Mail - Mountain Views Star Mail - 28th January 2025

From trash to cash!

By Callum Ludwig

Upper Yarra residents keen to pocket some extra cash, do their bit to recycle or simply make bin night easier have an exciting new opportunity to do so at the Yarra Ranges Enterprise Centre (YREC) in Warburton.

Installed on Thursday 23 January and aiming to be operational by Thursday 30 January, a new Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) as part of the Victorian Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic) will provide a refund point for eligible drink containers of both locals and visitors.

YREC Director John Ridley said they think it will be a terrific impetus for more recycling in the town.

“I expect that quite a few clubs will make use of the way the app can be configured so that if you’re a member of a sports club you can take your cans along and the money goes to your sports club,” he said.

“The history of these units in other similar towns is very positive and in particular the location with the caravan park will be very significant as people will be bringing their bags over, and it’s certainly convenient for people going further out to call by.”

Turn to page 5 for more

Australia Day. The awards, announced following the Council’s Australia Day 2025 Citizenship Ceremony on 26 January, recognised volunteering, environmental protection and advocacy for vulnerable community members.

Yarra Ranges Mayor Jim Child congratulated the award winners for their efforts and said the winners would be role models for others in the community.

“A small bit of effort can go a very long way for our communities – and volunteering can be as simple as a few hours a week, which add up to make a colossal difference,” Cr Child said.

“If you’re looking at ways to start your 2025 with a change, I’d strongly encourage anyone reading this to find a local group to volunteer

with. It’s a great way to make friends and rest in the comfort that you’re doing something to make the Yarra Ranges an even more special place to be.

“Congratulations to all of our 2025 award winners, and our community members becoming citizens on this Australia Day.”

L-R: John Ridley (Director of Yarra Ranges Enterprise Centre), Michael Griffiths (Project Manager at Visy) and Alison Fitzgerald (Executive Officer of Yarra Ranges Enterprise Centre). (Stewart Chambers: 455180)

Charges after fatal crash

Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives have charged a man in relation to a fatal collision in Powelltown earlier this month.

Police executed a search warrant and arrested the 22-year-old Mooroolbark man. He’s been charged with:

• culpable driving causing death

• negligently causing serious injury

• dangerous driving causing death

• dangerous driving causing serious injury

• reckless conduct endangering life

• reckless conduct endangering serious injury

• driving in a dangerous manner

• driving at a dangerous speed

• careless driving

He was also given an immediate driving ban.

The charges follow an incident where two motorcyclists were allegedly travelling at high speeds east on Yarra Junction-Noojee Road on 8 January.

One of the riders, a 23-year-old Northcote man, was involved in a head-on collision with an unrelated motorcyclist, a 77-year-old Croydon man, who was travelling west about 1.30pm.

The 77-year-old rider was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries where he remains in a stable condition.

The 23-year-old rider died at the scene.

The 22-year-old Mooroolbark man, who was riding behind the deceased at the time of the collision, was not injured.

He was bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 29 January.

Who to call when noise annoys

For anyone being annoyed by noise, from industry, construction, loud entertainment venues or just noisy neighbours, EPA Victoria has the quick guide on who to call when it’s all too loud.

EPA Victoria CEO Lee Miezis said excessive noise is not just annoying, it can harm your health and the environment, too.

“EPA, your local council and Victoria Police all play a role in enforcing the regulations, and it is not just about volume limits,” Mr Miezis said.

“Noise can cause harm when it disturbs sleep or interferes with rest and recreation. That’s all part of the General Environmental Duty (GED), Victorian law that makes it everyone’s responsibility to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm to people and the environment,”

And since the GED applies to everyone, EPA urges you to remember that you might be the noisy one, if you’re not being considerate.

“This summer, be kind to the environment and your community; fulfil your environmental duty, assess how your activities may impact the environment, your community and your neighbours, and take whatever action is necessary,” Mr Miezis said.

Noise is one of the most common types of pollution reported to EPA. In 2024, EPA received over 7,700 reports, nearly half of them involving shops and offices (25 per cent) and residences (18 per cent).

Industry accounted for 15 per cent of noise complaints, construction sites 13 per cent, indoor entertainment venues eight per cent, and outdoor entertainment events and venues four per cent.

At the lower end of the scale, major infrastructure projects were less than two per cent and wind turbines less than one per cent of complaints.

“In the early days of Covid-19 in 2020/21, reports of noise from residences more than doubled, and reports about industrial premises dropped to less than half. Clearly, more people were at home to hear, and make, unreasonable noise,” Mr Miezis said.

So, who do you call when noise annoys?

Residential: Council (or Police after hours)

Commercial/industrial: EPA Victoria

Licensed music venue: Liquor Control Victoria if it’s a licensed pub, club or bar

For the full story on what makes unreasonable noise and who to contact, visit the EPA website’s new Reporting Noise page: epa.vic.gov.au/reportpollution/noise-pollution

Vaccinate against measles

Victorians are being encouraged to protect themselves and their families from measles by ensuring they are immunised, with outbreaks overseas posing a particular risk to those travelling to South-East Asia – particularly Vietnam at present.

It comes after two new measles cases were identified in Victoria on Friday following overseas travel, with the cases having attended multiple public places throughout Melbourne while infectious from 13 to 16 January 2025. A list of exposure sites is available online.

There has been an increase in reported cases of measles in Australia in recent weeks, with many cases linked to travel to Vietnam, where there is a large measles outbreak occurring

It is strongly advised that anyone travelling overseas who may not have been vaccinated against measles receives the measles vaccine before travelling.

Infants in Victoria are eligible for a measles vaccine from six months of age if they are travelling to a country where measles is present, which is six months earlier than routinely scheduled.

“The last thing anyone wants when travelling overseas is to put their child at risk from a lethal disease – vaccination against measles is safe, effective, and free,” said Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Dr Tarun Weeramanthri.

“Anyone planning to travel overseas to a country where measles is present who hasn’t received the vaccine before should speak to their GP or immunisation provider ideally at least six to eight weeks before they depart to allow time for a full course of measles vaccine.”

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health reported over 38,364 suspected measles cases for 2024, including 13 deaths.

Any overseas travel could lead to exposure to measles, with outbreaks reported in Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and India, as well as Africa, Europe and the UK, the Middle East, and the USA in 2024.

Measles is a very infectious viral disease that spreads quickly with close contact, especially in those who are not fully vaccinated. Most people recover, however some people, especially young children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at risk of serious illness.

Measles usually begins with common coldlike symptoms such as a fever, runny nose, red eyes, and a cough, followed by a rash. The characteristic rash usually begins three to four days after the first symptoms, generally starting on the face and then spreading to the rest of the body.

Victorians are being encouraged to protect themselves and their families from measles by ensuring they are immunised, with outbreaks overseas posing a particular risk to those travelling to South-East Asia –particularly Vietnam at present. (Unsplash)

The Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is available for free to: children 12 months and 18 months of age under the National Immunisation Program anyone born during or after 1966 who has not already received two doses of a measlescontaining vaccine, are unsure of their vaccination status, or do not have evidence of immunity to measles infants travelling overseas to countries where measles occurs can be vaccinated with an MMR vaccine from 6 months of age. If an infant receives the MMR vaccine when they are younger than 12 months of age, they still need to receive the two further doses of measles-containing vaccine after 12 months of age, usually at 12 and 18 months of age as per the National immunisation Program Schedule More information on the latest reported cases of measles and exposure sites in Victoria, as well as further information on vaccinations, is available on the Department of Health website.

Police arrested a Mooroolbark man in relation to a fatal motorbike crash in Powelltown earlier this month. (Victoria Police)

A 22-year-old Mooroolbark man faces multiple charges following a fatal motorbike collision in Powelltown earlier this month, in which he was uninjured.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Virtual emergency care, everywhere

A Bendigo mother has urged the community to consider the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) as their go-to option for nonlife-threatening medical emergencies.

Robina Saunder was sick with Covid-19 when she suddenly developed a head-to-toe rash and shortness of breath.

She was confident the condition wasn’t lifethreatening, but said the symptoms worried her family.

“I could see the concern on my husband’s face and he asked, ‘do we need to go to the hospital?’,” she said.

“Coincidentally, while this was happening, our neighbour, who is a paramedic, came around to drop off some eggs from her chickens.

“My husband explained what was going on and she told him to contact VVED. It was her advice that prompted us to use it.

“That was the first time we’d ever heard of it.”

VVED is an Australian-first video telehealth medical consultation service, run by Northern Health and funded by the Department of Health, for people with non-life-threatening medical conditions.

It is free to access and staffed by highly skilled emergency doctors and nurses who can assess and treat patients virtually, arrange referrals and provide a follow up care plan, if required.

VVED is available across Victoria 24 hours a

day, seven days a week, and can be accessed by anyone with a mobile device and an internet connection.

Importantly, it helps keep ambulances available for the sickest patients.

Robina’s neighbour, Ambulance Victoria paramedic Kyla Aucote, said VVED was the perfect service for her friend.

“I was quite concerned because a few years ago Robina had an anaphylaxis event with unknown cause, where she had similar symptoms to this and had to be taken to hospital,” Kyla said.

“After speaking to Robina’s husband, I felt the chance of it being that was low, but I knew she needed to see a doctor as soon as possible, so I recommended they use VVED.”

Robina was connected to a VVED nurse almost immediately, then passed on to a doctor who assessed her rash and breathing via video.

“It’s virtual but it’s real and immediate,” Robina said.

“I felt reassured because everyone was so caring and I didn’t have to put others at risk by visiting my GP clinic while Covid-positive.”

The VVED doctor determined Robina required urgent medical treatment and arranged for an ambulance to be sent to her house, where the paramedics could administer medication without needing to transport her to hospital.

“Within the hour I was fine,” Robina said.

“I didn’t have to show up at an emergency department and wait for hours or take up a hospital bed when I didn’t need it.

“The whole process was simplified. I was so impressed with it.”

Kyla said VVED had been the best development in her 19 years as a paramedic.

“Especially in regional areas where wait times to see GPs can be extremely lengthy, VVED allows timely assessment and treatment which is important to stop the progression of the patient’s illness,” she said.

“It’s also great for the patient as no one wants to drag themselves out of the house when they’re feeling sick.”

She said it’s making an impact in helping ambulances get back on the road quicker after attending to patients.

“There are some patients that are hard for paramedics to medically clear and normally we would transport them to hospital – now we can clear them by consulting with a doctor through VVED,” Kyla said.

“It can save us all a trip to hospital, and we are able to teach the patient that they can access VVED themselves in future.”

Some other options available when people need timely medical care and health advice but don’t need to visit an ED or an emergency ambulance include Urgent Care Clinics, Nurse on Call, local GPs and pharmacists.

Correction

On 14 January, Star Mail published an opinion piece titled Piece “Short on Facts”, referring to the writer as Noble Park psychiatrist Dr David Barton in the photo caption.

However, this was incorrect. The writer, Dr David Barton, is an independent consultant researcher and Doctor of Philosophy, who has lived in Marysville, Matlock and elsewhere in the Central Highlands in recent years.

Star Mail sincerely apologises for any confusion caused by this misprint, especially to the Noble Park psychiatrist Prof David Barton and Dr David Barton. Telstra works to affect coverage in Healesville

From 28 January for six days, Telstra will be switching off the Healesville mobile site to allow another carrier to work safely on their equipment located on the tower.

This will result in reduced Telstra mobile coverage.

More info: tel.st/4GXmsg

Trucks collide on Beenak Road, Seville

Five CFA units responded to an incident involving two trucks on Beenak Road in Seville at around 10.56am on Friday 24 January.

A CFA spokesperson said units responded from Wandin, Yellingbo and Seville.

“Crews discovered an incident involving two trucks, one truck rolled into the other. No one was trapped,” they said.

“Incident was deemed under control at 11.06am and safe at 12.09pm,”

“Crews remained on scene to clean up the incident and awaited heavy haulage.”

Asphalting on Thomas Avenue, Warburton

Yarra Ranges Council will be asphalting parking bays in Thomas Avenue, Warburton from 2 February 2025, changing gravelled unmarked spaces into formal parking bays.

The work will result in 42 formal spaces and two disability spaces on Thomas Avenue which is a very popular location for tourists and visitors.

These parking changes are part of the Warburton Visitors Paid Parking pilot project which is due to startinafewmonths.Thisprojecthasbeenasaresult of community feedback that it can be challenging for residents to find parking during the weekend and on public holidays.

TheVisitorsPaidParkingProjectwillmeanvisitorsto Warburton will need to pay to park at weekends and on public holidays between 9am – 5pm at:

• Warburton Water World

• Thomas Avenue

• Warburton Highway by the shops (the first hour is free)

• Station Road

Residents will be able to apply for a permit to exempt them from paying. Details about how to apply for a permitwillbecommunicatedtoresidentsinthenext few weeks.

Surfacing works are scheduled to commence from 2 February 2025 and are expected to be completed by the end of February, subject to favourable weather conditions.

There are two different colour surfaces being installed on Thomas Avenue, a beige colour and a dark grey colour. This is due to the ownership of the land and the requirements of the permeability and durability of the surface. Access to Thomas Avenue for businessesandvisitorswillbemaintainedbutwillbe restricted while works take place.

The virtual service is free and statewide. (Stewart Chambers)

NEWS Lunch break

By Dongyun Kwon with AAP

Small businesses would be able to claim tax deductions on food and entertainment expenses for up to $20,000 under a Coalition policy.

Tax breaks for work lunches are on the cards as part of a push by the Coalition to win over small businesses, as Peter Dutton looks to regain ground in inner-city Brisbane seats.

Mr Dutton used a campaign rally to unveil a plan to allow tax deductions of up to $20,000 for meal and entertainment expenses for small businesses.

Federal Casey MP Aaron Violi welcomed the Opposition Leader’s announcement.

Mr Violi said this new policy is designed to help the local cafes and hospitality businesses after a tough few years.

“These deductions mean small businesses will be able to take their staff or customers out to a local pub or cafe and claim it as an expense, which encourages businesses to support our hospitality industry,” he said.

“26,000 small businesses have closed in Australia in the past two and a half years. It’s about supporting those small businesses by encouraging an increased spend in local venues, which benefits our economy and will help these venues continue to create local jobs.

“We have listened to local cafes, restaurants and the hospitality sector right across the nation and designed a policy to support them to get back on their feet.”

The deductions would only be eligible for businesses with a turnover of under $10 million and would run for two years, and be exempt from fringe benefits tax.

Alcohol would also be excluded from the proposal.

Mr Dutton said the tax measure would provide relief to local economies.

“This is a win for the small business spending the money on their staff or clients, and a win for

the hospitality venues who will see an increased spend in their businesses,” he said.

“Cafes, restaurants, clubs and pubs are the lifeblood of so many local economies around the country.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hit out at the Coalition policy, saying it had not been fully costed.

“This is a guy who opposed energy bill relief, who has opposed all the measures that were put in place for small business,” he said.

“Peter Dutton is yet to come out with serious policy announcements. And when he does come out with, finally, a costing, he came out with a nuclear costing that said there’d be 40 per cent less energy use compared with what the Australian Energy Market Operator says will be needed in 2050.”

Both major party leaders had spent time in recent days hitting the ground in key marginal seats ahead of the federal election, despite the date not being set.

The election is due to be held by 17 May, although the Prime Minister hosed down speculation about the timing of the poll.

Training GPs on the rise

By Callum Ludwig

The number of training General Practitioners (GPs) in Victoria is on the rise in a positive sign for improving access to medical care.

Data from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) shows that Victoria is setting the standard for incentivising the profession, with 358 future GPs starting training this year in the state, 22 per cent more than in 2024.

The RACGP credits the Victorian Government’s $40,000 General Practitioners grants program, with half of all the training GPs they surveyed saying they began training due to the grant. RACGP Victoria Chair Dr Anita Munõz said the next generation of GPs has been clear about the value of these grants.

“Given their success, the Victorian Government should fund its GP training incentives in 2026 and beyond,” she said.

