CREEK Description: 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 12 garage Price: $2,650,000 - $2,800,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Rob Verhagen phone: 0448 820 022 email: rob@integrityrealestate.com.au, INTEGRITY REAL ESTATE, YARRA VALLEY AND KINGLAKE RANGES

SUBURBAN, COUNTRY & LIFESTYLE PROPERTIES ACROSS THE REGION mailcommunity.com.au

com.au

Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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MAIL PROPERTY GUIDE

21

HOME FOCUS

FAMILY LIVING ON A GRAND SCALE BOASTING large family living and just on an acre of rolling lush green lawns this spacious family home is ideally suited for the extended and growing family.

Offering 4 bedrooms all with built in robes and an ensuite in the main bedroom, multiple living areas give the whole family loads of space with separate living/family and lounge rooms.

The fresh modern kitchen has plenty of bench and cupboard space with quality appliances.

Entertain in style all year round with a huge under cover entertaining area plus a separate bar and king size outdoor oven, and the kids will love the inground pool this summer.

Plenty of car, trailer, boat and caravan accommodation with a large lock up garage and a separate 2 car garage plus a bonus bungalow ideal for the teenagers or dependent relative.

Great views, colourful established gardens on a picturesque flat block it’s the ideal place to call home and conveniently located just a short stroll to local schools, Wesburn park and popular local cafes. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS

12582479-JC50-22

Address: 2799 Warburton Highway, WESBURN Description: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 garage Price: $1,100,000 - $1,200,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: David Carroll 0419 539 320, BELL REAL ESTATE - YARRA JUNCTION, 5967 1277

“Eagle’s Nest” - Executive Home in a Secluded Hills Locale on ¾ Acre with Off Grid Potential (Land size 3302m2) 1 Osprey Rd, Mt Dandenong Idyllically positioned in a most peaceful and private enclave adjacent to majestic state forest and the Kyeema Track, this bespoke brick veneer property on ¾ acre sits in perfect harmony with its tranquil environment providing a secluded setting to raise a family and embrace the very best of the Dandenong Ranges. Oriented for stunning north westerly vistas, the executively built home on an open and sunny allotment, tiptoes quietly

amongst nature where birdsong hangs in the air and the occasional wandering echidna meanders across the rolling lawns. Beyond the sweeping driveway, inside calms with a flowing single level, dual-living floorplan that spills to an all-season alfresco. Families will be drawn to the space, the setting, the quietude and the potential for living off-grid

• One owner property built by a local builder in 2013 • 6+ Star energy rating • Electric gated entrance • Fully landscaped ¾ acre grounds • Double garage with commercial electric door, connected storage cove with roller doors and rear access.

• Abundant extra parking for the caravan or trailer.

• Instant gas hot water system in the ensuite • Hydronic heating plus split systems and ceiling fans for seasonal warmth • Loads of storage, including built-in robes to bedrooms 2 and 3 plus vast under house storage with a storage platform.

• Heated towel racks in both bathrooms.

• Off grid potential with 3 x rainwater tanks (2 x 22500L and 1 x 9000L), solar panels x 8, chicken coop and plentiful fruit and veggie patches.

• Double glazed windows • Pop up watering system for the lawn area run off tank water • 10 KVA Silent Diesel Generator 240V with auto transfer switch to mains power.

Provides either prime power or standby/back-up power sources and an estimated run time of 30 hours at 100% load (model retails for over $10,000).

• Adjacent to land owned by the ABC - no neighbours on that side and adds to the feeling of seclusion.

2

Price Trevor Bell: 0418 333 580 Elliot Bell: 0427 099 880

9754 5888

11 Olinda-Monbulk Rd, Olinda MAIL PROPERTY GUIDE

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$1,590,000 - $1,720,000

9751 2375 22

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1642 Burwood Hwy, Belgrave com.au

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HOME FOCUS

EVERYTHING ON OFFER AND MORE THIS magnificent home in excellent condition throughout having maintained lovingly by the current owners this home is ready to move in and enjoy with your family now.

Walking distance access to the local shops, public transport, and the Warburton Trail, ideal for a blended family, or ideal for a B & B with the Warburton Mountain Bike Destination approved and underway! This particular property could provide abundant accommodation for the bike enthusiast in a most convenient and desirable location.

This exceptional quality home, built with versatility and flair, is cleverly designed over two levels giving various options for living and entertaining, with loads of storage, ducted heating and cooling, wood heating,

ducted vac upstairs and downstairs, and a unique, warm, and inviting feel.

The commanding 5-bedroom, character filled home sits on 1500m2 of prime real estate with gorgeous views, enormous internal and external undercover entertainment zones, and a romantic private balcony for the master.

Outdoors leaves you with nothing left to do but enjoy your colour bursting, low maintenance established landscaped gardens, complete with automatic watering system, potter in a 2-car garage/workshop with toilet, and utilize the ample off street parking with enough room to park your caravan, multiple vehicles and plenty of bikes. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 2482 Warburton Highway, YARRA JUNCTION Description: 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 garage Price: $795,000 - $870,000 Inspect: Saturday, 12.30pm-1pm Contact: Samantha Price 0438 795 190, BELL REAL ESTATE - YARRA JUNCTION, 5967 1277

P 5966 2530

3407 Warburton Highway, Warburton

1563 Little Yarra Rd Powelltown

$680,000 - $720,000

P 5967 1277

2457 Warburton Highway, Yarra Junction

716 Lusatia Park Rd, Hoddles Creek

$850,000 - $930,000

True country living with views and ample shedding.

Over 2 acres of country living- your new lifestyle awaits you!

Positioned on a spacious corner allotment with generous access for multiple vehicles, this will be a tradies delight as there is sheds galore. The bonus here is the divine surrounds at every turn, its a stunning backdrop with even a creek nearby to overlook. Stepping inside the home you’ll be greeted with an open plan lounge, dining and kitchen is original with large benches to cook up a storm. There are 3 bedrooms, the master having a large walk in robe and French doors that open up onto the back decking...a lovely way to wake up in the morning, the 3rd bedroom could be the ideal study or ideal for the teenager to enjoy. A wrap around verandah, garage with remote entry with internal access to the home and a carport to add to the multiple sheds. To top the home off there’s an array of mature plants from azaleas, rhododendrons in a beautiful setting.

On just over 2 acres of easily accessible and useable beautiful green land divided up into paddocks and stunning gardens! The home has 3 bedrooms - 2 of which have stunning mountain views , an updated laundry and bathroom and big open plan living area with gorgeous kitchen window where you have full view of the traditional cottage garden, along with a native garden. It´s truly like your own little wonderland when you meander through your garden paths! Along with horseshoe drive, double lock up garage with roller doors and concrete floor, storage shed, garden shed, wood sheds, chook house, a paddock that sheep currently graze in is also an established orchard.

Rebecca Doolan M 0401 832 068 Inspection:

By Appointment

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Leah Bannerman M 0448 924 266 Inspection: Sat 1 -1.30pm

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bellrealestate.com.au

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VILLA RAEDWARD VILLA Raedward, inspired by the Villa Capra in Vincenza, is set within a beautiful 2 acre garden and enjoys a northerly aspect overlooking the glorious Yarra Valley.

Extensively developed, the property includes “The Gatehouse” which consists of two stylish self-contained bed and breakfast units while the Villa on 3 levels comprises over 55 squares of sumptuous living.

