At the October Harcourt CWA meeting, members said goodbye to their dear friend Alma Chaplin and thanked her for her 50 years of service to the Country Women’s Association (CWA) and the friendship she had shared with them all.
Judi Kent, Joy Robertson, Robyn McConville and Alma Chaplin are pictured at the recent celebration.
Harcourt CWA members sat around the table and cheered Alma Chaplin for 50 years of service at their branch.
“What a wonderful achievement, fifty years of baking her famous Sour Cream Apple Slice and Savoury Scones to serve at Harcourt CWA’s afternoon teas,” said fellow member and friend Lyn Rule.
“Fifty years of pouring tea and coffee at our various functions, and fifty years of going out into her beautiful garden to pick flowers to make the posies that are given as gifts to our many office bearers and visitors,” Lyn said.
“Alma was always willing and able to lend a hand, to participate in concerts and fundraising events, always had a smile, and in true CWA fashion, Alma was a friend to us all,” Lyn said.
It was wonderful to see so many volunteers down at Camp Reserve over the last two weekends getting some of the space into tidy and useable areas. It is then such a pity that they have not got decent facilities that they deserve. In contrast there is a group of people hell bent on trying to obstruct, delay and even stop the proposed redevelopment of the facilities and thereby deny the hundreds of participants of all ages and gender, decent facilities for their activities. This group do not appear to be connected to any of the major users of the facilities and in coming up with an alternative plan they have not consulted with the users. Their plan is for two story building which is totally impracticable and would ruin the vista of the reserve. They have stated several times that many trees will be removed when in fact the council plan provides for the removal of just four trees and the planting of twenty-eight. They claim that history will be lost but cannot name one historical structure that will be going under the council plan. This group downgrades the sporting clubs who are by far the main users of the reserve and prioritises those who use the reserve occasionally or walk or drive past in any case it is hard to see how these people would be upset by the replacement of the eyesore facilities that now exist. Finally, I quote what a president of one of the clubs recently stated, “The clubrooms are falling to bits, the single netball court is dated and damaged and not up to standard”. Obviously, the need for new facilities is urgent and should be commenced without delay. Not to do so would be an embarrassment and shame on Castlemaine.
Barry and Jenny Lacey You are both incredible gardeners. How did that journey begin? “We moved here from Melbourne in 2001. There was no garden here, only grass and a concrete pathway, we started our first garden beds in December of that year and by 2008 we had our first open garden. We have 90 bearded Iris and more than 150 bonsai trees, we have roses and cacti and succulents and even a Chinese tea tree,” the pair laugh. “It’s very rare and doesn’t need a lot of water” (the tree is actually an arrangement of cups and mugs that Jenny designed as a garden ornament). Tell me a little about your life together. “We’ve been married for 52 years. We first met in 1966 when I got an after-school job at a butcher’s shop when I was 15,” said Jenny. “And I was 16 and doing my butchers apprenticeship,” said Barry. “I asked her if she wanted a chewy and a few weeks later I gave her a friendship ring. We got married five years later.” “We have a son Matthew and a daughter Tanya and three grandchildren,” said Jenny. “We taught karate for 20 years in Melbourne and then for 10 years when we moved here. We had a fabulous time.” Any other interests? “We both enjoy swimming and I scrapbook and make cards, as well as volunteering at the Rural Transaction Centre,” said Jenny. “And I’ve started doing Tai Chi,” said Barry. “I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2009. It was either Parkinson’s, a tumor, or a cyst on the brain, so I reckon I was pretty lucky. They call me the $6 million man. I have two artificial hips, I’ve lost a kidney, and have an artificial metal aorta. “One day soon after my Parkinson’s diagnosis, I was sitting with my next-door neighbor John Rowlands, who had been diagnosed with cancer. We were sitting on the couch with a beer, consoling each other and we came up with the idea for the