“There are also gains to be made by increasing junior doctors’ opportunities to experience what general practice, and especially rural general practice, can offer,”

“With the right funding and incentives, we can rebuild the GP workforce to keep everyone healthy throughout their lives.”

41 training GPs have joined the Rural South East region (Gippsland, Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges) on a rural training pathway this year.

Through the program, 400 grants valued at $40,000 each were allocated in 2024 with a further 400 grants available in 2025, with both the RACGP and ACRRM (Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine) reporting a significant increase in the number of GP enrolments in 2024.

A Department of Health spokesperson said they’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response for this latest round of the GP grants program, and this is making a real difference

in increasing the number of GPs enrolments in Victoria.

“The General Practitioners grants program continues to incentivise graduates to consider a career in general practice and ensure Victoria has the GP workforce needed both now and into the future,” they said.

“We know that by removing barriers like the cost of training, uncertainty around placements as well as incentivising roles in rural areas, more and more doctors will consider careers as GPs.”

The RACGP survey found 59 per cent of recipients are undertaking placements in regional Victoria because of the grants, and 13 per cent said they moved to Victoria because of the program.

The number of GPs training in Melbourne alone rose by 42 per cent and the RACGP is calling on the Victorian Government to expand the program with a focus on enticing GPs to regional cities and rural towns.

The RACGP also wants to see all political parties to fund 1500 more RACGP Australian GP Training places over the next five years, particularly in states like New South Wales where growth in training GPs lagged considerably behind other states, and to see politicians commit to linking Government-subsidised medical places at universities to a target of 50 per cent of graduates training as GPs.

RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said all federal parties must commit to ensuring access to affordable GP care in the lead-up to the Federal Election.

“The RACGP has a plan to ensure highquality general practice care is accessible and affordable for all Australians,” he said.

“We’ve shown we can train more GPs, and with Australia’s growing and ageing population, and an epidemic of chronic illness, we need to increase the number we’re training to meet the need for care.”

Federal Casey MP Aaron Violi emphasised the importance of small businesses in the local economy. (File: 420752)

NEWS From trash to treasure

By Callum Ludwig

The Yarra Ranges Enterprise Centre (YREC) in Warburton is the new home of a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) as part of the Victorian Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic).

Installed on Thursday 23 January and aiming to be operational by Thursday 30 January, the new amenity will provide a refund point for eligible drink containers of both locals and visitors.

YREC Executive Officer Alison Fitzgerald and Director John Ridley were on-site watching the RVM get installed and Ms Fitzgerald said it was wonderful.

“It came out of the blue a bit for us, but it’d be very important in helping lift the profile of YREC and also provide some additional funding into the facility as maintenance is a constant issue for us,” she said.

“We’d love to do some capital improvements and this will enable us to do that and improve the site to attract more people and help more businesses, but this has been in conversation for a few months and it’s just very exciting to see it actually happen today and be craned in,”

“We’re all about security for our tenants, our small businesses, so we’re just having to make a few changes like fences and things like that but otherwise it’s just creating the presence, more people coming on board and just engaging with our tenants, our tenants are excited too because they’ll have more people knocking on their door, wanting their products and services and just being aware that they’re here.”

The CDS Vic North Zone RVM is located at 21 Woods Point Road, Warburton and will provide a refund of 10 cents per container. The refund can be redeemed as a cash voucher refundable at Woolworth Supermarkets, via an electronic funds transfer, or as a donation to a charity.

Mr Ridley said they think it will be a terrific impetus for more recycling in the town.

“I expect that quite a few clubs will make use of the way the app can be configured so that if you’re a member of a sports club you can take your cans along and the money goes to your sports club,” he said.

“The history of these units in other similar towns is very positive and in particular the location with the caravan park will be very significant as people will be bringing their bags over, and it’s certainly convenient for people going further out to call by.”

Since the CDS began on 1 November 2023,

more than 1.3 billion containers have been deposited across the state. Visy, which is responsible for the installation of refund points across the Loddon, Mallee, and Hume regions and the inner north and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, has installed over 245 refund points to date.

“We continue to expand our network of refund points in the Yarra Ranges Council to make

recycling easy and rewarding for all.” said Tim O’Donnell, Visy General Manager, Container Deposit Scheme.

The community can find their nearest refund point, and access their electronic refunds, through the CDS Vic North app for iOS or Android.

• To find out more about Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme visit cdsvic.org.au.

Phone surveys coming for Yarra Ranges residents

Yarra Ranges Council would like to inform the community that from 28 January until midMarch, households in the region may receive survey calls from National Field Services, an independent market research agency.

The agency has been commissioned to conduct community satisfaction surveys on behalf of Council. Similar surveys will be undertaken across other local government areas.

Yarra Ranges Mayor Cr Jim Child said the surveys will be asking about Council’s performance, and how to improve services.

“These community satisfaction surveys are run annually, to determine the areas that people are happy with and, very importantly, where we should be focusing our attention in the near future,” Cr Child said.

“These surveys are taken very seriously at

Council, and the feedback we receive is anonymised and circulated to teams, so we can work to improve our services and, in turn, the community’s satisfaction.”

As the phone calls are for research purposes, people on the Do Not Call register may still be contacted. If someone has indicated in the past that they do not wish to take part in research purposes, they may be excluded from the call list.

Cr Child said that phone surveys can seem suspicious, but that National Field Services will only call to talk about Council services.

“We understand the hesitancy a lot of the community will have for phone surveys, considering the extreme amount of scamsbeing conducted over phones.

“The fact is that phone surveys are still an

excellent way to get feedback from a representative sample of our community, so we encourage community members to take part, as long as they feel comfortable to do so.

“In these calls you will never be asked for by name; the staff will identify themselves as a member of National Field Services, and calls will come from a number beginning in (03) 9977 –never a mobile number.

“You will never be asked to provide card details, bank details or any login details for anywhere – if you’re ever asked these details on an unprompted call, from anyone, you should contact the institution they are calling from, to check if the call is legitimate.”

Community members with questions about the survey are welcome to call Council’s Customer Experience team to chat on 1300 368 333.

Yarra Ranges residents may be surveyed over the phone regarding their satisfaction with Council services over the coming months. (File)

L-R: YREC Director John Ridley and YREC Executive Officer Alison Fitzgerald with Visy project Manager Michael Griffiths. (Stewart Chambers: 455180)

NEWS Citizen of the year

By Callum Ludwig

A magnate of the Millgrove community has been crowned as Yarra Ranges Council’s 2025 Citizen of the Year.

Maureen Halit, President of the Millgrove Resident’s Action Group has taken out the accolade at this year’s Yarra Ranges Council Community Awards.

Ms Halit said she is totally honoured and blessed to be receiving the award.

“I didn’t realise what an honour it was until the other day, I was down in Lilydale and I just saw cars whizzing around everywhere and I thought ‘Wow, this is a big busy area and I’ve been granted the honour of Citizen of the Year’, it really hit me then,” she said.

“I realised there’s about a 150,000 population in the Shire and I don’t know how many registered volunteers there would be but it’s a pretty big number and it’s pretty special to have come through with such an award in such a big area.”

At 77 years old, Ms Halit continues to have a big hand in all things Millgrove, whether it be community events or improving resilience against disasters and emergencies in her township. She has volunteered for over 20 years, been an active participant in her local community for over five decades and has been MRAG’s President for the last 20 years.

Ms Halit said she guesses that volunteering is in your blood.

“You work with the community and whatever you achieve, no matter how big or small, it’s an achievement. it’s a plus and a recognition for Millgrove,” she said.

“My family’s always worked with the community and it just follows through in the blood I think and I just thoroughly enjoy it, you don’t do it for pats on the back, it’s just rewarding to be able to achieve something for the community,”

“But I guess I’m getting known out there for who I am and who we are and it’s nice to have that recognition wherever you go, you get that pat on the back and told you’re doing a great job.”

Ms Halit’s award follows on from MRAG being named Community Group of the Year in the 2024 awards.

Ms Halit said achieving the back-to-back awards is pretty special and unique.

“I don’t get this recognition off my own back, it

takes a good team behind me, it’s not such a personal thing, I believe it’s more a community connection,” she said.

“I’ve always been a good listener, a good shoulder to lean on and just forever and always thoroughly enjoyed connecting with the community and this is where it’s gotten me.”

Ms Halit’s proudest achievements have included delivering the Courtney Dix River Road project, having MRAG named Community Group of the Year in both 2014 and 2024, making MIllgrove a pilot town for the Minderoo Foundation and Resilience Canopy efforts, holding the first Community Planning Day event and the Millgrove Light Trail show in 2024.

Yarra Ranges Council Mayor Jim Child said this year, Ms Halit has also been implementing resilience projects, helping to develop the Community Plan for 2025-30 and guiding MRAG into

its 20th year.

“During her time at MRAG, she’s overseen Millgrove’s third Community Plan, Resilience Plan and a Future Vision Plan for Millgrove; she’s developed close relationships with other community leaders and helped to coordinate efforts for the betterment of her town,” he said.

“She works with Council, mentors other groups, contributes to the Yarra Ranges Township Group Network and Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee, has successfully applied for grants for local projects and advocated for all-ability access throughout the town,”

“Her nominator said that ‘Maureen is an inspiration and a champion for Millgrove. She is selfless, ego-less, caring, considerate and inclusive of everyone. The first one to offer a helping hand. Maureen is a great leader, and leads by example.”

Holy Fools starts off new year with award

By Dongyun Kwon

Holy Fools was selected as Community Group of the Year for its consistent contribution to homeless people.

The organisation has been supporting homeless people for over 15 years by hosting community lunches, providing swags and blankets for people sleeping rough and offering information and a place to go for community members at risk of, and experiencing, homelessness.

Holy Fools founder and chief executive officer Neal Taylor said it was their first time being nominated and receiving the award.

“We’re honoured and feel very privileged to receive it,” he said.

Mr Taylor founded Holy Fools in 2009. He said he started realising there was a lack of support for homeless people to battle the issues they were dealing with when he worked at a dining room which provided a community meal in Croydon.

“I decided to start walking alongside them to help them solve their issues whether it was a medical appointment, court case or whatever,” Mr Taylor said.

“Then we realised that we needed more of an overarching organisation that helps do that.

“We got a bunch of friends together, and that’s how Holy Fools began.”

On a shoestring budget, the Holy Fools team works year-round to provide for people doing it tough and advocate on their behalf to levels of government, other services, and the wider community, appealing for understanding, compassion and resources to help some of the most vulnerable people in the community.

Their nominator noted their work in opening a homelessness resource centre, which will open its doors in 2025 and will no doubt have a tremendously positive impact on community members sleeping rough, or at risk of homelessness, for

many years to come.

Mr Taylor said Holy Fools tried to open a new homelessness resource centre after the previous drop-in centre closed due to a lack of funding.

“We worked with The Salvation Army and opened up a drop-in centre here in Lilydale. We ran a couple of community meals and did lots of things like a men’s group and an arts group, but that closed down shortly after about two years with the lack of funding from the Salvos, they pulled the funding on it,” he said.

“Ever since then, we realised that there was a definite need for something like that in the local area, so we’ve been pushing along to try and do something.

“In late 2023, we identified that there was a property in Lilydale that was up for lease and the office, so we moved here and started renovating here.”

Debbie’s passion recognised

A Millgrove resident who moved heaven and earth to save a much-loved community nursery in Mooroolbark has been named Environmental Achiever of the Year at Yarra Ranges Council’s 2025 Community Awards.

Debbie Shaw has taken out the award for her efforts to keep the Candlebark Community Nursery running last year.

Yarra Ranges Council Mayor Jim Child said at the beginning of 2024, Candlebark Community Nursery faced certain closure, due to a downturn in volunteer workforce and reduced finances.

“Debbie Shaw is one of the people squarely responsible for turning this tide, stepping in to ensure the nursery’s continued growth, success and certainty,” he said.

“A founding member, returning after 30 years, Debbie joined the committee at the start of 2024 and wasted no time in creating a positive culture and ushering in change. She is committed to transparency and communication, and has transformed the experience of volunteers at Candlebark, earning her kudos from her coworkers,”

“Her expertise in environmental governance, business administration, propagating native plants and managing staff and volunteers has been instrumental to getting Candlebark back on the right track.”

Ms Shaw had returned to buy plants from the nursery in February 2024 and hearing the dismay of the volunteers, joined the committee on the spot. Many volunteers, including the treasurer, had stepped away during Covid, leaving no one with financial experience monitoring the nursery’s accounts.

Mostly supplying plants to local councils, schools, community groups and other organisations who want to establish indigenous gardens or reintroduce habitat, sales dried up during the pandemic period due to unsustainable rates.

The homelessness resource centre is designed for people who need a refuge off the street.

Mr Taylor said Holy Fools would finally be able to open the centre after a few years of waiting.

“We’ll have lockers for people to store stuff, free tea, coffee and soft drinks. It’ll be air-conditioned. There’s going to be a shower, washing machine and dryer,” he said.

“At the moment, we’re very close to opening, we’re getting an accessible toilet and shower unit, which was funded by the state government. That’ll be hopefully ready to go by the end of February, and we’ll have a big opening in March.

“We’re volunteer-based, so everyone is a volunteer here including myself. I’m really thankful that the community and the government have been able to support us and do this dropping centre.”

Cr Child said Ms Shaw re-established community contacts with the business, and now Candlebark is a provider of local, native plants for Council’s Ribbons of Green, Healing in our Gardens and Gardens for Wildlife programs, directly benefitting the local environment, community members taking part and local fauna that will thrive with more native plants around.

“She now has a goal of meeting a demand of 120,000 locally-native plants for revegetation and biodiversity works in 2025, which will have a tremendously positive impact on the environment,” he said.

“Debbie is an inspiration who has made 2024 a fantastic year for so many others, while helping support our spectacular natural environment. Congratulations on this award, Debbie.”

Ms Shaw was contacted for comment.

Holy Fools’ Neal Taylor and Abbey Drake. (Jesse Graham/Yarra Ranges Council)

Environmental Achiever of the Year Debbie Shaw. (Jesse Graham)

Maureen Halit is the Yarra Ranges Citizen of the Year. (Jesse Graham)

Sue the top achiever

By Dongyun Kwon

SueThompsonbecameoneoftheMayor’sLifetime Achievers for countless achievements throughout her life for the Yarra Ranges community.

A keen historian and volunteer, and a former local journalist, Ms Thompson was instrumental in the formation of the Lilydale Museum, now known as the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, to ensure that local artefacts, photographs and items could be catalogued, maintained and preserved for future generations.

The award winner said her interest in history started in primary school when she did a project about family history.

“As one of the journalist editors at the Lilydale Express, when we had the centenary coming up of the newspaper in1986, I got involved with the (Lilydale) Historical Society who provided us with photos for our 100-page special edition,” she said.

“In the following year, I got recruited to the Historical Society, so I’ve been involved with the society since then. The Historical Society was operating the museum, which they opened in 1976 or thereabouts.

“So the Historical Society operated the museum until I handed the operations of the collection over to the shire in 1989, we then focused on supporting that rather than running the museum. We became more the research side of things for the museum.”

Ms Thompson has published about 40 small history books and developed the only website dedicated to Dame Nellie Melba, who has significant links to the Lilydale region and wider Yarra Ranges.

She said she knew Lady Vesty (Pamela Vestey) who was Melba’s granddaughter and worked with her to pass the story of Dame Nellie Melba down to the next generations.

“(Lady Vesty) was the patron of our society. She was the patron of our society, and she’d come along to the different functions. We became friends and we used to talk a lot about Melba,” Ms Thompson said.

“When the society operated the museum in the 70s and 80s, we always had a Melba display. We made sure we kept changing that Melba display every year to promote Melba.

“I encouraged Pam (Lady Vesty) to write her book which is Melba’s family memoir because she was the only granddaughter of Melba, the only person who could write the book, which was unique.

“From that, we developed the Dame Neil Melba Museum which is a virtual website, and we’ve got people from all over the world contacting us on that website. We’ve got so many donations of materials of Melba from around the world. That website keeps the Melba name going very much.”