The villa’s grand main-floor entry and hallways access two lounges both with fireplaces, the dining room, a well appointed kitchen, a powder room and a charming atrium. Twin central stairs to the first level access 4 bedrooms (two with their own balcony), the family bathroom, plus the sumptuous master bedroom including a walk-in robe, adjoining study, balcony, and ensuite bathroom. The lower ground floor has a spacious 12.5 x 7.1-metre garage, laundry, gymnasium, cellar, and extensive storage. With appointments befitting a superior quality home, Villa Raedward incorporates under-floor heating, and a magnificent 11 metre central void. Both north-south and east-west hallways allow superb access to light and ventilation throughout.

The Gate House B&B is set well away from the villa and comprises 2 beautifully appointed, self-contained single-bedroom units that attract strong visitor demand.

The expansive garden incorporates 11 distinct areas including the main lawn and pear walk, the pond walk, the conifer garden, the lavender and magnolia beds, oak corner, the Japanese garden, the pergola-colonnadegazebo garden, and the productive vegetable and orchard gardens. Further garden infrastructure include a gazebo with woodfired pizza oven and an attractive garden storage shed.

Situated in the sought after Yering district, Villa Raedward is only minutes to Lilydale and one hour to the Melbourne CBD. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 26 Melba Highway, YERING Description: 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 5 garage Price: On application Inspect: By appointment Contact: Andrew Houghton, 0409 438 526 and Gerard Kennan 0413 139 231, RT EDGAR 24

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HOME FOCUS

METICULOUS HOME ON CORNER BLOCK THIS meticulously maintained home on a coveted corner allotment opens endless options for astute investors. Capturing prime position only 750m from Churinga Shopping Centre, this property is perfect for first homebuyers, discerning downsizers, or developers determined to capitalise on subdivision potential (Subject To Council Approval).

The single-level interior of this residence is bright and inviting. Upon entry, the spacious living and dining area is immediately comfortable with large windows, timber floors and ornate cornice. From here, the meals area and kitchen with gas cooktop, beautiful black benchtops, and seamless flooring form the hub of the home.

With only one step, you can enjoy outdoor entertaining with a covered alfresco leading to the lush yet manageable garden.

Comfortable bedrooms are also afforded, including the main bedroom with ensuite

and walk-in robe. The family bedrooms with ample storage share an updated bathroom with soaker tub, stylish matte black fixtures, and a separate WC. Air-conditioning and gas ducted heating keep this home temperate year-round.

With additional highlights including a garden shed and a sought-after spot in the Kilsyth Primary School and Yarra Hills Secondary College zone, this property is a prized acquisition at any age or stage of life.

Inspection will impress. · Premier location only 750m from Churinga Shopping Centre · 612sqm (approx.) corner allotment with subdivision potential (Subject To Council Approval) · Stylish black and white kitchen with gas cooktop · Updated family bathroom and ensuite · Impressive outdoor entertaining area and manageable garden●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 32 Lomond Avenue, KILSYTH Description: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 garage Price: $750,000 - $790,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Brad Conder 0422 639 115 and Sam Adamson 0421 023 760, CHANDLER & CO REAL ESTATE

25 Melba Highway Yering Villa Raedward, inspired by Villa Capra in Vincenza, is set in a beautiful 2-acre garden. The Villas grand entrance hallway has an 11-metre central void that access 2 lounges, dining, stunning kitchen, powder room & atrium.

Twin stairs lead to 4 bedrooms including a master suite, study, WIR, ensuite bathroom, and family bathroom. The lower ground floor incorporates a 3-car garage, laundry, gymnasium, cellar, & storage. The Gatehouse B&B accommodation comprises two stylish units set within the landscaped gardens recently featured in the open garden scheme with infrastructure include a gazebo with pizza oven, pergola-colonnade, & an ample storage shed.

Situated in the sought-after Yering district, Villa Raedward is one hour from the Melbourne CBD.

Outstanding Service | Exceptional Results | Your Local Real Estate Experts BRAEMERE - 610 Break Oday Road, Glenburn 3 Bed, 1 Bath, 4 Cars

The 127 acres comprises 103 acres of freehold, and 24 acres of leasehold. Improvements includes a 24 x 9-metre shed with separate lock up workshop & machinery area with concrete floor, power & lighting, & an open front garage area, a shearing shed adds further storage, timber stockyards and 4 post and rail horse paddocks.

Ample water, 110,000 lt rainwater tank, solar bore & 3 meg dam.

Just over 1 hour from Melbourne the perfect country lifestyle awaits.

Shop 11, 343-347 Main Street Lilydale, VIC 3140 mailcommunity.com.au

com.au

12581005-SN49-22

In a beautiful garden setting this charming Californian Bungalow incorporates 3 spacious bedrooms, large living room with wood fire & rev cycle A/C, a farmhouse kitchen with walk-in pantry, dining room, family bathroom, powder room, laundry, and full length rear verandah.

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INSPIRED COUNTRY LIVING PRIVATELY nestled amongst the leafy green hills of Gembrook, standing pretty as a picture and only 10 years young, this property provides a wonderful setting to enjoy a semi-rural lifestyle where kids can play and explore in their very own nature wonderland.

Ironically, as sung in “A Home Amongst the gum trees”, this home has a “veranda out the front” that wraps the entire way around the house, where you can have a hot cup of coffee whilst watching over the kids in the cottage style gardens or chatting to your significant other whilst they tinker away in the 2 car garage.

This great sized, double storey home offers all the space and indoor/ outdoor living you have been searching for with an open plan kitchen, living and meals area made warm and cosy with raked ceilings, exposed beams and the warm glow and ambiance of a wood fire heater.

The kitchen comes complete with a dishwasher and stainless-steel appliances and is well designed so you’re not missing out on any family fun whilst cooking.

There are 3 bedrooms, 2 of which on the ground floor and have built in robes and are serviced by the centrally located main bathroom and a separate toilet and laundry at the rear of the home.

Upstairs is a parent’s retreat/ second living area and master bedroom which looks out over the lush paddocks and encapsulates an abundance of natural light.

The possibilities surrounding land use are endless, with purpose-built fencing and gates providing excellent multi-purpose paddocks for goats, sheep, ponies or horses etc, raised veggie boxes, machinery shed, playground and so much more.

Not only are you going to enjoy your country retreat but you will benefit from lower bills due to 3 x 22,000ltr water tanks, solar hot water system and solar power.

Other features include split system heating and cooling, security system, outdoor in ground cellar and much more. You will be full of pride driving home to this safe and majestic location every night and retreat from the world outside. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 355 Beenak East Road, GEMBROOK Description: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 garage Price: On application Inspect: By appointment Contact: RILEY NICHOLAS 0488 501 218 rnicholas@barryplant.com.au, BARRY PLANT, EMERALD 26

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mailcommunity.com.au

1280 Pakenham Road, Mount Burnett

20 Margaret Road, Avonsleigh

17 Alfred Grove, Emerald

HUGE POTENTIAL ON OVER 5 ACRES

‘HIDDENVIEW’ A COUNTRY ESCAPE ON 1 ACRE

YOUR OWN PIECE OF PARADISE ON 1/2 AN ACRE!

3 T

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FOR SALE.

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GUIDE $950,000 - $1,023,000 INSPECT By Appointment CONTACT Sue Colic 0421 772 610 Barry Plant Emerald 5968 4522

20.12.2022 at 6pm (unless sold prior) GUIDE $850,000 - $910,000 INSPECT By Appointment CONTACT Justin Barrot 0438 683 781

GUIDE $850,000 - $930,000 INSPECT By Appointment CONTACT Justin Barrot 0438 683 781 Barry Plant Emerald 5968 4522

23 Gembrook Launching Place Road, Gembrook

9 Francis Street, Cockatoo

14 Bayview Road, Emerald

STUNNING FAMILY HOME WITH VIEWS ON 2143M2

IMPECCABLE HOME WITH STUDIO & SHEDDING

BAY VIEWS IN CENTRAL EMERALD ON 1042m2

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SALE BY SET DATE. 19.12.2022 6pm (unless sold prior) GUIDE $830,000 - $890,000 INSPECT By Appointment CONTACT Justin Barrot 0438 683 781

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GUIDE $1,500,000 - $1,650,000 INSPECT By Appointment CONTACT Denise McKay 0479 184 147 Barry Plant Emerald 5968 4522

20.12.2022 at 5pm (unless sold prior) INSPECT By Appointment CONTACT Brittany Barry 0412 861 094 Barry Plant Emerald 5968 4522

Barry Plant Emerald would like to Welcome Jade Cole to the Team.