Newstead Men’s Shed. That was in 2011 and we’ve just received a grant to extend the shed and now have over 30 members.” Do you have a philosophy you live life by? “Treat people as you’d like to be treated,” said Jenny. “A bit of compassion and empathy goes a long way.” “One day you’re gonna die, don’t worry about it,” said Barry. “There’s no good sitting there doing nothing. Keep moving and going.” Three dream dinner guests? Jenny said, “Mum and the late Queen Elizabeth. I’ll have to think about the third.” Barry said, “Adam Lambert from Queen, the Dalai Lama, and Dimash Kudaibergen a Kazakh singer. He’s considered the best male singer in the world.” What are your pet peeves? Barry, “Governments promising things in 10 years time, when they might only be in power for four years. How can you promise something if you don’t know if you’ll be in power?” Jenny, “People who litter.” What’s your musical genre of choice? “I’m not sure what musical genre Dimash Kudaibergen is, but he is amazing. He can sing high and so low,” said Barry. “The 60s. When we grew up,” said Jenny. What are you reading at the moment? “Since the Parkinson’s my eyes go out of focus and I can’t read,” said Barry. “I used to read a lot of science fiction and westerns.” “I’m reading a Friend Like Henry by Nuala Gardner,” said Jenny. “It’s a true story about an autistic boy. I cried my eyes out.” What do you enjoy most about the place you call home? Jenny, “The peace and quiet, fresh air and the community, the people.” Barry, “No rush. And I couldn’t have a bonsai garden outside like that in Melbourne. They’d get pinched. And being able to have a big garden.”
Did you catch our ‘Discover Your Town – Castlemaine’ feature in last Friday’s Castlemaine Mail? The feature celebrates our town’s history and local business. Get out there and locate the ‘Discover Your Town’ logo in each of our 16 participating businesses, fill in the entry form in the Mail and you could win $500 from us to spend at the featured business of your choice! Grab this week’s Mail for your entry form.
A stimulating show ‘Love Sermon,’ is touring across Australia and will be visiting the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine on October 26. ‘Love Sermon’ is a secular sermon on matters of the heart, as it looks at all the ways that love manifolds into our lives. Created by writer and broadcaster Clementine Ford and talented performer Libby O’Donovan the story examines the importance of love in all aspects of our life. Clementine says the show is presented in a very lighthearted and positive way and challenges the notion that we all need to find ‘one true love’ in order to be happy and demonstrates that in fact love comes to our life in many varied forms. The show was inspired by the release of Ford’s 2021 book, ‘How We Love, Notes on Life’, and her long and enduring friendship with Libby O’Donovan. “The Love Sermon is a life affirming celebration exploring the ways we hope, the ways we connect, the ways we grieve and yes, the ways we love. We mistake romantic love for being the only kind of love that matters, but this is just one small part of human connection. Our Love Sermon will have you laughing and weeping in equal measure, but most of all it will remind you that the gift of loving in all its messy complexities is at the heart of what it means to be alive,” Clementine says. Libby O’Donovan, OAM, is a “powerful and sassy performer” (SMH), renowned for her nuanced interpretations and extraordinary voice. Libby is the recipient of the 2022 Cabaret Icon Award and has received an OAM in recognition of her service as a critically acclaimed Jazz and Cabaret performer and an award-winning Musical Director. As a respected queer performer, Libby has also had a massive year having been inducted into the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown, as well as being presented with Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2022 Icon Award. She was also awarded Queen’s Birthday honours this year and received her OAM for services to jazz and cabaret. Libby says, “I believe love is the greatest four-letter word of all time. We dedicate songs, poetry, paintings, and our entire lives to it. Love Sermon weaves together the beauty of music and the power of spoken word to celebrate all the facets of love.” Tickets for Love Sermon can be purchased via https://www.lovesermon.com/ Bookings are essential, and places are limited.
Warburtons Bridge on the Loddon River at Glenluce during Thursday's floods. