Mail - Ferntree Gully Star Mail - 12th December 2023

Ferntree Gully Belgrave

Monbulk local hero returns home

Teachers raise funds for Afghan refugees

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

Mail Blues artist returns to Emerald for Australian tour

See Real Estate liftout inside

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A Star News Group Publication

PR OP ER TY

Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808

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Pens from trees for graduates Students from across the Dandenong Ranges were presented with specially made pens from Treasuring Our Trees (TOT) as a token for their upcoming graduation.

Grade 6 students from Emerald Primary were the first to receive their pens on Friday 8 December, with students from Mount Dandenong Primary School also getting the gift.

The pens were made from fallen trees and crafted into intricately made writing utensils.

Trees from Silvan Reservoir Park which were brought down by the 2021 storm were used to create these specific pens.

To read more, turn to page 10

Archie, Scarlett and Robbie after receiving their pens.

Picture: TYLER WRIGHT

Emerald leads hills outrage as bank prepares final local branch demise

NAB closure fury The Emerald community has been left outraged after the National Australia Bank (NAB) decided to pull the pin on its branch, with customers now having to travel further to bank with the big four provider.

Noticing a decline in opening hours, some

residents and business owners felt the closure was imminent.

“I had a clue they were trying to shut it, first they reduced hours and then the staff were trying to teach/express to people to use internet banking,” Gembrook resident

Linda Granieri said.

NAB has confirmed the closure will take place on Thursday 7 March, due to the declining customer base using the storefront.

The bank has revealed that only 57 per

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Yarra Ranges and surrounds.

cent of the branch’s customers only visited the branch once over the past year, with more than 70 per cent of customers also using other locations, including the recently refurbished branch in Knox.

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IN BRIEF

NAB closure anger

By Tyler Wright and Matthew Sims Locals are seeing red after National Australia Bank’s (NAB) announcement it would be shutting up shop in Emerald in March 2024.

Menzies Creek local Karin Tonks said the bank has performed “poorly” in the area for some time.

“A daily three-hour open time while posting record profits is obscene,” Karin said.

“Now the closure will mean we are forced to drive to Berwick.

“We have less reason to drive to Emerald and will possibly move our shopping to Berwick for convenience.”

Karin said local traders with NAB will be required to travel further for change and this may influence them to change banks.

“Very poor service indeed,” she said.

For Gembrook’s Linda Granieri, the closure will be “very inconvenient”.

“I have banked there for many years,” Linda said.

“I had a clue they were trying to shut it, first they reduced hours and then the staff were trying to teach/express to people to use internet banking.

“I’m old school and prefer to go to the bank for transactions etc.”

Linda said it’s a “real shame” for the town, and she is now forced to travel to Pakenham to do her banking.

“Other shops will feel the pinch too, as I used to spend money at the fruit shop, butchers, etc,” she said.

She also can not change banks due to owning a business.

“I wish NAB would reconsider but highly unlikely.”

NAB confirmed it has scheduled to close the doors to the branch at 342–344 BelgraveGembrook Road on Thursday 7 March.

According to the bank, about 57 per cent of the branch’s customers only visited the branch once over the past year, with more than 70 per cent of customers also using other locations, including the recently refurbished branch in Knox.

There were 407 regular personal banking customers who visited the Emerald branch more than three times, while 75 personal banking customers visited more than 12 times, according to the bank.

In terms of personal banking transactions, the numbers of cash withdrawals fell by 28.95 per cent between 2020 and 2022, dropping from 3316 in 2020 to 2356 in 2022.

The number of cash and cheque deposits fell by 34.57 per cent and 33.47 per cent respectively.

NAB retail customer executive Karen Ford said the “difficult” decision to close the branch was made following analysis into the number of customers using the branch and an increase in the use of digital banking in the area.

“We made the difficult decision to close the NAB branch in Emerald because fewer customers are using it for their banking,” Ms Ford said.

“Just as they’re using online government

Wild winds Some wild weather on Friday 8 December sent the train along the Belgrave line into chaos after trees fell on to the tracks.

Buses replaced trains on the Belgrave line between Bayswater and Upper Ferntree Gully at around 3pm. Some services terminated at Ringwood, where replacement buses met commuters. Passengers were advised to allow extra travel time in their afternoon commute.

The Department of Transport and Planning signals team monitored conditions in the area and adjusted traffic lights to assist with bus movements.

The Department thanked its “passengers for their patience as crews worked to clear the tracks and inspect overhead wires.”

Lewd acts in Ringwood

NAB’s Emerald branch is set to shut its doors in March 2024, causing frustration for locals.

Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS services to complete their tax or a Medicare claim, locals in Emerald are increasingly choosing to bank digitally because it’s more convenient.

“Today, more than 93 per cent of transactions in Australia are taking place online, and this is increasing.”

Ms Ford said customers could continue to do their day-to-day banking through the Bank@Post service.

“Bank@Post is a significant investment for NAB which brings the convenience of banking services to more than 3400 locations nationally in partnership with Australia Post,” she said.

“There are no job losses as part of this change and our branch team have been offered other roles across the bank.”

Monbulk resident Kevin Jones said the Emerald closure, following shortly after the recent closure of the Monbulk branch, had made him consider leaving the bank.

“We already had our branch close in Monbulk, which they had boastfully branded as an Agribusiness Centre, given the business nature of the region,” he said.

“That counted for nothing.

“Now Emerald is following suit and it certainly makes you feel like swapping to Bendigo Bank, because they are cleverly filling the hole left by the big banks, which are already making obscene profits, yet closing down outlet after outlet.”

Some are calling on people to change their services to Bendigo Bank - where branch directors are ‘volunteers’ in the community.

“Considering closing accounts and moving mortgage over to Bendigo bank. They seem to be more community focused and their products are comparable,” Karl Pedley said.

“The positive will be more people will transfer to the Bendigo Bank that can provide an over the counter service to Upwey, Belgrave, Emerald and Cockatoo,” Olinka Edwards wrote.

“Support the community Bank.”

The announcement attracted a string of comments from disappointed NAB customers on Facebook.

Alexandra resident Peter Rice said the closure of the Alexandra NAB branch had led to a number of negative impacts for the area.

“It has caused massive difficulties for many and impacted the local economy significantly,” he said.

“The Federal Government should not be allowing this.”

Rebecca Robson, who works in aged care, said the closure will affect the elderly community “greatly”.

“Some don’t have mobile phones so still need to go into banks to access their money. makes it very hard when there’s no bank anymore, a lot no longer drive so rely on carers and it was hard enough getting carer times to match with the bank opening hours when they were only open to 12.30,” she said.

“Getting taxis up here is also an issue for older folk who no longer drive so these bank closures are going to really impact elderly more than I can explain.

“Sad when these are the people that have built the community we all now enjoy, people who have worked hard all their lives and now can’t even access their own money , makes me incredibly mad.”

Glenda Holmes said she has just changed banks because there are no deposit ATMs on the mountain.

“Previously I would drive for over 30 minutes to deposit cash...Into an ATM! (no service),” she said.

“It has been amazing to go to an old fashioned bank & every visit there has been at least two other customers attending & two more flowing in as I leave.

“Many of these customers are being assisted to the bank by carers. It has been lovely to see such an array of people using the bank services.

“However if it must go... Then please replace it with a multi serviced ATM. Deposits a must!”

NAB customers are able to phone 13 22 65 to transfer funds, pay bills using BPAY, check account balances, managing loans, applying for new accounts, ordering statements, managing term deposits and talking to a home lender.

For more information about support NAB can provide, visit nab.com.au/customersupport

The Knox Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation team are appealing for public assistance after a man was seen in Ringwood committing lewd acts.

The first incident occurred on the Mullum Mullum Creek Trail about 5pm on Wednesday 31 May, where a man was observed on the trail between Oliver and Rupert streets while committing the act.

The second incident occurred on the trail about 12:11pm on Wednesday 13 September in the vicinity of Chesney Drive.

The offender is perceived to be Caucasian, middle aged and at the time of the offence was wearing dark pants. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au

Bracelet found In late November a Pandora bracelet with charms was located by a community member nearby to the Karoo Reserve Playground on Karoo Road in Rowville.

The bracelet was then handed in to the Rowville Police Station.

Police are seeking to reunite the bracelet with its owner.

Please contact Rowville Police Station on (03) 9764 0996 if this property belongs to you.

Further evidence of ownership, such as a photograph of you wearing the bracelet, is required to claim the bracelet.

The property reference number is 202312E-0654.

Mountain bike dumped Rowville Police are seeking the owner of a Malvern Star XCS 1.0 white mountain bike that was found dumped on the side of Fulham Road in Rowville on 22 November.

If you believe you’re the owner of this bike or know who it belongs to, please contact Senior Constable Ben Laird at Rowville Police Station on (03) 9764 0996.

The property reference number is 202311E-1680

Cash found A sum of cash has been located inside a donation box that was handed into Salvos Stores Bayswater in November 2023. The cash was located stashed inside an old vacuum box.

Police would like to return the money to its owner, so if you can identify the amount of money and details surrounding the donation, including what else was inside the box, please contact First Constable Price at the Boronia Police Station on (03) 9760 6600. The property reference number is 202311-E-0037.

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Call to plant Kallista oaks

By Tyler Wright Petitioners are calling on Yarra Ranges Council to protect the streetscape of Kallista after historic oak trees were reportedly cut down.

Several oak trees on Monbulk Road, which are included on the council’s heritage database, have been removed since 2021 with the council citing reports of structural faults and subsequent risk to people or property as its reasoning.

One oak tree remains at the town’s roundabout.

Local Karen Kestigian said the trees planted in 1933 to commemorate those fallen in World War I - are important to the town’s streetscape.

“People feel very strongly about [these oak trees],” Ms Kestigian said.

A petition has been started on change.org to have new oak trees planted in the place of three that have been removed; one outside 75 Monbulk Road between the car park and village shops which split in a storm about two years ago, one at the school crossing and another five metres down from that towards the tearooms.

“With the empty service station lot, Kallista looks down at the heel; people are feeling that about the streetscape,” Ms Kestigian said.

“It’s what we stand for.”

A Yarra Ranges Council spokesperson said several oak trees along Monbulk Road have been removed since 2021 “due to our arborists identifying structural faults within them that posed a high risk to people or property”.

“This is in line with Council’s Tree Management Policy,” the spokesperson said.

“A plan is currently being developed to

A petition is calling for stumps of oak trees removed over the past two years on Monbulk Road to be replaced with new oak trees to improve the Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS streetscape. 378246 manage the health and structure of the remaining trees along Monbulk Road that complements the existing character and heritage

of the Kallista township.

“Replacement trees are currently scheduled to be planted in winter 2024, with addi-

tional information about ongoing tree management to be provided to the community early next year.”

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Monbulk embraces its hero

By Tyler Wright Monbulk’s local hero - professor Arnold Dix has returned to his home town of Monbulk after rescuing 41 workers from a tunnel in India last month.

After being flocked by TV station crews at Melbourne Airport upon his return on Tuesday 5 December, Mr Dix’s first port of call after the 17-day rescue, of which he was present for 14 days, was young people in his hometown.

On Friday 8 December, Mr Dix spoke to students at Monbulk College about the rescue, and what they could take from his story into their lives and schooling.

“I’m so excited A) to be alive and B) to be back in my favourite place, which is Monbulk and of course back at the school where my daughter Trisha goes to school,” Mr Dix said.

“When you do advanced maths, when you do your engineering, when you decide that you want to do stuff like this because it is really cool...you’ll discover that all of this really fancy maths and physics and engineering happens.

“In the end, despite all the technology and despite everyone going: ‘My machine’s bigger than yours’ and ‘We’ve got the biggest American auger digger’, in the end it’s the soft ancient ways that we used to get the emergency passage.”

After multiple efforts to rescue the trapped miners - who were working to connect sacred sites to create a safer journey for pilgrims who would otherwise have to trek across the mountains over “really dangerous hills,” Mr Dix said rescuers worked 100 millimetres at a time to remove each piece of rock one at a time by hand.

Despite external pressures, Mr Dix refused to budge on his goal of rescuing all 41 men uninjured - by Christmas.

“We have technical skills, we have competencies; I don’t mind whether you’re a welder,

Arnold Dix was dressed up as Santa for Monbulk’s produce market on Saturday 9 December.

Picture: SUPPLIED whether you’re a physicist, whether you’re an engineer, whether you’re a doctor, whether you cook pappadums; I don’t mind, but be good at what you do and don’t stress yourself unnecessarily,” Mr Dix said.

“Bring your best skills to it; that [was] very much my message to India while we [were] doing this.”

Mr Dix also said his first port of call after he landed in the helicopter in the Himalayas, was to pray at the tunnel portal.

“I’m an engineer, I’m a scientist, I’m a lawyer, right? Why am I doing that? Because it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

“I’m going to the most sacred place for the Hindu people and it’s the right thing to do; it’s not a textbook thing, it’s about being a good person and being respectful of other people’s cultures and gods.