With 30 years of sales under her belt, Jade has developed a strong proficiency in communication, negotiation and attention to detail. With a positive, professional and engaging nature, you’ll be sure to find Jade approachable, warm & enthusiastic.

Having grown up in The Hills, Jade has established strong community connections and an in depth knowledge of the area and everything which makes this part of the world an enviable place to live.

Being a local business owner, Jade takes pride in her “above and beyond” customer service approach with a results driven marketing and management track record while striving for ease and superiority in all personal and business endeavours. That is exactly what makes her a trusted, reliable & knowledgeable community member.

Jade spent an idyllic childhood here in our area then time in Bayside, returning to the tranquillity & magnificent Dandenong Ranges to raise her family.

When Jade is not working she can be found riding her horse, sampling the cuisines & enjoying the thriving arts culture.

With an award winning team at her side Jade will be sure to help achieve your dreams to come true too.

mailcommunity.com.au

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CHARMING COTTAGE RELAX and unwind at this gorgeous cottage as you’re greeted by the attractive established gardens and raised vegetable patches.

A double carport and asphalt driveway lead up to the 3 bedroom family home, which also boasts a separate home office.

Nestled beside the home is a single lock-up garage with a rear storage room, and neat front verandah.

Entering the home, you will find a lovely lounge room with built-in fireplace that flows through to a delightful kitchen and dining area. The kitchen is well-equipped with a 900mm stainless steel electric oven and a large farmhouse sink.

A cleverly designed European laundry is situated within the kitchen, which also features a generous pantry.

Creature comforts are catered for with

evaporative cooling, Noirot electric wall heaters throughout the home, and a split system air-conditioner in the living areas.

The modern bathroom is a delight with stylish rainshower and underfloor heating in both the family bathroom and the adjacent separate toilet. Pleasingly, a fully lined and powered attic with natural light, for additional storage, lies at the top of a pull-down staircase.

The fully fenced backyard is an entertainer’s dream with a covered pergola, an inviting play space and a chicken coop.

The backyard also features a separate studio, which could be used for a home office or 4th bedroom.

Located in a quiet cul-de-sac, this home is perfect for those with school-aged children, being a short stroll to the local primary school. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 18 Lenne Road, UPPER BEACONSFIELD Description: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 3 garage Price: $890,000 - $960,000 Inspect: See website for OFI details Contact: Aaron Day 0407 365 994 and Brennan Mileto 0422 996 451, BELL REAL ESTATE, EMERALD 28

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P 5968 6222 311-313 Main Street Emerald

25 Currawong Drive, Gembrook

$850,000 - $935,000

10 Belvedere Court, Gembrook

$980,000 - $1,080,000

Mud Brick delight soaking in 19 acres of Gembrook nature!

Amazing location, gorgeous family home and stunning private views!

This picturesque mud brick home features a cathedral ceiling lounge room with large wood fire & master bedroom in the loft! Downstairs there is a second master bedroom with a large WIR, & office/ second lounge area with a bathroom with bath & shower & separate toilet. The kitchen has a gas oven & wood fired stove. There is a fully fenced paddock perfect for a pony/goat. There is a double carport & a separate teenagers retreat/office building with toilet, shower, kitchenette, lounge area, laundry area, bedroom, two storage rooms & fenced yard. There is also a free standing room perfect as a craft room/office space. Featuring a 3 car lockable barn/workshop with power & concreted floors. This home is totally off grid, with a 9kW solar system & battery set up, supported by a generator.

There is approximately 55000L of tank water stored in three large water tanks, & a septic system.

Charming fully fenced property with asphalted driveway & manicured gardens. The master bedroom offers an ensuite with toilet & shower & WIR. Featuring evaporative cooling & ducted heating throughout. The Kitchen opens up for the ultimate entertaining zone with large island, amazing gas stove, electric oven & also ceramic stove top, quiet rangehood extractor & lovely butlers pantry.

Enjoy the views by opening the loungeroom onto the rear entertaining deck. There are a further 3 bedrooms, 2 with WIRs, that utilise the well appointed family bathroom with a shower & bath. Storage & parking are well catered for with a DLUG with electric roller doors, & a second two car garage with an attached fully lined craft room/office space. This property offers approximately 1.5kW Solar Panels, a lovely grassed flat back yard, a fully covered vegetable garden, & a garden shed area.

Richard Birtchnell M 0438 747 357

Aaron Day M 0407 365 994

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13 Station Road, Gembrook

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Brennan Mileto M 0422 996 451

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$950,000 - $1,020,000

4 Lisheen Road, Cockatoo

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$880,000 - $940,000

Gorgeous Victorian Cottage on 2899sqm Subdividable (STCA), Sunny, Flat Block!

What an opportunity! Expansive 6 bedroom family home, with huge shed on 1/2 an acre!

A nearly 100-year-old, 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom home with 2 living areas & stunning gardens, on the largest block in the area & has been extensively & sympathetically renovated & is near completion.

With a large master bedroom with ensuite & WIR, 2 further large bedrooms & character bathrooms & the home features 10ft ceilings, picture rails, ornate ceiling roses and cornicing, front wrap around porch, a spacious kitchen with gas cooker & woodfire stove from the original home. All mains services connected, a open fire in the formal lounge & mains gas ducted heating throughout. Enjoy the private, sunny, fully fenced backyard with a veggie patch, established flowering trees, a large shed/ workshop with concrete floor and power, a double carport, & a single lock up garage.

This is an amazing family home. With 6 bedrooms & 3 bathrooms, offering the possibility of sharing a multi-generational home/dual occupancy. All bedrooms have BIRs & carpet. Master bedroom has an ensuite. The further two bathrooms contain both a toilet & shower. The larger bathroom offers a corner spa bath. The kitchen has a 900mm electric oven & gas stove, & overlooks the lounge area & rumpus room. This home features high ceilings, ducted heating, ducted vacuum, wood fire, air conditioners & a rear deck that is 9m*12 m & fully covered to facilitate all year around entertaining.

The garden has fruit trees, a dedicated dog area, chicken yard, & a paved area. There is under house storage and a brand new massive 9m * 11m, 4 car shed with concrete floor & 4m high walls.

Samantha Scott M 0438 680 032

Bethany Day M 0438 844 968

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“EAGLE’S NEST” - EXECUTIVE HOME IDYLLICALLY positioned in a most peaceful and private enclave adjacent to majestic state forest and the Kyeema Track, “Eagle’s Nest” - a custom built brick veneer property on ¾ acre sits in perfect harmony with its tranquil environment providing a secluded setting to raise a family and embrace the very best of the Dandenong Ranges.

Oriented for stunning north westerly vistas, the executively built home on an open and sunny allotment, tiptoes quietly amongst nature where birdsong hangs in the air and the occasional wandering echidna meanders across the rolling lawns. Beyond the sweeping driveway, inside calms with a flowing single level, dual-living floorplan that spills to an all-season alfresco - the best seat in the house to take in the magical glow of sunset o’clock. Families will be drawn to the space, the setting, the quietude and the potential for living off-grid yet you are just a 3-minute drive to the Mount Dandenong Village and Fiveways for conveniences, community and connection.