The local historian said it is important to preserve the local history.

“To create a community, you have to have people, and every person has a story to tell,” she said.

“It’s important that we all understand ‘why we are what we are today’ and ‘why the community is what it is today’.

“We are only what we are today because of the past, the people of the past and the things they did in the past to develop our community.”

Besides history, she was part of the Lilydale Community Group which aimed at promoting the aspirations, activities and things for people in Lilydale.

Ms Thompson said the group tried to provide welfare services for the local community, which the local government back then couldn’t focus on as it focused on bigger infrastructure like roads and trains.

“We started the first after-school program at Kilsyth East Primary School. We ran one of the first holiday programs, and this was in the early 70s,” she said.

“The community group came to the issue of

people needing a library. We didn’t have a library service.

“So, we informed the Library Action Group and lobby council for two years and got our first library service, which was a bookmobile to start with, and then the development of libraries, the Mooroolbark, Montrose, Mount Evelyn and Lilydale Libraries that we have today.”

Ms Thompson was also a local journalist from 1976, which dragged her further into being involved in the community as she got to know the people in the community.

Her work has resulted in buildings and street trees being included in Heritage Overlays, to ensure the history of the region perseveres.

As a result of countless works for the local community, Ms Thompson was awarded the Shire of Lilydale Citizen of the Year Award in 1990 and received the inaugural Jane Hansen Award for History Advocacy in 2021.

The award recipient said the Mayor’s Lifetime Achiever award was not just a recognition of herself.

“It’s a very great honour, it’s recognition of all people and all groups who’ve been part of my journey, especially my family,” Ms Thompson said.

“If my family hadn’t supported what I was doing, I wouldn’t been involved in all the things I’ve been involved in over the years.”

Eddie Tichelaar’s love for Montrose

By Dongyun Kwon

A lifetime Montrose resident was recognised for his love for the township on Australia Day.

EddieTichelaarreceivedtheIanDeLaRueAward for Community Leadership selected by Yarra Ranges Council.

TheawardwinnersaidreceivinganAustraliaDay award was something he had never expected.

“I never even thought that I would get (this award),” he said.

“I thought there were more people in our community more deserving than me.”

Mr Tichelaar has devoted himself to the local community by volunteering for community groups including Montrose Township Group and Montrose CFA where he has shown strength, leadership and grit. As a member of Montrose Township Group, the award recipient has been actively involved in two projects; Montrose Intersection Upgrade and People’s Garden Reinvigoration. He has worked hard to engage with the community and VicRoads, acting as a conduit for community information, building rapport with contractors, VicRoads representatives and community stakeholders, to ensure locals are across every bit of relevant information.

The Montrose resident said he became involved with the Montrose Intersection Upgrade in 2017.

“As a member of the Montrose Township Group, I took the opportunity to understand the project through its entirety,” Mr Tichelaar said.

“I had an interest in engineering, and I wanted to understand what was going to happen.

“I’vebeentoallthemeetingsthathavebeenheld, and that’s how I got involved.”

MrTichelaarsaidreinvigoratingthePeople’sGarden is another project which Montrose Township Group has been focusing on.

“There’s a gentleman named Kevin Heinze who lived diagonally across the road from me. He was a garden presenter on ABC for 21 years,” he said.

“He donated half of his garden to Yarra Ranges

Council, and I along with other members of Montrose Township Group have been working with the council to reinvigorate the garden.

“We’re working with the council to create a master plan for the People’s Garden.”

BesidesMontroseTownshipGroup,theIanDeLa Rue Award winner has dedicated himself to a local fire brigade. He has been a CFA volunteer for more than 45 years. Mr Tichelaar has contributed to the Resilience Committee and established a broad network in the community through his work. Mr Tichelaar joined the Montrose CFA when he was 14 and a half as a junior member inspired by his father who had joined the brigade during the 1962 bushfires.

“When I was a young child and my father would go to the fire station whenever the fire siren went off, it just drew me to being interested in what my father was doing,” he said. “Later on, I remember being at MontrosePrimarySchooloneday,andthefiretrucks were parked outside near the primary school, and I thought to myself ‘I’m going to drive a fire truck one

Harry’s win

By Dongyun Kwon

Harry Moyle got recognition for his dedication of almost three decades of his life to volunteering his financial expertise to assist Caladenia Dementia Care in Mooroolbark on Sunday 26 January.

Mr Moyle received Mayor’s Lifetime Achiever as part of Yarra Ranges Council’s Australia Day 2025 Community Awards.

Joining in the 90s, the award winner has been an instrumental figure in the Caladenia Dementia Care’s direction and financial governance, bringing his experience as a financial planner, accountant and small business owner. Mr Moyle said he started off his journey with Caladenia Dementia Care as the treasurer, expecting it to last for three years but ended up being for almost three decades.

“I was studying accounting at the time, part-time at night school, and our founder asked me to be treasurer as they were having financial difficulties in meeting all their expenses,” he said.

“I worked or volunteered as treasurer for about 10 years, then became chairperson and president of the committee, and later board of the company, once we incorporated and became a company.”

Caladenia Dementia Care based in Mooroolbark provides social opportunities and community-based social programs for people living with dementia.

“The whole aim is to give the person that has dementia the opportunity to socialise with others and to be active,” Mr Moyle said.

“The other thing that it does by giving those programs to the person living with dementia is that their carers get respite, so they get five or six hours in the day where they don’t have to care 24/7 for their family member.

“That can mean a real lot for them because they can go and do the shopping or they can have a coffee with their friends and do things that they normally can’t do when the person with the diagnosis is with them.”

The award recipient also played a major role in transitioning Caladenia from an incorporated association to a not-for-profit.

Mr Moyle said the reason for the transition was to get national exposure and various governments’ grants.

day’.”

Along the journey, he has served the fire brigade both as a firefighter and community engagement coordinator.

During the 2021 storms, he negotiated to set up a communications centre at the Montrose CFA.

“Because the fire station has a generator and they would be dealing with an emergency, I asked the captain of the brigade if we could use a part of the meetingroomforthetownshipgrouptoutilise,sowe could get power and access to the internet to gather informationthatwecouldpassouttothecommunity through our Facebook page but also through talking with people in the streets when they came down to the shops,” Mr Tichelaar said.

“What would happen in the future if something similar happened, the opportunity is there that we could utilise part of the CFA to hold where we can gather our information and get that information out to our community.”

The smoke alarm and fire preparedness signs in Montrose were initiatives of Mr Tichelaar’s more than 20 years ago, as was the first Montrose Fire Brigade Open Day in 1984, which continues to this day.

“We did have a few open days before 1984 but nothing consistent,” he said.

“Back in 1984, I started an open day, and most years, we would have an open day, now we do it normally every second year. “It is to invite residents to learn what the fire brigade does but also to educate children about fire safety as well.”

As a keen historian, the award recipient has also curated a dynamic history room in the Montrose Community Cottage with books, photos and memorabiliaforthepublictoenjoy.Hesharesstoriesonhis public Facebook page, created a guided history walk aroundtownandhashostedhistorytalkswiththelocal library, with the most recent talk attracting more than 70 attendees. Mr Tichelaar’s nominator said, “I don’t believe there is a day that goes by when Eddie isn’t working on one (or many) tasks or projects to benefit our community.”

“I played a role in that but probably the most significant person was a gentleman named Hamish Russell, who lives in Lilydale and is well known in the area, and he guided us through that process of establishing a constitution and having all the necessary meetings,” he said.

“It wasn’t a massive change.”

Now retired from the board, Mr Moyle has continued to help the organisation host events for fundraising purposes like Bunnings sausage sizzle as well as for social purposes some of which involve training volunteers.

Mr Moyle said he was very proud to receive a special award on Australia Day.

“I’m very much a staunch Aussie and I love Australia,” he said.

“I’m very pleased that I can represent Caledonia and its community.”

His nominator said, “Harry is a willing listener and supporter, a mentor and a trusted advisor whose calmness, thoughtfulness and sage wisdom have laid the groundwork for the organisation’s future.”

Eddie Tichelaar received the Ian De La Rue Award. (Jesse Graham/Yarra Ranges Council)

Harry Moyle received Mayor’s Lifetime Achiever as part of Yarra Ranges Council’s Australia Day 2025 Community Awards. (Jesse Graham/Yarra Ranges Council)

Sue Thompson with the golden centenary edition of the Lilydale Express. (Stewart Chambers: 378495)

The Yarra Glen Automotive team includes Brandon, Oliver, Zoe and Ash. (Stewart Chambers: 419796)

Owner Ash Skillern prides himself on creating a business locals can trust.

Jarvis takes out young citizen award

By Dongyun Kwon

The Young Citizen of the Year award was given to Jarvis Lewis-James.

Mr Lewis-James is a dedicated environmental volunteer, who has supported a community nursery in Mooroolbark.

He volunteers at Candlebark Community Nursery every day it is open.

His presence shone when the nursery faced financial difficulties last year as Mr Lewis-James was one of the first volunteers to collaborate with leaders and the new management committee to get the nursery back on track.

“It was early last year when the previous propagator left because we couldn’t afford to keep paying someone all the time, we were possibly a month or two away from having to close,” he said.

“I eventually ended up stepping in and taking over a lot of the propagation, planning and management stuff in regards to growing the plants.

“But I’m doing it on a volunteer basis.”

The award winner is taking a Diploma of Conservation and Ecosystem Management at Box Hill Institute Lilydale Campus.

Mr Lewis-James said he got into protecting the local environment a couple of years ago.

“I started volunteering at Southern Dandenong Community Nursery in Belgrave, and that really opened my eyes up to all of it,” he said.

After he became passionate about planting and the local environment, Mr Lewis-James started exploring the Yarra Ranges to locate, record and identify rare and threatened plant species, so that they can be propagated at the nursery to prevent future species extinction.

He has been heavily involved in opportunities for local plant reintroduction, including with the Banksia cunninhamii, Banksia marginata and Correa reflexa var reflexa.

The award recipient also participated in bushland planting days with Yarra Ranges Council, helping to conserve and revegetate sensitive areas, including sections of the Warburton Rail Trail.

“Through my course (at Box Hill Institute Lily-

dale Campus), we did some planting with the council because it lined up well with the unit we were doing,” he said.

“We were on the Warburton Rail Trail in Mount Evelyn, doing some plantings there with the Yarra Ranges Council.

“A few of them ended up being planted with

the original seeds that I collected, which was really cool.”

Mr Lewis-James’ work to protect native species, support his local nursery and improve the local environment has made him a clear and fantastic recipient of the Young Citizen of the Year award.

Elizabeth’s dedication to conservation

By Shamsiya Hussainpoor

For over 40 years, Elizabeth Conolly has been a passionate environmental volunteer, dedicated to preserving the natural beauty of Selby and the surrounding areas in the Dandenong Ranges.

Alongside her late partner, environmental activist and botanist Darcy Duggan, Elizabeth has played a pivotal role in restoring local bushland, habitat corridors, and creekside reserves.

Darcy was a major inspiration for Elizabeth’s deep commitment to conservation. His tireless work and knowledge of native flora sparked her own passion for protecting the land.

“Darcy was a great teacher, he showed me the importance of caring for our local ecosystems, and I’ve continued that work in his honour,” she said.

After Darcy’s passing over four years ago, Elizabeth has carried on the conservation efforts they both believed in. She has organised regular volunteer working bees across Selby, bringing together groups of locals to weed bushland sites and plant native species.

These efforts are part of a larger mission to preserve pockets of indigenous bushland in the area and protect the Dandenong Ranges’ unique biodiversity.

One of her key projects is the Minak Reserve in Selby, where Elizabeth and a team of volunteers are working to create a sensory and educational walk through the reserve. The project aims to offer both locals and visitors an opportunity to connect with nature while learning about the area’s native plants and wildlife.

“It’s so rewarding to see how people respond to the environment here - it’s about fostering a deeper understanding of our local ecosystems,” she said.

Elizabeth’s dedication goes beyond just Minak Reserve. She is also involved in the Monbulk

Creek BioLink reserves, working alongside local conservation groups to maintain wildlife corridors that support the region’s native species.

“There’s a strong community of volunteers here in Selby and beyond,” she said.

“I’m always learning from others, and together, we’re making a real difference.”

The work is far from easy, but Elizabeth finds great satisfaction in it.

“It’s amazing what a group of volunteers can achieve. Whether it’s weeding or planting, every

Brigade delivers free calendar

By Tanya Steele

CFA Ferntree Gully has released an annual calendar for the first time to over 5,000 residences in its local area – making an outstanding effort for the brigade’s bushfire safety education and community engagement.

Residents in Ferntree Gully were treated just in time for Christmas to the free firsttime release of a CFA calendar created and hand-delivered by their local brigade.

A longtime volunteer at the Ferntree Gully CFA Graham Crichton (who has clocked up 40 years of service with the brigade) has spent some time in education roles and said the idea came from a friend who had been sending Mr Crichton a yearly calendar created by the Somerville CFA.

Mr Crichton thought it would be a good idea to use in Ferntree Gully and presented it to his brigade as a concept.

“I thought to myself, this might be a better way of making money than doing a tin rattle,” he said.

“The result is we’ve produced this incredible calendar.”

The calendar provides seasonally appropriate fire safety information – with everything from fire safety tips to burn-offs.

Notably, the calendar includes a QR link each month so people can check fire danger for the day and get more in-depth information on several topics on the CFA website.

“I’d call it a smart calendar because really it’s designed to inform the community, not only about what’s going on with the fire danger but also to inform the community about who we are and how we operate,” said Mr Crichton.

“We need community members to keep the brigade viable.”

After the project was greenlit, the Ferntree Gully CFA got into action and got local sponsors from the area on board.

“We had to do a lot of foot slogging to go around and get the people to sponsor us, because if we didn’t cover our costs of printing – we couldn’t really go ahead,” said Mr Crichton.

little bit helps. We need more people to join in,” she said,

“Volunteering isn’t just about the work; it’s about connecting with like-minded people who care about the future of our environment.”

In addition to her hands-on work, Elizabeth highlights the importance of educational initiatives like the Habitat Management course, which has been supported by the Shire of Yarra Ranges for nearly 40 years.

This course helps equip volunteers with the knowledge and skills needed for environmental conservation, and two spots are available each year for volunteers to attend.

Elizabeth said she’s thankful for the support of local agencies such as the Shire of Yarra Ranges, Melbourne Water, and Parks Victoria, who provide essential funding and resources for the conservation work in Selby and the broader Dandenong Ranges.

She’s grateful for the valuable contribution of local conservation groups, including the Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group, which helps coordinate grants and protect the integrity of local bushland.

As climate change continues to impact ecosystems around the world, Elizabeth’s work has never been more important.

“We need to ensure that future generations can experience the same pristine natural environments we have today,” she said.

“It’s up to all of us to care for our local landscapes.”

Elizabeth’s efforts in Selby are a testament to the power of community action and the ongoing commitment of volunteers who are helping to protect the Dandenong Ranges for future generations.

“The environment needs us now more than ever,” she said. “Your time, no matter how small, can make a big difference,” Elizabeth said.

The calendar was then thoughtfully created and printed by members and Mr Crichton said local businesses contributing as sponsors also meant a lot.

“It was done 100 per cent by brigade members, some of the smaller traders decided they would have one or two ads or even one – it all goes into making it a feasible situation,” he said.

Mr Crichton said he hope the idea gets picked up by other brigades.

“As our first attempt, we’re pretty happy,” he said.

Mr Crichton describes the calendar as more of a ‘smart’ calendar. (Tanya Steele).

Elizabeth Conolly has spent more than 40 years preserving Selby’s bushland and inspiring local conservation efforts. (Supplied)

Young Citizen of the Year award recipient Jarvis Lewis-James. (Jesse Graham/Yarra Ranges Council)

Saving lives

By Dongyun Kwon

A longtime Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) member was honoured to receive the Emergency Services Medal on Australia Day.

Mr Peter John Weeks OAM joined the SES Alexandra Unit in September 1971, as a dedicated operationally active member.

