Mail - Lilydale Star Mail - 12th September 2023

Garden goodness for Mooroolbark

The Mooroolbark Community Garden has officially opened with a bang, seeing people flock to the corner of Charles and Station Streets on Saturday 2 September.

Helping begin the planting process, over 100 bok choy seedlings were planted and will be ready to be picked in four weeks, producing the first round of green goodness for the community.

All in all, the committee said the launch event was a major

success and they can’t wait to see what spring brings.

Story and photos page 6

The Mooroolbark Community Garden was buzzing with people when it officially opened.

Fighting for life

By Mikayla van Loon

A Mooroolbark mother of six has turned her terminal breast cancer diagnosis into an opportunity to raise awareness around the deadly disease that has the ability to take her from her children and husband.

Susan Mackenzie is using her fight against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) to shine a light on the lack of treatment options available in Australia to target her specific form of cancer.

Joining the recently released documentary from Pink Hope called ‘Beyond the Diagnosis: Confronting Triple Negative Breast Cancer’, Susan tells of the tollTNBC has had on her and her family since receiving the diagnosis in 2019.

TNBC is a relatively unknown form of breast cancer that mostly affects younger women and has a lesser survival rate than most other breast cancers. Statistics show that 92 per cent of most common breast cancers have a five year survival rate but for advanced cancers like TNBC, seven in 10 women will die within five

William Matthews Funerals

years of their diagnosis.

For Susan, despite being cleared of her breast cancer once after rigorous treatment, it returned a year later, this time spreading throughout her body.

Given just years to live, Susan has turned her attention to surviving as long as possible for her children and to help other women who are confronted by a similar diagnosis.

Feeling as though she has been failed by the health system, with detection of her second-

ary cancer not found until she raised serious alarm, Susan said “it’s so easy for them to have those campaigns about early detection but how about the resources to back them up”.

Seeing a shortfall in the number of appointments and treatments available throughout her own journey, Susan said even if something was to offer her a 30 per cent chance of effectiveness, she would take it.

To read more about Susan’s story, turn to page 10

Picture: SAGE VAN DER HEIJDEN

Teen driver arrested

By Mikayla van Loon

A P-plate driver has been arrested after a two car collision in Chirnside Park on Friday 8 September, with one of the vehicles believed to have been stolen.

“The driver of the [blue Volkswagen golf], an 18-year-old McMahons Creek man, ran from the scene but was arrested a short time later and is assisting police with their enquiries,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

“Officers believe the Volkswagen was stolen during a burglary in Box Hill on 7 September.”

The second vehicle was a purple Ford Fiesta.

The drivers involved had a lucky escape with the force of impact causing the engine to dislodge from one of the cars.

“A 49-year-old Mooroolbark man was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,” police confirmed.

Ambulance Victoria said they were called around 5.15am and transported a patient to Maroondah Hospital “in a stable condition with a lower body injury”.

Chirnside Park and Mooroolbark CFA crews attended to offer assistance because the crash “resulted in an oil spill on the road”.

“The incident was under control by 5.30am. The scene was declared safe by 6.05am and handed to police,” a CFA spokesperson said.

Lilydale SES unit controller Shaun Caulfield said despite members being called to the collision, they weren’t required to help extricate any of the drivers.

“They were very lucky. It was a substantial collision because it took an engine out of one of the vehicles,” he said.

“It hit at a 90 degree angle and that’s why the engine has come out but we’ve seen lots of crashes where engines haven’t been removed from the car.”

Mr Caulfield said this recent collision is a reminder to drivers to stick to the road rules and drive responsibly.

While some people have taken to social media to blame the intersection, Mr Caulfield said it ultimately comes down to driver safety and caution, particularly when approaching intersections.

The cause of the collision is still under investigation by police but Mr Caulfield said“the amount of damage to the vehicles would suggest that police investigate speed as a factor”.

Anyone with any information, CCTV/dashcam vision or who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

Police ride buses in public safety move

Transit police have arrested two people in a first of its kind operation targeting antisocial behaviour on the bus network in Melbourne’s east.

Operation Ride saw Transit police officers ride various bus routes in the area, with a police vehicle following behind, to bolster public safety.

It included bus routes 608 – Lilydale to Warburton, and bus route 901 – Ringwood to Knox.

Transit Safety Division Acting Sergeant Kelly Dinnan said police focus is making sure people are not only safe but feel safe wherever and whenever they use public transport.

“This operation saw transit police members tasked to the east – riding various bus routes to detect and deter anti-social behaviour on-board the bus network and reassure the community.

“We also had PSOs patrolling nearby train stations and involved our public transport partners to ensure the safety of commuters,“ she said.

This year, all Australians will be invited to make history by saying ‘yes’ in a compulsory referendum to alter Australia’s Constitution by enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

The Constitution is the founding legal document of our nation, providing the basic rules for the government of Australia. The Constitution is our nation’s birth certificate.

Over many years we have spent a lot trying to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, but we haven’t got better results.

If the referendum succeeds, the Voice to Parliament means Indigenous Australians will be consulted and give advice to Government

The two-day operation took place on 5 and 6 September, with police highly visible to detect and deter crime on the network and enhance public safety.

The arrests included a 30-year-old male from Boronia for possessing a drug of dependence and weapons and a 47-year-old male from Croydon for multiple outstanding warrants.

Two behaviour offences were also issued, along with five traffic offences.

Police also worked with public transport partners to detect fare evaders.

Ms Dinnan said they hoped police presence on the bus network sent a clear message to the community that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.

PSOs patrol all 216 metropolitan trains stations and four regional hubs from 6pm until the last train each night with extra patrols on weekends.

to design better solutions for issues that affect them.

This will lead to better outcomes for Indigenous Australians in health, employment, and education – because we know when Government listens to people, we get results.

For most of us, saying ‘yes’ won’t change much. But for Indigenous Australians the Voice will bring about tangible change. There is nothing to lose, but so much to be gained.

Van theft

Police are investigating the theft of a white 2013 Volkswagen Crafter van, displaying number plates 1QO 2XE, from a residential street in Mount Evelyn on 3 September.

The van has advertising decals for E & M Services Concrete Polishing on all sides.

If you see this vehicle or can assist police in their investigation, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Drink driving caught

A man, 49, travelling along Maroondah Highway in Healesville has been caught drink driving.

The driver returned a positive Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) for alcohol. He accompanied police and later returned an Evidentiary Breath Test (EBT) result of 0.079.

He was issued with a $577 penalty notice andhislicencewillbecancelledforsixmonths. Don’t drink and drive this finals

season

Victoria Police is warning young people about the dangers of drink driving and miscalculating their alcohol intake during local football final celebrations.

Police are engaging with local football clubs and leagues to ensure precautions are in place for players and supporters to safely enjoy the celebrations and club officials and parents are encouraged to arrange alternative transport so players can celebrate with teammates and make it home from end-of-season functions safely.

Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said far too often they heard from drivers who thought they would be OK to drive after one or two drinks.

“The safest option is – if you’re going to drink, don’t drive. End of football season celebrations are commonly associated with social events and alcohol consumption, so if you’re planning to drink, just leave the car at home and arrange a designated driver or utilise alternative transport methods,“ he said

“The message from police is clear – drinking and driving won’t be tolerated. We’ll be out conducting testing and focusing on areas where we know events and celebrations are taking place so don’t take the risk”.

Victoria Police are targeting drink and drug driving in the lead up to Operation Scoreboard, a statewide road policing effort set to take place over the AFL grand final long weekend later this month.

Replacement buses

Buses will replace trains on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines from Friday 22 September to last service Sunday 24 September.

The Lilydale line will also have bus replacements between Ringwood and Lilydale from 8.30pm Friday 6 October to the last service on Thursday 12 October.

A white van has been stolen from Mount Evelyn. Picture: YARRA RANGES EYEWATCH

The blue Volkswagen Golf and purple Ford Fiesta collided at the intersection of Maroondah Highway and Kimberley Drive.

You can keep fighting fatigue, until you can’t.

Working 17 continuous hours causes impairment equivalent to .05

blood alcohol concentration level.

Working long, multiple days in a row by yourself can be part of the job but consider the cost to you and your family.

Check in with yourself and others around you. Know the signs of fatigue, visit worksafe.vic.gov.au/farmfatigue

It’s never you, until it is.

Corruption concerns aired

By Gabriella Vukman

The release of IBAC’s latest report on Corruption findings in the Victorian Public Sector, set heads spinning on 29 August, as local councillors and representatives outlined mixed views of the report.

This report, elicited by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC), was conducted via an overarching and optional survey sent out via email to be completed by Victorian Members of Parliament (MPs) and local government councillors.

Eildon MP Cindy McLeish said transparency was key in holding governments to account.

”Processes must be clear, understood and they need to be followed. If dodgy processes are the way it’s done, then the processes remain dodgy and it’s a slippery slope,” she said.

IBAC executive director of prevention and communication Dr Linda Timothy said collecting the survey data “helps us to better target our corruption prevention, detection, and education efforts to address corruption risks and vulnerabilities across the whole public sector.”

The survey demonstrated that 73 per cent of councillors and 68 per cent of MPs think corruption is a problem in Victoria, naming nepotism, collusion and misuse of resources as some of the most prominent risks they faced.

Although the survey was sent out to all councillors and MPs in the Victorian government, just 28 of the 128 MPs and 131 of the 632 local government councillors, filled out and submitted the survey.

In the report, 61 per cent of MPs and 59 per cent of councillors agreed that corruption was a problem among elected officials.

“With five IBAC reports tabled in the last 12 months involving the Andrews Labor Government, is it no wonder that MPs and Council-

lors are concerned about corruption in the state,” Ms McLeish said.

“We also have the Ombudsman looking into the politicisation of the public service which is further cause for alarm. The public service should be objective and independent and not another arm of government.

“The Andrews Government’s recent appointment of three former Labor Ministers to key positions without an open and transparent recruitment process is concerning.”

The survey results found 64 per cent of participating MPs strongly agreed that they would report corrupt behaviour if they observed it,

Three time’s the charm as RBA cash rate is held

By Tanya Faulkner

Mortgage holders will be quietly celebrating this month as the RBA cash rate is revealed to the public.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has held the cash rate for a third consecutive month, which also marks Phillip Lowe’s last move as governor of the Central Bank.

The cash rate will remain on hold at 4.1 per cent, the highest it has been since mid 2012.

Experts say the decision was widely expected, in particular by the big four banks - NAB, CBA, ANZ and Westpac.

Following RBA custom, Lowe left open the possibility of further rate increases if needed.

“Some further tightening of monetary policy may be required to ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe, but that will continue to depend on the data and the evolving assessment of risks,” he said at the Tuesday board meeting.

Despite goods price inflation easing in recent weeks, the prices of several services continue to rise briskly, and rent inflation is also elevated.

Compare the Market’s economic director, David Koch, said although the relief is welcome by many Australians, overleveraged borrowers may suffer if these high rates linger.

“While we may have reached a peak, we’re a far cry away from the ultra-low rates Lowe had forecast until 2024.

“It’s unlikely we’ll ever get back to the record low rates we had during the pandemic, those days are probably gone.

“Unfortunately it means a lot of borrowers, particularly young people, will struggle to make their repayments,” he said.

The central bank said tightening on the

monetary policy, and the cash rate increases that started in May 2022, have played their part in helping reduce the headline inflation rate from a December peak annual rate of 8.4 per cent to 4.9 per cent by July 2023.