Step inside to living areas that are grounded by the earthiness of bamboo floors under a canopy of soaring 3m high ceilings where an open plan zone is warmed by the ambience of a combustion wood fire.

A striking stone bench kitchen is highlighted by a central island for casual eats, stainlesssteel appliances and a lavish walk-in pantry whilst a quiet lounge/tv room offers a reprieve from busy family life.

A privately placed master bedroom offers a sanctuary for the heads of the house accented by a walk-in robe and rain shower ensuite with a dreamy deep soak bath enhanced by soul-soothing views. Two minor bedrooms are quietly housed in a separate wing serviced by a family bathroom and a home office could also be utilized as a fourth bedroom. Alfresco allure is delivered in spades with an all-season entertaining zone spilling to a polished concrete terrace ripe for hosting friends and family. A built-in barbeque will have the sausages sizzling all-year round and you can watch the kids as they cartwheel across the lush, flat lawn below.

Beautifully landscaped gardens made private by a camellia hedge allow you to pick your own blooms displaying an array of liliums and lily of the valley… just waiting for the summer sun.

Dreams of self-sufficiency can also be realised with the covered veggie patch ready for your green thumb complemented by avocados, pears, blueberries, dwarf apples and an orchard of mandarin, lime, lemonade and apple trees. And don’t forget the luxury chook house ready and waiting for your isa browns, the water tanks, the commercial generator and the solar panels! All the ingredients you need for your off-grid life.

Moments from the top of Mount Dandenong for panoramic vistas of Melbourne and fireworks on New Year’s Eve and with picturesque walking tracks at your front door - “Eagle’s Nest” is just perfect for

raising a family, entertaining and taking time to appreciate life among nature.

More to Love: · One owner property built by a local builder in 2013 · 6+ Star energy rating · Electric gated entrance · Fully landscaped ¾ acre grounds · Double garage with commercial electric door, connected storage cove with roller doors and rear access. · Abundant extra parking for the caravan or trailer. · Instant gas hot water system in the ensuite · Hydronic heating plus split systems and ceiling fans for seasonal warmth · Loads of storage, including built-in robes to bedrooms 2 and 3 plus vast under house storage with a storage platform. · Heated towel racks in both bathrooms. · Off grid potential with 3 x rainwater tanks (2 x 22500L and 1 x 9000L), solar panels x 8, chicken coop and plentiful

fruit and veggie patches. · Double glazed windows · Pop up watering system for the lawn area run off tank water · 10 KVA Silent Diesel Generator 240V with auto transfer switch to mains power.

Provides either prime power or standby/ back-up power sources and an estimated run time of 30 hours at 100% load (model retails for over $10,000). · Adjacent to land owned by the ABC - no

neighbours on that side and adds to the feeling of seclusion.

Disclaimer: All information provided has been obtained from sources we believe to be accurate, however, we cannot guarantee the information is accurate and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions (including but not limited to a property’s land size, floor plans and size, building age and condition) Interested parties should make their own enquiries and obtain their own legal advice. l

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 1 Osprey Road, MT DANDENONG Description: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 garage Price: $1,590,000- $1,720,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Trevor Bell 0418 333 580 or Elliot Bell 0427 099 880, BELL REAL ESTATE, OLINDA 30

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Integrity

Yarra Valley & Kinglake Ranges

CHRISTMAS IS LESS THAN 2 WEEKS AWAY Christmas trees are being decorated, presents purchased, stockings hung, and mince pies eaten as we draw ever nearer to Christmas Day. We would like to thank you, vendors, purchasers, landlords and renters alike for your continued support through 2022 and for the 15 years that Integrity has been selling homes in the local community.

The last few years have been particularly challenging, however, it has been a pleasure to watch our community come out stronger. We couldn't have done this year without you and we look forward to making a positive impact in the lives of our clients in 2023.

Please note that Integrity's Yarra Glen, Healesville and Kinglake offices will close for the holidays from the 24th December and re-open on the 9th January.

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and safe travels over the New Year's holiday.

from the team at Integrity 158 Watsons Road Pheasant Creek

33 Clegg Road Mount Evelyn

55 Marks Road Kinglake West

4

SOLD

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1

$768,900 4

5 Acres

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$880,000 2

1/2 Acre

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12582138-JC50-22

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EXPERIENCED

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$905,000 3

1 Acre

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LOCAL

Give Integrity a call 5786 2033 Shop 2/38-40 Bell Street Yarra Glen | 201 Maroondah Hwy, Healesvillle | 1/2 Kinglake-Glenburn Rd, KInglake *Based on data from 196 properties in calendar year 2021. N.B. If your property is exclusively listed with another agency, please disregard this communication. mailcommunity.com.au

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LIFESTYLE PROPERTY WITH LOADS OF EXTRAS THIS level ½ acre plus property with loads of extra features is a lifestyle investment unlike any other. Designed for family living with a salt chlorinated, solar heated swimming pool, flourishing fenced fruit and veggie gardens, horticulturalist designed native garden, and several noteworthy outbuildings for hobbyists or tradespeople, you simply won’t find this level of liveability anywhere else.

The 1920s coachman’s cottage serves as the main dwelling of this magnificent property. The charming covered verandah and leadlight front door lead into the foyer and lounge with ceiling rose, open wood fire, plate rails, and skylight. The dine-in country kitchen is also adorned with a wood fire as well as a freestanding gas cooker, stainless steel dishwasher, and a charming coffered ceiling. With 4 generous bedrooms with polished timber floors, including the main bedroom with ensuite-effect bathroom, this is a delightful home laden with distinguished features.

In addition, the 10mx10m barn is an exceptional inclusion that is guaranteed to elevate your lifestyle. The lower level with Canadian wood heater features parking for 6 vehicles and custom made blacksmithed barn doors. Filled with salvaged materials rich with history, this is a one-of-a-kind offering. Furthermore, the upper level has been converted into an incredible fitted out studio with Velux opening skylights and vintage steel staircase sourced from St Thomas Mores Primary School.

With further inclusions such as a powered artists’ studio and study cubby, shipping container workshop, welding area, recreational vehicle parking, 2 garden wood sheds, and 2 separate gated drives, this list of elements here seems limitless.

Soak up all this incredible property has on offer by seeing it in person. Don’t delay, plan your viewing today. · Beautiful ½ acre property with solar heated swimming pool, fenced fruit and veggie gardens, landscaped native gardens, and dual drive access · 1920s coachman’s cottage 4-bedroom main dwelling · Character-filled lounge and kitchen with cosy open wood fires · 10mx10m barn filled with superb repurposed materials, Canadian wood fire, 3-phase power, and parking for 6 vehicles · Upper level 2-bedroom studio, separate powered artists’ studio, study cubby, and multiple garden sheds. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 14 Lockwood Road, BELGRAVE HEIGHTS Description: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 6 garage Price: $1,250,000 - $1,375,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Brad Conder 0422 639 115, CHANDLER & CO REAL ESTATE 32

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com.au

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Real Estate you can trust!

We ’ r e h e r e t o h e l p FOR SALE

36 Ferndale Avenue, UPWEY IMPRESSIVE FAMILY ENTERTAINER

$1,100,000 - $1,150,000 5A2B4C

Offers Closing 1pm Dec 7th (Unless Sold Prior) This half-acre family haven with swimming pool and large paved patio in peaceful surrounds has arrived just in time for the summer months to come. Designed for enviable living and entertaining in style, this beautiful home will be the backdrop for many memorable moments.

FOR SALE

$640,000 - $699,000

2/40 Bergins Road, ROWVILLE

3A 1B 1C

CUTE, CONVENIENT & CLOSE TO EVERYTHING!