You can help protect your workmates.

“In Australia, we have temples in front of all our tunnels too, you might not know, but all the tunnels you go through will have a little temple for the people who work in them, because the tunnelers are terrified about going underground because we know how incredibly dangerous it is and we also know how teensy we are as humans and the forces are so big.”

Among Mr Dix’s messages to Monbulk College students were ‘do not believe everything you read’ and ‘kind people can do anything’.

“On a scale of 1 to 10 [of how proud I am], I’m about 12,” he said. “[The workers] are just kids in their 20s, some of them aren’t even that...they’re just young men who work really hard.

“I feel like this job was like a once in a lifetime job and that’s enough... I only want to do that sort of international rescue once.”

Monbulk College assistant principal Fiona McNair, said the school was “very fortunate” Mr Dix was forthcoming and reached out to the school to engage with the community.

“The presentation today captured the hearts and minds of our young people, especially that message in there about sciences, engineering and ICT,” she said.

“He’s an amazing local hero.”

Monbulkians have also decorated the town for Mr Dix’s return, with signs along the main street with statements including: ‘Welcome home Arnie! Local HERO’ and ‘Welcome home Prof Dix’.

“It’s a bit surprising...the fact that there’s some signs up and people are being nice to me; people are always nice anyway, but some recognition is really lovely,” Mr Dix said.

“In India, I’m a celebrity, I can’t walk in the streets, so I can walk the streets of Monbulk.

“I was really happy that [the students] were so happy; I felt the reaction from a group of kids on the last day of school was really positive; I thought they’d want to throw stuff at me.”

On Saturday 9 December, Mr Dix even featured as Santa at the Monbulk Produce Market.

Facebook commenter Valerie Willoughby said Mr Dix is a “perfect reminder” of the good that locals have in the community.

“Whether it’s Arnold, or our local paid and volunteer emergency services, as well as those who run every program within our community, sporting, mental health wise, anything,” she wrote.

“We need to see the good in everything.

“Arnold is the perfect example that within our community we have humble people going about life doing amazing things, that are bigger than us as individuals. Not just helping community, but are impacting widely around the world too.”

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Feline vaccine shortage

By Dongyun Kwon A feline vaccine shortage is making it difficult for Animal Aid to offer its services.

The vaccines currently in limited availability are a combination known as F3 vaccination, guarding against key diseases like enteritis (feline parvo) and feline calicivirus/feline herpesvirus (cat flu).

Yarra Ranges Council decided to pause the cat-trapping services due to the vaccine shortage.

Yarra Ranges Mayor Sophie Todorov said the vaccine shortage is having an impact across the country.

“While cat vaccine stocks are low, there is a very high risk of animals spreading illness to each other, especially when they’re in close confines, like in boarding and at Animal Aid,” Cr Todorov said.

“Until supplies improve, to reduce the risk of unnecessary and dangerous illness, we’re working with our partners at Animal Aid to reduce the number of cats entering the service, and for this reason, we’re pausing non-essential cat trapping.”

The shortage is caused by various factors and Animal Aid CEO Mark Menze said one of the main causes is the Covid pandemic.

“It was caused by ramping up with Covid vaccine manufacturing and the feline vaccinations got put on the back burner.”

There was also increased demand for vaccines as cat and kitten ownership surged during the pandemic.

Another cause is batch failures reported by some suppliers due to manufacturing errors.

To deal with the situation, Animal Aid had to make necessary adjustments to the vaccination and adoption procedures for cats.

Mr Menze said there are two main services that Animal Aid does which are affected by the shortage.

Animal Aid’s shelter resident cat.

A feline vaccine shortage is making it difficult for Animal Aid to offer its services.

Pictures: SUPPLIED “The first is our shelter service for the animals that are trying to get adoption-ready,” he said.

“Genuinely, cats have at least two vaccinations before they go into home for adoption and we are unable to do that, so what we’re currently doing is just vaccinating the ones that are most vulnerable and doing one vaccination instead of two.

“The second is a regular clinical service, but people with their own cats are likely to be unable to find vaccinations through private vet clinics at the moment, there are some but it’s

very elusive,” he said.

Animal Aid recommends keeping unvaccinated kittens indoors and away from roaming cats.

Surrender of adult cats is restricted without proof of vaccination in the last two years and kittens under six months would be accepted only by appointment if Animal Aid’s shelter capacity allows.

Adoption is still available for vaccinated, desexed and microchipped cats and kittens while unvaccinated adult cats will follow the normal adoption process including desexing

and other veterinary care.

Mr Menze said Animal Aid would not stop the service to find lost cats and kittens home despite the difficult situation.

“Under the council [Yarra Ranges Council] services, people bring lost cats into us all the time, so we try to find their homes and get them back to the owners, but only about 18 per cent of the cats, that come into our shelter, are actually sent back to their owners,” he said.

“People don’t chip identification microchipping] their animals which makes it very difficult for us to get them home, so for the remaining 80 per cent of cats, we put them through health checks and get them adoptionready.

“What that means is for those pets that are coming into our shelter, we don’t know if they’ve been vaccinated in the past, and now we can’t vaccinate them due to the shortage, normally we would vaccinate them on day three.”

The situation is currently evolving and it is estimated that the supply will be improved by March 2024.

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MAIL 7

NEWS

Youth making a difference

By Callum Ludwig The youth of the Yarra Ranges were congratulated and commended for their achievements on Monday 4 December.

Yarra Ranges Council’s annual ‘Celebrating YOUth’ awards were held at the Civic Centre with winners and nominees aged 12-25 from across the region in attendance.

Jessica Course was the winner of the Young Entrepreneur award for her activewear business ‘Jessie Clair Active’ aimed at making activewear that is functional and age-appropriate for teens.

Jessica said she had always been interested in entrepreneurship and saw the need for activewear with both support and coverage where it’s needed.

“I’ve been fortunate to build an amazing community and that’s both online and in person and for the future, I hope to open a store,” she said.

“I’m currently stocked in two stores, both here in Melbourne and up in Queensland, but to have a store of my own would be a big goal.”

Over 200 attendees came along for the awards night, including the friends and families of award winners and honourable mentions.

Jacob Neil was a joint-winner of the Passionate Advocate award for his involvement in boards and groups like the Alannah Madeline Foundation and Project Rockit and said his biggest takeaway has been a greater appreciation, not just in talking to people, but for other’s experiences.

“Project Rockit was the company I did the most with, I did their IRL (In Real Life) and Intimate Imaged Unwrapped programs, both of which were more focused on relationships in an online space and with a big focus on having a young person explain their experience rather than being told by an older person what their

The winners and honourable mentions who were in attendance for the Celebrating YOUth awards.

Picture: SUZANNE PHOENIX experience was,” he said.

“I enjoyed the whole experience, you’d leave a few of the sessions feeling heavy, but like the communication and the talking, especially with these groups, everyone was chosen for different experiences and it was drastically different to anything I had thought of.”

Hannah Zinnack was the other recipient of the Passionate Advocate award for work with young carers, working with Eastern Health in both clinical and community spaces.

Hannah said she received for the work she had done in mental health over the last few years, especially the mental health of young people who are carers of people with mental health challenges.

“I’ve had the experience of growing up with my mum who had bipolar and my mental health issues as well, so I’ve been trying to bring awareness to young people who do care for a family member, especially around mental health because it’s an invisible thing that people don’t often see,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s terrifying to be able to speak about your experience as a young person because there is that power from people who are older, so having these spaces where kids can talk about it, it’s quite healing.”

Just shy of 50 nominations in total were received for the awards this year.

Ethan Prentice was the winner of the School or Community Improvement award for his work with Yarra Valley FM and promoting the local and Victorian music scene and he said he liked the idea of pointing out the local music scene having seen local gigs, met local musicians and been to different community music events.

“My show is on Tuesday night, from nine to midnight and is called Live to Ground and it’s for local people to listen to local music, it’s all Melbourne-based, or at least all Victoriabased, the furthest I’ve stretched the definition of Melbourne is some people from Geelong and some from Wangaratta,” he said.

“One of the big things moving forward that

I want to do is to connect artists together, I love the idea of introducing bands like that come from Geelong, Ballarat or Wangaratta, to bands who are local to Healesville or here or even closer into the city, possibly people who they’ve never played a gig with.”

The musical theme of awards doesn’t end there, with local band Tudor Club, who have been recently touring and releasing new songs and music videos often, opening the night as well as a jazz performance from nominees Jerush and Yoshi and an acoustic performance from another local singer/songwriter Olivia Mae. But taking out the Arts, Music and Culture award was young brother/sister hard rock/ heavy metal duo Amber and Charlie Canning, who have been playing together for five years.

Amber said they were extremely grateful and pretty shocked when they heard they won because there were a lot of nominations.

“For me, I just love performing, particularly on big stages in front of heaps of people and hopefully one day we will have more festival gigs, we also just had our album release so we’re hoping to get another one out as well,” Amber said.

“We have busked, but I’m not a big fan of busking I’ve got to be honest, but I do like performing, there’s just something in it that makes it really fun,” Charlie said.

Willow Swaneveld was the winner of the Resilience and Perseverance Award but was unable to attend.

Honourable mentions were: Bella O’Hara -Passionate Advocate Award, Dakotah - Resilience & Perseverance, Nikki Cormack - Young Entrepreneur, Stephanie Scott - Arts, Music & Culture, Chin Homework Club - School or Community Improvement.

· · · · ·

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ADVERTORIAL

Picture courtesy - Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow

Burrinja Season One 2024: A Cultural Extravaganza Unveiled!

Burrinja, the heart of contemporary art and performance culture in the Dandenong Ranges, is thrilled to unveil its Season One offerings for 2024. From captivating exhibitions to live performances that span comedy, folk, blues, and even Greek mythology, Burrinja is set to be a hub of creativity and entertainment.

The 2023 Community Changemakers graduates.

Picture: SUPPLIED

Community achievers

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By Callum Ludwig The 2023 Yarra Ranges Community Changemakers class celebrated their work with a graduation event recently, reflecting on a year’s worth of discussions and advocacy.

Yarra Ranges Council Mayor Sophie Todorov said the Community Changemakers is a program that they’re incredibly proud of at Council.

“It has been so wonderful to see the transformative journey of the 21 community members from this year’s graduating class,” she said.

“The graduation event itself was a vibrant mix of culture, recognition and reflection, and we also had graduates from previous years also share their personal leadership journeys within the community.”

The Community Changemakers program provides a platform for community-orientated residents to socialise, connect and share ideas with others in the Yarra Ranges, while also being able to put potential projects, upgrades or ideas for initiatives to the council.

Cr Todorov said the graduates have achieved so much during the program, which has focused on their personal growth, leadership qualities and how to make an impact in their local community.”

“Myself, Cr Skelton and Cr Fullagar attended the event and we extended our heartfelt recognition of the talents and achievements of the participants and welcomed them all to reach out to their local Ward councillor for support in future if needed,” she said.

“The projects that this year’s graduates are looking to undertake to make a difference

Sunday Arts Session: Archiving the Future Public Program Sun 4 Feb, 4:00pm | Burrinja Embark on an art adventure against the backdrop of the “Archiving the Future” summer exhibition.

Immerse yourself in shadow puppetry, liveART performances, and a star-making workshop.

Explore the hidden tales within Burrinja’s archives on an expert gallery tour. DJ beats and signature cocktails set the tone for an afternoon of exploration.

Ralph McTell - Festival of Folk Sat 2 Mar, 8:00pm | Burrinja Theatre English musical legend Ralph McTell returns to Australia armed with his guitar and much-loved songs spanning over six decades.

Daoirí Farrell - Festival of Folk Thu 7 Mar, 8:00pm | Lyre Room Dublin-born singer and bouzouki player Daoirí Farrell, a rising star in Irish folk, brings his soulstirring performance to Burrinja.

A Little Bit of Blue - Little Wing Puppets

Wed 10 Apr, 11:00am | Lyre Room Join the interactive detective show for families. Help solve the case and learn about the fascinating habits of the Australian Satin Bowerbird.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow Fri 26 Apr, 7:30pm | Burrinja Theatre Australia’s premier comedy roadshow, featuring the finest talents from the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

BROAD - Geraldine Quinn Fri 31 May, 7:30pm | Lyre Room Geraldine Quinn returns with her first original show in four years, blending camp glamour with ageing grace in a cabaret of self-discovery.

Eric Bibb - Live in the Lyre Sun 2 Jun, 2:00pm | Burrinja Theatre Blues legend Eric Bibb delivers soulful, contemporary blues with a message grounded in the folk/blues tradition.

Greece Lightening - Garry Star Thu 13 Jun, 7:30pm | Lyre Room An overzealous idiot attempts to perform all of Greek Mythology in a comedic quest for prosperity.