Mr Koch said there are positive signs that action on rates have been effective in curbing inflation.

“We saw CPI fall to 4.9 per cent in July, down from 5.4 per cent in June.

“In such tight conditions, people are hiding their wallets and reining in spending wherever they can.

“We are finally starting to see that behaviour is having an effect on overall prices,” he said.

Despite these effects, Australia’s inflation rate remains higher than similarly rich nations, and far off the RBA’s preferred target band of 2-3 percent that it expects won’t be reached until 2025.

Australians with a $750,000 mortgage sitting on a variable rate could already be paying $1,814 more each month than they were at the start of May 2022.

with the remaining percentage agreeing. However, 14 per cent of MPs did not answer this question.

Further, 36 per cent of MPs and 34 per cent of councillors strongly agreed that “their elected colleagues would be supportive if they reported corruption”.

Yarra Ranges Mayor Jim Child said the council followed strict processes to ensure corruption and the reporting of it was made clear to councillors.

“AtYarra Ranges, we have clear processes in place to make councillors very aware of how to operate and navigate their important roles as

elected officials,” he said.

“We have to be ever vigilant and abide by our processes, and I’m confident this will continue in our region thanks to the training we undertake as councillors.”

But anonymity remained a high priority for those reporting corruption, Dr Timothy said.

“If people have reported corruption, most people aren’t going to say they reported this because it could come back to bite them. Even if someone has reported it, they want to be anonymous,” she said.

Dr Timothy said “one of the interesting findings in the report was learning that while most councillors and MPs said they would report corruption if they observed it, not all of them knew how to report corruption.”

“IBAC has work to do in educating our political representatives on IBAC’s role and functions,” Dr Timothy said.

An IBAC statement said “the survey findings reinforced the importance of several recommendations made in IBAC’s Operation Sandon special report, including the need for better training on governance, leadership and integrity and the development of a model Councillor Code of Conduct.”

Upon being asked if she trusted IBAC’s results, Ms McLeish asserted that she did and said “yes, because they surveyed MPs like me and as far as I know, the survey went out to everybody”.

Additionally, Ms McLeish was asked if she herself had experienced corruption in government, to which she said, “not corruption. I haven’t seen anything but we’ve seen the reports when they have uncovered corruption. People are often saying to me that something is corrupt but actually, in most cases, it is soft corruption and just dodgy.”

A Victorian Government spokesperson was contacted for comment but was unable to provide a response by the deadline.

Eildon MP Cindy McLeish wants transparency from the Victorian Government after another IBAC report. Picture: ON FILE

Community seeds in place

By Mikayla van Loon

The Mooroolbark Community Garden (MCG) has officially opened, with an event drawing in new members and a crowd to help kick off the first round of produce planting.

On Saturday 2 September the MCG committee, alongside Yarra Ranges Council, hosted the launch, gathering together stall holders, musicians and garden enthusiasts.

MCG president Helen Vander-Heyden said it was an incredible day, basking in the sunshine with lots of wonderful people coming to learn, inquire and enjoy the sense of community.

A highlight for Ms Vander-Heyden was seeing the engagement and eagerness from local people.

“I’ve got a lot of people making inquiries about how to volunteer there as well, so not only are we getting membership, but our volunteer basis has increased,” she said.

That community connectedness was something the committee set out to achieve right from the start when they proposed a community garden concept for the township.

“Making those community connections is really important now more than ever. The community has become so disconnected from Covid and people working five days a week and only having two days off,” Ms Vander-Heyden said.

“A lot of people can’t maintain a garden for themselves so being able to share in that, do their little bit but still get produce and sharing that way, I think is going to help people as well.”

It’s that element Ms Vander-Heyden put down as the reason why individuals and groups have been so keen to be involved with the project, from helping with the working bees to suggesting ideas for the future growth of MCG.

“It’s not individual plots, everybody is working together as a community to feed the community.

“It’s not going to work if people don’t come in and join us on it and be a part of it. So it’s not individual people having their vegetable garden with their produce only, it’s all of us working together.

“I think that is appealing to a lot of people because there are people out there who don’t know how to garden but want to learn or don’t know where to start and we’re perfect for that because we can teach them all of these different ways of gardening and seed raising and take it right back to the very basics and doing it step by step.”

Yarra Ranges councillor Sophie Todorov said she is looking forward to seeing what comes next for the community garden.

“The community garden will not just provide healthy, locally-grown food, but plenty of education for locals on sustainable food production and gardening. It will be a place to share skills, knowledge and ideas while connecting socially,” she said.

Ms Vander-Heyden said there were lots of things in the pipeline for the group, including finishing the polytunnel and installing the fruit trees in the IBC tanks.

“When the polytunnel is up and running, we’ll have our seedlings ready and we’ll do our major plant out.

“There’ll be more working bees because we want to get the compost bins in, we want to get the worm farms in and there’s a lot of different things that will be happening in different stages as we progress.”

Using the opening to plant 130 bok choy plants, Ms Vander-Heyden said by early October the rest of the garden beds should be able to be planted with seedlings. Looking ahead MCG hopes to engage with other local groups like the Scouts and retirement villages but Ms Vander-Heyden said the committee wants to

ensure everything is in order before that happens.

“It started off as a very small, one man band, so to speak, there were only four of us at the beginning and each month it gets bigger and bigger. The more people that know, the more people want to help.

“So our database and our volunteers is increasing tenfold. There’s lots of great ideas coming through and different sections of the community want to do different things. So we

are getting there but it’s still early days.

“We’ve had so much positive feedback that we can’t help but be bolstered to keep going and keep working on all the plans that we’ve got and making sure we get a great garden going.”

If people do want to get involved, contact mooroolbarkocg@gmail.com or attend the monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at the Mooroolbark Baptist Church at 7.30pm.

Duplicity helped open the gardens with some live music.

There were jewellery sales on the day. Many hands make light work when it comes to planting.

Helpers of all ages came to help plant 130 bok choy plants in the new Mooroolbark Community Garden. Pictures: SAGE VAN DER HEIJDEN

The $10,000 contribution from Mooroolbark Bendigo Bank was presented to garden group president Helen Vander-Heyden and councillor Sophie Todorov.

The start of the polytunnel was constructed.

The community came out in numbers to enjoy the warm weather, buy some plants and experience connection.

Upgrades finally finished

By Mikayla van Loon

ThefinalworksatElizabethBridgeReservehave been finished as part of the two years worth of upgrades to the premier open space for Kilsyth.

Funded through the equal partnership from Yarra Ranges Council and the State government’s Growing Suburbs Fund, the $1.4 million project completion was officially celebrated on Thursday 7 September.

For local residents, Friends of Elizabeth Bridge Reserve volunteers and community users, the park upgrades have been a welcome addition to the existing features.

“It was used [before] but to have it tidied up and have further things happening now has given it life,” Friends of Elizabeth Bridge Reserve

volunteer Des Cox said.

“If we look back to when we first started off, it was used but now there’s cars coming all the time, it’s a big meeting place and more and more people are coming all the time, so it is an asset.”

With extra lighting added for safety, improved pathways, a larger car parking area, a bush kinder, picnic shelters, gym equipment and better sports facilities on the oval, the upgrades have increased usability.

For councillor Len Cox who has seen the growth and change of the reserve since it was acquired as open space, he said it is marvellous for the community to have such facilities.

“I have to confess I was on council when we bought this land…it was one of the best buys I

think I’ve ever seen outside of Lillydale Lake,” he said.

“In this area it’s been such an important part of Kilsyth and the use of it is increasing all the time.”

Cr Cox said the Elizabeth Bridge Reserve will only get better with the addition of the 150 Cambridge Road land linking up to already existing parkland.

Helping to launch the works officially was Eastern Metropolitan Region MP SonjaTerpstra who said it was a privilege to see how collaborative work between state and local governments results in great outcomes for the community.

“The Elizabeth Bridge Recreation Reserve is a favourite meeting place and hub for social and community activities,” she said.

“It’s so important to have really open green spaces so close to local homes. It’s great when you can just sneak out of your house and walk across the road or come to a park rather than having to hop in your car and drive long distances.”

Living adjacent to the reserve Mr Cox said to look out over his back fence and just see greenery in the middle of suburbia is a blessing.

“It’s building out all over the place and this is becoming like an island,” he said.

“The council has two things to be very proud of.”

As a volunteer group who look after the flora on a monthly basis, Friends of Elizabeth Bridge Reserve are always looking for more volunteers to keep up with the scale of work.

Friends of the Elizabeth Bridge Reserve volunteers Shelley Large and Des Cox, Eastern Metro Region MP Sonja Terpstra, Councillor Len Cox and Kilsyth Community Action Group chairman Mike O’Meara at the completion celebration.

Pictures: MIKAYLA VAN LOON

The walking trails have been improved for safety and access.

An outdoor bush kinder has been designed for local childcare centres to use for learning.

Big Street Fair is looming

By Mikayla Van Loon

The second annual Lilydale Street Fair is just three months away with preparations in the final stages on what is set to be bigger and better than last year.

Lead coordinator Bec Rosel said building on the 2022 event, she and the committee wanted to put more of Lilydale on show.

“Building on last year has been really important. We’ve had really great enthusiasm and an excited vibe among the community,” she said.

“Having the base there from last year and knowing what we’re doing has allowed us to expand this year’s event. So we’re going to be showcasing the township and its diversity as much as we can.”

Without the backing of Bendigo Bank and the Yarra Ranges Council’s Urban Community Recovery Grant, Bec said hosting a second year would not have been possible, let alone making it bigger.

But with 80 stallholders already signed up, a larger opening parade expected and more space allocated along Main Street, including the soon to be upgraded Lions Park, the Street Fair has grown substantially from its inaugural event.

Stretching even further, the event will spread from Ralph Goode Reserve to Hutchinson Street, with activities and things to see, like the show n shine, all the way along.

Bec said engagement after last year’s event was mainly positive, making it all the more exciting to be putting on the Street Fair again for the town.

“It taught us that the community are really on board with this sort of event happening in the township of Lilydale, which was really pleasing,” she said.

“You just never know how it’s going to be received and the feedback that we received after

last year’s Street Fair was extremely positive.”

But with every major event, it came with some bigger learnings as well and Bec said it has been something the committee has been working on in the lead up to December.

“Probably the biggest learning to come out of that was communication and we’ve really made a big effort this year to make sure that

we have communicated to the businesses affected by road closures and given them plenty of warning to plan their Saturday 2 December.”

For the next three months, Bec said she and the committee would be “liaising, measuring and scheduling” to ensure all the finer details are ready to go.

A call out for volunteers will also go out in a few weeks.

“I don’t want people to be put off by the word volunteer, it’s really just people to help us on the day,” Bec said.

If interested in helping out on the day, contact Bec via email stayingpower@live.com or call 0414 272 330.

The Lilydale Street Fair is making a return for 2023 bigger and better.

Picture: KAREN MAYS

Taking steps for Africans

By Mikayla van Loon

Putting one step in front of the other has never been more meaningful than during the Walk My Way fundraising event coming to the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne for the first time.

The Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) event raises funds to help send refugee children in East Africa to school and this year it will be hosted at Luther College in Croydon Hills on 21 October.

Community engagement manager Aaron Glover said the first event was held in Adelaide in 2017 to raise support and awareness around the “challenges these children face overseas”.

“We work in 15 countries overseas and we have a particular focus of working in refugee camps in East Africa,” he said.

“What we try to do through our work is grow the capacity of the local people to better their future so they can develop themselves and education is a powerful way to change the future for a young person in those camps.”