Located in a convenient location within easy reach of all local arterial roads and freeways, Stud Park and Wellington Village and the beautiful walking tracks of Tirhatuan Reserve, this 3 bedroom unit is well maintained and close to many local schools.

With only 2 properties on the site, unit 2 is privately positioned at the rear of the block which further enhances the privacy of this lovely home.

Sam Adamson M 0421 023 760 | E sam@chandlerandco.com.au

Daniel Steen

Sharyn Chandler

M 0434 979 142 | E daniel@chandlerandco.com.au

M 0439 882 442 | E sharyn@chandlerandco.com.au

FOR SALE

30 Upper Coonara Road, OLINDA FAMILY STARTER WITH FILTERED VALLEY VIEWS

$685,000 - $750,000 3A 2B 2C

Staring out over filtered views that take in the nearby Monbulk valley, this three bedroom home is spacious and positioned privately away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Set on a generous 1851m2, elevated block with a stunning array of mature trees, the home boasts an open plan design with an updated kitchen that includes a 900ml stainless steel upright oven plus excellent storage and bench space.

FOR SALE

$795,000 - $870,000

111 Old Belgrave Road, UPWEY DELIGHTFUL HOME WITH DEPENDENT PERSONS UNIT

4A3B2C

Offers Close 1pm Tues Dec 6th (Unless Sold Prior) With 2 unique dwellings in a top lifestyle location, “Mernda” offers immense versatility for multi-generational living. Situated only 700m from Upwey Train Station and enhanced by distant city views this home will evolve with your style of living through the years.

Sam Adamson M 0421 023 760 | E sam@chandlerandco.com.au

Sharyn Chandler

Daniel Steen

M 0439 882 442 | E sharyn@chandlerandco.com.au

M 0434 979 142 | E daniel@chandlerandco.com.au

9754 6888 1689 Burwood Highway, Belgrave VIC 3160 www.chandlerandco.com.au of fice@chandlerandco.com.au mailcommunity.com.au

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

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33

PUZZLES

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16-12-22

William Matthews Funerals 24 HOUR SERVICE - ALL AREAS

9739 6868 45 Cave Hill Rd, Lilydale www.williammatthewsfunerals.com.au 12567382-JW37-22

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OPINION

Prepping your body Many people in the community feel anxious at the prospect of repeat immune challenges.

Especially the recurrence of Covid. We hear mixed reports from mild illness to extreme disease with fatal outcomes for some. But this need not make us afraid. In fact there is a lot one can do to bolster the immune response in a safe and integrative manner.

Let me share with you some effective tips.

Your immune system will respond well if your underlying health can be as robust as possible. If this is not the case it would be worth your while to improve your vitality in the following ways.

Eat brilliantly. Now is the best time to prioritise your diet and eat an array of nutritious whole foods. Aim for 15 different foods every day, all colours of the rainbow as this will give you an array of macro and micro nutrients to support health and vitality. Keep your hydration high with pure filtered water and utilise herb teas, cold pressed juices and super

Healthy

living Tim Howden

Paediatric Naturopath – Healesville smoothies.

Increase foods that are high in bioflavonoids, vitamin C and zinc. Citrus, berries, orange vegetables and seeds and nuts should do the trick. Supplement your diet with vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc. These are safe to use with other medications and will do no harm. If you are unsure, seek professional advice.

Engage in appropriate intentional exercise five times a week. Run, walk, dance, swim and

remember to breathe fully and deeply. You don’t need to bust a gut, just get yourself moving. Moderate exercise makes most people feel better in themselves. We are born to move and it will support healthy circulation, mental health and energy production.

Be sure to get enough sleep, remember the hours before midnight are worth double. So tuck in a bit earlier if you’re feeling under-slept.

Your immune system will love you for it too. It does a lot of surveillance when you sleep.

If health is priority in ‘23 then make time to resolve any niggling health problems you have.

Don’t let these things linger, you’re worth it.

Gather around you a team of great health practitioners to guide you on your wellness journey moving forward.

I warmly wish you all the best for a safe and dynamic Christmas and New year. Remember, supporting the foundation pillars of your health will give your body the best outcomes at whatever life throws at you.

The top 10 worst films of 2022 Every year has some film-related bad news and disappointments, but you might say that this year’s incidents were more provocative than most.

In March we had the slap heard across the world: Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock live on stage at the Oscars (and won Best Actor for King Richard a few minutes later). Rock cautiously discussed the slap in public, and Smith issued a slightly stiff apology over social media and received a ten-year ban from the Oscar Academy.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore star Ezra Miller has been indicted or accused of multiple felonies, including harassment, burglary, assault, running a compound full of drugs and guns, and an inappropriate, controlling relationship with a young Native American woman. Warner Bros is proceeding with the Flash movie (despite Miller as its problematic lead), and yet they cancelled the Batgirl movie, wasting $70 million in the process.

Don’t Worry Darling was fraught with behind-the-scenes drama: director Olivia Wilde and star Florence Pugh reportedly did not get along, Wilde may be lying about a major casting decision, and Harry Styles is rumoured to have spat on Chris Pine at a promotional event (this didn’t actually happen).

Morbius was universally panned as one of the worst superhero movies ever made, but memes from trolls and ironic fans (“It’s Morbin’ time”) somehow convinced Sony to rerelease Morbius in cinemas, where it bombed to nobody’s surprise but Sony’s.

The Netflix drama Blonde was widely condemned for its heavily-fictionalised and exploitative portrayal of Marilyn Monroe’s life.

The Wonder and Men are both very good films

CARTOON

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with an inverse severe flaw: the former has a bad opening, the latter a bad ending.

On a sadder note, actor Kevin Conroy died of intestinal cancer on November 10. With his formidable gravitas and sensitivity, Conroy’s voice performances in Batman: The Animated Series and the Arkham video games are widely regarded as the definitive portrayal of Batman, and he is deeply missed.

Here are my picks for the top ten worst films of 2022.

10.The Wonder. A prime example of how one bad decision can crash an otherwise great film. The Wonder is tense, well-acted and beautifully shot, but a prologue explicitly describing The Wonder as a film instantly kills any engagement with the plot, as we are now acutely aware of its fakeness.

9. BigBug. A painful inclusion, as I love director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. BigBug is charming and vibrant, but it’s very sitcommy, far too long and a bit too silly for its own good.

8. Jurassic World: Dominion. Features some cool set-pieces and very impressive practical creature effects, but the characters are cardboard cut-outs, the pacing is disjointed, and the plot muddies its own lore and

carries very little real tension.

7. Mother/Android. Features strong performances, sound design and suspense, but also generic designs for its robot antagonists, excessive exposition and yet flimsy worldbuilding.

6. Dual. Has some clever ideas and funny moments, but the overall film is punishingly flat and low-energy. In her double-role as Sara and her clone, Dual wastes Karen Gillan twice.

5. Morbius. A joyfully over-the-top performance from Matt Smith is the only source of life in a dry, meandering thriller with empty characters and incoherent action.

4. Moonfall. A work of disaster porn too hollow to amaze, the characters are bland or obnoxious (or both) and the plot barely makes any sense (and is full of tremendously bad science).

3. Loveland. A tedious sci-fi drama with glacial pacing, no chemistry between the leads, a criminal misuse of Hugo Weaving and an incredibly light, vague sense of conflict. The best part is the cyberpunk cityscape, which feels ripped wholesale from Blade Runner.

2. The Next 365 Days, and 1. 365 Days: This Day. It feels appropriate to discuss these films – sequels to the worst film of 2020 – together. Both are staggeringly vain, poorly-acted slogs in which almost nothing ever happens, choked with pop songs and devoid of passion despite the explicit sex scenes. They’re basically the same boring yet infuriating movie, and are together the worst movie of 2022.