Inventi Ensemble - Award-winning Australian Chamber Music Sat 27 Jul, 2:00pm | Burrinja Theatre Experience an interactive encounter with Inventi Ensemble, known for pushing musical boundaries and captivating performances.

Burrinja Season One 2024 is a diverse and vibrant tapestry of cultural experiences, inviting audiences to explore, engage, and celebrate the arts.

Learn more at burrinja.org.au

Season One, 2024

The Changemaker graduates celebrated with their new community connections and friends. are quite diverse, including exploring a BMX/ skatepark in Montrose, safer pedestrian crossings in the Upper Yarra, volunteering projects, and championing environmental education and advocacy in the Dandenong Ranges,” “The program will continue in 2024 and 2025, so we encourage any community members wishing to be part of the next round to keep an eye out for future communications from Council on how to apply.”

Participants in the Community Changemakers program this year were required to be available for 10 sessions taking place between late May and October, having access to a computer or tablet with an internet connection for online sessions and access to transport for inperson sessions.

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 9

NEWS

Special pens for grads

By Corey Everitt Sixth graders at Emerald Primary were given a special graduation present as Monbulk MP Daniella De Martino and not-for-profit Treasuring Our Trees (TOT) presented them with specially made pens to see them into Secondary School.

Ms De Martino was joined by David Ferrier from TOT as well as representative from Melbourne Water to pay a visit to Emerald Primary School on Friday 8 December.

It was to gift grade six students, only weeks from graduating, with pens specially made by TOT for them to hold on as they make the transition into Secondary next year.

These are no ordinary pens, each student was called up to receive pens made from timber of fallen native trees only a stone throw from Emerald.

Starting after the 2021 storm which devastated the Dandenong Ranges, TOT repurposes felled trees. Instead of being wasted they are made into intricately crafted and decorated items which are donated to the community, from chairs, tables to cabinets.

These pens were made from trees at Silvan Reservoir Park which were brought down by the 2021 storm and were given to TOT by Melbourne Water.

This isn’t the first time TOT has donated to Emerald Primary, early this year the school received a cabinet and tables used in their classrooms, while outside was installed a yarning circle and planting boxes fitted with mango and tangerine trees. All of these made and crafted from the Mountain Ash, Red Gum and many other native trees TOT has been given.

Emerald is one of four schools that received graduation pens on the day, the others being Olinda Primary, Mt Dandenong Primary and Sassafras Primary.

All have recieved a range of items from TOT,

Back row from left: Operation and Maintenance Officer Melbourne Water, Brendan Martin, TOT’s David Ferrier, Monbulk MP Daniela De Martino, Principal Emma Clark and Communication Engagement Adviser Melbourne Water Michelle Hunder. Front Row from left: School captains Dakota, Maddie, Judd, Lewis, Isaac, Lillee and Edmond.

Pictures: COREY EVERITT a strong relationship continues to grow.

“We have had amazing friendships, with the school community, teachers, principals and the families,” Mr Ferrier said “We see this as really the start of an organic relationship that will grow in the years to come.”

Still only knew they see promise in expanding and showing others their unique work for the community.

“We’ve really built a platform to show what we can do, and we have big dreams to show what we across the country,” Mr Ferrier said.

“After two and half years since the storm, we have amazing projects to show, but we are only just getting started.”

A big part of TOT has been in collaboration with the State Government where they have received trees from the Level Crossing Removal Project, from sites like the Cranbourne Line Upgrade. They are currently in the process of receiving trees felled from the construction of a road bridge at Beaconsfield Station.

Ms De Martino has been a vocal supporter of David Ferrier and TOT’s work, she was there to help give out the pens for each student and have a chat about the big move next year.

Moving on to High School can be daunting for some as they split up to a range of schools and are no longer the senior kids on the block.

However it goes, they will all have a piece of a native tree to keep them comfort and help them write up their homework.

School captain Dakota presents Ms De Martino, TOT and Melbourne Water with their own commemorative pens made by the school.

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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NEWS

Hope amid the darkness

By Tyler Wright

Teachers (from left to right) Jenny Lee, Kathleen Ward and Jennifer McAdam organised an art auction at the Tecoma Uniting Church on Friday 8 December to go directly to the Ahmadi family who are stuck in Indonesian immigration detention.

Pictures: TYLER WRIGHT “I worked hard to develop painting that teaches me and others about the beauty that exists everywhere near me.

“When I left my country, I imagined that I would catch my dream, but unfortunately, it’s worse than everything.”

The family are asking for the Australian government to give them a chance in Australia.

“Our brother Hamed lives in Queensland and has his own business,” Khatima said.

“He can support us and we have much to offer.

“I am so thankful for my current teachers who have helped us with the learning of English, and thank-you so much for your nice attention and supporting our artwork.”

At the Tecoma Uniting Church, an auction of the sisters’ artwork has seen around $3,500 raised for the family so far.

“It was really beautiful to see just how people were like, people cared and they were engaged in a story and they wanted to understand the story and they wanted to give these young people a voice,” Jennifer said.

“It was very validating for the students and it felt like it was important for all of us to do.

“We really are hopeful that we can bring more attention to [their story].”

Navid, Khatima and Taiba Ahmadi (pictured) have been in detention since 2017 with their mother Mina and younger brother Mehran.

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The Hills community has come together to support an Afghan family stuck in limbo in Indonesian immigration.

On Friday 8 December, Mater Christi College teacher Jennifer McAdam held an art auction and supper to raise funds for the Ahmadi family, who have been in detention since 2017.

Jennifer has been tutoring Navid, Khatima and Taiba Ahmadi in English since 2018, with the help of Hills-based teachers Kathleen Ward and Jenny Lee. “This story began for us when Jenny McAdam took on the tutoring of a young refugee man, Hamed Ahmadi, in 2017/2018, ” Kathleen said.

“From there, Jenny began to learn about the rest of Hamed’s family, those family members who were stuck in Indonesia.”

Following trauma and death experienced under the Taliban regime, the Ahmadi siblings fled to Indonesia in 2017, following the path of their older brother.

The family lost 18-year-old brother Raziq in 2015 and their 10-year-old brother Tareq in 2013 to the Taliban.

“The main point of [the Taliban is] killing Hazara nation,” Navid said.

“They destroyed the Hazara hospital, and they destroyed the Hazara school and the Hazara genocide is still continuing.

“I couldn’t study in Afghanistan; I couldn’t even continue with a relaxed life in Afghanistan.”

When Navid arrived in Indonesia in 2017, following his brother Hamed who has now found a home and established a business in Queensland, he thought he would be able to continue his education.

However, this was far from the reality, with the family of five placed in detention.

“My mother was really in a bad situation [with asthma] for eight months, and I never forgot that,” Navid said.

“The Indonesian government didn’t allow me to go to school, didn’t allow me to continue my college, didn’t allow me to have a job here; they said ‘immigrants cannot drive,’ ‘immigrants can not work here’, ‘immigrants can not go to school’, ‘immigrants can not work in Indonesia.’

Navid said the government asked if his family was of Sunni or Shia religion.

“What’s the difference? I am not Sunni, I am not Shia, but I am human,” he said.

“Why you waste our time? Because in this world, we live only one time.

“They said it’s around seven years I’m here without doing anything, and it’s very painful for me, but I didn’t give up and then I have to stay alive and continue my hope.”

Sisters Khatima and Taiba have used art as a way to process their trauma while still capturing the beauty they see in the world around them.

“I have been interested in painting since I was a child, but I started drawing and painting in 2018 with the help of our teachers,” Khatima said.

The Star Mail is published by Paul Thomas for Star News Group Pty Ltd ABN 98 238 557 339. All material is copyright to Star News Group Pty Ltd. All significant errors will be corrected as soon as possible. Distribution numbers, areas and coverage are estimates only. For terms and conditions please visit www.mailcommunity.com.au Print Post Number PP33445700014.

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 11

NEWS

Hall open for consultation Community gathering spaces occupy a beating heart in the hills and remain a treasured way to plan vital resources and recreation in the coming year. Sassafras Hall has been busy despite the weather and encourages residents to pop in for planning for the New Year.

Sassafras Hall is an excellent venue for a range of activities, but the last few days of winds, rain and low cloud, have deterred people from coming out. However the hall will be open again this Saturday 16 December from 10 - 4 for folks to drop in and take part in the ongoing community consultation to explore how best to take things forward next year to use the Hall for community activities.

Last week at the regular Community Focus Friday session, we were joined by colleagues from Yarra Ranges Council to discuss developing community resilience, which is the latest recommendation as the key to being prepared to help one another, and also to be able to get the support needed locally. The Rotary Club of Lilydale is also supporting the development of a satellite Rotary Group and are supporting activities.

Fridays are also the focus for the Hills Creative Alliance ’Memories of the Storm’ writing workshops. Work has started now to put together a book and also for the stories of the storm and the ongoing challenges that so many people have found so difficult.

The Hills Creative Alliance has support from a range of agencies, to ensure that the reports and stories are archived, as a resource to remember and for researchers to refer to. One element that has come through is that people affected by the disaster when 25,000 gum trees fell in one night, 200 homes were damaged and quite a few people were quite badly hurt, don’t feel there was the recognition of this exceptional scenario that there should have been.

In cold and wet midwinter weather, with no power for up to 3 weeks, and during a time of Covid lockdown, it really was a very difficult

The hall will be open again this Saturday 16 December from 10 - 4 for folks to drop in and take part in the ongoing community consultation to explore how best to take things forward next year to use the Hall for community activities.

Pictures: SUPPLIED

Rotarian Liz Millman, Secretary of the Hills Creative Alliance, making cups of tea.

time for many. Many families had to find accommodation elsewhere and some folks have never been able to return to the communities and the areas they loved. Also many of the stories of the amazing efforts that many people, organisations and services made over those weeks, have not been shared or even recognised. So, this is an opportunity to say some ‘thank you’s’ as well.

The third edition of the new Hills Commu-

evenings.

Please contact Hills Creative Alliance Secretary: Liz Millman on 0412 970 050 or email lizmillman@yahoo.co.uk, to find out more about the opportunities to get involved, and also to talk about exploring what the ideas are around getting a Rotary Group going.

The will be open again this Saturday 16 December from 10 - 4 for folks to drop in and be part of the consult process.

nity Focus magazine will also be out this week.

This initiative was started by the Hills Creative Alliance, supported by Emerald Community House and it is a great way to get involved, as there are always more features to collect. It’s also a great way to learn some of the tricks of the publishing trade, both in print and one line. The Friday morning sessions at Sassafras Community Hall are when all this comes together and we also do Zoom sessions to develop our skills and share ideas on Monday

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A new life chapter filled with adventure In the heart of Riverfield, there’s a whisper.

A murmur of new beginnings, exciting shenanigans, and a grounded feeling that dynamic duo Barbie and Richard always yearned for in their later years. After travelling extensively, their journey led them to ports around the world, from South Africa to Western Australia via New Zealand. But now, they’ve found their forever home as Riverfield’s newest lifestyle community homeowners, and they’re beyond content.

With their mixed heritage, Barbie from South Africa and Richard from Germany originally, they embarked on adventure after adventure, country to country and home to home, before eventually settling in Perth.

They had full intentions of making it their last stop, bringing up their children there, and nestling into a lovely home they thought would be their last. However, both children moved to the eastern states for their careers, and then the world’s landscape changed.

Barbie and Richard found themselves in the wrath of the pandemic, quite isolated from the rest of Australia and lonely.

They started to reconsider their retirement plans.

“We thought we’d found a property suitable for retirement, but COVID made it difficult to communicate and see our kids. It was time for a change,“ Richard reflects.

With their son in Melbourne and daughter in Sydney, they decided to make the move across the country to be closer to family support. They found the simplicity of apartment living great at first, with no gardens to maintain or home maintenance, but something was missing. A feeling of community.

“We wanted something more than just somewhere to live. Riverfield offered a community where we could be part of shaping its growth,“ Richard shares.

Able to visualise and willing to compromise if needed, their exploration of lifestyle living led them to Shelley at Lifestyle Communities.

Full of ideas and thoughtfully considering Richard and Barbie’s scenario, she suggested Riverfield.

“We loved the idea of buying off-the-plan, having the option to adapt the home to our needs, and the fact that everything was brand new,” Richard explained.

And so they bought into the vision of Riverfield, selecting a 2-bedroom home, the Lyell, which ticked all their boxes.

Stylish and brand new, the Lyell bursts with open spaces and easy living, with an entrance that opens to a welcoming view of the entire house. Barbie loves that she can potter away in the front guest room and watch the world go by on the street. With the master bedroom nestled privately in the back of the home, this front room offers versatility and accommodation for visitors, though Barbie will need to pack away her craft projects first. There’s a small, easy-care yard to maintain, which suits them just fine, and the alfresco is the perfect spot for their morning cuppa. It also connects seamlessly to the chef’s kitchen and has easy access to the garage and side yard.

Downsizing from a standalone 4-bedroom brick house with a sprawling garden can be challenging for some, but not so much for this thrifty couple, who conveniently used each house move to cull or gift their belongings over the years.

Barbie elaborates, “We didn’t need to compromise; we have always been openminded. Adapting to change, getting to know the Melbourne area, making new friends, and being resilient to planned construction were all part of the process.”

Richard and Barbie ooze with a laid-back charm, appreciate professionalism, and are

Riverfield’s newest lifestyle community homeowners Barbie and Richard.

consistently forward-thinking.

Barbie and Richard.

“Lifestyle Riverfield stood out for us, offering innovative things like the microgrid, electric vehicle charging stations, and a vision that extended beyond mere residences,” Richard shares. “We’re also just a half-hour drive from Melbourne’s CBD, which is great!”.

“We are not here to be entertained; we’ll do the entertaining,“ Richard exclaims with a grin.

Between the trips to IKEA for interior design inspiration and new furniture, Barbie and Richard are brimming with ideas to fill the social calendar with their new likeminded neighbours. They eagerly await amenities like the luxury pool, sauna, gym, and Maker Space dedicated to woodwork and craft projects. With mental health top of mind, social interactions are important to

Settling in for a friendly chat on the front porch with another neighbour, Richard acknowledges that, for them, it’s not just a new house but a forever home within a supportive community of friends on the same wavelength. Riverfield is a place to relax, enjoy life, mingle, and build long-lasting connections. As the pioneers of the Lifestyle Riverfield community, their next chapter is where each day brings unforgettable moments, belly laughs, shared experiences, and a life well-lived.

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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UNWIND & REJUVENATE

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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In the exhilarating rush of the holidays, we often overlook a crucial aspect amidst the chaos—self-care. Hills Physiotherapy understands the strains and stresses that accompany this festive period. That’s why we advocate for the transformative potential of remedial massage as a means of self-care, especially during this bustling season.

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MAIL 13

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Ranges’ beating heart going strong after 25 years The Upwey and Hills community recently celebrated 25 years with Burrinja over music, speech, art, song and celebration.

On 3 December, Burriinja celebrated with a party and showcased both moments of reflection and hopes for the future with exhibitions, live performances, speeches and a special afternoon tea.

The establishment also launched a new (and old) exhibition named the “Archiving the Future” project.

Running through until late February 2023, the project dives into the heart of Burrinja’s history.

Curator JD Mittmann said it was great to see former board members, staff and volunteers engage with the exhibition in such a positive way.

“It was a real trip down memory lane for some, especially those who were involved in securing the building for community and the establishment of Burrinja Gallery in the early days,” he said.

“I hope the community will take this rare opportunity to visit the exhibition and learn about the humble origins of their art centre.

It’s a real lesson in grassroots activism.”

“It shows what a vision, focus and people power can achieve (in only 25 years).”

The celebration also included Tracey Roberts and Matt Walker playing in the cafe, hillsceneLIVE performance in the theatre and a speech song by Joy Serwylo.

The day was celebrated with stories shared by all attendees, and marketing manager Bluzal Field said Burrinja was alive with people from all eras of its community.

“It was brilliant to see that while the building has changed, and grown the community has remained connected through their shared

Joy Serwylo & Tracey Roberts singing their speech.

Burrinja’s Creative Director Gareth Hart welcoming everyone. passion for art in all its forms,” she said.

Burrinja has touched the lives of many during its 25 years and Burrinja’s creative director Gareth Hart said that like so many people in this community, much of their creative life has been connected to Burrinja.

“My first project in partnership with Burrinja was in 2009, and since then I have held

Pictures: TAHLIA HEITMANN

four different roles within the organisation! I adore this centre, and all it stands for,” they said. “To have the honour of hosting the 25th birthday event, supported so strongly by the talented team and dedicated board, was a memorable moment for me.”

Hart thanked all those who attended the event, and welcomed the entire community to come and witness what has been have cre-

Neil McLeod & Mark Westaway. ated in the venue over summer.”

“Burrinja plays a role in the creative life of the entire hills community, and after 25 years the future looks very bright indeed,” they said.

“Archiving the Future ‘’ is a specially curated experience and will be on display at Burrinja, Upwey until 18 February 2024.

Back to where it all began

By Tyler Wright From humble beginnings in regional Victoria to forging a music career in downtown Chicago, Illinois, songwriter and guitarist Michael Charles’ journey has been rooted in Blues.

Charles was born in the small town of Tatura, 20 kilometres south-west of Shepparton.

At five years old, his family made the move to Coburg in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, where his dad’s guitar playing sparked the youngster’s interest in performing.

Charles performed his first gig on stage at seven years old.

“I did my first television appearance when I was 15 or 16, and it rolled from there,” he said.

To celebrate his 40th anniversary in 2024, Charles will return to Melbourne next year to perform at the Red to Blues Sessions at the Emerald RSL on Friday 23 February.

“Before the pandemic, I was in Australia and I got invited to play at that same venue; it was a complete sell out; It was just an amazing night,“ he said.

“When they heard I was coming out again, they invited me to play.“ In 1989, in his early 30s, Charles received an invitation from the management of legendary Blues guitarist Mr Buddy Guy to appear at the Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago.

After travelling the 12,500-mile trek, and performing with Mr Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater and other Blues greats in Chicago, Charles returned to Australia.

“That was probably the highlight of my career, because any invitation from a legend like Buddy Guy - it’s an offer you can’t refuse,“ Charles said.

“When I came to the States and started playing with some of the greatest blues players recognised all over the world, I had those opportunities to play with some of the best.

“It educated me what Blues music really is and then you start playing it the way it should be played.“ Charles’ return to Australia only lasted a 14 MAIL

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

Melbourne-born Blues songwriter and guitarist, Michael Charles, will bring his music to the Emerald RSL on Friday 23 February 2024.

Picture: SUPPLIED span of days, re-boarding the plane with the intention to grow his career in the States.

The move paid off, as Charles teamed up with another Blues guitarist, Jimmy Dawkins, aka “Fast Fingers;” touring the USA for two years.

“When I first came to Chicago, they picked me up and took me to downtown Chicago and for some strange reason I felt like I was

at home, and I’ve been at home ever since,“ Charles said. “[I felt] like I should have been born here.

“It became home - I’m an American citizen now - you just don’t know where life takes you and for me, it’s like ’go with the flow, if something’s working out just continue doing it’.“ In 2015, Charles was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame; a nod to his career and catalogue

of 40 releases.

“That was a big one for me; because that was something that came out of the left field; I never would have expected to be in the Hall of Fame,“ the Grammy-elected artist said.

“It makes me work harder - I think if you achieve certain things, you better be ready to live up to it; and if you can’t live up to it, you don’t deserve getting it.“ As part of his anniversary tour, Charles is also set to perform at the Westernport Hotel in San Remo, and Bird’s Basement in the Melbourne CBD, with the possibility of a fourth show being announced.

“People that buy my records and listen to my music say ’you’re a little bit more than just a Blues player; your genre varies so much,’ and the reason being is that I love all sorts of music,“ he said.

“Being a songwriter, you get creative and you experiment with a lot of different music.“ For Charles, being asked back to the Emerald RSL is a nice “pat on the back“.

“My attitude is to go there and give it my 200 per cent and please the audiences,“ he said.

At his last gig in Emerald, Charles even saw the iconic Puffing Billy locomotive travelling through the town; bringing back memories of his childhood.

“I [hadn’t] heard about the Puffing Billy since I was a kid but I finally got to see it,“ he said.

“You should never forget your humble beginnings.“ In the meantime, Charles will be working on a new album from his Chicago studio; touring the US, Canada and Australia constantly.

“I am always doing something,“ he said.

Charles’ performance will take place at 3 Memorial Drive in Emerald, with an entry fee of $25 for attendees, and $20 for 3MDR and RSL members.

Tickets can be purchased on trybooking. com by searching for the event date and location.

You can listen to Charles’ music on Spotify and iTunes. mailcommunity.com.au

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

From rejections to triumph

By Tyler Wright It took Sarah Firth eight years to publish her debut graphic novel Eventually Everything Connects, with a stint staying in the Dandenongs marking a point of relief in the process.

Comic artist, writer and graphic recorder, Firth said she was inspired by her “everyday thoughts and experiences” while creating the novel; a collection of eight visual essays covering topics from sex and philosophy to science and pop culture.

“A catalyst for me to really get moving with making it was the opportunity to pitch the book to the Comic Art Workshop in 2015,“ Firth said.

“It is a two week residency for ambitious long form comic and graphic novel projects.

Where 14 or so amazing graphic novelists get together to workshop each other’s work.

“Finding this community really lit the fire in my belly to make this book.“ However, the publication was not an easy one for Firth, with rejections from publishing houses coming through “thick and fast“.

“While I started in 2015, it took quite some time to find both an agent to represent me, and a publisher who was brave enough to publish me,“ she said.

“For years I got rejections.

“The issue was not that the book was lousy, it was more that the book is too hybrid, unusual and daring, and I was told it was risky to publish.“ In 2021, the frustrated author took herself off to a retreat in the Dandenongs and resigned to the fact her novel would not be published. “[I] bought myself a wood splitter and chopped firewood logs at a cabin for days, to let out my pent up frustration; that’s a normal

Sarah Firth’s debut graphic novel in October. thing to do, right?” Firth told Star Mail.

“I walked in the Dandenong Ranges National Park daily, and called friends who had given up on their graphic novels to commiserate.”

On the last day of her retreat, however, when Firth had resigned to let the book die, she received an excited call from her agent

Picture: SUPPLIED telling her that screenwriter and actor Nakkiah Lui had seen her pitch, “loved it“ and wanted it for her new imprint; Joan Press with Allen & Unwin.

“What a turn of events,” Firth said.

“The book is very much about trying to both embrace uncertainty and the everythingness of these times.

“The joy and despair, the love and the pain, the complexity and the opportunities.“ Eventually Everything Connects was released on 3 October, with the rights recently being purchased by Pennsylvania-based company Graphic Mundi and a release date of spring 2024 in America.

So far, the novel has been featured in the must reads section of Qantas Magazine, reviews in The Big Issue, Readings Monthly and on Arts Hub. It was also in the non fiction pick of the week in the Saturday Age, listed in “The Best Books of 2023” by The Conversation and was listed in Refinery 29’s “A Beginners Guide to the Best Graphic Novels, Ever“ alongside classics like Maus, The Complete Persepolis and Heartstopper.

“I’m so amazed at the positive feedback the book has had over the last two months,“ Firth said, following a book launch tour in cities including Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne at a sold out Science Gallery on 18 October.

“I made special moth outfits as bogong moths are a key recurring creature and symbol in the book by hand and did a magical dance/ comedy performance with two friends to kick off the launch, and did the whole rest of the launch dressed as a moth,“ she said.

“It was very fun.“ She said she hopes readers feel an experience of “thinking together“ as “we journey through stories, thoughts and experiences in both human and more-than-human worlds“.

“My aim is for the book to be a breath of fresh air, to reinvigorate a sense of lateral thinking and curiosity, wholeheartedness and wonder at the strangeness of being alive.“

Make the most of your retirement...

ON THE COAST. “We followed the kids down the Surf Coast after our friends told us about Armstrong Green. To our surprise, over a quarter of the community in our beautiful new village also came from the Eastern suburbs.

So join us in 2024.”

722-742 Barwon Heads Road, Armstrong Creek

armstronggreen.com.au

Availability and pricing correct as of 30.11.2023

Call Jodie and Linda on 1800 777 898 to book a tour or scan the QR code to learn more about our $25k Cashback Offer* on the boutique Duneed Villa, already built from $660K.

12654484-JC49-23

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 15

NEWS

Santa and songs fill Hills The festive season is here and in full swing – with visits from the jolly red fellow himself and a chance to embrace community spirit with carols across the region.

There will be CFA Santa runs and Carols galore across the Yarra Ranges in the coming weeks.

On Sunday 17 December, Santa Claus will be coming to town with the Ferntree Gully CFA and visit the parks and reserves of the area.

The Ferntree Gully CFA is very excited to bring Santa to do the rounds, so come down and say G’day!

The tour will go as follows: 9am - Kent Park Reserve and Koolung Native Reserve.

9.30am - Windermere Reserve and Ambleside Park.

10am - The jolly red fellow will also appear at Segata Circuit Reserve and Tim Neville Reserve.

10.30am - Mt Gate Primary and 8th Scout Hall.

11am - Picket reserve and Bursaria Avenue Reserve.

11.30 am Ferntree Gully Quarry and Fairhills Primary School.

The tour will finish up at the Ferntree Gully Fire Station at noon.

Belgrave South CFA will have a tour of their area with Santa in tow on Christmas Eve – Sunday 24 December from 4pm onwards and routes will be published closer to the time.

Community Carols events are available from Emerald to Belgrave so pop down to have a sing on the mountain or by the lake.

The Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade is delighted to host Carols on the Mountain on 16 December this year – first staged in 2005, the event has become a treasured annual high-

· · · · · ·

Hear from some talented locals as they sing some of people’s favourite carols. Picture: SUPPLIED light in the Hills community calendar.

Gates open at 6.30pm and carols will start at 7.30pm.

There is a big lineup of artists again this year including Soloist Lady Shaula, the Southern Voices and Tecoma Sing Australia choir, and the Upwey High School Show Band.

Santa will be arriving on a special “fire truck sleigh” at around 9pm.

Free parking is available in the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society gardens, just follow directions from the marshals.

The Sassafras-Ferny Creek CFA community

information team will also be available on the night to discuss all things related to fire safety, and donations from the evening go to the CFA. Carols by the Lake will return to Emerald this Christmas led by the Cardinia Civic Concert Band on the evening of Friday 15 December.

The night kicks off with a community picnic and carols from 5.30pm to 7pm led by local primary schools and local talents yet to be announced at the bandstand in Emerald Lake Park.

From 7.30 pm the Cardinia Civic Concert Band will lead the carols and attendees are en-

couraged to join in for the singing.

There will also be a special scavenger hunt at the lake for kids to take part in on the night, with clues to special spots throughout the park.

A collection will go around on the night and be donated to the SES and CFA in Emerald.

The event is made possible by the hard work of the dedicated volunteers, Cardinia Council, Barry Plant, St Marks Church and the Emerald Op-Shop.

Belgrave Christmas Carols will deck the hills and be quite jolly on Thursday 21 December from 3pm to 8pm at St Thomas Moore Primary, Reynolds Lane - Belgrave A collaboration with the Belgrave Traders, Belgrave Big Dreams Market and sponsorship from the Belgrave Traders, Bell Real estate, Bendigo Bank - Belgrave and OBG Productions.

The event will feature late night shopping, a Santa appearance, local musician and live music, art, fashion and last minute gifts Bring a picnic blanket and enjoy the stalls, carols, food and local talent with your friends and family on the cusp of the Christmas busy season.

Region Schedule: Carols by the Lake in Emerald on Friday 15 December at Emerald Lake Park from 5.30pm Carols on the Mountain on Saturday 16 December, Ferny Creek Recreation Reserve, Hilton Road Sassafras.

Belgrave Christmas Carols on Thursday 21 December from 3pm to 8pm at St Thomas Moore Primary, Reynolds Lane in Belgrave CFA fire truck Santa runs - Ferntree Gully Sunday 17 December and Belgrave South on Christmas Eve 24 December.

· · · ·

A crafty cardboard Christmas village made by Barbara From wreaths hanging above doors to bows and baubles, there’s so much to spot.

How many hidden details can you find?

Tracy Dasler captured the essence of the village in these photos, which were too good not to share.

Barbara Fergusson hand crafted this incredible cardboard Christmas village.

Pictures: TRACY DASLER

ed

Publish

y

Tuesda

Figurines brings the setting to life.

From tiny wreaths to bows, the precision is impeccable.

Where to pick up a FREE printed copy of your...

Mail

AVONSLEIGH Avonsleigh News & General Store 445 Belgrave Gembrook Road BELGRAVE Belgrave Newsagency 1704 Burwood Highway BELGRAVE Woolworths Supermarket 1629 Burwood Highway

EMERALD Bell Real Estate 313 Main Street FERNTREE GULLY Upper Ferntree Gully Newsagents, 1202 Burwood Highway FERNTREE GULLY Glenfern Road Milk Bar , 83 Glenfern Road

MONBULK Monbulk Newsagency & Officesmart 76 Main Street OLINDA Monbulk Bowling Club, 11 Moores Road OLINDA Olinda Cellars Shop 7/540 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road

BELGRAVE IGA 151 Belgrave-Hallam Road BELGRAVE Chandler & Co Real Estate 1689 Burwood Hwy

FERNTREE GULLY Coles Supermarket Mountain Gate SC Ferntree Gully Road FERNTREE GULLY Woolworths Supermarket Mountain Gate SC

OLINDA Ranges at Olinda 5 Old Main Road OLINDA IGA Supermarket 1526 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road

BELGRAVE First National Real Estate 1660 Burwood Highway Belgrave BELGRAVE SOUTH Belgrave South Motors 138 Belgrave-Hallam Rd BORONIA Boronia Mall Newsagent Corner Floriston Road & Chandler Road

Ferntree Gully Road FERNTREE GULLY Mountain Gate Newsagency & Lotto Mountain Gate SC 9b Ferntree Gully Road FERNTREE GULLY IGA Ferntree Gully, 107 Station Street

OLINDA Bell Real Estate 11 Main Road SASSAFRAS Sassafras General Store 391 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road SILVAN Shell Princi Motors, 275 - 277 Monbulk Road

COCKATOO Ranges First National Shop 2, 24 McBride Street COCKATOO IGA Cockatoo 34 McBride Street

TECOMA BP Service Station 1524 Burwood Highway TECOMA Bon Ton General Store 1537 Burwood Highway

EMERALD Kaye Charles RE 12a Kilvington Drive EMERALD Ritchies SUPA IGA 342 Belgrave-Gembrook Road EMERALD Emerald Village Newsagency 4 Kilvington Drive

FERNTREE GULLY Shell Service Station 1140 Burwood Highway FERNY CREEK Ferny Creek & Post Office 195 Mount Dandenong Tourist Road GEMBROOK Gembrook Post Office& Newsagent 72 Main Street GEMBROOK IGA Supermarket 83/85 Main Street

EMERALD Woolworths Supermarket Belgrave Gembrook Road EMERALD Auto Plus More Petrol Station 365 Main Street

KALORAMA Post Office 1209 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road MONBULK Best Repairs & Accessories Monbulk - 26 Main Road

TREMONT Caltex Service Station 100 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road UPWEY Newsagent 18 Main Street

EMERALD Shell Service Station 336 Main Street EMERALD Barry Plant Real Estate 1/ 321 Main Street

MONBULK Food Express 128 Main Road MONBULK Woolworths Supermarket Main Road & Moores Road

UPWEY IGA Supermarket 62-64 Main Street UPWEY Yarra Ranges Shire Council 40 Main Street

TECOMA O’Brien Real Estate 1567 Burwood Highway TECOMA McDonald’s Restaurant 1529 Burwood Highway THE PATCH The Patch Store and Post office 16 The Patch Road

Get our Digital Editions, Free News Updates, Breaking News and Competitions delivered to your email inbox.

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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A hand crafted Christmas village made entirely from cardboard took Barbara Fergusson hours to craft.

Taking up her entire kitchen table, there’s something to spot in every nook and cranny with figurines adding to the festive scene.

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OPINION

Reasons for The worst films of 2023 tummy pain Tummy pain is common in children and presents with multiple symptoms including constipation, diarrhoea, cramp, leg pain, poor appetite and nausea. It can be upsetting for children and equally concerning for parents.

Natural medicine can be of great relief.

It is imperative to identify and treat the cause/s of functional abdominal pain for complete resolution. Triggers must also be identified as this will prevent recurrence while your child recovers.

Nobody likes to see their child endure ongoing pain or feel unwell with lethargy, picky eating, nausea and ongoing pain. It can be hard knowing what else to do especially if you feel you have tried all options from the GP to the Pharmacist. However, this is a great opportunity to assess the problem from a holistic viewpoint, especially given the gut is affected by multiple external and internal factors.

Tummy pain is often multifaceted, complex and very individualised yet, a thorough and detailed assessment can yield great results.

Take nutrient deficiency for example, this can be a common cause of muscle cramp and altered movement resulting in constipation.

Pain can also be caused by altered signalling systems in the body which are dependent on an array of nutrients to support physiological function.

Low grade inflammation can drive tummy pain and should be resolved. Deficiency of essential fatty acids, leaky gut syndrome and food sensitivity will all cause a degree of irri-

2023 is defined by strikes and implosions.

Rallying for fair compensation in the streaming era and safeguards against AI content, the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike on May 2, with the SAG-AFTRA American actors union following suit on July 14. The writers strike saw a favourable resolution on September 27, and the actors strike finally ended on November 9 (although the final deal still has some concerning details about AI actor likenesses). These strikes significantly disrupted Hollywood productions, with many films and shows delayed or cancelled (and Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore were very tone-deaf in their intent to resume their respective shows without their writers). One big casualty was Part 2 of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, which now has a projected March 2024 release.

The blockbuster bubble is bursting. With uneven quality and lack of direction after Avengers: Endgame and the costly flop that was the Secret Invasion show, audiences are finally getting tired of the MCU, and 2023 is full of box-office failures. Blockbusters are now so unsustainably expensive to make, market and distribute (yet, ironically, dimea-dozen) that films such as Fast X, The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones 5, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and The Flash can each make hundreds of millions of dollars but fail to break even and thus cost their studios hundreds of millions (and Mission Impossible 7 was reportedly only profitable thanks to an insurance payout). The Hollywood blockbuster machine is collapsing and the big studios need to stop spending fortunes they can’t get back.

After all the upheavals in the film industry and beyond, the bad movies of 2023 were overall not that bad. It also hurts to see so many indie films end up in my list. But bad is bad and negative criticism is constructive criticism, so here are my picks for the ten worst films of 2023.

10. The Exorcist: Believer. A solid horror movie in isolation, but a pointless, uncreative sequel.

9. The Whale. Not a bad movie, but one I look back on with zero fondness: it’s depressing, stagnant in its staging and lack of development for the protagonist, and his daughter is

Healthy

living Tim Howden

Paediatric Naturopath – Healesville tation and inflammation. These nutrients are not commonly assessed at primary care level but can be assessed. A common issue I treat frequently is parasitic infection. This causes nutrient depletion, poor appetite, pain, nausea and lethargy. Care needs to be exercised with treatment but an experienced practitioner can clear parasites with highly specific herbal and probiotic strains. In extremely complex cases functional pathology testing (which is more comprehensive that first line GP testing and less invasive than scoping) can provide information on gut function throughout the entire GI tract. Realistically the issue involves a combination of things that need to be assessed very carefully.

Functional tummy pain in children can be distressing and affect their entire wellbeing.

Parents are often at a loss on how to treat it especially when serious illness has been ruled out and yet a holistic approach taking into consideration the broad nature of tummy pain can yield excellent results.

CARTOON

too monstrously cruel to engage with.

8. Foe. Flat and heavy-handed, with worldbuilding so flimsy you can hardly even call it sci-fi.

7. 65. Static action and very poor pacing and editing. Plus, the dinosaur designs suck.

6. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. A Marvel misfire with contrived quippy dialogue, an impersonal Macguffin-driven plot and badly-shot action.

5. Asteroid City. A beautiful, charming film that shoots itself in the foot and eliminates all tension with its central gimmick.

4. Beau is Afraid. This reads as an indie filmmaker (Ari Aster of Hereditary and Midsommar) who got carried away with a bigger budget. There are some engaging or beautiful vignettes, but the film is ludicrous, meanspirited and either mishandles or fails to engage with its themes.

3. Spider-Man: Lotus. A mopey, overwritten, uneventful slog. This may be a fan film, but it’s fair game.

2. Ghosted. A romantic action-comedy that isn’t funny, and the main characters are both garbage people.

1. Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey. Essentially a Halloween movie if Pooh were Michael Myers, and not scary or funny enough to justify its existence. Strangely, Blood and Honey shows some genuine skill and effort – decent set design, atmosphere and practical effects; some well-executed moments of tension; the swimming pool scene is kinda cool – but the acting, dialogue, plot and pacing are all shockingly bad.

Join me next week for my list of 2023’s best films.

What’s happening for 2024 The Basin Theatre: 2024 season Hatched, Matched & Dispatched – Preview Thursday February 22.

Gala Opening Friday February 23.

Berlin Preview Thursday April 18. Gala Friday April 19.

Jimmie the Beatle Preview Thursday June 13. Gala Opening Friday June 14.

God of Carnage Preview Thursday October 5. Gala Opening Friday October 4.

Bookings: 1300 784 668 Lilydale Athenaeum theatre: 2024 season Piece of Mind Season: February 8 – 24.

Still Alice Season April 18 – May 4.

· · ·

· Suite Surrender Season: June 27 – July 13. · Clue on Stage Season: September 5 – 21. · Little Women Season: November 14 – 30.

Rent the Musical is coming to Melbourne Step into the vibrant streets of New York city’s East Village. Where dreams are born, friendships are tested, and the power of love prevails against all odds. Featuring the iconic songs Seasons of Love, Take Me Or Leave Me and La Bohème, this groundbreaking phenomen on is more than a musical; it’s a celebration of life, love and the human spirit.

Venue: State Theatre Arts Centre Melbourne.

Season: February 17 – March 10.

Bookings: 1300 182 183.

Connect with summer nature in all its glorious forms With summer finally here and the promise of warm weather, the draw of nature is strong.