Over his remarkable 50 plus years tenure, Mr Weeks displayed unwavering dedication and leadership in various frontline roles.

Mr Weeks was humbled by winning the special medal as he gave credit to his colleagues and family.

“I’m very privileged to receive it. It’s something I didn’t expect,” he said.

“Obviously, someone in SES would want to recognise what I’ve done over the years.

“Having a really good team and support from family enabled me to be able to get out and make a difference in the community.”

Initially serving as an ordinary member, he quickly ascended to become a unit officer, holding the position for an impressive 42 years.

In this role, Mr Weeks led numerous operations, including search and rescue, storm damage and boating rescue.

Since 2015, he has served as the controller of the SES Alexandra Unit, overseeing all unit operations and ensuring readiness for emergency situations.

In response to the October 2022 Victorian floods, Mr Weeks led his unit to rescue people in danger.

His leadership was pivotal in managing over 140 requests for assistance, including the dramatic rescue of a young family from Acheron, where a five-month-old baby and pets were saved from floodwaters.

“Luckily, I’ve got a really good team behind me, and they were able to take responsibility for a lot of the operational tasks, so I was able to be deployed with a couple of the other members to assist with rescue from the rescue boat,” he said.

“We did numerous rescues during the floods.”

Beyond emergency response, the SES Alexandra Unit controller has driven numerous infrastructure improvements within the unit, ensuring its readiness for various emergencies.

His effective management of the State-owned High Angle Rescue cache and collaborative ef-

Mr Peter John Weeks OAM joined the SES Alexandra Unit in September 1971 and has displayed unwavering dedication and leadership in various frontline roles.

forts with AusNet Services to restore power to over 100 homes following a vital power line collapse near the historic Acheron Breakaway Bridge further underscore his commitment to community service.

“I wasn’t the only one involved, but we’ve established a high angle rescue team for the Lower Hume, and it’s made up of the SES Alexandra, Marysville units and Yea CFA,” Mr Weeks said.

“Part of the response that we had during the 2022 floods was the tree brought down the power line across the river, and we were able to get a new cable across the river.

“We had to enter into the flood water to get to the bridge, and then we got a cable across the old bridge that had been washed away. We were able to get power back onto about 100 homes.”

Mr Week’s 50-year tenure with VICSES, coupled with his leadership during numerous emergencies and relentless efforts to enhance community safety, exemplify his distinguished service.

His proactive approach to emergency management, coupled with his advocacy for infrastructure improvements and community preparedness, underscore his lasting impact on the Alexandra region and beyond.

“I’ve been a member of the SES for over 50 years and controller of the unit for nearly 11 years,” the medal recipient said.

“It’s been very interesting. We’ve saved many lives and that’s what really makes a big difference.”

Warratina Lavender Farm is hosting its 3rd Annual Dog Day Event on 23rd February 2025

We hope you and your canine can be there to celebrate this special Doggy Day.

The Dog Day is a community event bringing together dog owners, families and pet lovers for a day of entertainment, activities, demonstrations and doggy education.

Although we already have a number of vendors we are reaching out for more stall holders to apply for a space & take the opportunity of show-casing your products. Cost of a stall is only $50 +gst.

Come & enjoy an exciting day filled with dog eccentric activities, dog photography, grooming, browse at the stalls, take part in the competitions, be entertained & learn from the demonstrators.

There will be talks by Dog Rescue Services, training your dog, grooming & more Competitions will include best behaved dog, best jumper, best catcher, best wagger & best dressed. There will be prizes to be won.

Food vendors & refreshments from the Lavender Tea Room will keep you well fed.

Entry: By Donation

Where: Warratina Lavender farm, 105 Quayle Rd, Wandin North

When: 23rd February 2025

Time: 09.00-4pm

Enquiries: 0417 589 231 or 0448 983 332

Email: info@warratinalavender.com.au

Mr Peter John Weeks OAM was honoured to receive the Emergency Services Medal on Australia Day. (Supplied)

Top award for CFA officer

Fiona Burns has been an inspirational member of CFA for more than 21 years, serving as a member of two brigades (Launching Place and Hillcrest) and is the group officer of Yarra Valley Group.

She has served with distinction as an officer of her brigade and group for 19 of her 21 years of CFA service.

Fiona has distinguished herself through her outstanding ability and reputation as an extremely capable member of incident management teams. As a result, she was chosen to take on Level 3 planning officer role in incident control centres (ICC) at large and prolonged, multi-agency campaign fires in 2013, 2019-20 and again in 2024 in Gippsland and the Grampians. In addition, she has represented CFA internationally as a planning officer undertaking two seven-week stints to support fire suppression in Canada in 2014 and 2015.  She has been a Level 3 Accredited Planning Officer for ten years.

“I love the planning officer role because I can take my fireground skills and use them in ICCs to support our firefighters on the front line,” Ms Burns said.

“It’s a demanding role but I really enjoy the challenges.”

Ms Burns is also an experienced fireground commander where she identifies emerging operational leaders with whom she willingly shares her significant experience.   Her extensive fire management experience and analytical ability were influential during the successful transition of the former Launching Place and Woori Yallock brigades into one new brigade – Hillcrest Fire Brigade – in 2007. As a member of the brigade management team, she played a pivotal role in the transition to the new brigade. The once rural bushfire-focused brigades were transformed into a strong peri-urban brigade responsible for a rapidly growing population with an increasing diversity of hazards.

The amalgamation resulted in reduced duplication, consolidated resources and improved service delivery to the communities.

Ms Burns said there were a lot of challenges and there isn’t a template for amalgamation.

“We knew we had to take a long-term strategic view to bring brigades with different cultures and ways of operating into one brigade with a new culture,” she said.

“It was difficult but has been really rewarding.”  As brigade captain, Fiona was responsible for driving the creation of an emergency services hub with Ambulance Victoria, co-locating an ambulance at Hillcrest Fire Station to allow better medical response for the Yarra Valley and surrounds.   Fiona was a foundation mentor in CFA’s statewide Women In Leadership mentoring program, and she is still involved in this important initiative. She has also been part of the District 13

Captains’ Leadership Mentoring Program, providing guidance to new captains about leadership and administration.

Ms Burns said these programs align with her leadership philosophy.

“Throughout my journey, I’ve been fortunate to have incredible mentors and supporters who share their knowledge and experiences with me, and I believe that it’s my responsibility to do the same for emerging leaders,” she said.

“I want to take moment to acknowledge those who have played a significant role in shaping my CFA journey. Brian Williams, my first Captain set a strong foundation for me. Graeme Bourne offered unwavering support during my early captaincy days. Lex de Man for his support to establish and develop Hillcrest, while Geoff Conway and Graeme Armstrong provided exceptional leadership and guidance. Both Don Bigham and

Roly Rak challenged and supported me, pushing me to grow in ways I hadn’t imagined and seek opportunity to enhance our local brigades’ capacity and capability,”

“Lastly and most importantly, I want to thank my mum, none of us can volunteer without the unwavering support of our loved ones, and her encouragement and support has been a cornerstone of my journey”

As a mentor, Ms Burns encourages diversity and opportunity to the women of CFA and is helping to future-proof CFA by developing a pool of future leaders to replace those currently holding leadership roles.

She has been a CFA trainer and assessor since 2013 and continues to combine her practical skills and knowledge to deliver training in District 13 on General Firefighter, Low Structure and Introduction to AIIMS courses, as well as lead-

ing skills maintenance and specialised bushfire training for brigades in the group and other local brigades.

Ms Burns said she continues to train and assess as they all started their CFA journey as a recruit and it is important that members can see a leadership pathway all the way from recruit to lieutenant, captain and group officer.

“I believe that a key tenet of leadership is about helping others to achieve personal growth, build their self-confidence and overcome challenges. By sharing my experiences and insights, I hope to inspire others to realise their potential and contribute meaningfully to CFA and beyond,” she said.

“I gain as much from the people I mentor as they get from me. It’s not a one-way street.  It is seeing young people and newer members take on leadership roles like lieutenants or captains – especially when they initially doubted their ability to do so – gives me a real buzz.”

Ms Burns has made significant contributions to community safety and education. She is a founding committee member of the Yarra Valley Teenage Road Information Program (TRIP), and has been the chair of TRIP for the past six years. TRIP is presented by people who have lived the experience of a road crash. It includes all the emergency services agencies who attend a crash and have to deal with the resulting devastation. It’s a hard-hitting program that’s delivered in a funeral home.

Ms Burn said TRIP is her passion.

“It is primarily aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds because statistics show they have more accidents,” she said.

“The program is designed to be thought-provoking and initiate conversations between mates and families about making good decisions while driving. There are consequences to decisions drivers make. For every road fatality about 800 people are impacted.”

Along with TRIP, Fiona is an ongoing advocate of creating links to local Yarra Valley community groups that has ensured the development of more integrated emergency preparedness and response planning processes between Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, Victoria State Emergency Service, local government, community groups and the local schools.

Post Black Saturday, Ms Burns recognised that some lives were lost by people who tried to stay and rescue their pets. The Grab and Go Pet Bag was developed as a result of a local school art competition and are reusable calico bags with a checklist for evacuating pet owners and Ms Burns found it an ‘absolute delight’ to present a framed Grab & Go Pet Bag to the winning student and school at their assembly.

The late Don Bigham (left) and Fiona Burns with Upper Yarra CFA crews at Wandin in 2016 ahead of a convoy in position to more power being given to the United Firefighters Union. (Greg Carrick :156053)

Group Officer for the Yarra Valley Group of Brigades and former Hillcrest CFA Captain Fiona Burns has received an Australian Fire Service Medal. (Supplied)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

An ‘empowering’ return

By Callum Ludwig

After a popular first showing in 2024, Body of Wellbeing Limited (BOWL)’s Body of Empowerment exhibition is making a return in April.

Held in March 2024, the first edition of the exhibition in the Warburton Waterwheel gallery was a display of new and existing artwork from Yarra Ranges-based women artists aged over 18 with a focus on body image.

Executive Director of BOWL Louise Wigg said they’re hoping it will build on the success of last year’s exhibition as a showcase for the amazingly talented women artists throughout the Yarra Valley.

“We also ask our artists to provide context to their piece/s by revealing aspects of the journey they have shared with their bodies and/or how their piece/s represent body empowerment,” she said.

“We find that people who see our exhibitions resonate with both of these parts. We hope this encourages everyone to bring in more compassion, acceptance and love to their relationship with their body.”

BOWL is seeking expressions of interest from local women and women-identifying artists and is open this year to artists aged 14 years and older.

Ms Wigg said they were happy with many aspects of last year’s exhibition.

“The number and wide variety of the art that was submitted as part of our exhibition was amazing, we had sculptures, paintings, drawings,

photography, textiles, pottery, mosaics, just to name a few,” she said.

“We were also grateful to our artists for the depth and variations in the stories that accompanied the pieces. We were grateful to have received wonderful feedback from people who came to see our exhibition with one audience member describing it as ‘life-changing’. We hope they’ll all come back this year.”

Last year’s event coincided with International Women’s Day held on 8 March every year and was a new development in BOWL’s ‘My Body’s Story’ body empowerment program.

Ms Wigg said BOWL believes positive and empowering narratives about all bodies is crucial as the relationship we share with our body is central to our sense of self.

“BOWL was formed as a Not-For-Profit organisation in 2023 to lead work related to body image, eating disorders, weight bias and stigma. We speak with many people about these issues, especially women,” she said.

“Our project, My Body’s Story, was designed in recognition that women often experience a disconnection from their bodies due to societal pressures such as objectification, weight-centred

attitudes, and the pervasive diet culture,”

“Many women describe feeling as if their bodies were ‘battlegrounds’. So this project was originally designed to lead women through a process of reconnecting with their beautiful, unique bodies, listening to deep body wisdom and celebrating their journeys towards body empowerment.”

As part of the exhibition, BOWL will be hosting a ‘taster’ information session on Sunday 27 April at 11am at the Warburton Waterwheel about the My Body’s Story programs they have scheduled later this year.

Ms Wigg said if the idea of this exhibition inspires you, then give it a go.

“We are very open to all art forms and really encourage the artists to share their own perspective on the subject matter, we don’t have any expectations except honest creativity,” she said.

“How we relate to our bodies and how we express this relationship can sometimes be hard to put into words because it’s a felt sense not a cognitive experience,”

“Many pieces of art originate from this same feeling space, so whichever medium resonates with the artist, is a perfect way to feel into and express this relationship.”

Anyone interested in becoming a part of the exhibition can fill out the Expression of Interest form at: forms.gle/S9rf2aT2xuCdhsc59. The Body of Empowerment exhibition has been sponsored by Upper Yara Community Enterprise (UYCE).

$6000 grant to support film festival’s 40th anniversary

By Callum Ludwig

2025 is promising to be a big year for the Yarra Ranges Film Society (YRFS), with plenty of excitement, change and a $6000 grant from Yarra Ranges Council to celebrate.

There are new (and returning) faces on the committee, a new program for the year ahead and the 40th anniversary of the Warburton Film Festival all to look forward to, which the council grant will go towards.

YRFS co-presidents Rebecca Bowman and Rhiannon Bowman, who share no relation, said the committee is working on some innovative ideas to celebrate the milestone event, as well as the festival’s highly-regarded Show Us Your Shorts competition for budding filmmakers.

“This funding will help ensure we can screen a rich and vibrant selection of films and invite filmmakers to present their films in person,” they said.

“We were fortunate to be joined by Brenda Matthews, director of award-winning documentary The Last Daughter, on the opening night of last year’s festival. In 2023, director Gus Berger gave an in-depth presentation about the making of The Lost City of Melbourne. Feed-

back shows our audience greatly values hearing directly from the filmmakers themselves.”

This year’s Warburton Film Festival will take place from 13 to 15 June, consisting of the screening of nine films with opening night drinks and a festival dinner.

The co-presidents said the support from the Yarra Ranges Council will help make the 40th festival a reality.

“Yarra Ranges Council provides ongoing support for the Arts in the Yarra Ranges, and works closely with the Yarra Ranges Film Society each year giving grants to promote patronage at both Warburton and Healesville cinemas,” they said.

“This funding is vital to ensuring we can continue inviting award-winning directors, supporting the next generation of film-makers, and keep the festival going for another 40 years,”

“We have a talented group of people on our committee, including a founding member. We’re looking forward to making the 40th Warburton Film Festival one to remember.”

Thanks were given to immediate past president (now vice president) Vivienne Bond and treasurer Sandra Schoffer for applying for the Yarra Ranges Council grant on behalf of YRFS.

The Yarra Ranges Film Society also organises the annual Healesville Mini Film Festival, taking place on Sunday 30 March 2025. The festival has a Scandinavian theme this year and will screen three judiciously curated films: Kingmaker

(Denmark), The Riot (Norway/Sweden) and When in Rome (Denmark).

YRFS also screens monthly films for its members at the Arts Centre in Warburton and The Memo in Healesville and has released its 2025 program, with a mix of classic, contemporary and foreign films. A brochure of the 2025 program is available at both venues, as well as at the Warburton Waterwheel Visitor Information Centre and other community venues.

“We welcome new and lapsed members to join us. You don’t need to be an expert in film to join. Our objective is simply to promote cinema as an art form, and do so in our local venues,” the co-presidents said.

“After each monthly film screening we have a casual gathering which includes a light supper; it’s a social society, and a great way to meet members of the community you might not otherwise meet.”

New members can join at the monthly screenings using cash or EFTPOS, or online. For more information on becoming a member, visit yarrarangesfilmsociety.org.au.

Enquiries can be made by phoning Rebecca Bowman on 0409 183 64.

L-R: YRFS Secretary Bea Wicks-Kaandorp and Co-Presidents Rebecca Bowman and Rhiannon Bowman at the grant celebration on 2 December 2024. (Supplied)

The gallery was full for the opening of last year’s Body of Empowerment exhibition. (Christine Johanna Photography)

L-R: BOWL Board of Directors Melissa Grasso, Louise Wigg, Michele Osterhoudt and Cat McKay.