Check back next week for my list of this year’s best films.

- Seth Lukas Hynes

A story of healing PASSION FOR PROSE WITH CHRISTINE SUN A review of The Museum of Broken Things

by Lauren Draper This is the fourth in a series of six reviews featuring the 2022 Readings Young Adult Book Prize.

The Museum of Broken Things, by Melbourne-based author Lauren Draper, is a story of healing from loss and grief.

The protagonist Reece is in her final year of high school. She has recently lost her grandmother, a former renowned surgeon who once inspired her dream of pursuing a medical career.

Worse, having moved from the metropolis to a small country town, Reece desperately misses her old life. We learn that something occurred, causing the teenager to have left her best friend Nina without saying goodbye. As she struggles to make new friends, The Terrible Thing That Happened remains a secret.

Another unknown is what Reece intends to do with the large collection of historical medical books left by her grandmother. Now that she sees herself failing school and having no clear future and career, not to mention becoming a brilliant physician, she contemplates giving away the incredibly rare and valuable medical texts.

But the story’s backbone lies in the mystery surrounding an unusual artefact among Reece’s inheritance. In the process of trying to find out what it is – and why her beloved Nan specifically gifted it to her – the teenager discovers a series of clues that connect her grandmother to the death of some young women in the 1940s.

Reece’s investigation not only unravels a dark page of the town’s history, but also reveals how the past can and continues to impact on the present. More importantly, the journey helps her realise The Terrible Thing That Happened is not her fault. That she is perfectly capable of forging a new life ahead, thanks to the love and support of her family and friends.

The Museum of Broken Things is a fine and fluent read, conveying a sense of humour and resilience even when Reece feels emotionally distraught. Her friends are some of the most colourful and endearing characters in the book, each with their own unique problems to deal with in terms of family and future.

Perhaps the cleverest bit of writing is that Reece persistently tries to contact her other friend Willow, which can appear as a flaw in the plot. When The Terrible Thing That Happened is finally revealed, any careless reader would think it unplausible that Reece is so desperate for a response from Willow.

But when one examines the text really, really carefully – which this reviewer eventually learned to do – it becomes clear that the “flaw” only exists to illustrate the overwhelming sense of loneliness and isolation that Reece experiences. It is moments like her pleading for Willow’s help that demonstrate her powerlessness to either go back or move forward.

The Museum of Broken Things is a heartfelt and heart-warming debut, about young adults losing their way yet somehow finding the courage to map it again. A great example of how something that looks like a “curse” can turn out to be a blessing.

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COOK SUPERVISOR REQUIRED

Municipality Date of Commencement Mitchell Shire Council 19/12/2022 Murrindindi Shire Council

AdventCare is a ‘not for profit’ organisation offering aged care that embraces Christian values. We are seeking applications for our Yarra Ranges Facility in Warburton. Experience in a similar role or environment an advantage, but not essential.

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On offer: • Salary sacrifice • On site car parking • Immediate start

Information about fire restrictions within the Fire Protected Area can be obtained from www.ffm.vic.gov.au, or your local Forest Fire Management Victoria Fire District Officer

Cook Supervisor will be responsible for ensuring healthy provision of food and nutrition for resident residing within the facility. The successful applicate requires excellent communication skills and a thorough understanding of food delivery including dining experience and choice.

Jason Heffernan Chief Officer – CFA

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V Handy Persons • Fence Repairs • Deck Maintenance • Plaster Repairs • Painting • Furniture Assembly • Carpentry

URGENTLY require Sheet metal workers 1st or 2nd class for switch board manufacture as well as Factory hands.

Full time hours with overtime available.

Please email accounts@promptsheetmetal.com.au today if you have experience in this field

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Prompt Sheet Metal

The successful applicant/s will have: • Certificate III in Commercial Cookery • Follow Basic Food Safety practices • Apply and Monitor food safety requirements.

• Oversee the day-to-day implementation of food safety in the workplace • Experience working in residential aged care - (desirable) • Knowledge and experience in chemical handling (desirable) • Excellent communication • Current successful NDIS Check • Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccination Please email yarra.ranges@adventcare. org.au or call (03) 5966 4400 for a position description or if you have any queries.

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NEWS

Families will go without For 15.7 million Aussies (61 per cent), Christmas will be anything but joyous due to the impact of the rising cost of living, according to new Salvation Army research.

This follows a challenging year that has included record-high inflation, an unprecedented eighth interest rate rise in as many months and devastating natural disasters.

The Salvation Army commissioned two pieces of research; the first surveyed 1,450 people who have sought support through The Salvos Doorways Emergency Relief Services* and the second external research surveyed the general public**.

Almost all Salvation Army clients surveyed (99 per cent) are worried about how they will afford Christmas this year, and sadly 6 in 10 (62 per cent) will struggle to afford presents for their children.

The external research found 3 in 10 Australians will struggle to pay for utilities this Christmas and this rises to 55 per cent amongst those who access The Salvation Army’s services.

“The Salvation Army is experiencing a tsunami of need. As you read and hear about these dreadful statistics, we are on the frontline seeing the people behind the numbers and hearing their stories,” said The Salvation Army’s Major Bruce Harmer. “We are deeply concerned to hear about the agonising choices every-day Australians are making, such as deciding whether to pay an electricity bill or buy a Christmas present for their child.

“Others are choosing to go without food and medication to ensure their children have food on the table. And the guilt and emotional toll of not being able to provide the basics for their family is the real but often hidden cost of financial hardship.”

The Salvation Army’s internal survey of clients found: 73 per cent said their primary issue leading into Christmas was financial concerns

·

Cost of living crisis: 77% of Australia’s hardest hit will go without food this Christmas, Salvation Army research finds. per cent are struggling to afford enough · 77 food to eat this Christmas per cent of single parents rate their finan· 69 cial situation as poor leading into Christmas More than 4 in 5 (82 per cent) households with children responded that they were worried about affording presents for their children this Christmas.

82 per cent of single parent households are struggling to afford enough food to eat 51 per cent did not feel good about themselves, 44 per cent did not feel important to others, 43 per cent did not feel hopeful and 39 per cent are not looking forward to the future.

1 in 5 (19 per cent) will spend Christmas alone this year, with those aged 55+ almost twice as likely to be alone this Christmas.

PureProfile’s survey of the general public found: Over half of Australians (52 per cent) are more stressed about their finances this year compared to last year.

3.9 million Australians (15 per cent) are con-

· · · · ·

cerned about their children missing out on presents this Christmas, and 1.7 million (7 per cent) are concerned their children will miss out on food.

5.4 million Australians (21 per cent) are worried about how they will afford enough food at Christmas.

41 per cent of Australians are more concerned about paying for Christmas expenses this year compared to previous years.

1 in 4 Australians are concerned about affording their rent/mortgage repayments 28 per cent of Australians will be going into debt to pay for Christmas (Afterpay, buynow, pay-later, credit cards) 1 in 4 Australians have been significantly impacted by rising interest rates 8.6 million (34 per cent) have been significantly impacted by loneliness, anxiety, depression or stress “These statistics clearly show the dire impact that the cost of living is having on Australians across the country,” Major Harmer said.

“They also show that over 2.5 million (10

· · · · · ·

per cent) will be reaching out to a charity for support this Christmas. We feel privileged to walk alongside people during their time of need, to provide practical support when it is needed most and to offer hope during the festive season and beyond.”

“We don’t want anyone to feel like they are alone this Christmas. We encourage anyone who needs support to reach out; there is no shame in asking for help. If you are feeling lonely and isolated, struggling to make ends meet or in need of a hand this Christmas, the Salvos are here for you.”