Ensuring inclusivity and equity, Mr Glover said there is a focus on providing the same opportunities for boys, girls and children with disabilities.

This year, Mr Glover said the aim is to raise $50,000, something he noted would have “a transformational impact for so many children”.

“What people really love about Walk My Way is it’s a very practical way to respond in love to a situation that can seem quite large and challenging, but it’s a practical way that people can do something to make a difference even if it’s just for one child,” he said.

“We walk 26 kilometres on the day, if you do the big walk, and $26 will give education to a child in a refugee camp for a whole year.”

The end result is seeing the young people who are supported take on exciting pathways for themselves.

“The team we work with on the ground run the schools at Kakuma Refugee Camp, and so we do see children receiving that education and then being able to go on and pursue a career that can sustain them and their family,” Mr Glover said.

“We’ve seen young people become teachers in those refugee camps and then teach other children.

”So since Walk My Way started, there’s been over 60,000 children that have received the blessing of Australians giving generously and

I guess our hope withWalk MyWay Melbourne is we just see that impact continue to grow.”

For Mr Glover, he said it is incredibly heartwarming to know how generous Australians are in giving and “reaching into their pockets and caring for young people they will never meet”.

The Walk My Way event is open to anyone who wishes to contribute, starting at Luther College, walking along the Eastlink and Mullum Mullum Creek Trails, before finishing at Whitefriars College.

There is also a 13 kilometre trail walk option as well as the 26 kilometre.

“It’s a great event to do with friends and family. If you do the full walk, 26km, that’s a long time to talk and to connect.

“If you’ve got some friends who you haven’t caught up with for a while, it can be a really special day. It’ll be fun to be a part of and it will make a big difference for the children.”

To find out more information about the walk and to sign up, go to www.melbourne. walkmyway.org.au

CheersTo20YearsofShedfest!

Walk My Way has been hosted in many other spots around the country but this is the first major event in Melbourne. Pictures: AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN WORLD SERVICE

The event encourages friends and families to get together to tackle the 13 or 26 kilometres.

Just $26 funds the education for one young person for a whole year.

Fighting spirit drives mum

By Mikayla Van Loon

With six incredible reasons to keep fighting, Mooroolbark mum Susan Mackenzie aims to defy the odds, after being diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) three years ago.

Battling the first diagnosis during her pregnancy with her fifth child, Jackson, after finding a lump in her breast first thought to be a blocked milk duct, Susan was on a path to chemotherapy by January 2020.

“It was surreal. It didn’t feel real to me,” she said.

“I did four AC chemos which brought me up to 32 weeks pregnant and they decided to give me a month break and then bring Jackson on at 36 weeks.

“So he was fine, the pregnancy was fine, he’s still fine. And then when he was two weeks old, I had to start chemo again.”

Undergoing 12 weeks of chemotherapy, surgery and six weeks of radiation Susan said “they were confident I had done all I needed to do”.

With five kids all happy and healthy, Susan decided she wanted to grow her family even more.

“I said to my oncologist I’m not done having kids. I want another one.”

Falling pregnant with her sixth child, another boy, Susan continued to ensure her mammograms were up to date and she was checking in with her doctors regularly.

“I was always under the impression that if I had a recurrence, they’ll pick it up in the breast. So I kept going for my yearly mammograms, ultrasounds, and they were clear, there was nothing in there,” she said.

Because of her TNBC diagnosis, Susan said it wasn’t hormone related so having another baby wasn’t going to affect her condition or her remission.

But towards the end of her pregnancy and then once her son Cooper was born in January this year, an unbearable pain started growing in her ribcage.

“I’d lost 14 kilos in a couple of weeks. So [my doctor] sent me for a PET scan and when I went back in February, she said the cancer had returned and it had spread too far now and I was terminal. She said I had less than two years with treatment.”

Susan’s cancer spread rapidly to her lungs, ribs, bones, liver and pelvis and now she’s fighting to be here long enough to see her children grow.

“My biggest fear was a recurrence and that they wouldn’t find it in time and it has happened,” she said.

“I was told by a few ladies on the breast cancer pages on Facebook that you can accept your diagnosis, you don’t need to accept the prognosis.

“I don’t feel like I’m about to keel over and die. I’ve got so much fight and so much determination to keep going. I have to. I’ve got little people that rely on me, I need to keep fighting.”

Her six children are all under 10 years old.

Susan Mackenzie was first diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2019 and started chemotherapy in January 2020.

Matthew is nine, Kayden is seven, Mia is six, Logan is four, Jackson is three and Cooper is eight months old.

“It’s nice to see their bond and how close they are and they’ll always have each other,” Susan said.

Trying to keep life as normal as possible for her children, Susan continues to undergo chemotherapy treatment but still does the school drop offs and pickups and day-to-day activities.

Despite this, she feels as though she has been robbed of so much, especially the newborn moments, because of TNBC.

Pictures: SUPPLIED

“To a certain extent, it’s good to have that escape from the diagnosis but also, I feel that I’ve been robbed from a lot of those newborn stages.

“I haven’t been able to enjoy my last two newborns and before you know it, they’re crawling and growing up and that newborn stage is gone in the blink of an eye anyway. So I haven’t been able to really sit down and enjoy those moments.”

Showing a fighting spirit for herself and her children, as well as all other women out there experiencing TNBC, Susan has been part of a new documentary launched by Pink Hope on 7 September.

Beyond the Diagnosis: Confronting Triple Negative Breast Cancer documents the lives of three women challenged by TNBC at different stages and the impacts it has on their mental health, financial sustainability and their families.

TNBC accounts for approximately 15 per cent of the 20,000 breast cancer diagnoses in Australia every year.

It is known for being particularly aggressive, is prevalent in younger women, and has poorer clinical outcomes as shown by higher relapse rates and lower survival rates.

Pink Hope chief executive officer Sarah Powell said breast cancer survivorship and support had increased over the last decade but more work, treatment availability and awareness was needed particularly when it comes to TNBC.

“The unfortunate byproduct of these inroads, however, is that many – including Australian political decision-makers – believe the job on breast cancer is done,” she said.

“The fact remains that those living with metastatic triple negative breast cancer, in particular, face a prognosis akin to other known and deadly cancers.”

Having experienced first hand the lack of treatment options available for TNBC, Susan said being part of the documentary was an easy thing to say yes to if it meant spreading the word.

“Probably one of the biggest motivations is to get awareness out about this, of breast cancer, is a lack of treatment options that we have and to be told that there’s really not much which is heartbreaking.

“One of the main reasons why I jumped on this documentary is to raise awareness. I want to help other women, even though I might not see the results of this in my lifetime, something has to change.”

For Susan, unless a trial program opens suited to her type of cancer, she knows a time will come when the cancer stops responding to her current chemotherapy drug.

“The cancer is stable at the moment, there’s been no progression but I know this chemo will stop working, I just don’t know when.

“That’s the frightening part, no matter how hard I fight, no matter how determined I am, I know the chemo will stop working and then that’ll be it.

“I’ll be told there’s nothing else we can do for you and then I’ll have to face the reality that my kids will grow up without me and that’s not right.”

Whether or not Susan can extend her time with her children by even six months or year, she said raising awareness around her breast cancer diagnosis is a legacy she wants to leave for them.

“I want to be able to show my kids how hard I fought for this. I want to give them strength. I want them to know it’s OK and they can always look back on this and know how hard I fought for it.”

The Mackenzie children are extremely close.

Susan said she would fight for her family to stay together as long as possible.

Two years carbon neutral

Chirnside Park Shopping Centre has hit two years of being carbon neutral, the first shopping complex in Victoria to reach the achievement.

The shopping centre achieved the required 12-months of continuous carbon neutral operations in late 2022 and received its certified carbon neutral status in February this year.

Carbon neutrality has been primarily achieved by reducing and eliminating emissions through a more than 50 per cent improvement in energy efficiency, and then a switch to renewable electricity.

Where emissions from waste, gas and water are not able to be reduced further, GPT offsets through its partnership with Greenfleet, a not-for-profit environmental organisation committed to protecting the climate through Australian native biodiverse forest restoration projects, as well as the emissions avoided by undertaking renewable energy projects.

The certification also makes it the second GPT Group facility to implement carbon neutrality and is something the Group has set as an ambitious target to achieve for all its assets that are either operationally controlled or have an ownership interest in to be certified carbon neutral by the end of 2024.

“The property sector accounts for a substantial proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions, meaning this is a significant industry milestone. GPT is committed to our position as an industry leader in reducing carbon emissions and we are thrilled Chirnside Park is the first Victorian shopping centre to be certified carbon neutral,” Head of Retail and Mixed-Use at GPT Chris Barnett said.

“This achievement continues to deliver benefits to our tenants through energy efficiency savings while assisting them to achieve their own targets to reduce emissions.”

In August last year, Chirnside Park Shopping Centre launched the Smart Energy Hub

as an orderly decarbonisation transition plan.

The hub includes a two megawatt-hour battery coupled with a 650 kilowatt solar array, in addition to a flexible energy consumption program that enhances the stability of the electricity grid during times of energy supply constraints.

The ‘Smart Energy Hub’ uses predictive

technology that enables electricity demand reductions of up to 70 per cent of peak demand loads, which also assists in lowering the total cost of energy for the asset. The solar array is predicted to save more than 800,000 kilowatthours of energy per year – equivalent to the energy use of around 350 homes.

“GPT is committed to climate action and biodiversity protection through the delivery of

carbon neutral outcomes including the reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from our buildings,” Head of Sustainability at GPT Steve Ford said.

“We are proud to be playing our part in the global energy transition and the shift to a lowcarbon economy, which results in better environmental outcomes for communities like Chirnside Park.”

ChirnsideParkShoppingCentrehasmarkedtwoyearsofcarbonneutralitywiththehelpofitsSmartEnergyHub.

Picture:ONFILE

Plovers swoop on notoriety

By Tyler Wright

Aylee Sunstrom is currently in fear of going into her own backyard during this year’s bird swooping season.

The Tecoma local said she was recently hit in the back of the head by a plover bird protecting its young.

“This is the third time this year that the birds have come in, and they sit on our roof,” Aylee said.

“There’s two of them - but this time they got more aggressive, and I can’t tell you how long they’re there for.”

Aylee hasn’t been outside to clean the pool since late August when she found her six-yearold child crawled up under their trampoline in fear of being attacked.

“My fear is that it could knock me unconscious and I could end up face down in the pool,” Aylee said.

“People say ‘take an umbrella’ and ‘wear a helmet,’ but I’ve seen them swoop down on my daughter, on her back; she’s only six, and they’ll go right down low and knock her as well.

“I can’t hang the washing out or clean the pool.”

BirdLife Australia’s Sean Dooley said the organisation does not have a handle on the numbers of plovers - otherwise known as Masked Lapwings - but they are still common inVictoria, except in built-up areas where they are “gradually declining due to disturbance and lack of open spaces”.

“I’m amazed that they survive in the suburbs at all given the amount of people, cats, dogs and foxes that are around to disturb them off the nest or take the eggs and chicks. We know that since they removed all foxes on Phillip Island that numbers have been going up there,” Mr Dooley said.

“In terms of the Dandenongs area, they wouldn’t naturally have been very common originally as they avoid forested areas. But they would have occurred along the flats and billabongs along the Yarra.