Nature can come in grand packages of wilderness, national parks and other wide open spaces, but for many it’s their backyard, townhouse courtyard or inner city balcony that is their daily focus, Here in the Dandenongs, most of us still enjoy the privilege of space that lets us connect with nature and benefit from the positive effects it brings to a person’s physical, emotional and mental state.

Those with limited space to enjoy a garden should read Indira Naidoo’s The Edible Garden where she describes how she has managed to maintain a garden of vegetables and flowers on the balcony of her 13th floor apartment in inner Sydney.

Naidoo says there’s only one thing you need to be able to grow a garden and it has mailcommunity.com.au

WOORILLA WORDS nothing to do with space. Instead, it’s all about sunlight. She recounts how she started with a small selection of plants in pots: tomatoes, coriander and basil. She recalls the excitement of watching seeds germinating and wonders what it was like when people were totally dependent on what they grew. In the age of supermarkets we often forget this

and the fact that not that long ago backyards would have had an all year vegie plot, some fruit trees and a few chooks.

But backyards are now a threatened species as Australian Poet Paul Willason laments: ‘Back then, backyards were big enough to nurture a growing soul and provide a space for the earth to play out its seasons in full rehearsal.

There were wide tracks of grass, trees to climb, old sheds to rummage with their interiors full of tools and bric-a-brac webbed in history.’

Today the diminished backyard is more likely to have an elaborate barbeque set up, a pool or a hot tub.

Growing food is of course cultural and Indira advises to grow what you most like, in her case a curry tree in a pot on her balcony is indispensable for her cooking curries and flavouring rice etc. For those with limited space it is advisable to start small with herbs, loose leaf lettuces, silverbeet and cherry tomatoes.

Sadly, so often, the elderly are forced to abandon their gardens because it is so hard to get help but even a pot of basil, dill (or whatever is your preferred herb) on the kitchen or bathroom window sill is better than nothing.

While freshly picked vegetables nurture you, flowers too are needed for a healthy garden and also to delight. The sight of flowers can evoke pleasant emotions and contribute to a more positive outlook. No patio or veranda is too small to house an array of seasonal flowers that bring colour into your life.

Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 17

PUZZLES No. 163

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.

easy

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5 8 9 6 3 1 8 5 7 3 6 4 2 7 7 4 8 5 6 medium

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QUICK CROSSWORD 4 5 7

ACROSS Messages sent on holiday (9) Matured (4) Organ used to hear (3) Thing found disgusting or vile (11) Words of the same meaning (8) Rupture (6) Naked (4) Post (7) Rubeola (7) Thunder god (4) Voice box (6) A doctor’s customers (8) Acknowledgement (11) Centre (3) Edible rootstock (4) Question and answer session (9)

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8 9 16 17 18 19 22 23 24 27

No. 163

Those sharing a house (9) Send (4) A stringed musical instrument (6) Small rowboat (6) Dead and putrefying flesh (7) Psychiatrist (9) 13 to 19 (7) Chinese east coast city (8) Medieval weapon (8) A red wine (6) Food retailer (6) Meal (6) South Pacific island (4)

DOWN Game bird (8) Love song (8) Bondage (6)

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No. 163

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4 3 8 9 4 4 1 5 8 7 8 7 6 9 7 9 3 1 2 7 5 hard

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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”.

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Today’s Aim: 21 words: Good 32 words: Very good

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1 2 9 6 3 7 4 5 8 6 7 5 1 4 8 2 3 9 4 8 3 5 9 2 6 7 1 3 6 4 7 1 5 9 8 2 8 5 2 9 6 3 7 1 4 9 1 7 8 2 4 5 6 3 2 9 1 3 7 6 8 4 5 5 3 6 4 8 9 1 2 7 7 4 8 2 5 1 3 9 6

1 9 6 8 3 7 5 2 4 8 3 4 9 2 5 1 7 6 5 7 2 6 4 1 9 3 8 3 6 7 1 8 9 4 5 2 4 1 9 2 5 3 6 8 7 2 5 8 7 6 4 3 1 9 6 4 1 5 7 2 8 9 3 7 8 5 3 9 6 2 4 1 9 2 3 4 1 8 7 6 5

D

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abiding, aiding, ailing, algid, align, aligns, bailing, balding, baling, bang, bangs, basing, biasing, biding, digs, ding, dings, DISABLING, gain, gains, gild, gilds, gins, glad, gland, glib, idling, lading, lags, lang, nags, sailing, sang, sibling, siding, sidling, sign, sing, slag, slang, sliding, sling, snag

6 7 4 1 9 3 2 8 5 5 2 9 8 6 4 1 7 3 8 1 3 7 2 5 6 4 9 1 4 6 2 3 8 5 9 7 7 8 5 9 1 6 3 2 4 3 9 2 5 4 7 8 6 1 4 5 7 3 8 2 9 1 6 9 6 8 4 5 1 7 3 2 2 3 1 6 7 9 4 5 8 Puzzles and pagination © Pagemasters | pagemasters.com

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14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

43 words: Excellent

hard

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F I D V ZWX U K T H Y J

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C O E B L S N R P AQGM

9 1 1 3 2 6 1 4 8 7 9 6 4 5 6 1 7 8 9 1 8 7 2 2 6

WORDFIT 3 LETTERS ACE AGO APE ASK ATE BOA DUO EGO ERA FBI GEL GNU INS KEG OAF OFF ROW RUE SEA SEE TEE URN UTE WEB 4 LETTERS BULB EARN EGGS GROW LATE LOTS MYTH REEF RIFT SALT SELL SKIM SONG UNTO 5 LETTERS ADORE

No. 163

* $ 5 / , &

ALONG APRIL ARENA ARISE AURAS AWOKE BESET CARGO CEDED CHOSE DAZED DEBUG DELTA EIGHT ELEGY ENTER ESSAY ETHER EVICT FERNS FORGE GRAPE

HORDE HORSE IRONY ISLES LEECH LUNGE MADAM MAINS MERGE METER ONION OPENS PANEL RATIO REINS ROBOT SCORE SHARP SHOES SORES SPEAR TOKEN

TOYED TWEED USING WALTZ WEDGE 6 LETTERS CAWING GARLIC LIKELY ONWARD

7 LETTERS ELASTIC ENEMIES EROSION FOOTAGE ORIENTS RIVETED 8 LETTERS HANDRAIL INCITING INSTANCE POWERFUL

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SUDOKU

15-12-23

William Matthews Funerals 24 HOUR SERVICE - ALL AREAS

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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PROPERTY

OUTSTANDING HOME WITH GORGEOUS VIEWS mailcommunity.com.au

Tuesday, 5 December, 2023

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MAIL PROPERTY GUIDE

25

PROPERTY OF THE WEEK

QUALITY HOME WITH GORGEOUS VIEWS AN absolutely stunning South Australian Limestone build, this bespoke home oozes decadence and quality and will fit the largest of families.

There are 5 bedroom options including the oversized master with stunning outlook to greet the day and a split system for added comfort, a walk-through robe and huge ensuite, complete with an amazing spa with endless views – what better way to relax after a hectic day. Add to this 2 further large, robed bedrooms and a third spacious living room/rumpus which is currently being used as a 4th bedroom and there is also a large home office/study/library with wallto-wall cabinetry and desk – the perfect place to work from home or convert to a 5th bedroom if required.

The home is light, bright, and opulent with high ceilings, wide hallways, ornate plaster work and large windows allowing you to enjoy the private and delightful views from every window. The central, open plan family room/kitchen/dining space welcomes an abundance of natural light, has a large split system for the warmer days and plenty of space for the largest of family gatherings.

The entertainer’s kitchen features Red Gum cabinetry, Caesar stone bench tops, glass splash backs and a spacious walk in pantry. This living space is perfect for the chef of the family and provides the ability to cook up a storm whilst watching the kids and entertaining friends or maybe you would prefer to eat and relax in the formal lounge/dining room with the ambient gas log fire, whilst the home has gas ducted heating throughout for absolute comfort and convenience. And lets not forget the huge country laundry.

Outside, there is a fantastic Alfresco overlooking the hills behind, a manicured garden, rolling laws, a chicken run and an American Barn with mezzanine, concrete floor, lights and power. Add to this mains water and gas, a water tank for the garden, 3.6kW solar system and a double lock up garage with remote door at the front of the property that beautifully matches the home.

This fantastic property is located a short drive to Gembrook and all its great

restaurants, parks, shops, and cafes, whilst being on a private and peaceful no-through road. If only the best will do – this is the one for you.

This property has it all so don’t miss out call to arrange a private inspection today.

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. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 11 Bond Lane, GEMBROOK Description: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 5 garage Price: $1,400,000 - $1,500,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Samantha Scott 0438 680 032, BELL REAL ESTATE, EMERALD 20 MAIL

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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HOME FOCUS

INVITING, CHARMING FARMHOUSE RETREAT EMBRACE the timeless allure of country living at 101 Airlie Road, Healesville-a property that effortlessly captures the essence of farmhouse charm and old-world elegance.

Boasting three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two living areas, this residence exudes a warmth that is both inviting and comforting.

As you step onto the property, the self-contained bungalow with a quaint kitchenette and bathroom adds a touch of versatility, creating total of four bedrooms and three bathrooms for the property making it perfect for guests or creative pursuits.

The farmhouse style is accentuated by an abundance of shedding, providing practical solutions for storage or hobbies, while verandahs wrapping around the home evoke the nostalgic charm of days gone by.

The interior seamlessly blends modern comfort with olde world charm, offering an internal access garage and carport for added convenience. The rural setting allows for space all around, creating an idyllic backdrop for this homely retreat. The gardens, meticulously loved and cared for, contribute to the overall appeal, bringing life and colour to the surroundings.

At the rear of the property, a covered entertaining area beckons, providing the perfect spot to enjoy the tranquillity of the rural setting. The house itself emanates a homely, relaxing feel, inviting you to unwind and savour the simpler pleasures of life. The allotment is approx. 6482sqm in size and is currently the home to two sheep, who would love to stay on with the new owners as they enjoy living here.

The location is nothing short of ideal, with Badger Creek Primary School, Healesville Sanctuary, and Badger Weir picnic grounds in close proximity. A short drive will take you to Healesville township, ensuring that essential amenities and the charm of a small town are within easy reach.

For those who appreciate the beauty of country living, coupled with the convenience of modern living, 101 Airlie Road stands as an epitome of serene, rural elegance.

Discover a haven where pets and kids can frolic freely, and the timeless appeal of a farmhouse lifestyle awaits. Arrange a viewing today and make this charming retreat your very own. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 101Airlie Road, HEALESVILLE Description: 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 garage Price: $950,000 - $1,040,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Jane Nunn 0432 375 940, INTEGRITY REAL ESTATE mailcommunity.com.au

Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 21

HOME FOCUS

MODERN UPDATES AND COUNTRY CHARM BEYOND the expansive circular driveway and surrounding garden, lies a turnkey property that evokes warmth and style on 1800m2 (approx). 10ft ceilings and Tasmanian Oak floorboards draw you in, leading to a sundrenched sunken lounge.

The spacious renovated kitchen and dining area integrate into the open-plan living space. Three generous bedrooms and a study line the impressive hallway, accompanied by a unique yet practical family bathroom design.

The solid double brick exterior is durable and insulating, with north-facing windows lending abundant natural light to living areas.

The garden and landscaping have been meticulously planned to offer both beauty and convenience and are fitted with an automated irrigation system and luxurious lighting.

Don’t miss the chance to make this home your own. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 128 Emerald Monbulk Road, EMERALD Description: 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 4 garage Price: $890,000-$970,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Sue Colic 0421 772 610 and Dave Reilly 0437 347 665, BARRY PLANT EMERALD 22 MAIL

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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37 AVON ROAD AVONSLEIGH

128 EMERALD MONBULK ROAD EMERALD

18 Kallista EmErald road KALLISTA

INCREDIBLE LIFESYTLE PROPERTY

MODERN UPDATES AND COUNTRY CHARM

QUALITY FAMILY HOME ON 2,016M2

5A

4A

3A

3B

3D

FOR SALE $1,395,000 - $1,450,000 OFI

By Appointment

GAYLE BARROT 0408 195 767 BARRY PLANT EMERALD 5968 4522

1D SUE COLIC 0421 772 610

FOR SALE $890,000-$970,000 OFI

By Appointment

BARRY PLANT EMERALD 5968 4522

2D

FOR SALE $850,000 - $900,000 OFI By appointment

JUSTIN BARROT 0438 683 781 BARRY PLANT EMERALD 5968 4522

15 Clematis Park road CLEMATIS

4 Woodlands avenue COCKATOO

2665 Gembrook LaunchinG PL rd GEMBROOK

CENTRAL EMERALD FAMILY FAVOURITE

MODERN ENTERTAINER ON HALF AN ACRE

YOUR RURAL RETREAT – ON OVER 8,000M2

4A

4A

5A

2B

2D

FOR SALE $860,000-$890,000 OFI By appointment

mailcommunity.com.au

SUE COLIC 0421 772 610 BARRY PLANT EMERALD 5968 4522

2B

2D

FOR SALE $985,000-$1,080,000 OFI By appointment

DAVE REILLY 0437 347 665 BARRY PLANT EMERALD 5968 4522

2B

2D

FOR SALE $920,000 - $1,010,000 OFI by appointment

RILEY NICHOLAS 0488 501 218 BARRY PLANT EMERALD 5968 4522

Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 23

HOME FOCUS

FAMILY HOME IN THE HEART OF COCKATOO THIS fantastic three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is awaiting a new family to enjoy the space, privacy and tranquil treed views.

Located on a newly-sealed road this property has an asphalt driveway that leads to the charming home with single carport and additional off-street parking.

Enter the home to discover open plan living between the dining area and kitchen.

The kitchen has a gas stove top and electric oven, and stainless steel dishwasher. Zoned away from the master bedroom there are two spacious bedrooms on the upper level, both with built-in-wardrobes and the laundry which has access to the rear yard.

Down a few stairs to the sunlit loungeroom, which features a cosy woodfire and a split system air conditioner and there is ducted heating throughout the home for year round comfort and convenience. The loungeroom opens up to the spacious front entertaining deck, perfect for a barbecue with family and friends whilst soaking in filtered views of Cockatoo.

The master bedroom with built-in-robes and ensuite adjoins the lounge room, enabling parents to relax or entertaining while the little ones are asleep up the stairs in their bedrooms.

The backyard is a treasure to enjoy, with a paved entertaining area and rear decking in addition to the huge front deck with views.

Add to this a cubby house, chicken coop/ dog run, an established vegetable garden, garden shed, a timber day bed and a large two room studio which has power and is fully lined and insulated, that could be ideal for your work from home requirements or hobby area/teenager retreat.

This property has it all so don’t miss out.

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. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 17 Baker Street, COCKATOO Description: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 garage Price: $750,000 - $820,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Samantha Scott 0438 680 032, BELL REAL ESTATE EMERALD 24 MAIL

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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P 5968 6222 311-313 Main Street Emerald

17 Baker Street, Cockatoo

$750,000 - $820,000

100 Gembrook-Tonimbuk Road, Gembrook

$1,250,000 - $1,350,000

Family Home on Large Block in the Heart of Cockatoo!

Stylish Equine Property on approx. 5 acres!

This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home on a sealed road with asphalt driveway also has a single carport & OSP. The kitchen has a gas stove top, electric oven, & SS dishwasher. Zoned away from the master bedroom there are 2 bedrooms on the upper level with BIRs, & the laundry has access to the rear yard. Down a few stairs to the sunlit loungeroom, which features a cosy woodfire & a split system AC. There is also ducted heating throughout the home. The loungeroom opens up to the front entertaining deck. The master bedroom with BIRs & ensuite adjoins the loungeroom. The backyard has a paved entertaining area & rear decking in addition to the huge front deck with views. Add to this a cubby house, chicken coop/dog run, an established vegetable garden, garden shed, a timber day bed & a large 2 room studio that has power & is fully lined & insulated.

The expansive 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom home has a formal loungeroom & a master bedroom with a large WIR & ensuite. Near the master bedroom is a further bedroom with ceiling fan & BIRs. The home has high ceilings, double glazed large windows, & reverse cycle AC. The central open plan kitchen/ dining/lounge area is flooded with natural light, & offers a wood fire heater, & kitchen with a large walk in pantry. The kitchen has a 900mm gas stove/oven, & SS appliances including dishwasher & Caesar stone benchtops. There is a laundry with it’s own external access, a study/office area, & then 3 further bedrooms, all with ceiling fans & BIRs. These bedrooms are serviced by the family bathroom & separate toilet. Externally the acreage is divided into 5 fully fenced paddocks. This home utilizes gas bottles, tank water, has 4kW solar with 18 solar panels, & mains electricity.

Samantha Scott M 0438 680 032

Aaron Day M 0407 365 994

3

46 Second Avenue, Cockatoo

A

2

Brennan Mileto M 0422 996 451

B 1 C

$730,000 - $800,000

5

78 Menzies Road, Menzies Creek

A

B

2

C

$850,000 - $930,000

Light, Spacious & Beautifully Updated Home!

What a View! Lovely 3 Bedroom Home on Over 1/3 of an Acre!

This 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home has a front verandah with beautiful valley views, & is freshly painted. With vaulted ceiling in the upstairs & downstairs giving the home both character & charm.

The is a wood fire heater, gas heater & ceiling fans in the lower loungeroom. The master bedroom has a walk through wardrobe & an ensuite, whilst there are 3 further bedrooms, 2 with BIRs. These bedrooms are serviced by a family bathroom with a bath, shower, & a separate toilet. The laundry has its own access to the yard. The kitchen & dining area are open plan with the upper lounge room making entertaining a breeze. The kitchen & upper lounge area enjoys views out to the fully fenced backyard with the reserve positioned behind this property. There is a covered entertaining area outside, & a shed/storage area. There is a also a double carport.

Featuring 3 bedroom/2-bathroom family home with 2 living areas and an amazing deck with filtered views to Cardinia Reservoir. Inside is a king sized master bedroom with BIRs & ensuite. And a further 2 robed bedrooms & stunning family bathroom. The kitchen overlooks the dining area & has direct access to the outdoor entertaining area & deck. The lounge with ambient open fire & pitched timber ceilings is the perfect place for cosy nights in. Add to this year-round comfort with ducted heating/ cooling through the house & additional split system AC for the main living area. Outside there is a fenced front yard, with vegetable garden, a concrete driveway, & double garage. The rear yard is also fully fenced, there is a great lawn space with a cubby and you can follow the meandering path through the stunning, botanic hills gardens down to a fire pit area with even better views.

Aaron Day M 0407 365 994

Brennan Mileto M 0422 996 451

Samantha Scott M 0438 680 032

4

A

2

B 2 C

Aaron Day M 0407 365 994

3

A

2

B 2 C

bellrealestate.com.au mailcommunity.com.au

Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 25

HOME FOCUS

EXPANSIVE HOME WITH TREETOP VIEWS THIS peaceful property within easy reach of Belgrave township is packed with style, space, and versatility. Ideal for large families and those who love to entertain, this 1846sqm (approx.) property offers a lifestyle second-to-none.

The elevated aspect of this home affords beautiful treetop views and a unique opportunity on the lower level. Neighbouring the extra-height single carport is a generous blank canvas space with plumbing this area could be connected to the upper level or kept as a desirable self-contained space.

Upstairs extends on each side with expansive decking while the rear yard is terraced to capitalise on the backyard. With one step inside, the sheer scale of this split-level residence makes an immediate impression that you are in a welcoming family home. The lower lounge with warm wood fire features vaulted timber ceilings, ceiling fans, and lush leafy outlooks. A few steps up, the sprawling dining area and kitchen with large clerestory windows is adorned with a gas cooktop, dual wall ovens, and inviting peninsula seating for family and friends.

Further reflecting the generous proportions of this home are the four spacious bedrooms on offer. Each is equipped with ample storage and the main bedroom boasts a walk-in robe and ensuite with floor to ceiling tiles. The family bathroom features a stylish barn door entry, sunny skylight, luxurious walk-in rain shower, floating vanity, and heated towel rails. A bonus guest powder room and family-size laundry complete this ultra-comfortable home. With an exceptional list of extras including storage in the floor space, offstreet parking and a stellar location, this property will impress in every way. Join us for a tour today. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS Address: 10 Banool Road, SELBY Description: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 4 garage Price: $880,000 - $950,000 Inspect: By appointment Contact: Brad Conder 0422 639 115 or Daniel Steen 0434 979142, CHANDLER & CO REAL ESTATE 26 MAIL

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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Real Estate you can trust!

We ’ r e h e r e t o h e l p FOR SALE

131 Old Belgrave Road, UPWEY

$800,000 - $870,000 4A1B2C

LOVELY CEDAR HOME ON LARGE BLOCK,

With respectable tenants currently occupying this lovely property until the end of March 2025 a great opportunity to become a landlord awaits. This lovely 4-bedroom cedar home sits on a beautiful 1,103sqm approx block, with a bright and airy open-plan kitchen, living and dining area, and four large bedrooms. Currently tenanted, this is an excellent opportunity for investors who want secure tenants and/or for those who want to invest now with a view to making this their future home.

FOR SALE

57 The Crescent, BELGRAVE HEIGHTS

$1,000,000 to $1,100,000 4A2B4C

FAMILY HOME WITH GARAGE, WORKSHOP, AND SHED

This idyllic family home on a generous 1,435sqm (approx.) allotment offers a wonderful way into this premier position. Designed for a lifestyle of abundance within an easy stroll of Belgrave Heights Christian College and picturesque Birdsland Reserve, this is a forever family home.

Brad Conder M 0422 639 115 | E brad@chandlerandco.com.au

Daniel Steen

Suzie Brannelly

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

M 0490 506 910 | E suzie@chandlerandco.com.au

FOR SALE

79 Kallista-Emerald Road, THE PATCH

$685,000 - $750,000

LOVELY LOG HOME WITH LUSH LANDSCAPED GARDENS

2A2B2C

This lovely log home on a lush 3,032sqm (approx.) allotment may be just the private and picturesque Hills retreat you have been looking for, on the market for first time in 40 years.

Framed by manicured lawns, a double carport, greenhouse, huge array of fruit trees and scenic garden outlooks, this home is at one with its magnificent surrounds.

FOR SALE

468 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road, OLINDA

$1,600,000 - $1,760,000 5A4B2C

HISTORIC “HATHAWAY”

Featured in Home Beautiful magazine in 1928 and held by the same family for nearly 50 years, historic “Hathaway” is a testament to timeless architecture paired with the warmth of a family home. A joy to behold set on 6,865sqm (approx.) of lush landscape framed by Copper beech trees, this residence will capture imaginations of architectural enthusiasts searching for their forever property.

Brad Conder M 0422 639 115 | E brad@chandlerandco.com.au

Daniel Steen

Suzie Brannelly

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

M 0490 506 910 | E suzie@chandlerandco.com.au

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

Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 27

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NEWS

Irish dancing hits the stage

By Tanya Steele

Some of VIDA after their creative events on the first day of competition. From Left: Adults and Teens: Wendy, Michelle, Isabel, Clark, Amber Becky, ZIv and Tanya. Kids: Elsie, Erinne, Charlotte and Felicia. doing,” he said.

The adjudicator was all smiles and was a very engaged and supportive judge throughout the competition.

The step about this year featured a Christmas theme and dancers were encouraged to dress up and the VIDA students took the assignment very seriously with an array of wonderful costumes from a winter fairy to the Grinch.

Treble reel step (hard shoe) - 1st, 2nd and 3rd place - Tanya Steele - Tecoma, Michelle Spencer - Upwey and Wendy Lynne Perrow from Emerald.

Soft Shoe Stepabout - 1st - Wendy Lynne Perrow and 2nd - Tanya Steele Adult Traditional Set - 2nd Michelle Spencer Adult Open Slip Jig - 1st place ZIv Dolan Amber Hoffman (17) won 5th place for her open premiership and also got to take Little Leprechaun Quinn (5) for her first-ever competition reel on stage.

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The section is dubbed “Dance to the music” and allows young performers a chance to perform on stage with their teacher and have a ball at the same time.

VIDA also took out the adult four four-hand reel, coming 1st place with new group Clark Ryan Tang, Isobel Kennedy, Becky Edwards and Tanya Steele claiming the Aileen Poynter Perpetual Trophy for the first time.

The Open creative event in the afternoon was especially fun and VIDA competed with tunes from the High King’s “Chasing Rainbows” along with a more traditional melody ‘The Sailor and the Mermaid’. Clark Ryan Tang also raised the roof with a number from the Barbie Soundtrack dressed as Ken. The kids were not to be outdone on Sunday 3 December — holding their own against a large number of students.

Young dancer Erinne (11) won first place in her primary premiership and third in her open - a great achievement for a dancer her age.

Elsie (9) won her beginner premiership and

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Municipality Date of Commencement City of Knox Council 18/12/2023 Yarra Ranges Council 18/12/2023 Manningham Council 18/12/2023 Maroondah Council 18/12/2023 Certain restrictions on the lighting of fires are in force during the Fire Danger Period.

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DECLARATION 30 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

came 2nd in her primary premiership, Felicia (9) came in 3rd and Charlotte (7) and Lexie (7) came in 2nd and 4th for their beginner premiership.

The kid’s Christmas costume section was delightful and there were jingle bells, Christmas trees, nutcrackers and more on stage.

VIDA’s Lexie (7) and Errine (11) also came first for their two hand dressed as some very cute reindeer.

Award presentations involved a few medals and trophies, but most importantly – giant candy canes for the winners.

VIDA Principal Teacher Kate Bilton said she was very proud of her dancers and loves going to Tasmania for the comp.

“It’s such a supportive, inclusive and welcoming environment - it’s a dance event that embraces all ages and abilities,” she said.

VIDA will continue to dance at various events throughout the Yarra Ranges and look forward to performing their annual Christmas concert on Saturday 16 December.

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The adult dress up step about was great fun.

Picture: SUPPLIED

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The kicks were high and the beats were in time for local Irish dancers at a successful interstate competition in Tasmania recently.

A group of dancers from Victorian Irish Dance Academy (VIDA) went to compete in Hobart recently on 2 and 3 of December – coming away with a few choice trophies.

Tiny beginners and seasoned adults from Healesville to Tecoma performed their best soft and hard shoe numbers for adjudicator Mr John Joyce (ADCRG, NSW) who said it was a great weekend.

“These awards are my opinion on the day and you should all be very proud of yourselves,” he said.

VIDA has students of all ages from across the Yarra Ranges and Principal Teacher Kate Bilton is a well known Healesville resident - the school itself is based in Tecoma and Mt Evelyn.

The annual competition is a competition with heart and smiles and the Christmas spirit was in abundance at the weekend festival featuring several Irish Dancing schools from all over Tasmania and Victoria.

VIDA loves competing in Hobart and the annual feis is hosted by Irish dancing school Scoli Rince Ni Kelly and run by principal teacher Bronwyn Kelly.

Adults and teenagers competed on Saturday 2 December and took home a number of awards – beginner dancer Isobel Kennedy from Menzies Creek took out the Adult 1 Premiership and has only been dancing with the company for two years.

Becky Edwards won 1st place for her hard shoe and 2nd place for the Adult 1 Premiership.

Mr Joyce said he was very supportive of adults starting or continuing their Irish dance journey.

“You should be very proud of what you are

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Professional

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

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

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MAIL 29

SPORT

Rain doesn’t stop some

By Jack Rollings The Saturday pennant featured rain all day, not just drizzle, but solid soaking rain.

Monbulk 2 and Monbulk 3 were set to play at Monbulk but, along with the opposition sides, agreed to call it a washout, split the points, and go home. Monbulk 2 remains in second place on the ladder, just 4 points below top spot. Monbulk 3 is in fifth place, only 6 ladder points behind fourth place. Monbulk 1 played at Ferntree Gully. In spite of the relentless heavy rain, the Monbulk side was anxious to play. After last week’s split points and the two previous weeks where the Monbulk side was thrashed, they needed some big points on the board and that wasn’t going to happen by having the bowlers sit in the clubhouse.

The opposition was equally as keen to get the points for their home game. So, no one was backing away from the game. And the rain turned out to be a great leveller – both sides had to cope. Even the best rain gear had trouble managing the seeping wetness - everyone ended up drenched through. “Drowned rats” was the description heard around the rinks.

Chalk on touchers was washed off before a count could be done. But play continued.

Brian Smith’s team started by picking up a 3 shotter. And then, as so often happens, they dropped a 3 shot clanger on the very next end.

Monbulk collected the next five ends, with singles - a steady progression. On the eighth end FTG managed to grab a 4 shotter to put them within one shot. But, once again, the bowling gods gave Monbulk 5 shots on the next end to restore their margin.

After that, Brian’s team settled into eight consecutive wins, so, going into the seventeenth end, they were up by 17 shots and, by that stage, had dropped only two ends.

In the race home, FTG restored some pride with four winning ends for a total of 8 more shots.

But, at the end of the day, it was an assured win for the Monbulk team 26 shots to 15.

Eric Markham’s team had the close one for most of the day. On the eleventh end the scores were 11 shots all. And, on the sixteenth end, scores were 16 shots all. Even though FTG won five more ends than Monbulk, the Monbulk scoreline was helped by a big 5 shotter. With just four ends to go, Monbulk led by 2 shots, but that’s when FTG hit back.

Chalk on touchers was washed off before a count could be done. But play continued.

The dedicated played through the steady rain.

They won the final four ends to take back the lead at the crucial moment. Monbulk lost the rink 18 shots to 23.

Tony French’s team struggled in the front half, winning only three ends and trailing by a huge 13 shots. But, after a cuppa and piece of cake, boy, did they come good! In the back half Monbulk picked up three big multiples.

But still, when “Up and Back” was called, Monbulk trailed by 6 shots. Then they picked up a 5 shotter, to bring the margin back to a single shot. And then they strongly completed the

Pictures: SUPPLIED comeback to take a double on the last end to win the rink 23 shots to 22.

Jim Bras’ team led all day, but there was never a huge margin and there were never more than two winning ends in a row by either side. The jack was moved on most ends and there were many conversions from both teams, some deliberate and some unfortunate.

In the back half, the close pattern of play continued. Going into the last end, Monbulk was up by 4 shots. It became a sport of defence – covering the positions to not allow FTG to find

Even the best rain gear had trouble managing the seeping wetness - everyone ended up drenched through. “Drowned rats” was the description heard around the rinks.

4 or more shots. Monbulk dropped a double on the last end but was happy to win the rink 18 shots to 16.

Overall Monbulk won 85 shots to 76 with three rinks up. Monbulk 1 is now fifth on the ladder, just four ladder points from fourth position.

Next week Monbulk will play at home against Croydon in the final round before the Xmas break. Please Santa, bring Monbulk a big win!

Weekend washout for all except youngest and oldest

By Aaron Gillard It was another weekend of washouts, with none of our senior teams or our 16s getting a game in due to rain.

It was all down to our juniors, with our two super 7s, under 12s as well as our veterans getting games in!

Our U12’s and Veterans getting great wins was awesome!

It was great to see both our super 7s teams getting games in also, and we saw some great performances all round!

Don’t forget - December 16 is our Christmas Party at the MCC Pavilion.

Everyone welcome, BBQ will be held, and expect a special guest about 8pm!

Scores: U7’s Maroon - Monbulk 30 (Z. Spargo 2*, C. Selby 1*, B. Bruneau 1*, E. Phyland 1*) vs Upwey Tecoma 102 (I. Stott 1/12, M. Arnott 1/6) U7’s Gold - Monbulk 48 (O. Spargo 3*, H. Robb 2*, N. Tesoriero 1*) vs Emerald 103 (D. Tesoriero 1/20) U12’s - Monbulk 6/98 (E. Toohey 18*, J. Chudasko 17*, S. Czaja 10*, J. Wragg 7*) def Eildon Park Panthers 4/76 (N. Taylor 2/10, A. Selby 1/0, J. Jennings-Sykes 1/2) Veterans - Monbulk 5/175 (G. Ratten 41*, B. Grigg 40*, B. Haack 34, M. Anderson 18) def St John’s Tecoma 6/159 (T. Scholes 2/28, N. Haines 2/23, M. Cutler 1/28, G. Ratten 1/31)

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Tuesday, 12 December, 2023

MCC Family Xmas Party – next Saturday 16 December- This is for the whole club- Blasters, Juniors, Seniors, Families and Friends.

Picture: FACEBOOK mailcommunity.com.au

SPORT

Tigers fall to the Wolves

By Sean Talbot In a game that featured bad luck, weird plays and a myriad of what could politely be described as “an umpire having a rough day”, the Upwey Ferntree Gully Tigers 5-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Williamstown Wolves at Greenwich Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

Under cloudy skies with plenty of wind off the bay, the conditions were less than ideal for summer baseball, the Tigers sent ace Jarrod Turner to the mound to match up against Williamstown’s American import Brandon Bebee who has been tearing through the league since his arrival earlier in the season, not giving up a single run to date.

Trading scoreless innings in the 1st, the Tigers were kept off the board in the top of the 2nd, before a leadoff double from Bebee saw the Wolves plate their first run for the day to take a 1-0 lead.

Settling into his work, Turner kept the Wolves off the board in the 3rd while dueling Bebee, who utilized his slider-heavy repertoire to keep the Tigers hitters off balance and off the basepaths.

The Tigers broke through Bebee’s dominance and onto the scoreboard in the top of the 4th, courtesy of catcher Jordan Elliott’s moonshot home run that was last seen landing near Yarraville.

Turner parlayed this game-tying run into another scoreless inning in the bottom of the 4th. To his credit, Bebee was absolutely sensational on the day, quieting the normally potent Tigers line-up to the tune of only 4 hits allowed whilst striking out 11. The Wolves themselves scored their second run in the bottom of the 5th after a walk, a hit and some aggressive baserunning allowed Harper Rickard to lift a sacrifice fly to right field.

Trading scoreless 6th innings, the Tigers were held off the board again in the 7th as Bebee gave way to Jason Lester who was looking to close the door on the visitors.

After a scoreless top of the 7th, the circus music was queued as bad calls became worse calls, and a series of plays that would be expected at a Little League game took place as the home side found 3 runs to push the score to 5-1, as Turner gave way to Sean Meldrum to escape the jam.

To their credit, the Tigers hit back in the top of the 8th as Elliott and Staci Rogers peppered the left field wall, both nearly leaving the yard but settling for doubles as the Tigers forced across a run, however any momentum was handed back to the Wolves as they plated another 2 as Meldrum battled a dancing strike zone.

Entering the 9th looking to collar a historically wayward Lester, the Wolves jumped the tall righty for 4 runs, courtesy of a hit batter, 2 walks, a hit and a 2- run Josh Hendricks bomb to pull the Tigers within 1 run. Lester had different ideas however, as he struck out Wade McConnon to end the game and hand the game to the Wolves by the narrowest of margins.

Elliott was the pick of the hitters for the Tigers with 4 hits including a home run and 2 doubles to go along with 2 RBI, while Staci Rogers added a double and Josh Hendricks his 2-run home run. The loss sees the Tigers record fall to 7-6, still good enough to keep them tied for 6th as they look ahead to tough matchups against Doncaster on Tuesday and Essendon on Saturday to close out the first

half of the season. A win in either game will surely secure a top 8 spot and ensure the Tigers get a chance to play off for their thirdconsecutive Ross Straw Trophy as Division 1 Premiers.

In the 2nds curtain raiser, the Tigers put the Wolves on the back foot from the get-go, as leadoff hitter Ryder Wilson tattooed a ball off the base of the left field wall to coast into 3rd with a triple and would eventually come around to score. Starting on short notice, Jack Ratcliffe was solid in his 3 innings of work as he kept the Wolves off the board before handing the ball to Travis Milz, who struggled mightily before being relieved by Daniel Smith, who was sensational in relief whilst ensuring the Tigers had sufficient time to continue scoring and put the game out of reach. The win sees the Tigers improve to 8-2 but fall to 2nd on the ladder behind Geelong, who are 7-1 after suffering back-to-back washouts.

In the 3rds, the Tigers continued their winning ways, racking up an 8-5 win to send the visitors home to the Western suburbs with a lot to think about and things to improve on.

While certainly not a blow-out result, the Tigers were never properly challenged on the day, and will definitely be buoyed by the result that highlights the strength and depth of their core group of players. The win sees the team improve to 6-2 on the season and in a tie for 3rd place.

In the 4ths, batboy/rookie coach extraordinaire Tate Sadler kept his troops rolling in the right direction, putting an experienced Williamstown team to the sword and throwing up a 10-0 result. While never really challenged, the result provides much needed momentum as the Tigers look ahead to a top of the table clash against Essendon next weekend, in a game that will see the leagues powerhouse offense come against the leagues stingiest defense in what promises to be an absolute barnburner.

In the Metro League East 5ths, the Tigers travelled to Monash Uni and promptly schooled the hosts, belting them to the tune of a 19-4 result that more closely resembled a brutal defeat in battle that some of the university’s History majors would be akin to learning. The win sees the team improve to 6-4 on the season and in 4th place, well positioned for a run at the leaders after the Christmas break.

In the Metro League South 6ths, the visiting Chelsea team certainly gave the Tigers the Blues, beating them from pillar to post and back again in a 17-1 flogging that they will prefer to move on from as quickly as is possible. The beating sees the team fall to 5-5 but still clearly in 3rd place on the ladder.

The Lady Tigers continue to be the measuring stick in the Metro South competition as they travelled down the Princes Fwy to Pakenham on Saturday and promptly declawed the Pumas, running out with a convincing 11-4 victory that featured plenty of team hitting and pressure being applied throughout the Lady Tiger line-up. Unsurprisingly, staff ace Chelsea Mosbey gave the visitors another brilliant start, giving her team plenty of time to keep the scoreboard ticking over and the runs flowing and they widened their lead.

The win sees the Lady Tigers maintain their stranglehold on 1st place, maintaining their perfect 9-0 record as they look ahead to a home game against the 7th placed St. Kilda to round out the year before the Christmas Break.

Lady Tigers pitcher Chelsea Mosbey.

Picture: SUPPLIED

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MiCare offers two weeks free respite care for December 2023 at our Victorian homes.

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The photograph of the Elder is for representation purpose only.

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