The Salvation Army’s Christmas Appeal is aiming to raise $23 million to ensure we can continue our vital work across the country, supporting Aussies in need. The Salvos cannot continue this important work without the generosity of the Australian public.

This Christmas The Salvos will: Distribute more than 64,000 hampers and vouchers to those struggling to make ends meet at Christmas time.

Give out hundreds of thousands of gifts and toys to families to ensure that no child goes without a present under the tree on Christmas Day. Provide more than 136,000 meals across the country during the Christmas period through our homelessness services.

Provide more than 68,000 beds for those in need of accommodation during the festive season.

“The Salvos are hearing from people that they are feeling overwhelmed, lonely, stressed and sad. If you can, we encourage you to support our Christmas Appeal and help us ensure that everyone has food on the table and kids have a present under the tree on Christmas Day,” said Major Harmer.

To leave no one in need this Christmas, please donate to The Salvation Army’s Christmas Appeal by visiting salvationarmy.org.au or calling 13 SALVOS (13 72 58).

· · · ·

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The Cardinia Foundation was established in 2004 with the vision of building strong, healthy and diverse communities. In partnership with the Cardinia Shire Council, the Foundation primarily supports local NFP groups in the provision of Grants including older persons, disability, disadvantaged, youth, arts, environment and men’s health across the Cardinia Shire region.

Fundraising Manager

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Reporting to the Chair, the Fundraising Manager is a highly influential role and will be the face of the organisation. The appointee will create comprehensive campaigns and build brand awareness across the community.

Reporting to the Chair and working closely with the Fundraising Manager, the Executive Officer will provide administrative and financial stewardship, risk and governance advice, and secretariat service to the Board.

The aim is to generate revenue and a significant corpus through liaising with key stakeholders and leveraging strategic partnerships to produce sustainable contributions for the community.

Responsibilities include policy and procedure compliance,IT and database systems,general administration regular reporting and advising on Foundation outcomes and revenue generating activities.

If you are interested either of these exiting roles, please contact Peter Dakin on 0408 330 046 for a confidential discussion, visit our website www.dakinpartners.com.au/job board for the full job advert and to apply.

DISCRIMINATION IN ADVERTISING IS UNLAWFUL The Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 1995 makes it unlawful for an advertiser to show any intention to discriminate on the basis of sex, pregnancy, race, age, marital status, political or religious belief or physical features, disability, lawful sexual activity/sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status or on the basis of being associated with a person with one of the above characteristics, unless covered by an exception under the Act. As Network Classifieds could be legally liable if an unlawful advertisement is printed, Network Classifieds will not accept advertisements that appear to break the law. For more information about discrimination in advertising, contact your legal advisers or the Equal Opportunity Commission.

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Large toilet/shower recess (spotless). This van has been under cover since purchased, the external body and interior fixtures are absolutely unmarked, overall van is as new, health reasons force this sale of an excellent caravan fully equipped for travel asking price $41,000.00 ONO, Phone 0419 206 410 Eildon.

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SPORT

Athletes claim bronze

By Jamie Strudley An enthusiastic, talented group of four Yarra Ranges Athletics athletes headed to Adelaide over the weekend to represent Victoria at the Australian All Schools Track and Field Championships. This is the premier event for secondary school athletes in Australia and brings together the most talented athletes in Australia. In excess of 20 Australian records were broken over the weekend in very hot, windy conditions. Yarra Ranges Athletics was represented by Kiara Flavel, Maddie Laven, Sarah Ebbels and Bradley McMeeken.

Kiara was first to compete in the Women’s U18 1500m Final on Friday night. The very hot, windy conditions contributed to a slow opening 800m with Kiara finishing strongly for seventh place. Kiara was in action again on Saturday in the W18 800m where she chased hard to finish in an excellent third place and Bronze medal.

Sarah Ebbels (W18 Hammer) and Bradley McMeeken (M15 Para 200m) were in action on Saturday with both athletes recording big PB’s to finish sixth and seventh respectively.

Our final athlete to compete was Maddie Laven in the Women’s U18 2000m Steeplechase. In a race where the Australian record was broken, Maddie was always just off the leading group, running very strongly to finish in an awesome third place and claim the Bronze Medal.

Our senior team had the weekend off leaving all the local attention on our little athletics competition. Once again the warm still conditions provided plenty of opportunities for our club members to enjoy all athletics events on offer and push for more PB’s. It is always an excellent sight to see the enthusiasm and effort these awesome athletes show each morning.

Kiara Flavel at Australian All Schools Track and Field Championship in Adelaide where she won the 800m bronze medal.

Picture: SUPPLIED

Yarra Ranges Little Athlete Ryder running at the competition on Saturday 10 December.

Pictures: SASKIA GRANGER We look forward to another fun round of Saturday morning athletics next week for our final round of 2022. Hopefully, if everyone has been good we may have a visitor! Our seniors travel to Casey Fields for round seven of AVSL. Yarra Ranges Athletics is currently leading our division so look forward to another good team

performance this weekend.

Training is available to all club members on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5.30pm and the last Thursday afternoon session for 2022 from 4.00pm for our Under 12 athletes.

Yarra Ranges Athletics welcomes and encourages all athletes of any age or ability. If

Cooper leaping in the hurdles. you, or someone you know, wants to join in the Little Athletics fun registration is at www.lavic. com.au. For information on training, how to join or trial, photos, results and updated news, visit the website at yarrarangesathletics.org. au or check us out on Facebook. Run, Jump, Throw…too easy!

Convincing wins for Lilydale Tennis before the break

By Joanna Campe This weeks’ results for Lilydale Tennis Club in the Eastern Region Tennis competition. This is the last week of competition before the mid-season break – with competition resuming Saturday 4 February.

Junior Open Doubles (JOD8) v Healesville After round 8 this team was sitting on top of the ladder.

Lilydale was represented by Alex Paladino, Ari Marrappan, Rishabh Chowdhury and Adam Paladino.

Lilydale played away this week in a close match against Healesville, who are currently sitting in third place on the ladder. Overall Lilydale came away with the win taking 4 sets to 2 but it was a close match with Lilydale winning 32 games to Healesville 23.

Results: 6-5, 1-6, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 5-6 Junior Open Doubles (JOD9) v Upwey South After round 8 this team was outside the top 4 with no wins yet this season.

Lilydale was represented by Haady Aziz, Josh Stanway, Indianna Perrin and Riley Clinton.

Lilydale played at home against Upwey South who are sitting in third place on the ladder. At the end of the day Lilydale were beaten 6 sets to 0 but were competitive coming away to win 11 games.

Results: 1-6, 2-6, 0-6, 2-6, 5-6, 1-6 Open Rubbers (OR25) v North Ringwood After round 8 this team was sitting on top of the ladder.

Lilydale was represented by Levi Daly and Tim Bassett.

Lilydale played away against North Ringwood who are yet to register a win this season. Lilydale was all class taking the day 5 sets to 0, with Lilydale winning 30 games to 6.

Results: 0-6, 1-6, 1-6, 1-6, 3-6 Junior Development (JDC2) v Selby Blue After round 8 this team was sitting in second place on the ladder.

Lilydale was represented by Lachie Sweet, 38 MAIL

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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022

JOD8 players Alex, Ari, Rishabh and Adam came away winners against Healesville.

Pictures: LILYDALE TENNIS CLUB Ivy Pieper and Ryan Taylor.

Lilydale played at home this week. It was set to be a close match against Selby Blue who were sitting in fourth place on the ladder. It was indeed close with both teams winning 12 games each but Lilydale winning the day 2 sets to Selby Blue 1.

Results: 6-2, 1-7, 5-3 Boy singles doubles (BSD2) v Parkwood After round 8 this team was sitting on top of the ladder.

Lilydale was represented by David Halkidis, Alex Jerin, James Buckland and Noah Burow.

Lilydale played away against Parkwood who are sitting outside the top 4 on the ladder. Overall Lilydale had a convincing win taking 7 sets to 1, with Lilydale winning 49 games to Parkwood 31.

Results: 5-7, 6-7, 2-6, 2-6, 1-6, 7-5, 4-6, 4-6 Lilydale Tennis club welcomes all players of any age and ability. For information on how to join Lilydale Tennis Club please visit https://play.tennis.com.au/lilydaletennisclub.

JDC players Lachie, Ivy and Ryan had a close game against Selby Blue but walked away winners of the day.

Boys singles and doubles players David, Alex, James and Noah had a convincing win over Parkwood.

OR25 playes Levi and Harry versed North Ringwood who were yet to get a win this season. mailcommunity.com.au

SPORT

Lilydale to join Masters

By Mikayla van Loon Lilydale over 50s football players will next year be represented in the AFL Vic Metro Masters League after the club received its acceptance last week.

Having been pushing and preparing for this for over a year, leadership team member Mike O’Dwyer said there was lots of groundwork but one thing that helped the team’s application was its charity match called One Hot August Night to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.

“We’ve been seeking a community level groundswell of interest for about a year and a half to two years now and we put our application into the Masters in August of this year,” he said.

“At the AGM on Monday night (5 December), they ratified their decision to include us in the competition.”

Mr O’Dwyer said this inclusion in the Vic Metro competition offers the Lilydale Football Club a “wonderful opportunity” to embrace more people and provide people with the ability to play footy.

“Having a master’s team in it’s really about including a much wider group of people and the fantastic opportunity for us is that in our demographic, playing sport is only part of that,” he said.

“The reason we do it is because of the sense of connection. It’s about providing positive role models, positive experiences and support networks for the people working with mental health. It’s about having a sense of identity, and an overall purpose.”

Currently the outer eastern suburbs are underrepresented in the Vic Metro Masters competition, which means this will benefit the broader region in the Yarra Ranges.

“Certainly for this geographical region there isn’t a whole lot of masters footy played

The Lilydale 50s Falcons have been approved to play in the AFL Vic Metro Masters competition for 2023. out this way over 45.

“So, this is a great opportunity for the wider community, up to Coldstream, Woori Yallock, Yarra Glen and all sorts of other places in between to actually have an opportunity for men who might have thought their playing days came to an end in their 30s to think again in his 40s and 50s and come and join a program of association and community.”

While the Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL) does offer a veterans over 35s playing opportunity, Mr O’Dwyer said the good thing about AFL Vic Metro is the breakdown of age groups.

“What we’re looking to do is leverage the full Masters opportunity, which is playing at 35, 45, 50s and there’s even a 55s competition.

“So our view is that your playing days shouldn’t be as intense as they were when

you’re in your 30s but they shouldn’t be over either.

“It’s the opportunity to get out and do some exercise and continue to play a game that you might have loved your whole life. That’s what Masters footy is all about.”

Focusing on launching the 50s team for 2023, the club has already had a good response from players who are interested but Mr O’Dwyer said they are always looking for more players.

“We’re looking to see multiple teams out of Lilydale and now that we’ve got approval to join the League, definitely we’re looking at a 45s, a 50s and a 55s in the coming period.”

Having had the option to begin a standalone team outside of any club Mr O’Dwyer said to have been embraced by the Lilydale Football Club as they have, has been really

Picture: SUPPLIED

grounding in getting to this point.

“The culture and the community and some of the individuals at the Lilydale footy club are just really high quality people and we’re very fortunate that the club said, ‘yes, we’d welcome a Masters team and we welcome you in our community’.

“We’ve had nothing but great support from them and are really quite humbled to be part of that community. That’s really important and a great bedrock for us to build on.”

Moving forward, while the vision is to be successful on the field, Mr O’Dwyer said he also hopes the Lilydale Over 50s Falcons becomes a network of support and mateship where people “feel welcomed and encouraged to be part of it.”

For more information go to the Lilydale 50s Falcons Facebook page.

Chirnside Park’s Muay Thai champion looks to go pro

By Mikayla van Loon Having started Muay Thai only three years ago, Chirnside Park’s Erin Carter never envisioned she would be crowned a gold medalist at the World Championships in early November.

But returning from Turkey only recently, the 24-year-old can proudly say she has achieved that success.

“It was a big achievement. Something definitely at the start of the year, I never would have envisioned for myself. Everything has gone very quickly this year with my progression through the sport,” she said.

“It was an amazing opportunity just to be invited and then to go over there and actually win for Australia and bring home the gold was really great.”

Getting seven fights under her belt this year, an ISKA representative for Australia came to watch her fourth fight and Erin said “they liked how I performed so they invited me to be on the Australian team.”

In the lead up to the competition, Erin underwent a seven week training camp where she trained six days a week, sometimes twice a day.

While this physically prepared her, nothing could prepare her for the scale of the competition with 39 countries from five continents fighting.

“It was nothing like I have experienced here. It was very full on. I’ve only done regular fights where you go and fight one person, whereas this was a tournament and it was massive,” she said.

“Some teams were a lot larger than others.

So some teams had hundreds of athletes but our Australia team was relatively small with seven.”

The structure of the tournament meant that had Erin lost any of her fights, she would have been out of the competition.

Winning her first fight, 45 minutes later she was back facing an opponent, a big difference compared to regular fights here in Australia, mailcommunity.com.au

Erin Carter and her coach Daniel Den Braber celebrate after the final bell rings to end the third round in the final fight for gold.

Picture: SUPPLIED as she had little to no recovery time.

I won the first two on the first few days, which was pretty hard, but I came back the next day for the final. I fought against the Brazilian champion…it was definitely, I’d say, my toughest fight to date. So they were

super hardstyle over there. “So that last one was a little bit of a war but I got the decision in the end so that went the full three rounds and the judges thought I was the victor and I got the gold.”

As Erin’s coach at WFC Chirnside Park,

Daniel Den Braber said watching how committed she is to the sport has really set Erin on the right path to get her where she is now.

“The two biggest factors [for success] are sacrifice and discipline in my opinion, because everyone looks from the outside and sees the glory shot of standing in the ring with their hand raised, but the first thing is sacrificing lots of things,” he said.

“Erin definitely does that and I saw that in her probably in the early stages in her training of committing and turning up every day.”

Playing to Erin’s strengths, Daniel said they focused on her ability to use her legs to become mainly a kick fighter and a knee fighter.

“Once she gets a hold of her opponents within that closer knee range she’s probably getting a reputation for really hurting some girls with those knees.

“In Muay Thai there’s all aspects of punching, kicking and elbowing but Erin’s strengths are kicking and kneeing.

“Then we tried to balance out the all round game so she couldn’t get too exposed because going over there we didn’t know anything about any other opponents. So we needed to be pretty sharp in all aspects, which is a credit to Erin, she worked hard every day.”

Proud of Erin’s achievements, Daniel said she will definitely be one to watch as Erin looks to go pro in the near future.

“I want to make a whole career out of this sport. That’s my plan. Hopefully, make some money, and be successful,” Erin said.

“The World Championship opportunity to head over there and represent Australia, I really hope, and I think it definitely will open doors for me in the future.”

By taking this opportunity to the next level, Erin said she also hopes it increases the awareness of the sport particularly for girls.

“We have such a great community of girls here and showing them, by proving to them that girls can get in the ring and be tough…

There’s room for us here too.”

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