“Today they are common in cleared areas and into the edges of towns. Our Birdata system doesn’t seem to indicate they occur in higher numbers in the Dandenongs/Yarra Valley area compared to other parts of Victoria, but the difference is that with so many people living on acreage, there are more opportunities for people and lapwings to come into contact, and hence a possibly higher rate of reporting of swooping, though we don’t have data on that.”

Plover birds tend to nest in late winter into early spring, Mr Dooley said, with swooping season set to be “finishing soon”.

“Being swooped like this can be terrifying, and is made even more so because they have a yellow spike (or spur) on the bend of the wing that could potentially cause harm,” he said.

“Usually the lapwing parents don’t actually hit people as there is a risk they will be injured too, but occasionally it does happen. Especially if the source of the threat doesn’t move out of the nest zone.

“Like Magpies they usually only defend the nest within a certain zone so in most cases just

moving out of that zone (which is probably only around a 50-metre radius will cause the swooping to stop). But it’s not much use if they are nesting in your yard or nature strip or paddock near somewhere you have to be.”

He said the best advice for someone who can’t avoid the birds is to ensure to keep an eye on the birds so you can see them approach.

“Generally they will approach from behind but it’s important to protect your eyes as if they do come from the front there is an outside chance they could do some damage to your eyes. Moving out of the area as quickly as possible is the best thing you can do but if you stand your ground and shout and wave at them or throw things, that is likely to ramp up the swooping behaviour as it confirms to them that you are a threat to their young.”

“It’s important to note that Masked Lapwings are native birds and are protected under wildlife laws.”

In a media release issued on Wednesday 6 September, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) remind-

ed Victorians that some native birds - including plovers and magpies - may swoop during their breeding season.

DEECA’s senior wildlife officer, Katherine Whittaker, said every spring, some native birds swoop to defend their eggs and young for a “short time” while their young are “most vulnerable”.

“While swooping is unsettling, it’s normal behaviour for a range of native birds. Swooping is a warning to people and animals not to come near their young. It’s rare for birds to make contact,” Ms Whittaker said.

Native birds swoop in urban and rural areas, parks and gardens, along bike tracks or anywhere that birds are nesting.

“Not all birds swoop during the breeding season, so don’t be concerned simply because there are magpies or other common swooping birds in the area,” Ms Whittaker said.

“Remember, the swooping behaviour will only last for a few weeks, normally stopping soon after the young leave the nest.”

Those who are worried about being caught out by a protective bird this spring are advised to take the following steps:

Know your local swooping hotspots and avoid the area

· Move quickly but do not run

· Wear protective head and eye coverings

· Don’t harass birds – this can make swooping worse

· Don’t feed the birds and do not destroy their nests

People can also plan their route around known swooping hotspots and report a swooping incident on Victoria’s interactive swooping bird map by visiting:

https://www.wildlife.vic.gov.au/managingwildlife/swooping-birds

All Victorian native wildlife is protected by law, and it is illegal to harass or harm native birds and other wildlife without authorisation. People can report wildlife crime such as harassing, harming or disturbing wildlife to Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000.

The plover’s yellow spike makes being swooped even more frightening.

Picture: ON FILE

Top honours for Noah Lee

Edinburgh College student Noah Lee received top honours on 27 July for their outstanding VCE results in 2022. Noah received a Premier’s VCE Award for excellence in Religion and Society, making them one of the top Religion and Society students in the state.

“The incredible support of my teacher, Mrs Sawicki, was decisive in being able to make it as far as I did,” Noah, who is currently completing Year 12 at Edinburgh College, said.

Receiving a perfect score of 50/50 in the subject, Noah’s achievement was one of “great joy and pride” for Bible Department head Heli Sawicki.

“It has been my pleasure to teach Noah over the last few years, going through everything from the Aspects of Religion to the challenges that religions face threatening their identity, authenticity and integrity,” she said.

“Noah’s proficiency to analyse and evaluate deeply and his ability to see the more extensive web of the interconnectedness that religion has with society has been a great foundation to build on.

“With practice and more practice mixed with a thirst to understand and learn not only for the VCE exam but for learning’s sake are some of the ingredients that have enabled Noah to achieve this honour of being in the top 0.3 per cent ofVictorian students.”

Edinburgh College principal Tim Borgas said the entire school community was proud of Noah.

“We at Edinburgh College are so very proud of all of our remarkable students. Noah has demonstrated to us all the benefits of consistent hard work and the willingness to seek support and advice from his dedicated teachers throughout his schooling.”

300 of Victoria’s brightest students were recognised by this year’s Premier’s VCE Awards. To view the full Honour Roll and to read more about the Premier’s VCE Awards, visit: https:// www.vic.gov.au/premiers-vce-awards

Hut men brought to life

By Mikayla van Loon

A group of pioneering young men less known in nature writing than some historians deem appropriate began their humble journey in the quiet reserves of Mount Evelyn.

E Brooke Nicholls, Charles Barrett and Claude Kinane, founders of the Walden Hut located on the Olinda Creek, became some of the most notable naturalists and writers of the early 1900s.

With the story of these three men brought to the attention of the Mount Evelyn History Group and in particular Janice Newton, the group began researching the influence they had on Victorian and Australian nature writing.

Ms Newton said over a period of a few years, including the pandemic lockdown years, she was able to compile notes and research to produce a 110 page book, which will launch on Saturday 16 September telling the story of the three pioneers.

“During the Covid shutdown I got hold of a copy of the book that inspired these three young men, which was a book by Henry David Thoreau called ‘Walden’ written in the 1850s,” she said.

“So these three young men got together in their mid to late 20s in 1903 and they rented a hut, a basic bark and slab house that had been constructed probably in the 1890s by the village settlers along the Olinda Creek at the bottom of Mount Evelyn on the edge of Mooroolbark and Lilydale.

“They decided they were going to do for Victoria, Australia what some of the famous nature writers had done in England in Hampshire, and what their mentor Thoreau had done in the US for a place called Concord, Massachusetts.”

From 1903 to 1907 the men observed and recorded what they saw, writing a series of articles which would feature inThe New Idea: An Australasian Journal for Women.

“They’re very beautiful descriptions of the Olinda Creek and the birds and what it looks like in the dawn and then the dusk,” Ms Newton said.

“We give examples of their writings, it’s a very poetic but also scientific appreciation of nature. So they write romantically or sensually about nature and how it feels and looks and the colours and the scents.”

The book, ‘The Woodlanders of Walden Hut’, also traces the lives of Barrett, Kinane and Nicholls during this period and outlines who inspired them most.

“We list about five people who visited the hut in that period who were quite renowned

‘Shaped by Memory’

By Gabriella Vukman

Exploring the relationship between memory and place, the exhibition ‘Shaped by Memory’ by Jessica Harris, is on at the Warburton Arts Centre.

Having successfully opened in late August, the exhibition is free and open to the public until October 22.

Artist Jessica Harris described her work as “trying to visualise the inner landscape, specifically focusing on memories and how they connect us to different places within our lives.”

“I wanted to depict the emotions and feelings on the inside of people that you don’t normally see,” Jessica said.

The works encompass a range of divergent media forms, from ink to works with light installations.

Jessica has been exhibiting since 2002, however this is her third, solo exhibit.

“The Regional Exhibitions program conducted by the Yarra Ranges Council was the perfect opportunity for a solo exhibition. The Council put out the application process and I thought, that’s a good chance to give me a deadline.”

The ‘I could have been anywhere but I was there’ collection is Jessica’s favourite in the exhibit.

“I collected memories from people that I knew and didn’t know, making maps of the memories and the places they were attached to.”

Describing her favourite part about the collection, Jessica loved getting “insight into the special moments” of people’s lives.

“People trusted me to create artworks from the memories they shared,” Jessica said.

Another of the exhibition works that lies close to Jessica’s heart is her postcode collection. This work examines how people are or are not judged by where they live.”

“I grew up in an area that I guess people looked down on so it’s great to explore postcode bias,” Jessica said.

“I’ve had that idea float around my head for about five years.”

Jessica began exhibiting during her University degree and recommends up and coming artists to participate in programs such as the Yarra Ranges Council’s Regional Exhibitions Program.

“It’s a really good opportunity for artists in a group or by themselves, generated by the council to put something on,” Jessica said.

Participating in group exhibitions and attaining memberships at art galleries were also elements of advice for aspiring artists according to Jessica.

Jessica began her works with a clean slate, not imposing meaning onto the memories, rather “just drawing lines between the ideas.”

“The next step was drawing another layer of meaning on top of the memory maps I had created.”

The ‘Shaped by Memory’ exhibition is a compilation of some of Jessica’s works over the years and encompasses her love for mapping the connections within human memory.

“I’m inspired by visualising inner worlds,” Jessica said.

For more information on the ‘Shaped by Memory’ exhibition visit; https://www. yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Experience/Events/ Shaped-by-Memory

for certain reasons, for bird photography, [poetry] and so forth,” Ms Newton said.

These days, while the hut itself might have long deteriorated, Ms Newton said the reserve, located virtually opposite Chateau Wyuna on Swansea Road, remains untouched.

“That area actually hasn’t changed all that much because it’s not been cleared and so it’s not suburbanised because it was flood prone and all the little farmers were gradually removed.”

Once they left the hut, the three men went in different directions but each kept their connections to nature and writing in some form.

Barrett, a trained journalist, went on to write over 100 books and frequently contributed to boys magazines, Scout journals, the Victorian Naturalist and The Emu, a bird watch-

ing magazine, as well as gaining an interest in Central Australia.

Nicholls was scientifically trained as a dentist which helped fund his ability to go on expeditions around the county.

He later wrote two children’s books, one about Jacko the kookaburra and the second about Billy the penguin.

“Kinane was a photographer and he went to amazing lengths to get good photographs for that day when the cameras were very basic, standing in water up to his chest for hours and climbing very high, shooting up trees.”

Crediting the original research and knowledge of Barrett, Nicholls and Kinane to Professor Tom Griffiths, Ms Newton said it was he who noted it as “of national significance if you look at the history of nature writing in Australia”.

“In Australia, we haven’t recognised nature writing as much as it has been in the States,” she said.

“It’s a new area, and people are starting to write books about these people but these three aren’t well known, it’s only really Tom Griffiths who brought it to our attention.”

Ms Newton is hopeful one day a replica of Walden Hut can be put at the original site to celebrate the men and create a pilgrimage for generations to come.

But for now, a book will have to suffice.

Hear from Dr Gary Presland who will launch the book, the great granddaughter of Charles Barrett and members of the History Group before walking to the original site itself on Saturday 16 September from 1pm.

The launch will be held at Hardy House, 49 Birmingham Road, Mount Evelyn. RSVP to pherlihy3@gmail.com or mtevelynhistorygroup@gmail.com

Artist Jessica Harris, stands by her ‘Shaped by Memory’ exhibition.

Picture: JESSICA HARRIS - SUPPLIED

Walden Hut. From left Donald Macdonald, E Brooke Nicholls, Ernest Scott and Frank Nicholls (brother of Brooke). C Barrett Koonawarra 1939.

Coming to local stages

Burrinja Theatre

Bakehouse Dozen Tour – Lloyd Spiegel Trio Season: Friday 6 October at 8pm.

The 14 time Australian Blues Award winner has one the most interesting stories in music, having grown up on stage learning from and touring with the founding fathers of modern Bles.

The current shoe features the incredibly talented Lisa Baird on trombone and long-time collaborator Tim Burnham on drums. Combined with Spiegel’s guitar wizardry, powerful voice performance and knack for storytelling, this trio with a twist delivers a truly unique entertainment experience that reinvents the blues and dispels the cliches associated with it.

Sarita McHarg & Band

Season: Saturday 14 October at 8pm in the Lyre Room.

Australia is a vast melting pot of cultures

Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (revised) (again)

Season: September 7 – 23.

The show features three overachievers attempting to perform all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in 97 minutes. Fast-paced, witty, and physical, it’s an evening (or afternoon) of laughter for Shakespeare fans and haters alike.

Gemco Players Community Theatre

from many different countries. Since arriving in Australia, Dr Sarita McHarg has been exploring different ways to combine the music of her own culture with that of fellow musicians here. Subsequently, their music represents the literary taste, folklore and classical tone of many cultures in an unique blend of Indian, Sufi, Greek, Arabis, Turkish, Persian and Hebrew music. Their inspiration is to preserve the various cultural elements and instrumentation and, at the same time, take the music forward.

First Australian woman in Antarctica book reviewed

The Art of Breaking Ice, by poet and novelist Rachel Mead, is a fictionalised account of the life of Nel Law, the first Australian woman and female visual artist to set foot in Antarctica, at Mawson Station on 8 February, 1961.

Prior to that, at the end of 1960, Law visited Macquarie Island, halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica. One of her oil paintings of the island’s penguin colonies is now displayed at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart.

Because Australia did not officially allow women to go to Antarctica until 1974, Law made both journeys as a stowaway, smuggled onto the ship by her husband Phillip, a prominent scientist and explorer who served as director of Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions from 1949 to 1966.

Indeed, history reveals very little about Law – mainly as the wife of the Man of Antarctica who was responsible for Australia’s permanent presence on that continent. Even what is known today as her writing and art works, donated to various institutions after her death in 1990, resulted from her husband’s careful curation and annotation.

Now we have a chance to imagine her own voice.

In The Art of Breaking Ice, Nel – a fictional version of Law – is placed at the front and centre of the stage that is her husband’s 13th voyage to Antarctica. During most of the journey, she is the only woman among 67 male scientists, researchers and crew onboard the ship.

Nel finds herself surrounded by “misogynist mutterings, sexual rumours, condescending takedowns and blatant intimidations” – a male-dominated workplace where she is seen as baggage and appendage of worthy, capable, intelligent and high-

Kemp’s curtain call PASSION FOR PROSE

WITH CHRISTINE SUN

ly-distinguished men, who demand that she be always easygoing, non-threatening, taking every mockery as a joke.

In her words: “It is so wearing. Being watched, all the time. Not just how I looked, but what I was doing, who I spoke to, and how I spoke. It was exhausting... My face ached from constantly smiling, yet I still found myself the butt of gossip.”

Unable and unwilling to rely on her husband, who refuses to see her sketches and paintings as work, Nel is determined to turn her predicament into an opportunity to explore and empower herself as an artist. Against the backdrop of a harsh Antarctic landscape, her journey of self-making is astounding and awe-inspiring.

Readers should keep in mind that The Art of Breaking Ice is a novel inspired by real events. It is neither a biography nor a feminist work. Rather, as the author describes it, it is a story about love, about long-term relationships and living in a spouse’s shadow, about mid-20th-century gender roles, and about the art-science binary.

In Mead’s words: “It is my hope that [Nel] inspires others as she has inspired me. To seize the moment. To not allow fear to hold us back. And to refuse to let the long shadows cast by history and tradition make us doubt ourselves our limit the scope of our dreams.”

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Learn dementia symptoms

During this year’s Dementia Action Week (1824 September) we are encouraging people to learn more about the signs and symptoms of the condition and how to make their communities more accessible to people living with dementia.

There are estimated to be more than 400,000 Australians living with dementia and more than 1.5 million involved in their careand those numbers are set to rise.

As dementia diagnoses increase, it’s important to learn more about the signs and symptoms and how to make our communities more accessible to people living with dementia. That’s why this year’s theme for Dementia Action Week (18-24 September) is Act Now for a Dementia-Friendly Future.

Many people can continue to live well with dementia, but it’s important they feel supported in their community.

Greater awareness helps to create discussion and break down stigma or barriers that could stop people from seeking help.

Increasing our understanding of dementia can make a big difference to the lives of people around us who are impacted.

There are things we can all do to make our communities more dementia-friendly. To find out how you can make a difference, please visit dementia.org.au.

Maree McCabe, CEO Dementia Australia

Bobby Redman,

Chairman,

Dementia Australia advisory committee

Stepping Out

Season: September 8 – 23.

Set in London, the story follows the lives of the members of an amateur tap class. Each attending for their own reasons. This play is a wonderfully endearing tale of how determination, friendship and camaraderie can shape even the most bashful into proud performers. Mavis, a professional dancer who didn’t quite make it past the chorus line, now runs

her own class in the local village hall for anyone in the area. A mixed, and otherwise incompatible group of seven women and one man meet weekly for their tap-dancing class in a dingy London church hall. Each struggling to conquer their inhibitions or dance technique or both!

Then the day comes when Mavis breaks the news to the group that they have been invited to perform in front of an audience for a big charity concert. With varying degrees of talent and determination we see how each class member copes with the challenge… but with only a few weeks to learn an impressive tap routine, will they do it in time?

Reminder:

· The 1812 Theatre Of Mice and Men. October 5 – 28. Bookingss:9758 3964

· The Basin Theatre Belle October 5 – 15. Bookings: 1300 784 668

Spider-Man Lotus shrivels under its emo energy

Spider-Man: Lotus

Starring Warden Wayne, Sean Thomas Reid and Tuyen Powell

2.5/5

Spider-Man: Lotus is an infamous Spider-Man fan film (an unlicensed film made by fans) directed, written and produced by Gavin J Konop.

After the death of his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Tuyen Powell), a grieving Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker (Warden Wayne), is unsure whether he can still call himself a hero.

On a technical level, Spider-Man: Lotus is a competent debut. The untrained cast deliver decent performances (if sometimes soapoperatic), and Sean Thomas Reid stands out with measured, weary grief as Harry Osborn. The dramatic scenes are generally well-shot, and the visual effects are surprisingly solid for a fan film (except for the glaringly fake fire in the warehouse fight). Lotus begins with an earnest, energetic action sequence, the film has a couple of stylish black-and-white scenes with Spider-Man rendered in colour, and has a touching emotional core of Spider-Man bonding with a terminally-ill young fan.

If Spider-Man: Lotus were just a half-hour short film about Spider-Man confiding in a fan and learning to be a hero again, it would have been much better-received. But much of Lotus

CARTOON

is an uneventful, angst-ridden slog. The characters are mopey and underdeveloped, the dialogue is clunky and overwritten, and Lotus’s action scenes are very poorly-shot.

It’s also worth noting that Konop made Lotus essentially out of spite and oneupmanship toward the MCU Spider-Man series, and he and star Wayne were both exposed for a long string of racist, homophobic and ableist online behaviour.

Spider-Man: Lotus is free to watch onYouTube, but there are many far better fan films (with less problematic creators) out there, including Tears in the Rain (a Blade Runner short), Batman: Dying Is Easy, Patient J, Punisher: Dirty Laundry, Power/Rangers, Portal: No Escape and the Uncharted fan film.

Celtic Rhythms inspire

By Tanya Steele

Yarra Ranges Irish dance students recently got the chance to see professional dancers up close in a workshop by a world renowned Irish company.

Victorian Irish Dance Academy (VIDA) students from Tecoma and Mt Evelyn received a two-hour intensive dance training workshop from the cast of the Rhythms of Ireland dance show which is currently on tour in Australia.

Lead dancer Kevin Goble said doing workshops with local Irish dancing schools was one of the highlights for him and his crew.

“Hosting workshops for younger dancers has been a fantastic part of our tour – It’s a rewarding experience to share our knowledge and skills with the next generation of dancers,” he said.

Dancers from five to 50 plus from VIDA spent two hours learning some of the steps and performance tips and tricks from four of the cast members on Monday 4 September.

VIDA teacher Kate Bilton from Healesville said she jumped at any opportunity to encourage her dancers and knew she wanted to work with the Rhythms of Ireland cast when they came to Melbourne.

“Irish dancing, even though it does originate in Ireland, is a very global dance form and here in Australia, we’re dancing and training in the hope that one day we’ll be able to join international touring casts,” she said.

VIDA has worked with Mr Goble before and has participated in online workshops produced by his own dance company Unity Irish Dance, particularly throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns.

“He ran these online classes and all around the world, people from all over during lockdown would record themselves dancing and send it to him – and then they made these amazing video compilations, which was a lovely way to keep dancing during that time,” Ms Bilton said.

VIDA students enjoyed the chance to meet international touring Irish performers.

“This recent workshop was also a chance for some of the students to meet him in person,” she said.

VIDA students also went to the Rhythms of Irelands show the night before the workshop on Sunday 3 September to see the cast perform and were invited backstage to see how things work behind the curtain.

“VIDA were able to go and support the show as well. It’s a really special thing for me to be able to keep the love of Irish dancing alive in the general community,” Ms Bilton said.

Professional workshops allow students to see the potential of keeping up with their training and students were taken through an intensive warm-up followed by an hour and half of learning on the night.

They then performed their newly learnt material to the delight of parents who had been kept out of the dance hall for the special session.

“They did really well, It’s to inspire them and make them realise that, you know, there is a professional career in dance – if they work hard and keep training and stick with it, they might have other opportunities in the future,” Ms Bilton said.

VIDA students are now busy working away on routines for their end of year concert and Rhythms of Ireland is still currently on tour in Australia.

Friday 15th Session 1: 7.30pm

Saturday 16th Session 1: 2.30pm Session 2: 6.30pm

Picture: FACEBOOK

Celtic Rhythms is still touring and Goble said performing the male solo is a highlight for him.

Picture: SUPPLIED

VIDA students young and young at heart participated in a workshop to hone their skills.

Picture: EDEL KEARNEY

Kearney and Goble took the VIDA students backstage before their show at Karralyka, Ringwood. Picture: FACEBOOK

Prize win for local reader

A Kilsyth resident became the lucky winner of a magazine competition last month, something to celebrate at the Kilsyth News and Lotto.

Diane Murtagh scored the $280 prize after purchasing a number of magazines from the Are Media collection.

The Christmas in July pack was a one of a kind prize to win.

Kilsyth News and Lotto has served the local community for many years and moved into a newly renovated shop but with the same friendly faces ready to help.

Diane Murtagh was the winner of the magazine prize after purchasing from Kilsyth News & Lotto. Picture: SUPPLIED

Memories of their fathers

By Maria Millers, Woorilla Poetry

This week Sarah Holland Batt added yet another award to her already impressive swathe of prizes.

A professor of CreativeWriting she is also an ardent advocate for Aged Care and Patron for Aged Care Reform

Her memoir, The Jaguar, told in a collection of standalone poems about her father’s life and decline with Parkinson’s, has just won the Queensland Premiers Award.

The title of her book,The Jaguar, refers to an irrationally defiant purchase of a car her father made after diagnosis. She traces his decline but also delves back into memories of happier times. Grief is at its core but also anger at the indignities often experienced in Aged Care. But this is also a daughter writing about a father she misses and remembers with love, respect and humour.

The poem I’m featuring this week is also about a poet’s memories of her father. Kim Walters looks back at her seven year old self and remembers time spent with her father as he builds a house.

There is no subcontracting here, the man does it all with skill and precision: bricklaying, carpentry, painting. He’s a bricky, a chippy and painter. Is there tradie slang for a painter?

The BEX in the pocket of his overall suggests this man is tired and needs a pep up, and leaves us wondering how long can he keep going with this physically demanding work , yet he still lifts the child on to his ‘rafted shoulders.’

He is still ‘sure footed ‘but ‘walking the line of his tight roped years’. While for the

daughter life is still all ahead of her.

So, there we have two poets writing about illness, ageing and a loving relationship between two daughters and their fathers.

The Builder - Kim Waters

Sometimes I hear the scaffolding strain, his whistle through the plasterless rooms, and I’m there again, seven-years-old, watching his hands cradle a brick, set it square, remove a spill with the point of a diamond-shaped knife.

I remember his hair flecked with paint, a nail purse belted around his waist, a flat pencil, fold-up ruler and a packet of Bex in his overall bib. The way he’d hammer a nail, his gaze a spirit level of concentration as he zithered a wedge of wood with his saw.

How he’d jam one knee up against a horse, shaved timber falling in curls around his hobnailed boots.And the times he’d lift me onto his rafted shoulders and we’d move through the whalebone rooms of a house, him sure-footed, walking the line of his tight-roped years and me reaching into the open-roofed sky.

Do you have memoir poem ?

Woorilla Poetry Prize 2023 closing date is 30 September - visit woorilla.org.au

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

The Builder won First Prize in the Open Section of the Woorilla Poetry Prize, 2020.

Picture: UNSPLASH

PUZZLES

To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal rows and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.

QUICK CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Danish writer, Hans

– Andersen (9)

6 Electronic music player (4)

10 Yank (3)

11 Right away (11)

12 Graveyard (8)

13 French (6)

14 Umpteen (4)

15 Italian composer (7)

20 Enlarge (7)

21 Church recess (4)

25 Soporific drug (6)

26 Dictator (8)

28 New birth (11)

29 Speck (3)

30 Bring up (4)

31 Unconvinced (9)

DOWN

1 Subterranean burial chamber (8)

2 Army unit (8)

3 A Japanese religion (6)

4 Be involved (9)

5 Uncovered (4)

7 Spanish rice dish (6)

8 Solid carbon dioxide, commonly (3,3)

9 Dangers or risks (7)

16 Wealth (9)

17 Skipper (7)

18 Occasionally (8)

19 Abstaining from alcohol (8)

22 Scary genre (6)

23 The capital of Austria (6)

24 Convincing (6)

27 Invites (4)

DECODER

WORDFIT 9-LETTER WORD

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included and each letter may only be used once. No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural words ending in “s”.

arum, atrium, aunt, etui, inure, manure, mature, menu, MINIATURE, minuet, minute, minutia, minutiae, mute, nature, nutria, ruin, rumen, ruminate, rune, runt, triune, true, tuna, tune, tuner, turn, unarm, unit, unite, unmet, untie, urea, urinate, urine, uteri

No. 150

No. 150

No. 150

HOME WITH VIEWS AND STUDIO

OVERLOOKING a stunning backdrop of the nearby Cardinia Reservoir and views across the valley, this character, 2 storey, weatherboard home is large, spacious and ideal for any sized family looking to live, grow and create!

Boasting a versatile floorplan that incorporates up to 6 fantastic bedrooms (or 4 plus 2 home offices/home gym etc), 2 bathrooms and 2 spacious living rooms, this home offers striking features such as hardwood floorboards, ornate fireplace with mantelpiece, timber windows and classic French doors. Gas ducted heating as well evaporative cooling keep the temperature even all year round and a coonara style wood heater helps to keep those winter chills away. An added bonus of this already remarkable property is the separate studio with bathroom and kitchenette that is the ideal guest accommodation, work from home office or teenagers dream come true!

Beautifully paved, there are 2 outdoor entertaining areas plus a large spa which allows you to sit back, relax and take in that mesmerising view.

Add to all of this a remote entry front gates, double garage, a sealed, semicircular driveway and extra parking on a near flat block with the whistle of Puffing Billy chugging past your door and you have a truly outstanding property. ●

4 ACRES, 3-YEAR FAMILY HOME

LOCATED at the end of a sealed country road this excellent property offers a rural lifestyle with the luxury of a beautiful 3 year old home for you to love and enjoy.

The home provides 4 large bedrooms, the opulent master showcasing a large walk in robe and a beautiful ensuite with double vanity and walk in shower, and the further bedrooms all with spacious built in robes, ceiling fans and double blinds.

The home is ideally zoned with family living in mind, with 3 of the bedrooms in their own wing with living room, split system heating and cooling, large bathroom and separate powder room. Storage has been well catered for with a large walk in linen, in addition to the extensive cupboards in the laundry.

The kitchen is any chef’s dream, with a huge stone island bench, stylish farmhouse sink, luxurious butlers pantry, quality appliances and open in plan to enjoy from the meals and living zone. Filling with natural light, this spacious room enjoys a cosy wood fire and showcases a stunning outlook over your natural surrounds. You will enjoy watching nature unfold before your eyes from this position, the wildlife enjoying the dam below, in the warmth and comfort of your beautiful home.

The natural beauty of this property is set to make you feel like you are on holiday, and with the raw nature of the landscape, you will be able to let your imagination unfold to put your own ideas and creations on this property. Totalling 15984 square metres of beauty, with a balance of open grassland, scattered trees, and bushland there is a myriad of uses for the whole family whether your interest is nature loving, horsepower or many.

Positioned just a 5 minute drive to Main Street, Healesville with shops and cafes in abundance and with schools close by this could be your forever property. Enjoy affordable Yarra Valley living at this property now. ●

AHeavenlyPlacetoLive

SituatedintheglorioussurroundsofthepicturesqueYarraValleythisbeautifulandenchantingold churchstandingproudlyforaround100years,richinhistoryandnowreadyforthenewowners tolive,loveandenjoy.Fresh,lightandbrightthroughoutwithallthecharmandcharacterfrom theearly1900’sandwithawarmhomelyambienceyoucan’thelpbutrelax,unwindandadmire thebuilding.Setonacolourfulblockoflandoverlookingasemiruralvistaofapprox.1500sq.m plus,completewith2separatetitles.There’splentyofscopetoenhancetheproperty,positioned topleaseandbeingjustashortdistancetotheeverpopularWarburtontrail,shops,schoolsand transportandwiththeYarraRiverandthehistoricHomeHotelPubjustashortstrollaway,it’sthe idealweekender,B&Borauniqueandspecialplacetocallhome.

Lot2/6QueenStreet,YarraJunction$600,000-$660,000

Charminghomewithviewsandconvenience

Thischarminghomehasawarmhomelyfeelthroughout,neatandwellpresentedandwith3great sizebedroomsand2separatebathroomsit’stheidealhomeforthegrowingfamilytoliveandenjoy. Thespaciousfamily/loungeareagiveseveryoneplentyofroomtomoveandwithpicturesque distantmountainviewsit’sagreatspottositbackandrelaxandadmiretheoutlook,separate meals/diningareaanopenplankitchenwithamplebenchandcupboardspace.Outsideboasts greatspaceaswellwithacoveredentertainingareaandabiggrassyfrontyardthekidsandpets willlove,convenientlylocatedjustashortwalktolocalschools,shopsandtransport,agreatfamily homeinagreatlocation.

3BrisbaneHillRoad,Warburton$690,000

CosyFamilyLivingwithMountainViews

Discovertheperfectblendofcomfort,breathtakingmountainviews,andconvenienttownliving foryourfamily.A3-bedroom,2-bathroomhomethatoffersacosyretreatamidstnature’sbeauty. Immerseyourselfinthetranquilityofthesurroundingsandletthescenicbeautyinspireyoueveryday. Thehomeoffersspaciousandfunctionallivingareastoenjoy,and,inthekitchen,youcancreate deliciousmeals.Ideallylocated,allowingyoutoembracetheeasyaccesstothetownamenities. Whetherit’sshopping,diningatlocalrestaurants,exploringalongtheYarraRivereverythingisjusta shortdistanceaway.Thesurroundingareaoffersamultitudeofrecreationalactivitiessuchashiking, bikingandmore.Experiencethejoyofcosyfamilyliving,surroundedbynature’sbeautyandthe amenitiesyoulove.Yourhomeiswaitingforyou!

RebeccaDoolan M 0401832068

Inspection: Sat12.00-12.30pm 3 A

356WoodsPointRoad,EastWarburton$500,000-$550,000

AffordableopportunityonagoodsizeblockoppositetheYarrariver Onlyafewminutes’driveawayfromthecharmingtownshipofWarburton,thispropertyoffers everythingyoucoulddesire.Uponentering,you’llbegreetedbyawarmandinvitingambiance, thankstothesweetandstraightforwardlayout.Twogenerouslysizedbedroomscomecomplete withbuilt-inrobes,ensuringamplestoragespace.Theopenplanlounge,kitchen,andmealsarea arethoughtfullydesigned,withanewersplitsysteminplacetocatertoallyourheatingandcooling needs.Largewindowsadornthehome,allowingyoutocapturethebreathtakingsceneryoutside andfillingtheroomswithabundantnaturallight.Don’tmissoutonthisopportunitytoembracethe wondersofaffordablecountryliving,complementedbythecharmandtranquilityofthesurrounding landscape.

ARCHITECTURALLY DESIGNED HOME

ONLY an architect could possibly have the extraordinary vision to design this inspirational home.

A superb union of glass, rendered brick and timber flow over several magnificent levels, giving the home a beautiful balance of light and space. The extensive use of cathedral ceilings and glass throughout the house takes advantage of the relaxing views from every angle of the property.

Blending in with its natural surroundings of nearly ¾ of an acre (2,813m2), the home exudes a lovely, rustic feel. Enter via a private courtyard through double glass doors to an open plan design that’s extremely spacious and modern with a feature double

sided wood burning heater (plus ducted gas). A totally updated family home of four bedrooms with master being separated from the children’s level. The kitchen / family room is an absolute delight to be in and takes the concept of indoor - outdoor living to a new level.

The varied roof lines give this home an interesting appearance as well as adding charm to its character. The serene surroundings are in constant view from inside the house, and huge windows face north off all main living areas, allowing maximized enjoyment of the sun. This is a truly unique home, providing a continual source of relaxation and contentment. ●

ONEOFTHEFINEsTsTREETsINTHEHILLs

Thisrenovatedhomeboastsboundlesshighlights,includingastunningkitchen,hardwood floorboards,fourbedrooms,ahomeoffice/extrabedroom,and seamlessindoor-outdoor flowforentertaining.Thefullyfencedbackyardisperfectforfamilieswithchildren andpets,andampleoff-streetparkingisavailable.Additionalfeaturesincludehigh ceilings,heating,cooling,androbesinallbedrooms.ClosetoBelgraveandEmerald,this exceptionalfamilyhomeisamust-see.

Thisarchitecturallyremarkablehomeseamlesslycombines glass,brick,andtimberto optimizelightandscenicviews.situatedonnearly¾ofanacre,itexudesrusticcharm withcathedralceilings,extensiveglass,andvariedrooflines.Thefour-bedroomfamily home,includingaseparatemastersuite,redefinesindoor-outdoorliving.Abundant north-facingwindowsprovidecontinuousrelaxationandcontentmentinthisuniqueand inspiringresidence.

0418528102

PRIMELOCATION

NearNewSteelFrameHomeon1AcrewithViews.

This2-bedroom,1-bathroomnewlybuiltpropertyinGembrookofferscomfortablecountry livingonaspaciousacre.Itfeatureslargewindowsfornaturallight,awell-equipped kitchen,andacozyloungewithagaswoodheater.Thepropertyincludesashed,1.5cargarage,andworkshop.situatedonasealedroadnearGembrookTownshipwith amenitiesandaschool.

0429684522

TayTing 0417302112

CommunityFeel&WalkintoTown.

Lookingtodownsizeorexpandyourpropertyportfolio?This over55’sunit,currently tenanted,offers2bedrooms,1bathroom,open-planliving, amplestorage,lowmaintenancecourtyard,andasinglegarage.Afabulouslocationwhereyoucanwalk intoGembrookTownship,pickupafewgroceriesandmeetafriendforlunch.

mickDolphin 0429684522

JanetHawkins 0409117432

LIFESTYLE AND PROFITABLE FARMING OPPORTUNITY

SITUATED on 60 stunning, private & peaceful acres you will find 50 acres of an immaculate, successful and profitable Cherry Farm + 10 acres with approved plans and permits for an executive, family home.

The farm consists of approximately 20,000 cherry trees and over $1,000,000 of infrastructure including full bird netting, an off-grid amenities shed, a machinery shed, a storage shed and a contractor designated campsite with caravan and accommodation. This farm has been set up with the best of everything in terms of infrastructure and every aspect of running the property is documented, leaving you nothing to do but launch into your own extremely profitable, lifestyle, farming business and set your family up for life. The farm is currently being run solely by a couple who work full time during harvest, being November to January and between 1 -3 days per week the remainder of the year with the assistance of contractors for the picking and pruning when required.

Key aspects of this amazing opportunity include:

· 60 immaculate acres, fully fenced and privately located in the beautiful Yarra Valley, · 50 acres, being home to approx 20,000 trees, all under nets (3 years old) which come with the balance of a 10-year warranty,

· Established supply agreements to packhouse/distributor (approx. 95% of crop),

· Single lane packing line to supply markets and direct channels (approx. 5% of crop)

· 20 Megalitre bore,

· Scientific growth plan in place to ensure the best crop every time,

· Fully documented and streamlined process,

· Contractor camp area and facilities,

· Machinery shed

· Storage shed

· Fully insulated, off-grid amenities shed with kitchen and bathroom,

· 10 clear acres with approved plans and permits for a stunning 4-bedroom home,

· Room on the 10 acres for the horses, hobby farm or whatever you desire,

· Designated Hipcamp site for additional income,

· Outstanding income for a comfortable 2-person business in the majority parttime,

· 1 year hand over by negotiation,

· All equipment required to efficiently run the farm is being sold separately at heavily reduced prices, (chattels list available) and

· Purchase and settle before 30th November 2023 and keep the return from this December’s harvest, forecasted to be $500,000+

If you are looking to escape the rat race, provide a profitable legacy for your family, find stunning land to build your dream home with the option of making an income, (whether you run it or employ a manager), or maybe you are purely looking for a profitable farming business – this is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Being sold as a going concern this opportunity comes complete with all the perks of being a primary producer – so don’t hesitate, call now for more information.

Check out the video at: https://youtu.be/ z9diqxJZNq0?si=mTy4kI3sVDsAXoQj

Call today for more information and to arrange a private inspection - you will definitely be impressed.

Please note: All property details shown are correct at time of publishing. Some properties may have been sold in the preceding 24 hours and we recommend that you confirm open for inspection times with the listing agent direct or the listing office. ●

LovelyFamilyHome–OfferedfortheFirstTimeinover30years!

With4bedrooms,&2bathroomsthissturdybrickhomeislocatedonaremarkablyflat1403sqm cornerblock.Withhighceilings,2livingareas,openplankitchen/dining,&cleverfloorplanwiththe masterbedroomattheoppositeendofthehometothefurther3bedrooms.Thisfirstloungeroom hasanopenfireplace&thelargesecondloungeroomhasparquetryflooring&anotherwoodfire heater.ThemasterbedroomhasaBIR&ensuite.Thekitchenhasadishwasher,electricoven&stove top.Thereisthenahallwaywiththelaundrywithseparateyardaccess,afurthertoilet,&then3 goodsizedbedrooms2ofwhichhaveBIRs.Externallythereisawellmaintainedlowmaintenance garden,miscellaneoussheds,&thenoffthesecondentryisaDLUGwithpower,concretefloor,&a pedestriandoor.Thereisalsoaleantooattachedtotheshedforallyourstorageneeds.

Entertainers&Tradies–1.25Acres+HeatedPool+Shedding!

Withpost&railfencing,electricgates,landscapedgardens,acirculardrive&asolid4-bedroom home–alljustashortwalktotheheartofCockatoo.Thehomefeatures3undercoveroutdoor entertainingareas,&asolarheatedsaltwaterpool.Theformalloungehasanambientopenfire,& anopenplanfamilyroomwithwoodheaterwithheattransfertothebedrooms.Thereismainsgas ductedheatingthroughout&asplitsystem.Thekitchenhasa1200mmFalconGasfreestanding oven,stonebenchtops,&abundantstorage.TheMasterbedroomhasaWIR&ensuite,&there are2furtherrobedbedrooms&thefamilybathroom.Continuedownstairstotherumpusroomwith woodfire,&aroomthatwouldbeagreathomeoffice/4thbedroom.Thefeaturescontinueoutside witha3bayworkshop/shed,ahighbaydoublecarport,DLUG,&6.6kWsolarsetup.

26NobeliusStreet,Emerald$940,000-$1,020,000

Lovely3BedroomHomeorSubdividethisNearly¾AcreFlatBlock(STCA).

WalktotheCockatooamenitieswhilstenjoyingnearly¾ofanacreoffullyfencedflatyard.Or considerthepossibilitiesofsubdividing(STCA)withthe‘NeighbourhoodResidentialZoning’.This logcabindesignhome,offers3generousbedrooms,allwithBIRs&accesstothewraparound verandah.Freshlypaintedinternally,enjoythevaultedceilings,&cosyuptothewoodfire.There isanupdatedbathroomwithwalkinshower&handshower.ThereisanL-shapedloungeroom/ diningroomwithgasheating&airconditioning,&kitchenwithelectricoven.Thereisagreatrear entertainingdeckoverlookingtheyardfulloffruittrees,&rollinglawn.Alsosituatedtowardsthe rearoftheblockisamudbrickstudio,completewithpower&electricheater,adjacenttoadouble carport/storagearea&therearealso3gardensheds.

BeautifullyPresentedFamilyHomewithPeacefulViews!

Thisfantasticfamilyhomeoffers3bedrooms&2bathroomsonawelllaidoutlandscapedblockon over½anacre!Thishomeisprivatelypositionedbelowtheroad,withadoublecarport.Enteringthe homeyouwillenjoytheopenplankitchen,loungeroom&welllaidoutfloorplanwithabedroom nearthefrontdoor&thenthemasterbedroom&thirdbedroomattheotherendofthehome.The lightfloodsintothehomethroughthelargewindowsofferingviewsintothedistance.Thishomeis warm&invitingwithaWIR&ensuiteinthemasterbedroom.Thereisalargereardeckingjustwaiting tobeenjoyedinsummer!Thelaundryislocateddownstairswithdirectaccesstothebackyard,and thereare2largeroomslocateddownstairsofferingpotentialforaconvenientworkfromhomeoffice orprivateteenageraccommodationwithseparateaccess.

AaronDay M 0407365994

BrennanMileto M 0422996451

27DevonAvenue,Cockatoo$990,000-$1,089,000

SamanthaScott M 0438680032

105WooriYallockRoad,Cockatoo$780,000-$840,000

SamanthaScott M 0438680032

EASY LIVING IN A FRIENDLY COURT

SET in a quiet, friendly court location, this well maintained, three bedroom, one bathroom home has the perfect amount of space for those who are looking for a low maintenance lifestyle.

Neat and tidy both inside and out, the home has a well-designed floor plan created for open plan living, with its large lounge and dining area flowing seamlessly off the contemporary kitchen.

Gas ducted heating runs throughout along with split system cooler/heaters giving quick and convenient temperature control in the living area and main bedroom. If you are after a cool breeze, open the glass sliding door and extend your indoor living to the

HOME ESSENTIALS

outdoors with a large paved alfresco area that is both private and peaceful. For larger gatherings, the rear door of the double garage can be opened creating an excellent amount of extra entertaining space. Pretty garden beds bordering the patio are filled with mature plants, making this a lovely place to sit and relax. For the handyperson, the garage offers a powered workbench with natural light.

In an absolutely delightful street setting, with only a short stroll to the Ferntree Gully shopping village and train station, with access to the Ringwood–Belgrave Rail Trail, this much-loved property is perfect in every way. ●

Address: 6 Manna Court, FERNTREE GULLY Description: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 garage Price: $630,000

Contact: Rachel Eastwood 0401 117 761 and Sharyn Chandler 0439 882 442,

BIGGER AND BETTER AT BONAPARTE PLACE

LARGER than meets the eye and with beautiful detail such as soaring timber raked ceilings, this property showcases all that you are looking for in your next home. With three spacious bedrooms, home office/nursery plus two updated bathrooms, this home has a versatile floorplan and so much space for a growing family.

Two separate living areas can be found at either end of the home. The front lounge with its stunning ceiling height, clerestory windows and charming wood fire flows easily to a formal dining area while the more relaxed family room and meals area can be found off the beautifully appointed kitchen.

A combination of gas ducted heating, split systems, wood heater and ceiling fans

work together perfectly to assure perfect temperature control whilst ducted vacuuming is an added extra you will love!.

Outside, the oversized, undercover entertaining area is an absolute must for larger get-togethers and can be enjoyed year round and allows you to spill out onto the fenced rear yard where children and pets can play safely and securely.

A double garage with workstation plus extra parking bay for your trailers or other toys adds to the package, making this the perfect property package!

Close to both Lysterfield Primary School, Karoo Primary School and within easy access to both Wellington Road and Burwood Highway, makes 20 Bonaparte Place your next family address! ●

Immaculatepresentationandafirmfocusonindoor-outdoorlivingmakeiteasytoimagine livingatthisimpressiveproperty.Boastingaleafy,landscapedquarter-acreallotment betweenGlenfernValleyBushlandReserveandUpweytownshipandtrainstation,this propertyisaninvestmentinlifestyle. DanielSteen

M 0434979142| E daniel@chandlerandco.com.au

BradConder M 0422639115| E brad@chandlerandco.com.au

Offeredforsaleforthefirsttimeinalmost50years,oneofthemosticonicproperties throughouttheDandenongRangesisnowavailableforsale.Situatedontheedge ofSherbrookeForest,stretchingasfarastheeyecansee,theincredibleviewstakein Westernport,PortPhillipBayandthethousandsoftwinklinglightsinbetween.The78acres (approx.)ofmostlycleared,undulatinglandhasbeautiful,richsoilandhasbeenpartofthe Endersby’sdaffodilfarmsince1974.

SharynChandler

M 0439882442| E sharyn@chandlerandco.com.au

GlennChandler

M 0418410689| E glenn@chandlerandco.com.au

1JamesStreet,SELBY $690,000to$720,000

WHIMSICALHOMEINWONDERFULPOCKETPOSITION

3 A 1 B 2 C

Thiswhimsicalresidencewillalightimaginationswithitscharm,potential,position,and 1,435sqm(approx.)property.Filledwithhandcraftedelementsandenrichedwithadouble carportandabundantoff-streetparking,thispropertynearbustransportandlocalshops isajoytobehold.Fromthesunroomentry,theinteriorbranchestoanamplehomeoffice/ studyandtheopenplandiningareaandkitchen.

SuzieBrannelly

M 0490506910| E suzie@chandlerandco.com.au

14KiaOraAvenue,UPWEY $780,000-$835,000

LOVELYHOME,LEVELBLOCK,LIFESTYLELOCATION 3 A 1 B 2 C

Enjoythischaracter-filledhomeonacovetedlevelallotmentwithinwalkingdistanceof Upweytownshipandtrainstation.Suitedtobuyershopingtosecuretheperfectblendof moderncomfortandtimelesscharm,thispropertywillmakealastingimpression.

BradConder

M 0422639115| E brad@chandlerandco.com.au

DanielSteen

M 0434979142| E daniel@chandlerandco.com.au

Support mums and bubs

Over the last 12 months, Yarra Ranges’ Maternal Child Health Nurses (MCHN) have seen 1795 new babies across the municipality. They’ve helped 819 first time parents and facilitated 74 new parent groups.

The maternal child health team is now looking for new members to support this vital array of services.

From the first home visit to the key developmental checks, Yarra Ranges’ littlest locals will have at least 10 one-on-one appointments with a MCHN.

Along with weighing and measuring at every visit, nurses are building a trusting relationship with new parents, providing parenting support, and monitoring for any need for early intervention or enhanced services.

Yarra Ranges Council’s Director of Communities Jane Price emphasised the importance of the early years of children.

“The early years are a time of rapid brain growth, really influenced by children’s early experiences. MCH Nurses aim to promote the health and wellbeing of families during the early parenting stage, so all children can have the best start to life,” she said.

With the highest standard of training in the country, Victoria’s MCH service is committed to delivering exceptional care while championing local accessibility. This local service plays a particularly important role in a region as diverse and widespread as Yarra Ranges.

“Providing these services locally – we have 16 MCHN centres in Yarra Ranges - doesn’t only ensure parents and babies get the health and developmental care they need, but our services also build social connections in a phase of life that can otherwise be isolating,” Ms Price said.

Ms Price added the importance of continuity which can be achieved by employing more staff.

Trades & Services

“Continuity of care is also very important. And unfortunately, that is something that low staffing levels can affect,” she said.

“Mothers interacting with different care providers at each visit don’t have the same opportunity to establish familiarity and trust.

“It’s these strong therapeutic relationships that create the ability for important conversations around health and wellbeing for both parents and babies.”

Local mother Holly said getting to see the same nurse provided a sense of reassurance.

“From my first encounter as a nervous firsttime mum, to the appointments I now look forward to as a mum of three, I have always found the MCH services invaluable,“ she said.

“It feels like you’re having a chat with a friend and someone who cares.”

Ms Price said the impacts of staffing shortages could result in delays in seeing older children at key developmental stages because they prioritised new babies and vital age.

“Our passionate team will always provide the very best of care to our families,” she said.

“However we do currently have a range of open positions for MCN nurses, that I’d really encourage any practitioners out there to consider.

“Whether you’re a new graduate, looking to return to work, or just looking for a great new team or role, Yarra Ranges is a terrific place to work.”

Ms Price said nurses looking to shift toYarra Ranges would find flexible working arrangements and plenty of professional development opportunities.

If you’d like to join this passionate team of caring professionals, visit yarraranges.vic.gov. au/Council/Careers/Apply-for-a-job for current opportunities.

Classifieds

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 early years are extremely important for babies because brain growth is influenced by early experiences.

Picture: UNSPLASH

SPORT

Final run to present awards

By Jamie Strudley

Yarra Ranges Athletics Cross Country season came to an end on Saturday atYarra Glen Playground as the club celebrated with its 2023 Cross Country Trophy Presentation.

There have been some wonderful results at local rounds, open days, region and state competitions.Thank you to the families for helping out on the day. To Alan and his team for equipment setup and pack up, Uli and his team for feeding us all from the barbecue and Michael and his team for presentations and activities. Our major award winners were;

‘That is what Cross Country is all about’ Family Award - The Normans.

· Girls Cross Country Champion - Milly Hall

· Boys Cross Country Champion - Ryder Holland

· Girls President’s Award - Brookley Horsburgh

· Boys President’s Award - Jonty Friend

· Girls PB Award - Adele Ellis

Pictures: SUPPLIED

· Boys PB Award - Micah Friend

Big thanks must also go to our set up crew - Rob Belli, Mike Willey, Uli Homann and Mi-

chael Clarke who braved the weather and cold to start setting up from 7.30 every Saturday.

This season the helpers’ load was shared among a much larger group of families, it made the morning races run smoothly every week. We appreciate you and thank you for

volunteering so the athletes can run Cross Country.

Our seniors will compete in the final round of XCR next weekend as teams from around Victoria chase glory at the Tan Relays. After that we turn our attention to the Track and Field season with both Littles and Seniors beginning on 7 October.

Training continues for all club members on Tuesday and Thursday from 5.30pm at Morrison Reserve. Yarra Ranges Athletics welcomes and encourages all athletes of any age or ability.

If you, or someone you know, wants to join in the fun of track and field registration is not open, email info@yarrarangesathletics.org.au for information about events and registration. 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!

Emerald seniors down Healesville in preliminary final

FOOTBALL

Premier Division

Seniors

· 2nd Semi-Final - Narre Warren 9.10.64 def

Wandin 9.7.61

· Best: Narre Warren - Hamish West, Peter Gentile, Brad Scalzo, Lachlan Benson, Hayden Johnson, Tom Miller

· Wandin - Joel Garner, Patty Bruzzese, Clinton Johnson, John Ladner, Cole Steiner, Todd Garner

· Goals: Narre Warren - Tom Toner 3, Jesse Davies 2, HamishWest 2, Lachlan Benson 1, Tom Miller 1

· Wandin - Clinton Johnson 3, Aaron Mullett 2, Patrick Hodgett 2, Damien Furey 1, Joel Garner 1

· 1st Semi-Final - Woori Yallock 14.14.98 def

Pakenham 12.13.85

· Best: Woori Yallock - Robert Allen, Zach Monkhorst, Joshua Neal, Oscar Simpson, Bailey Syswerda, Alex Marsh

· Pakenham - Matthew Vaiano, Jordan Stewart, Rhys Clacy, Jake Thompson, James Harrison, Jake Barclay

· Goals: Woori Yallock - Joshua Neal 6, Jude Hay 2, Angus Smith 1, Robert Swan 1, Kody Busoli 1, Kynan French 1, Mitchell Arnold 1, Alex Marsh 1

· Pakenham - not recorded

Reserves

· 2nd Semi-Final - Narre Warren 6.5.41 def

Upwey-Tecoma 2.5.17

· 1st Semi-Final - Wandin 12.5.77 def Mt. Evelyn 7.8.50

Under 19s

· 2nd Semi Final - Narre Warren 4.11.35 def

Upwey-Tecoma 3.7.25

· 1st Semi Final - Officer 7.5.47 def Monbulk

5.3.33

1st Division

Seniors

· Preliminary Final - Emerald 15.15.105 def

Healesville 12.8.80

· Best: Emerald - Josh Rich, JoshuaWebb, Michael Richardson, Steven Paull, Dale Karacsonyi, Brendan Wilson

· Healesville - Sam Gebert, Charlie Warren, Nick Mende, Liam Daly, Shaun Donkin, Daniel Plozza

· Goals: Emerald - Callum White 3, David Johnson 3, Adrian Russo 2, Josh Rich 2, Lachlan Hoye 2, Jared Derksen 2, Isaac Seskis 1

· Healesville - Sam Gebert 6, Ben Wilsmore 1, Max Donegan 1, Jesse Bates 1, Kobe Brown 1, Zac Fawdry 1, Lochie Oliver 1

Reserves

· Preliminary Final - Emerald 9.5.59 def Berwick Springs 7.4.46

NETBALL Premier Division

A Grade

· 2nd Semi-Final - Wandin 53 def Narre

Warren 50

· Best players and goal shooters not recorded

· 1st Semi-Final - Mt. Evelyn 52 def Beaconsfield 35

· Best players and goal shooters not recorded

B Grade ·

2nd Semi-Final - Narre Warren 49 def Mt. Evelyn 33

· 1st Semi-Final - Upwey-Tecoma 56 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 48

C Grade · 2nd Semi-Final - Olinda-Ferny Creek 41 def Narre Warren 26

· 1st Semi-Final -Wandin 35 def Beaconsfield 29

D Grade

· 2nd Semi-Final - Olinda-Ferny Creek 27 def Narre Warren 26

· 1st Semi-Final - Wandin 27 def Berwick 25 1st Division

A Grade

· Preliminary Final - Emerald 40 def ROC 39

· Best and Goalshooters not recorded

B Grade

· Preliminary Final - ROC 59 def Belgrave 43

C Grade

· Preliminary

Semi Final - Beaconsfield 28 def Berwick 20

13 & Under White (Girls)

· Preliminary Final - Narre Warren 29 d Pakenham 18 13 & Under Blue (Mixed)

·

·

Marc Jones of Healesville (42) and Jared Derksen of Emerald (9) contest a ruck hitout in Div 1 Seniors. Pictures: ARMIN RICHTER

Belgrave v ROC in the D Grade netball.

in the D Grade netball.

Girls Cross Country Champion Milly Hall.

Boys President’s Award winner Jonty Friend.

Hard fought netball wins

Mount Evelyn’s A Grade netball team has saved their grand final hopes, outscoring Beaconsfield in the second round of finals on Saturday 9 September.

The team held a strong position throughout the game, leading by 10 points at the break of the third quarter. Beaconsfield were unable to catch up.

The 52 to 35 win cemented a place in the preliminary final were they will face NarreWarren at the Yarra Junction Recreation Reserve.

A three point win for Wandin against Narre Warren saw them advance into the grand final, giving them a week’s rest.

Wandin came from behind, having fallen six points below Narre at the end of the second quarter and finishing the third four points behind.

The final score, 53 to 50 was a remarkable finish for the red, blue and white.

Star Mail’s photographer Gary Sissons was on the ground capturing the action as it happened.

Wandin to meet rival Woori Yallock in prelim final derby

Wandin and Woori Yallock will face off in a local derby for a spot in the premier division grand final after making it through to the preliminary final on 16 September.

The winner will come up against Narre Warren who scored a three point win over Wandin in the second round of finals.

Wandin fought back from being 10 points down at the break of the second and third quarters to test Narre Warren in the final quarter.

Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to get a win, finishing 61 to 64.

Woori Yallock had somewhat of an easy win over Pakenham, only dropping the lead at the end of the third but came back fighting in the fourth quarter to win 98 to 85.

The preliminary final will be held at Yarra Junction Memorial Reserve from 2.10pm on Saturday 16 September.

Wandin Football Club’s seniors faced Narre Warren in the second finals round. 359431

Pictures: GARY SISSONS

Wandin kept up on the heels of Narre Warren but fell short by three points. 359431

There were some high flying marks from Wandin. 359431

The pressure led to a small tussle on the field between players. 359431

The final drew in a large crowd. 359430

It was all hand shakes before the game in good team spirit. 359430_09

Beaconsfield were giving it their all. 359430

Wandin had to fight back to score a spot in the grand final. 359430

Mount Evelyn’s A Grade netball side have another chance to make the grand final. 359430 Pictures: GARY SISSONS

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