Artist Leoni Claire at the 2024 edition of the Body of Empowerment exhibition.

From trauma to joy

By Dongyun Kwon

Thanks to a kind donation from a local craft group, palliative care patients at Healesville Hospital and Yarra Valley Health will be able to sleep in the best conditions.

After the traumatic Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, local women formed a craft group called Fireside Crafters.

Barbara Lewis, one of the founding members of the group, said the group was formed in an emergency centre at the old IGA building in Yarra Glen.

“There were clothes, food and other stuff in the emergency centre and people would come and get them. I was one of the volunteers there,” she said.

“There was a lot of material, wool and stuff coming in, and people were saying ‘they haven’t got anything to do’.

“So I said ‘We need a craft group’, that’s how it started.”

Fireside Crafters has a regular meeting every Wednesday where the group members can come together and have a chat but also share craft ideas.

The group has been donating the quilts to Healesville Hospital and Yarra Valley Health for palliative care patients for over five years.

Fireside Crafters secretary Cheryl Deighton said she had a connection with the hospital as her husband receives infusions at the hospital every 28 days as part of his cancer treatment.

“I got to know the head of nursing there, and she asked us to do quilting, and that’s how it basically started,” she said.

“Before Christmas last year, we donated seven quilts to the hospital.”

“Prior to that, in 2011, we made quilts which we sent up to Ipswich, Queensland, following the floods,” group member Kaye Coles said.

The group also does other things like spinning, weaving and knitting.

They also donate scarves, mittens and beanies they make to HICCI.

Another group member Vivien Smith said the

group also shared the fabrics, that they don’t use, with other local groups.

“Because we only use 100 per cent cotton fabric, we pass anything else we get to other groups,” she said.

“We keep our total scraps like an inch wide or even less and give them to Yarra Glen Op Shop as well.”

Along the journey, the group has supported each other to reconnect with the community, share their stories and recover from their own tragedy after losing everything to the bushfires.

Fireside Crafters has also tried to give back to the community with what they make from their activities.

Federal Casey MP Aaron Violi visited the Fireside Crafters’ regular Wednesday meeting to get to know about the origins of the group and how the group has overcome the trauma of the Black Saturday bushfires.

Mr Violi said Fireside Crafters is a great example of the community spirit which the Yarra Valley

has, turning the horrors of bushfires into positive impacts on the local community.

“It’s really inspiring and inspirational to be here to talk to Cheryl and other group members,” he said.

“They are now giving back to the Healesville Hospital and they also sent quilts up to Ipswich, Queensland when there were floods.

“This community group is a great example of turning a real tragedy into an ongoing positive aspect for our community but more importantly, for all the women that are involved here, it gives them a real sense of connection and community socialisation.”

Fireside Crafters is now recruiting more members.

People wishing to join the group are welcome to turn up at the old scout hall in George Miller Reserve located at 140 Steels Creek Road, Yarra Glen during the regular Wednesday meeting between 12.30pm and 3pm or contact secretary Cheryl Deighton via phone at 0419 293 277.

$10,000 grant to kickstart writers collective

By Callum Ludwig

A new creative outlet for queer youth in the Yarra Ranges is set to start up in 2025.

Supported by a $10,000 grant from Round 14 of the Health Equal Youth (HEY) grants program, the Yarra Ranges Queer Youth Writers Collective is set to bring writing workshops to young queer writers across the region.

Workshop Facilitator Sophia Thomas said the idea of Yarra Ranges Queer Youth Writers Collective is to provide a no-cost group to connect with other like-minded Queer writers and artists of any skill, aged 16-25.

“We have set out to provide 15 fortnightly sessions for 2025, split across different Yarra Ranges regions, in the sessions we hope to provide an opportunity for peer feedback, exploration of different writing styles, a sense of connection between like-minded peers and increased understanding of diverse experiences,” she said.

“In my experience having creative peers can be immensely helpful to the development and enjoyment of my writing and drawing. Being able to bounce ideas off, proofread and give feedback and simply enjoying each other’s creation,”

“Specifically having a queer group and leaders will help young Queer, Transgender and NonBinary people, feel safer sharing their ideas and enjoying themselves. Being surrounded by Queer people will increase the quality of feedback, as they may understand and share similar experiences.”

The Yarra Ranges Queer Youth Writers Collective was awarded a grant in the Youth-Led category, designated for projects which will be led by young people themselves.

Ms Thomas said the core idea is to connection and to learn from each other.

“We have made sure attendees have the opportunity to facilitate sessions, to be able to share their experience and creative practice. The attendees will also be making decisions on what topics they want to explore and different forms of writing and creatives they want to learn from,” she said.

“I find that storytelling is a great way to connect with other people. For myself, reading aloud

helps with being able to get through reading a big chunk of text and I also get to practice presentation skills and my voice, increasing my confidence,”

“Participants also don’t have to write, I am an avid comic-book fan, and love drawing, so people will be encouraged to tell and share stories in their own way.”

Ms Thomas will also be supported by the Yarra Ranges Youth Development team who have been an ‘immense help’.

MS Thomas said a large part of the grant will go towards employing young creatives to teach each other.

“Along with the facilitation opportunities, there will be spots for peer volunteers who can help people feel welcome, encourage discussion and support the facilitator and group. Additionally we will be able to have a few workshops from Authors and creatives,” she said.

Have say on Monopoly edition

By Callum Ludwig

Residents of the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges are invited to have their say on what will feature on a custom edition of the family-favourite board game Monopoly set to launch later in 2025.

Locals are invited to comment or email which locations, landmarks and iconic figures should feature on the board.

Monopoly Manager Jaime-Lee de Niet from Winning Moves Australia, which will manufacture the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges edition of the popular board game under license from toy and game company Hasbro, said definitely to send in must-see locations, businesses and attractions.

“The Yarra Valley has so much to offer, there are only 22 property squares so we do have to limit what we put on there, however, we’re open to every suggestion from little to massive,” she said.

“It’s such a big area so we want to make sure that the edition is featuring all of those areas and by the locals, community, tourists suggesting or putting forward their little piece from their area. it all comes together like a jigsaw puzzle,”

“The board is broken down into different categories, from our natural attractions to our experiences or family days out to the most iconic parts of the Yarra Valley, we’re always open for both and for businesses, we would have a look and make sure that they are fit for the board before committing to that as well.”

“We will also provide training, snacks, and transport support for young people who need it, to ensure that all young people feel supported and comfortable in the group,”

“We are super grateful to the Victorian Government and Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic) for funding this through the Victorian Government’s Healthy Equal Youth Program, and for providing opportunities for many years for Young Queer people to be able to connect with each other and increase their wellbeing.”

Anyone interested in the Yarra Ranges Queer Youth Writers Collective can check out @yarrarangesyouth on Instagram for updates and other opportunities or email youth@yarraranges.vic. gov.au to ask to be updated via email. Expression of Interest and sign-up forms are currently in the works and more information will be available soon.

Head of YACVic Rural Derm Ryan said this year’s HEY Grant recipients represent a broader diversity across the community than they have ever experienced previously.

“This highlights that LGBTIQA+ identity is not bound by where you live, the colour of your skin, your religious affiliation, cultural background, or your access to resources,” he said.

“When given the chance, we can all play a part in building a stronger community.”

$102,000 will be distributed across 13 groups across the state through the latest round of HEY Grants.

Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt and Minister for Equality Vicki Ward both welcomed the latest round of grants.

“The Healthy Equal Youth grants are supporting our young people to lead the way in initiatives that celebrate diversity and inclusion while eliminating stigma and discrimination. These projects will help young LGBTIQA+ people to feel safe and empowered to tell their stories – ensuring they can live freely and authentically,” Minister Stitt said.

“We’re focused on supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young LGBTIQA+ Victorians and building a future where everyone feels included and celebrated,” Minister Ward said.

Residents can provide their ideas by commenting on the announcement from 13 January on the ‘Winning Moves Australia’ Facebook page or by emailing them to info@winningmoves.com.au. Comments on the post have already suggested locations such as Healesville Sanctuary, Sky High Mt Dandenong, Lillydale Lake, Puffing Billy Railway and the Redwood Forest among many more.

Ms de Niet said all suggestions will need to be in by the end of February.

“We then go into a design phase, which will be available for purchasing in October and that’s when we’ll be back in town to launch the edition with Mr Monopoly as well,” she said.

“With our community editions, everybody has an emotional attachment to their community so they want to see things that they’ve seen or known or grown up living around,”

“They are actually our most popular editions because of that connection and the family history of the place, so it’s been really exciting over the last few days of being here in Yarra Valley, it’s absolutely beautiful with the rolling hills and everything to see so I’m really excited to create it.”

Winning Moves has created themed editions for the following Australian locations:

Adelaide, Bendigo, Cairns, Canberra, Gold Coast, Gympie, Hobart, Melbourne, Mildura, Newcastle, Parramatta, Sydney, Townsville, Wagga Wagga and Wollongong.

Chime in with your ideas for a Yarra and Dandenong Ranges-themed edition of Monopoly. (File)

Sophia Thomas will be facilitating the Yarra Ranges Queer Youth Writers Collective, with support from the Yarra Ranges Youth Development team. (Supplied)

L-R: Fireside Crafters members Vivien Smith, Kaye Coles and secretary Cheryl Deighton. (Dongyun Kwon: 455386)

Twilight picnic popular

Healesville Connect was established to help newcomers to town meet each other.

Last year, to celebrate their fourth birthday, they decided to hold a picnic for the whole town at Queens Park.

It was so successful, that the group did it again this year.

On 16 January, another Twilight Picnic was held between 5pm and 8pm.

It was very well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Due to the generosity of local businesses, Healesville Connect distributed over 300 sausages with onions in bread, as well as hundreds of ice creams and fruit for free.

The raffle took in $550 for the reopening of a toy library at the Healesville Library.

Because of the town’s amazing generosity, the group was able to have three hampers of local goods as prizes.

There was live music throughout the event and a program of novelty races, sack race, egg and spoon race, skipping, balancing, etc and horse rides.

The children and their parents loved it all.

As a result, a group of the Healesville Connect committee and their many helpers, including willing husbands and family members went home very tired but satisfied with a memorable event accomplished.

Healesville Connect thanked

Ranges Council which sponsored the event through

Monthly Grant.

Second book of children’s book series is coming out

By Dongyun Kwon

Even after leaving Healesville, the author has kept writing children’s books based on the journey of two Healesville girls.

The Salvager’s Quest and The Ghost of the Mountains, the second of a series of six books, is about to come out by the end of January.

Author Lucy Hawkins, a former resident of Healesville, is excited about the release of the sequel to The Salvager’s Quest.

“It follows the Healesville sisters, Stella and Dot, as they continue to rescue endangered animals from Earth and take them to Planet Beatrice where woolly mammoths roam and children make the rules,” she said.

“This time Stella discovers that humans and animals aren’t the only inhabitants of Planet Beatrice when she wanders into the caves of Neanderthals.

“The girls have to try and work with the Neanderthals as well as go on their next mission to the Himalayas of Nepal to rescue snow leopards. It’s full of adventure, geography, wildlife as well as the gang’s relationships and lots of laughs.”

Like the first book, Hawkins put herself in the book cover illustration work.

She said she collaborated with Yarra Valleybased artist Clare James.

“I sketched it out, she painted it and I painted the girls’ faces,” the author said.

“I love working with Clare, she’s brilliant, an incredible watercolour artist and nature lover. I

mainly paint with acrylics which wouldn’t have given me the wishy-washy ethereal feel I was after.

“But I wanted to paint the girls’ faces as they’re loosely based on my own daughters.”

Hawkins and her family moved from Healesville to Mallorca, Spain.

Hawkins said her family wanted to take a

family adventure but they would be back to the Yarra Valley at some point.

“We thought our young children were the right age to enjoy it and learn Spanish,” she said.

“I continue to run Lucy Hawkins Art remotely as well as write my books and for magazines around the world.

“I do miss the Yarra Valley! I have nothing

but wonderful memories and some beautiful friendships for life. I also cannot get an oat latte of the same calibre for love nor money.”

The second book is now available for preorder through Hawkins’ website at lucyhawkinsart.com and will be available to buy through most online book retailers in early February.

“It will also be on the shelves of Novel Nook at Yarra Glen and available to borrow at Healesville Library,” the former Healesville resident said.

“My lovely friend Marianne will also be selling it at her wonderful Alexandra Manfield Books’ stall at the fabulous The Local Market.

“I’ve just started writing the third one actually which will be for young adults aged 12-18. The third book will be out as soon as I can finish writing it.”

Lucy Hawkins with the first book of The Salvager’s Quest series. (Dongyun Kwon: 393757)

Hawkins family in Mallorca, Spain; (L-R): James, Josephine, Lucy and Georgina. (Supplied)

Yarra

a

With the support of the beautiful weather, Twilight Picnic was thoroughly enjoyed by all one more time. (Murray Marshall)

Beanbag balancing race.

The raffle took in $550 for the reopening of a toy library at the Healesville Library.

Healesville Connect committee.

Live music by a local band Claire and Sam.

Healesville Community Emergency Hub got a chance to promote itself to the local community.

Crime stat trends concern

We have welcomed the first month of 2025 and with it, new changes and possibilities locally in the Yarra Ranges and at a state level.

For myself, I am excited to include the new role of Shadow Minister for Crime Prevention to my existing portfolios of Shadow Minister for Women and Prevention of Family Violence.

Being Shadow Minister for Crime Prevention goes hand in hand with my other portfolios and will allow me to work towards making our area, and Victoria, a safer place to live.

The Yarra Ranges is a great place to live and work, brimming with opportunity.

Crime numbers in the Yarra Ranges Shire are comparatively low, but trends are worrying.

We don’t want to see crime stats continue to climb in 2025.

Last year, Crime Statistics Victoria reported increases in crime throughout the Yarra Ranges Shire.

This includes a 121 per cent increase in resi-

The state of

affairs

Cindy McLeish MP Member for Eildon

dential aggravated burglary from 29 cases in 2023, to 64 cases in 2024.

Motor vehicle theft increased 66 per cent from 143 cases reported in 2023 to 237 in 2024.

On a positive note, theft from retail stores has dropped three per cent, from 461 cases in 2023 to 446 cases in 2024.

Although, this is still 446 too many.

The Allan Labor Government are not making crime prevention easier, considering in the past

A fine example of romantasy

Book review of The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick

The North Wind, by American author Alexandria Warwick, is the second work in the romantasy genre that this reviewer has ever read.

It allows this reviewer to avoid being affected by too many other readers whose comments centre on how similar or different this book is to other titles in the genre.

The first book in the Four Winds series, The North Wind is a standalone story “inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone” as described by the publisher.

It is interesting that literary tropes like these may serve as points of reference, making it easier for publishers and authors to connect with readers.

But tropes can be and often are the first criterion for assessing a book’s performance.

For example, the story’s first-person narrator Wren is a reminder of Katniss in The Hunger Games, a huntress who volunteers to take her sister’s place.

In this case, Wren is to be sacrificed to the North Wind, also known as the Frost King and bringer of winter.

Her blood will be used to sustain the Shade, the barrier that protects her hometown from the icy Deadlands.

Thanks to the author’s rich and vivid descriptions, the Deadlands is a fascinating place.

The rivers Les and Mnemenos, the brothers Sleep and Death, the judgement of the dead, the City of Gods and the towns of Neumovos and Makarios – not to mention the darkwalkers – these give new meanings to the notion of eternality.

Meanwhile, Boreas is more of a traditional character, like the handsome, arrogant, broody, antisocial, often misunderstood yet ultimately immortalised Mr Darcy that is the favourite of all

PASSION

FOR PROSE

WITH CHRISTINE SUN

(female) readers.

With his characterisation entirely done through the eyes of Wren, the author ensures that Boreas captures readers’ hearts in the story’s enemies-to-lovers process.

In contrast, Wren is presented with all of her virtues and flaws, her fervent motives and hidden agendas, and her triumphs and failures.

This allows readers to judge her, and makes one wonder whether her portrayal as a strong female character would be any different if the story were written from Boreas’s or a third person’s perspective.

With that said, Wren is feisty and stubborn, and while she is loyal and fearless, she is also broken and deeply insecure.

Her evolution and redemption is subtly handled, and gives emphasis to other factors that contribute to her relationship with Boreas.

It is a relationship where both parties are able to find their lost selves in their discovery of each other.

The North Wind achieves a healthy balance between romance and fantasy and a refreshing re-imagination of myths and fairy tale. This reviewer looks forward to reading the other books in the series.

two years they have cut $11 million (46 per cent) to Crime Prevention programs, cut funding for proactive police programs, and cut the Specialist Crime Prevention Unit.

Further, the 1000 vacancies on police rosters are surely interfering with proactive prevention patrols to stop crime in its tracks – locally and statewide.

That’s why, in my Shadow Minister role I will focus on strengthening crime prevention and advocating for those in need to ensure families and the community feel safe to live and work.

As the local member, I am continuing my ongoing commitment to ensure the region is the best place to live.

I am raising important local issues in Parliament and going in to bat for the underdog to make community voices heard.

Easily the biggest community concern in the Yarra Ranges is the deplorable condition of our roads.

Quick fixes don’t last, and road users are sick and tired of damaging their cars from hitting potholes.

Road surfaces need serious repairs to make them safe of all road users, locals and visitors alike.

Thank you to the community members who contact my office to report dodgy roads and send photos of damage that I can bring to the Minister’s attention and raise in Parliament.

I encourage everyone to continue to do so.

At a State level, the Liberal Nationals, under Leader of the Opposition, Brad Battin, will focus on building a strong, alternative government, working hard to provide relief to families struggling with the cost of living, fixing the broken health system, and making our communities safe again.

There is much to look forward to in 2025 and many goals to kick.

I will continue striving to meet them all and represent the community.

Lost Highway is better

Mulholland Drive

Starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Justin Theroux Rated M 3.25/5

Renowned filmmaker David Lynch passed away on January 15, so this week I thought I’d take a new look at Mulholland Drive, his most acclaimed film but one I’ve never liked very much.

In this surreal 2001 exploration of Hollywood’s seedy underbelly, aspiring actress Betty (Naomi Watts) meets an amnesiac woman who calls herself Rita (Laura Harring), and director Adam (Justin Theroux) clashes with powerful people over a casting choice.

Mulholland Drive features some brilliant vignettes but a severe lack of structure, no doubt resulting from its origins as a rejected TV pilot.

The acting is somewhat stilted, which Lynch often uses to aid a sense of eerie unreality; Watts’ acting is unnaturally perky early on, but grows more grounded as she helps Rita investigate her identity.

Betty’s audition is a knockout show of acting prowess; she discards her ditziness and conjures an unknown sincerity from her cheesy old scene partner.

Adam’s subplot has several funny or intense scenes, but is disconnected from Betty and Rita’s journey and carries little tension,

Entertainment

Gemco is turning 45!

Gemco has a whole weekend of celebrations! Welcome to all across three massive days of entertainment and fun.

• Friday February 28 – Opening Night

The weekend kicks off with Olde Boldes, featuring a variety of short skits, melodrama and cheeky poems from Gemco’s early years.

• Venue: Gemco Hall from 7pm.

• BYO nibbles – light supper provided.

hinging on him acquiescing to an actress we don’t know.

The nearly 2.5-hour narrative wanders along, offering glancing commentary on the exploitation of women in Hollywood, creators compromising their vision under pressure and the inherent prerecorded artifice in film (the latter through a beautiful but blunt sequence in Club Silencio), until it resets for the final half-hour.

Rita’s past and Betty’s stories are unresolved, and the implied ‘it was all a dream’ twist is an unsatisfying cop-out.

Lynch fans let his trademark dreamlike atmosphere wash over them, but I just can’t do that when it overwhelms the storytelling, and Mulholland Drive remains the same slack, poorly-structured, intermittently-thrilling film as ever.

- Seth Lukas Hynes

• Drinks available at the bar – bookings essential via gemcoplayers.org

• Saturday 1 March - Open Stage

Come along and share our talents or enjoy a night of diverse performances at the company’s Open Stage event.

All are welcome to participate or just come watch!

• Gemco Hall from 8pm.

• BYO Nibbles – Light supper provided, drinks at Bar

• Sunday – Monday – Open Day and Barbecue. Join the company for a relaxed day of reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre:

• Opening is Moon Over Buffalo Season: 13 February – 1 March .

• Next is Haunted Season: 24 April – 10 May.

• Followed by The Diary of Anne Frank Season: 3 – 19 July.

• Then comes an English comedy in The Importance of Being Earnest. Season: 11 – 27 September.

• And a musical comedy Sister Amnesia’s Country Western Nunsense Jamboree.

• Season: 20 November – 5 December. The 1812 Theatre Season:

• Spider’s Web Season: 20 February – 15 March.

• The Thrill of Love Season: 3 April – 3 May.

• The Housekeeper Season: 22 May – 14 June.

• Home, I’m Darling Season: 7 – 30 August.

• Speaking in tongues Season: 2 – 25 October. Rhinestone Rex, and Miss Monica Season: November 13 – December 5. Shorts and Youth Theatre

• Short Shorts Season: 28 January – 1 February.

• Sweeney Todd on the Razor’s Edge Season: 1 –12 July.

• Board Shorts Season: 24 – 26 July.

• Season: At 7.30pm Sunday 16 February.

INCREDIBLY IMPRESSIVE SCALE, STYLE, AND SWIMMING POOL

INCREDIBLY IMPRESSIVE SCALE, STYLE, AND SWIMMING POOL

THIS large, lovely home complete with an enviable inground swimming pool and exquisite views is a shining example of how to get the most out of a prestigious Hills property. Boasting a sprawling 1,559sqm (approx.) landscape with sealed circular drive behind secure remote gates, 3 garage parking spaces, and manicured lawn area, “Belmonte” offers a bounty of both form and function.

This double-storey dwelling begins in the generous foyer with rich timber floors. The front of the residence features an ensuite bedroom with walk-in robe adjacent to a flexible bedroom/study with built-in storage. At the rear of the residence, the expansive living and dining area is overlooked by the superb kitchen with stainless steel appliances. With French doors to the wrap-around verandah with pool views, it is easy to envisage living here.

On the upper level, an equally large living area with quality carpet and its own balcony with hillside views is the bonus space every family craves. An additional ensuite bedroom and further family bedrooms reside on this level, opening options for multi-generational living.

The sheer scale of the bathrooms, laundry, and storage incorporated into this impressive home have been considered with family in mind.

In addition, there is a separate pool house with bathroom and sink kitchenette for convenience.

A grand residence with a glorious list of bonus features, this property is a rare find. Prompt inspection is advised. Plan your viewing today.

• Beautiful family-friendly property with picturesque views, secure sealed drive, 3 garage spaces, and wrap-around verandahs

• Grand double-storey design with expansive living areas on both levels, gas ducted heating, split system heating/cooling, and ducted vacuum

Superb kitchen with stainless steel appliances and walk-in pantry

Enviable ensuite bedrooms with walk-in robes on each floor

Solar heated inground swimming pool, convenient pool house, and manicured lawn area.

RIVERTURN LANE, WARBURTON

A spectacular property steeped in local history, a true classic Warburton property and set on a picturesque 10 acres dating back to around the early 1900’s. A charming home with all the period features and style of the days gone by with all the modern features and comforts of today’s era. A versatile and functional floor plan offers plenty of flexibility for a multitude of uses. Boasting 6 to 7 bedrooms plus an office/study area, 2 bathrooms and multiple living/family rooms ideally zoned to allow everyone their own space and privacy. The kitchen area is sure to impress with quality appliances and fixtures with ample bench and cupboard space plus a walk in pantry and beautiful splash backs.

The main family room is the highlight of the home with stunning views to the Yarra river, a view you will admire every day. The outside area is equally impressive with approx. 10 acres to explore, a mix of cleared grassy lawns and scattered bush allows an abundance of enjoyment all year round, lovely established gardens, trees and shrubs surround the property. Entertain in style all year round with a covered entertaining area plus open air entertaining with a huge deck off the main family room with stunning views overlooking the Yarra River. An impressive view, an impressive property, fresh, modern and up to date throughout but retaining all the warmth and atmosphere of the early days, a rare Warburton residence with so much to offer and situated in an exclusive and private location and yet just minutes walk to Warburton’s main street, activities and attractions.

VIEWINGS ARE STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY AND BY CONTACTING DAVID CARROLL 0419 539 320.

EXCEPTIONAL INDOOR/OUTDOOR FUSION

Micks - Top Five Favourite Things about this Property

&

No

So, if some of your boxes are ticked…best to come and feel the spaces and see if it is right for your needs.

Over three levels this contemporary timber home offers a light, bright interior, and an adaptable floorplan, all within walking distance to the delightful township of Emerald.

Featuring:

4 bedrooms, ensuite to main, WIR and deck

• 3 bedrooms all with BIR’s serviced by the updated bathroom.

• White cabinetry, stone benchtops, and stainless-steel appliances, also a walk-in pantry

Spacious living areas, a rumpus room that could be office, studio, theatre, games room.

• Covered deck for outdoor gatherings.

• Double garage

• Nearly 10,000 m2 land holding of lush ferns, beautiful trees and more.

The latest colour palette, greys, whites accented by timber floors and hints of colour.

Throw away the technology and get back to the great outdoors, visiting wildlife, birds will visit – a lifestyle many will envy.

It is not just a tree change, it’s a better way of life. Mick Dolphin 0429 684 522 and Anthony Iorlano 0494 142 438 are ready to show you through.

***CLOSING DATE FOR OFFERS 4pm THURSDAY FEBRUARY 6 (unless sold prior)***

AUCTIONat7pmThur.13/02/25onsite. Idealforthosewhoprioritizeprivacy,thisexceptionalacreageof5.16Haisnestledat theendof aquiet,no-throughroad.Blendingclassicarchitecturewithsensitiveland managementtogetherasone.Thisone-of-a-kindpropertycreates aharmoniousliving experience.Withitstimelessdesign,thischerishedhomeissettoprovidelastingcomfort foryearstocomeandstandsasthehighlightofthisserenenaturalretreat.Don’tmissout onyourchanceat asliceofparadise.

AnthonyIorlano 0494142438 DaveStewart 0411655611

AUCTIONat7pmWed.12/02/25onsite. morethanjustanopportunityfor aquieterlifestyleor afashionabletree-change,thisisan incrediblyrarechancetoplaceyourselfona ‘highpoint’ofthemuchsoughtafterKallista Ridge.Standingproudon3 ACRESwithsweepingviewsofSilvanDam& Warburton Ranges.Featuringanentertainingareaadjacenttotheswimmingpoolwithspa,wallsof glass,bluestonefeaturedfireside,familyroom,rumpusroom,stunningnearnewkitchen, internalspa,longsweepingdriveway&amASSIvEopengarage &workshop/storage.

JanBrewster 0409558805

VIEWS,UNIQUE,GARAGE& SOLAR

Thishomeisdelightfullydifferentbydesign,a freshtakeona ‘hills’home.Topfeatures includeuniqueintriguingarchitecture,views &outlook,openspace,quiet &peaceful, setona stunning,fenced,useablelandwithlushlawns,maturetrees,sealedroad& drivewayaccess,parkingfor 4cars, 2inremotecontrolledgarages,shed,chickencoop solar6.6KW &freshlypaintedinside& out.Thelocationisjustfarenoughfromthetourist crowdsbutstillcloseenoughtoseveraltownshipsand achoiceoflocalamenities.

MickDolphin 0429684522

AlisonBarkley 0494175410

TopFiveThingsaboutthisProperty- quiet& Private,move-inReady,BeautifulEstablished Gardens,YourownCreekandNoTraffic.So,ifsomeofyourboxesareticked…best tocomeandfeel thespacestoseeifitisrightforyourneeds.Setover threelevels, thiscontemporary homeoffers alight,brightinteriorandanadaptable floorplanthat includesspaciouslivingareas thatcouldbeutilizedasanoffice,studio, theatreorgames room.Allwithinwalkingdistancetothedelightfultownshipof Emerald.

HOME FOCUS

CHARMING CABIN IN THE FOREST

A once in a lifetime opportunity - for the first time in over 50 years this hidden gem is available to the market. Nestled at the end of a quiet, no through road, this picturesque cabin offers the ultimate in privacy and serenity. Set within a lush Mountain Ash forest on over 6 acres of land, with Pheasant Creek meandering through the property, it’s the perfect retreat for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

The property boasts established gardens that burst into colour year round, creating a vibrant, ever changing landscape. The birdlife here is simply magical with resident lyrebirds and parrots at your front door. The property offers a tranquil immersive connection with nature.

Explore the expansive grounds and absorb the calming energy of your surroundings.

The cozy 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom home invites you to unwind and relax, perfect for a peaceful weekend getaway. Picture yourself by the fire during the middle of winter—this charming cabin exudes warmth and comfort. Whether you’re seeking a peaceful weekend escape or looking for a property with BNB potential, this unique home is an ideal opportunity. Backing onto state forest yet only a short stroll into the township of Warburton where access to the famous rail trail and delightful Yarra River are just a short distance away.

Don’t miss the chance to own this magical hideaway, offering a perfect blend of nature, privacy, and possibility.

StunningAcreageand aRelaxedRuralLifestyle

Adreamlifestyleawaitsyouatthisstunningproperty,seton aglorious11acresofbeautifulrolling pastureit’stheidealplacetostarttorurallifestyle.Thelargeranchstylefamilyhomehasbeen caredforandlovedforover40yearsandoffers 4bedroomsincludinganensuiteinthemain bedroom.Separatefamily/loungeandlivingareasgivethegrowingfamilyplentyofspace.The freshmodernkitchenhasplentyofbenchandcupboardspacewithqualityappliancesandfittings. Ventureoutsideandyourspoiltforspacewithacresandacrestoexploreandenjoy.Amplecar accommodationwith alargecarport,doublelockupgarage,plusopenmachineryshedswith highclearancetosuitcaravans,boatsandfloats.A beautifullypresentedproperty,meticulously maintainedineveryaspectandconvenientlylocated. 115WaresRoad,Wesburn$1,290,000-$1,400,000

CharmingCabinintheForest –OnOver6 Acres Forthefirsttimeinover50yearsthishiddengemisavailabletothemarket.Nestledattheendofa quiet,nothroughroad,thispicturesquecabinofferstheultimateinprivacyandserenity. Setwithina lushMountainAshforestonover6 acresofland,withPheasantCreekmeandering throughtheproperty,it’stheperfectretreatforthoselookingtoescapethehustleandbustleof everydaylife.Thecozy3 bedroom,1 bathroomhomeinvitesyoutounwindandrelax,perfectfor apeacefulweekendgetaway.Backingontostateforestyetonlya shortstrollintothetownshipof Warburton.Don´tmissthechancetoownthismagicalhideaway,offering aperfectblendofnature, privacy,andpossibility.

AffordableOpportunityinthisCharmingHome

Tuckedawayattheendof aquietstreet,thischarminghomeoffersa fantasticopportunityforfirst timebuyersorsavvyinvestors.Currentlytenantedwith asolidrentalreturn,itpresentsgreatvalue. Thecozyhomefeatures2 to 3bedrooms, 1bathroom,andanopenplanlivinganddiningarea, alongwithanoriginalkitchenthatopensouttoa largeoutdoordeckperfectforenjoyingthe serene,treefilledsurroundings. Awoodfireandsplitsystemensureyearroundcomfort,whilethe carportandspaciousbackyardofferplentyofroomtorelaxorentertain.Thispropertyisa wonderful packageandgreatvalueformoney. 38ChristineStreet,Millgrove

RebeccaDoolan M 0401832068

$530,000-$570,000

AdmireandenjoythiscolourfulandeverchangingvistawithfantasticYarraValleyviewsanda comfortablefamilyhomein apopularandsoughtafterarea,thiscouldbejustwhatyouarelooking for.Thehomeiswellpresentedandverywelllookedafter, amuchlovedfamilyhomeforover30 years.Offering 3bedroomsallwithbuiltinrobesincludinganensuiteinthemainbedroom,spacious openliving/loungeareasgivethegrowingfamilyplentyofspace.Thekitchenhasamplebenchand cupboardspaceplus aseparatemealsarea.Ventureoutsideandenjoytheopenairentertaining, sitbackrelaxandenjoytheviewsandthecolourfulscenery,thekidsandpetswilllovethewide openspacewithapprox.1680sqmtoexplore,enjoyandrunwild.A fantasticpropertyofferingthe growingfamily aconvenientandcomfortablelifestyle.

DavidCarroll

HOME FOCUS

LIFESTYLE ACREAGE WITH MAGNIFICENT HOME

THIS magnificent lifestyle property situated only 550m from Monbulk township is a tantilising display of sophistication inside and out.

Comprising a grand architectural residence settled onto a showcase 2-acre landscape with sealed drive, rolling lawns, firepit area, and convenient sheds and carports, this beautiful property proves you can have it all.

Step from the large verandah into this spectacular residence set over 2 sprawling levels. The primary level boasts timber cathedral ceilings and expanses of glass that overlook the deck and garden. The generous lounge and formal dining area feature a large open wood fire. The gourmet kitchen is adorned with a waterfall island, Haier oven and induction cooktop, Bosch dishwasher, wine cellar, and oversize butlers’ pantry. With an equally comfortable family room with wood fire, a sizeable study with separate entry, 3 beautiful bedrooms including main with 2 walk-in robes and luxurious ensuite, and a show-stopping family bathroom with freestanding tub also on this level, there is a bounty of comfort to be discovered here.

On the lower level, these spaces can be set to suit your way of life. Enjoy a generous rumpus room/art studio with kitchenette that steps out to the alfresco, a games room/second study or bedroom with cosy carpet, and a large bedroom and designer bathroom with frameless shower. The laundry with bonus shower bathroom and the 4-car garage are also accessible on this level.

With so many incredible features set to a backdrop of lush landscaped gardens, this property pulls out all the stops to impress. Plan your viewing today.

• Easy stroll to shopping, schools, and transport

• Gated 8,193sqm (approx.) property with sealed drive, picturesque rolling lawns, carports, and convenient sheds

Expansive family residence with under-house 4-car garage

• Gorgeous gourmet kitchen with waterfall island, Haier and Bosch appliances, versatile butlers’ pantry/storeroom, and wine cellar

• Beautiful bathrooms and luxurious bathrooms on both levels.

HOME ESSENTIALS

PUZZLES

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

ACROSS

1 Eight-legged animal (6)

4 A board game with letter-tiles (8)

9 Mosquito-borne disease (7)

11 Inhabitant of Tel Aviv, say (7)

12 Level of hot or cold (11)

13 Biological blueprint (1,1,1)

14 Food of the Olympian gods (8)

16 Banish (5)

19 Teams (5)

20 A golden anniversary (8)

22 Dazzle (3)

24 English scientist who explained gravity (5,6)

26 Territory ruled by an Islamic monarch (7)

27 Princess Diana’s maiden name (7)

29 Grotesque imitation (8)

30 For blinking (6)

DOWN

1 Total (3)

2 Pakistani capital (9)

3 Spooky (5)

5 Sex (6)

6 Contract (9)

7 Bakery item (5)

8 Period of 17th-century English queen (11)

10 A Middle Eastern language (6)

12 Clear (11)

15 Stubborn (9)

17 Exactly the same (9)

18 Carnival (6)

21 Aptitude (6)

23 Nickname of Eva Perón (5)

25 Dirge (5)

28 Colour of strawberries (3)

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you

No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural nouns ending in “s”.

No. 223

No. 222

Unforgettable memory

By Dongyun Kwon

Yarra Glen Tennis Club kids had an unforgettable experience on Tuesday 14 January.

10 children aged from five to eight from the club participated in Tennis Australia’s Kids on Court Experience at the Australian Open.

Yarra Glen Tennis Club member Scheryl Williams said they were allocated a Red Ball opportunity which is for the ages between five and eight.

“Tennis Victoria sent out information about the day and asked people to apply for spots. We did that and got allocated one of the spots,” she said.

There were so many different activities that the kids could do, from looking around the precinct and playing tennis on the court to other fun activities including a water slide and table tennis.

Ms Williams said the kids loved the experience, which made them very motivated as well as opened up the eyes of the parents.

“One of the kids was able to toss a coin for a match at John Cain Arena. The match she tossed it for was Taylor Fritz versus Jenson Brooksby,” Ms Williams said.

“Because Rod Laver Arena wasn’t completely full on that day, after the on court experience, they gave free tickets to all the participants and their families, so we got to sit at Rod Laver.”

Lilydale gold medallist awarded an OAM

A Lilydale-born Olympian has been recognised for his gold medal heroics in the 2025 Australia Day Awards.

Kelland O’Brien OAM received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for his ‘service to sport as a gold medallist at the Paris Olympic Games 2024.’

Growing up, O’Briend went to Lilydale High School and started his career at Lilydale BMX Club before going on to become a decorated national cyclist.

As part of Australia’s Men’s Team Pursuit in the Paris Games, O’Brien and teammates Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn broke the world record in qualifying with a time of 3:40.730 which obliterated the previous benchmark by more than a second as they triumphed over reigning Olympic champions Italy to progress to the gold medal ride.

Up against arch-rivals Great Britain, O’Briend and the team completed the gold medal ride in an incredible three minutes and 42 seconds to claim their place at the top of the podium.

Barely 0.2 of a second separated the two teams for almost the entire 4km before Australia broke their opponents on the final lap and won by over two seconds.

After the gold medal race, O’Brien said the team had a plan and stuck to it, not putting too much pressure on themselves after the record ride on Tuesday.

“It was a heated battle as it always is, hats off to those guys they rode an amazing race, and we just stuck to our process and nailed it,” he said.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the boys and Tim (coach Tim Decker) for getting it done, we’ve said all along it’s going to be won on day three and it was.”

O’Brien was part of the Australian Pursuit team in the previous Toko Olympics which claimed the bronze medal, after a broken handlebar and subsequent crash in qualifying robbed them of a shot at gold. He was also a gold medallist with the pursuit team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

O’Brien was contacted for comment.

Lilydale’s Kelland O’Brien celebrating the gold medal win on Wednesday 7 August 2024. (AP Photo/ Ricardo Mazalan)

Group photo in front of the AO sign, (L-R): Alisha J, Ashlee J, Immy G, Willow P, Olivia M, Malachi W, Matthew W, Beau B, Oscar H. (Supplied)

Another group photo in front of the Ball Park sign. (Supplied)

Getting excited on their way to the AO by train. (Supplied)

Olivia (middle) with Taylor Fritz (left) and Jenson Brooksby (right)after tossing the coin on John Cain Arena before their Round 1 match. (Supplied)

Watching some professional players warm up waiting for their time on court. (Supplied)

SPORT

Men and women finals

By Ian Milgate

The singles finals for men and Women were played on Saturday 25 January under beautiful blue skies, watched by some very enthusiastic followers.

Rita Featherstone and Robyn Turville were fighting it out for Ladies Singles Championship and right from the start, Rita was on song putting some very good bowls down.

When Robyn put one close, Rita would get inside and take shot. Rita kept winning the ends until a few ends before the end, where Robyn got her eye in and started to put some great bowls down.

Rita may have got the jitters, but she went on to a comfortable win 27/10.

Well done to both girls.

Robert Ayres and Colin Jarvis were playing off for the Men’s Singles Championship and what a game it was.

Robert got a small jump on Colin after three ends, but Colin came back to draw the game on end five.

Every end throughout the game was close with both players putting bowls on the jack.

Robert would win an end and then Colin would fight back.

It was any bodies game after 19 ends but Robert maintained focus and put his bowls in just a little closer than Colin.

On the 23rd end, Robert picked up four shots which sealed the deal and finally won by 12 shots 28/16.

Well done to both players.

The Pairs Championship for both Men and Women will be played this Friday at around 4pm. Time to be confirmed.

Tuesday’s Side one played away today at Heathmont who were sitting on top of the ladder, although Healesville was quietly confident that the team could give it a shake.

Healesville got the jump right from the start

with all rinks winning the first four ends.

By the dinner break, Healesville had a comfortable lead 33/23 and if the team could keep it up, it was going to be a huge upset.

With only five ends to go, Healesville was still comfortably ahead 50/35, but then Heathmont pulled together and started to win some big numbers.

With one end to go, the team were 56/57 so had to picked up a few shots on the last end, but that didn’t happen finally going down by three shots 57/60.

Full credit to Heathmont and disappointing for Healesville.

Ian Milgate, Hilda Gurney, Rob Ayres, Effie La-

Rare double-header at club

By Steve Freestone

Only twice this season has both the Warburton 1 and 2 sides played together at home. On Saturday 25 January, it was an exciting day for both teams as they fought valiantly throughout the day.

Saturday Pennant Warburton 1 played top side, Ringwood 1. It was a thriller with Warburton holding a slender lead throughout the match. In the final two ends either team could have won and to Ringwood’s credit they regrouped and outplayed Warburton with more consistent bowling to win by 6 shots. Final scores Warburton 71 to Ringwood 77

Rink Scores were as follows: Travis Appleton 19-11, Chris Neale 14-19 Steve Lord 27-23 and Paul McConachy 11-24

Warburton 2 played Chirnside Park 2 and completely outplayed their opposition to win comfortably. Final Scores Warburton 96 to Chirnside Park 66. They are looking forward to continuing their excellent form next week where they play away at Vermont South 3. Rink Scores were Peter Woods 21-18, Graham Wynd 22-12, David McConachy 17- 20 and Peter Summers 36-16

Next Saturday 1 February will see Warburton 1 playing away at Upwey Tecoma and Warburton 2 playing away at Vermont South 3. The club looks forward to an exciting day as both teams keep fighting for a chance to play in the finals.

The Warburton 1 Tuesday Pennant side started the second half of the season with a resounding win against Mooroolbark 2 at home. Warburton were determined to reverse their defeat against Mooroolbark last time around where they were easily beaten. This win has them sitting comfortably second on the ladder and are very close to securing their place in the finals. They play this Tuesday at Ringwood and look forward to reversing the Saturday loss. Rink Scores were as follows: Terry Heyward 29-11, Rod McKail 21-8 and Chris Boland 21-18

The Wednesday Night Barefoot Bowls Jack Attack Competition recommenced on Wednesday 22 January 22. With a total of 48 players, it has been great to witness the fun, enjoyment and improvement all participants are displaying

throughout the season so far.

The Annual Pink Ribbon Day Triples Tournament, sponsored by Professionals Real Estate, will now be held on Sunday 2 February from 12 midday, with all funds raised going towards Breast Cancer Research. Food, refreshments, raffles and prizes available during the day.

Intra Club Competitions are close to the final matches and have resulted in several close contests.

Women’s Final – Aimme Dostie to play Michelle Foord or Jade Muratore

Men’s Semi-Finals -Chris Lord v Travis Appleton, Chris Neale v Terry Heywood

Club Pairs Semi-Finals – Greg Walsh and Steve Freestone v Rod McKail and Chris Neale

Steve and Chris Lord v Tony Van Meurs and Max Reynolds

100 UP – David Fahy v Michelle Foord or Steve Freestone

President’s H’cap - John Bodin v Aimee Dostie or Clint Muratore

Minor Championship – John Bodin v Mat Stoessigger or Jade Muratore

Good luck to the finalists.

Social Bowls continues to be played on Mondays from 12 midday with everyone including new and beginning players encouraged to attend. Come along and give Bowls a try.

ban 27/10

Mick Featherstone, Damian Key, Rita Featherstone, Steve Bulled 13/27

Gerda Otto, Judy Veermann, Robyn Turville, Col Jarvis 17/23

Saturday’s Side 1 played away at Boronia who were second on the ladder 10 points ahead of Healesville.

If Healesville bought their A game with them, the team had a very good chance of knocking them off.

Unfortunately, Boronia had a different plan that saw them scoot away to a 38 shot lead 32/70 at the half time break.

Adrian Beales rink were bowling well but the

other three rinks just could not make any gains on Boronia, who in the end won the match by 56 shots 64/120.

All credit to Boronia who played exceptionally well.

Ian Milgate, Col Jarvis, Robert Ayres, Mark Ward 8/31

Barry Parker, Bob Brown, Effie Laban, John Fitzpatrick 18/34

John Howard, Chris Hawting, Rita Featherstone, Steve Bulled 12/33

Gerda Otto, Mick Featherstone, Robyn Turville, Adrian Beales 26/22

On the home run to finals

By Rodney Bates

With only three weeks left in the home and away season, all three weekend pennant teams have a chance to play finals this season.

Yarra Glen’s division 1 side played away against top of the table Lalor.

Scores were close, but a few things didn’t go our way in the last ends to go down by four shots 84-80 (14 points).

C. Carswell 17/33; S. Manifold 12/25; Beau Simmons 19/18; Ben Simmons 32/8.

Division 4 Side 2 played away against Blackburn North.

Blackburn North came out firing and led by 30 shots at the break.

In the first few ends after the break, Yarra Glen picked close to 20 shots with scores of seven, six and five across the board.

Yarra Glen edged ahead with six ends to go, then a late fightback by Blackburn saw the score different on two shots with one end to play.

Blackburn could only manage one shot for one of the most memorable wins for the side this year.

Final Score 85-84 (16 points).

S. Smith 27/15; R. Bates 18/33; R. Thurkle 18/17; A. Thurkle 22/19.

Side 3 played home against Ringwood.

Two winning rinks and a draw getting the team comfortably over the line for a win 90/64 (15 Points).

L. Baker 11/27; G. Baker 36/6; D. McMenaman 17/17; T. Dickson 26/14.

Midweek division 2 play at Croydon on a slick synthetic surface.

With the weather heating up over the day, the game was close when the game stopped with temperatures over the 36c mark and four ends left to play.

No further play and the scores remained with a two rink win to Yarra Glen 66-57 (14 points).

P. Leonard 28/16; R. Bates 20/19; A. Skillern 18/22.

At Lilydale, a close game with Yarra Glen going down by eight shots 49/57 (two Points).

L. Baker 14/22; T. Dickson 24/11; D. McMenaman 11/24.

Warburton bowlers enjoyed having both weekend sides playing at home. (Supplied)

Yarra Glen Bowls Club’s results of the week. (File)

Robert Ayres, Men’s Singles Final winner. (Supplied)

Rita Featherstone, Women’s Singles final winner.

All on the line for Lusatia Park

Day One of the two-day match against Healesville and this was a game Lusatia Park’s 1st XI has to win to give themselves a chance of still making finals. Playing at, home the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first. Lusatia Park’s bowlers got off to a great start to have them 3/41 after 15 overs. Their 4th wicket then rallied and put on a partnership of 104 until Paul Broussard took the wicket of Tommy Handasyde for 36 and then took another wicket in the same over without adding to the total. Lochie then picked up the wicket of Hamer for a well-compiled 78 and the visitors were on the back foot somewhat at 6/145. Their next three wickets went for 40 runs but the last wicket stood firm and added another 39 runs to

finish all out for 224 after 70 overs, Chandler making 52. Lochie Winter-Annette finished with 4/25, Paul Broussard 3/34 and Hayden Leeds 3/63. With 10 overs left to bat, we didn’t get off to the start we needed and ended the day at 2/38 with Chris Reynolds 36 n.o.

The 2nd XI also played Healesville at Queens Park with the home side electing to bat first, Lusatia Park’s bowlers got off to a great start picking up a wicket in the 1st over. Their batters weren’t exactly pushing the scoring rate along and after 30 overs were only 52 for the loss of 4 wickets. They then added another 58 runs for the 5th wicket with Davern scoring a quickfire 46 off only 45 balls and the visitors ended up all out for 155 after

65 overs. Steve Morgan finishing with a brilliant 5/54 in 25 overs and Jai Gupta a fantastic 3/12 in 14 overs. With 12 overs to bat and looking to finish the day off well going into next week, Lusatia Park ended the day without losing a wicket to be 0/40, with Dean Sharman 32 n.o.

Sunday with no women’s cricket, Lusatia Park’s womens captain Caitlyn Parker took on the role of captain for the CFA team in the RDCA’s fundraiser Emergency Services Cup held at Chirnside Park Cricket Club.

The RDCA had various players men and women from across the association play in the fundraiser to raise money for CFA and SES. This was a great day and fun was had by all.

Strong foundation set for Wandin side

By David Marshall

1st and 2nd XI Set the Stage for Thrilling Day Two

With byes for the Women’s and 3rd XI teams, all eyes were on Wandin’s 1st and 2nd XI as they kicked off the first day of their two-day matches. Both sides delivered disciplined performances, keeping their games evenly poised for a big weekend ahead. Here’s how Day 1 unfolded: 1st XI: A Solid Bowling Effort Sets Up a Winnable Chase

Taking on Hoddles Creek away, Wandin won the toss and elected to bowl first, looking to continue the strong bowling performances of recent weeks. The decision paid off instantly, with Dan Trembath striking with his very first ball in the second over. The early pressure continued as tight bowling from Dan and Joel Galvin had the hosts in deep trouble, with Dan picking up a second wicket in the seventh over to leave Hoddles reeling at 2/6.

A brief fightback saw a 40-run partnership develop before Jarrod Dobson stepped up, claiming two quick wickets in succession to reduce Hoddles to 4/50. Dobby finished with a solid spell of 2/37 from 10 overs. The game then entered a challenging period, as Hoddles steadied with a determined 100-run stand. However, Wandin’s bowlers maintained their discipline, and the breakthrough eventually came courtesy of Hamish Lamont, who struck twice in quick succession to break the partnership at 152 and again five runs later. Tim Thorne (1/17) chipped in soon after, and the momentum was back in Wandin’s hands at 7/160.

But Hoddles Creek weren’t done yet. Another crucial 60-run partnership kept the scoreboard ticking before Dan Trembath returned to break through once more, finishing with figures of 3/43 from a marathon 18-over spell. Galvo then took the key wicket of Mclaghan, who had anchored the innings with a well-made 80, ending with figures of 1/56 off 20 overs. Hamish Lamont capped off an impressive day for Wandin with his third

wicket, finishing with 3/31 from 11 overs as Hoddles Creek were bowled out for 241.

With three overs left in the day, Wandin’s openers had a tricky task to navigate before stumps. They did just that, finishing the day unbeaten on 3. Now, the stage is set for a big run chase next weekend, with Wandin well within striking distance if the batters can build partnerships and hold their wickets.

2nd XI: A Gritty Fightback Leaves the Game on a Knife’s Edge At home against St Andrews, Wandin lost the toss and was sent in to bowl in the split-innings format. The start was ideal, as Jackson Kneebone (1/26) struck early, removing a key batter with the score on just 5. However, St Andrews fought back, building a measured 100-run partnership.

Perfect weather

By Ron Hottes

The V.V.V’s:

On this Monday, Merilyn McDonald dominated the field, returning a most impressive 19 points on the back nine. This easily covered all the other scores, with Deborah filling the runner-up spot. The Club expects bigger fields over the next few weeks as the Club Championships get closer.

Wednesday 22 January, Stableford:

Once again, young tyro, Jake Troyahn had the measure of the whole field, by returning a stunning 43 points for his round (catching up wth him after the game, it was gently suggested that the handicapper would catch up with him sooner-ratherthan-later). Breathing down Jake’s neck was Ian Garside, with a really impressive 43 points, meaning young Jake only won on a countback. Good work, Junior. Balls only reached to 38 points. The NTPs on this day went home with Ian Garside (3rd and 12th), Your Loyal Scribe (5th—-unbelievable) and Junior Kempton (that’s Rod, on the 12th).

Twilight:

Lovely to see the iconic Kim Kennedy back on the course again and she didn’t let down any of her many supporters. Kimbas produced a 20-point result for the back nine, accounting for the rest of the field. Great shooting, K.K. Dale Horrobin filled the runner-up spot with a 19-point result. The ball rundown extended to 18. Two NTPs went home with Luke Patrick (12th) and to Dale Horrobin, making a good return for him, (15th).

Despite this, Wandin’s bowlers refused to let the game slip away, keeping tight lines and limiting scoring opportunities. The breakthrough finally came courtesy of Archie Brown (1/14), breaking the partnership at 103. More disciplined bowling followed, and St Andrews finished the first half of their innings at 2/133, keeping the game evenly poised.

Wandin’s reply started in disastrous fashion, losing a wicket on just the second ball of the innings. The top order struggled to settle, and before long, the team found itself in deep trouble at 4/49. With the game hanging in the balance, Peter Vaughan and Leigh Howes came together for a crucial partnership. Combining patience with smart shot selection, they steadied the ship and ensured Wandin remained in the contest.

Leigh played a composed innings, finishing the day unbeaten on 18—showing great restraint in contrast to his usual aggressive style. The star of the innings, however, was Peter Vaughan. Coming in at first drop and facing just the third ball of the match, he showed incredible resilience and determination, carrying his bat through the entire innings. His 74* was not just a personal triumph but a vital effort in keeping Wandin in the game.

At the close of play, Wandin stood at 4/128, just five runs behind St Andrews’ who also have 2 more wickets in the shed. With strong batters yet to come in, Wandin is well-placed to push ahead next week in what promises to be a tense finish. Looking Ahead: A Crucial Day Two Awaits Both 1st and 2nd XI have set themselves up for thrilling run chases in their respective matches.

The 1st XI will need partnerships and patience to chase down 241 and further strengthen their top-four position.

The 2nd XI is locked in a near dead-heat with St Andrews, setting up a gripping second day where every run will count.

With everything on the line, next weekend promises high stakes and intense cricket as Wandin looks to convert these strong positions into victories.

Saturday 25 January, Stableford: The A-Grade winner was Alan Keymer with 39 points, followed by Peter Fox, also posting 39. In B-Grade, Rob Ferguson returned a 37-point result, with the runner-up being Roger Mataele, also on 37. Balls reached 35. NTP winners were: Brayden Millar (3rd), Captain Gilmore (5th) and Peter Fox had a great day snaring the NTPs on both the 9th and the 12th.

WGC Australia-Day 4-Person Ambrose: Never before, in my memory, has Warburton’s great course hosted a 128-size field. It meant for slow golf, but plenty of happy highlights. This was the Club’s major fundraiser, and with that size field, they couldn’t fail. After much good team golf happening, the winners (of very worthwhile prizes) consisted of Gary Vollmer, Ric Downing, Rod and Ian Kempton. They returned a very healthy Nett 51.87. Well done Boys. The day’s runner-up team included Steve and Adam Patrick and Noel and Jon-Cross, making for a unique combination of two pairs of father/sons. They returned a Nett 52.25, meaning they missed top spot by a .38 margin. There were plenty of NTP winners starting with Treasurer Wilson (3rd), Luke Adderley (5th), Adam Patrick (9th), Peter Whitehead (12th) and Dale Sund (15th). Ladies’ longest drive was won by Jane Schendzielorz. The men’s longest drives were won by Aaron Morris (A-grade) and Paul Ryan (B). Finally, the straightest drive went to La Pinkster. The Club, in general, would very much like to sincerely thank President Meredith (and her Committee), Captain Gilmore ( and his Match Committee), Skye and her very hard-working staff and the other volunteers (especially Gerry) who pitched in when they were needed. But also, especially to the 128 participants who made the day. Please come back again next year folks.

Perfect conditions at Warburton Golf Club. (File)

An exhausted Peter Vaughan after his innings of 74 not out. (Supplied)

L-R: Jess Walker from Belgrave CC, Captain of the SES team and Caitlyn Parker from Lusatia Park CC, captain of the CFA side, In the RDCA Emergency Services Cup. (Supplied)

Yarra Glen score well

By Travis Gloury

Under 12

• Yarra Glen vs Hoddles Creek

• Hoddles Creek all out 96

• Josh Holland 2/5. 1 wicket each to Harvey Williamson, Oliver Lilley, Oliver Senior and Flynn Bain.

• Yarra Glen 8/100

• Flynn Bain 20

• Oliver Senior 19

• Oliver Lilley 12

Under 14

• Yarra Glen/Kilsyth vs Mt.Evelyn

• Mt. Evelyn all out 51.

• H.Monds 2/5, H. Coppins 2/3. 1 wicket each to Ben Holland, G.Donly, Damon Cowan, Tobi Pauli and Lawson Appleton.

• Yarra Glen/Kilsyth all out 54

• T .Harper 22

Under 16 play a one day game this week.

• 1st XI – first day of two day game, 80 overs per day.

• vs Heathwood 2nd XI

• Batting first, Ash waters was judged LBW in the sixth over at 1/19.

Under 16 captain Sam Gloury was promoted to number three after some recent good form and looked comfortable at the crease against some

tight and accurate bowling before being caught behind in the 12th over.

Liam Senti joined Tony Biddiscombe with the

score on 5/22 in the 14th over after Tim Lilley, Phil Cowan and Noah Evans all lost their stumps in quick succession.

Healesville juniors keep on thriving

By Chris Handasyde, Josh Handasyde, Michael Davern and Matt Wilkinson

U12-3 Healesville 4/136 defeated Croydon Nth / Mooroolbark 8/68

Angus Morcombe 26*, Louis Keath 25*, Joshua Braden 24* & 1/9, Alex Simmons 16* & 1/12, Mika Kerst 14* & 1/8, Kael Senti 10*, Ryder Hudson 1/1, Jackson Lehman 1/5

U12-7 Healesville 2/139 defeated Lusatia Park 7/85

Angus Holmes 36* & 1/8, Eli Keath 32* & 2/7, Reggie Morcombe 20*, Arlo Turner 12*, William Ferguson 10*, Mason Kincaid 1/14, Alby Gotch 1/9

U14-3 Healesville 2/72 v Norwood 112 - day 1 of 2 day game

In the first two day match of 2025, the team travelled to Norwood and elected to field.

Good bowling early saw Norwood restricted tightly before Endo Gotch got the breakthrough. He would go on to take two wickets while fast bowler Harry Duff took three in his strongest performance of the season.

Norwood were eventually rolled over for 112 despite eight dropped catches from the Healesville team frustrated coaches and parents alike.

The team began their batting innings which got off to the worst start with Max Ferris departing for a duck with Mika Kerst quickly joining him off the back of a sharp catch. Ryder Hudson and Endo Gotch would play some great strokes to finish 22* and 28* respectively seeing Healesville into a strong overnight position of 2/72.

U14-7 Healesville 9/131 defeated by Lusatia Park / Hoddles Creek 6/134

Taylor Caldicott 21*, Alex Simmons 19*, Samuel Hyndman 16, Angus Morcombe 12, Kael Senti 11, Manny Winrow 2/11, Monty Forbes 1/11, Joseph Clark 1/15

U16-4 Healesville 4/100 v South Croydon 7/120 - day 1 of 2 day split innings game

Tylor Braden 39* & 1/22, Tom Handasyde 27* & 1/1, Wyatt Coleman 2/14, Nate Caldicott 1/14, Sam Keath 1/23

1st XI Healesville 224 v Lusatia Park 2/38 - day 1 of 2 day game

In a game where Healesville needed to bounce back after a pathetic loss last week, the team won the toss and batted in perfect conditions.

Josh Handasyde was soon in the sheds for another low score edging a cut shot through to the keeper.

When will he learn.

Max Minney soon joining him.

Nick Zinghini was the next to depart seeing the boys in serious trouble before Ash Hamer and Tom Handasyde joined for a strong partnership before Tom departed leading to a string of wickets

with Grant Braden, Ash and Max Wallace quickly departing having Healesville at 7/153 at tea.

Darren Edwards would soon join at 8/157 and things were grim before Luke Chandler and Darcy English proved some resistance as well as Tarkyn Nicolandos at the end getting Healesville for 224 thanks to a Luke Chandler 50.

With 10 overs to attack Lusatia Park skipper Edwards would get an early breakthrough as would Max Wallace getting the key Breakthrough of Lusatia Parks skipper in the penultimate over leaving them 2/38 at the close of play.

2nd XI Healesville 155 v Lusatia Park 0/40day 1 of 2 day game

On Saturday the 2XI took on Lusatia Park at home for the first two day game in what feels like a long time.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, the team was hoping to get onto a good start but some good bowling from Lusatia’s opening bowlers runs were hard to come by we found ourselves at 3/34 in the 23rd over. The resistance came from our middle order with Riley Cameron (30) batting patiently and Mitch Tampaline (20) holding an end and working well at the other end.

With some big hitting from Michael Davern (46) and some early quick runs from Beau Hawkins (27), Healesville got ourselves to 7/134.

Both boys in their first season out of junior cricket set about resurrecting our innings and took the teams score to 5/71 before Liam (28) was caught at deep long on in the 32nd over to break a 49 run partnership with Tony (24) following shorty after caught at square leg.

With only one further partnership greater than 10 and only three for our innings, Brad Willmore (17) was the last wicket to fall just after the tea break to be all out for 98.

Yarra Glen’s bowling effort began well with a wicket in the first over judged LBW.

A couple of chances were grassed in the next few overs which could have seen the opposition 3/10 but not to be.

Unfortunately, a few more chances went begging in a spirited effort however the opposition finished the day 1/101 after 35 overs. 2nd XI – two day game, spilt innings, 72 overs per day

• vs Warrandyte 6th XI

• Warrandyte 5/88 after 36 overs

• Change of innings

• Yarra Glen eight for 80 after 36 overs

• Warrandyte resume next week at 5/88

• Spencer Boers 2/18 off six overs.

• One wickets each to Shane Fordham, Xavier Bosua and Sam Holland.

• Will Duff 22

• Nick Hartrup 16

This week’s horse talk

By Anita Prowse

Perfect weather on Sunday for Upper Yarra Pony Club’s Annual Australia Day Freshmans.

The course was held down on the grass arena in case the temperature rose and to reduce glare off compared to the sand arena and it made such a lovely picture with mountains surrounding the grounds. The Freshmans are a great way to practice jumping over a full show-jumping course and have some fun supporting everyone.

Entries are now open at Event Secretary for UYARC’s Dressage In The Valley on Sunday 2 March at Wesburn Park open to all HRCAV members. great prizes and a lovely day out.

The tail tried to wag a little with Tyler Braden (3) playing his first game in the 2nds looked confident at the crease along with Sam Keath (7*) and Jack Drummond (1) all facing four overs each trying to see them to the end of our innings but the team fell 12 overs short.

Having to go out and bowl late in the day with the hope of sneaking a couple of early wickets we went out to attack, but unable to take a wicket and some aggressive batting from Lusatia’s opening batters they are 0/40 at stumps.

3rd XI Healesville 7/100 v Wantirna 4/131 - day 1 of 2 day split innings game It was a hot day out at Don road to see the Healesville 3rds play Wantirna 1st.

Wantirna won the toss and elected to bat.

Healesville bowled sensationally to keep Wantirna to four for 131 at their innings break, Ethan Nikcevich (two for 17 off six) and Adam Keith (one for 20 off eight) were the pick of the bowlers.

Healesville lost an early wicket but steadied with hard fought batting from Matt Harding (30 off 91) and Ben Mackey (21 off 59) before some late hitting from Ethan Nikcevich (18no off 19) and Prem Singh (10no off seven) had Healesville seven for 100 at stumps.

4th and 5th XI return next week and play one day games on Saturday 1st Feb

Also entries are now open for UYPC’s Dressage Jackpot Weekend running Saturday 31 May and June 1 with open and PC sections. Also running again is our Beginners Gymkhana in late June which will again have the very popular ‘Fashions on The Field’ class again so start picking out those outfits.

Match report of Healesville Cricket Club. (File)

Yarra Glen Under 12 played against Hoddles Creek. (Supplied)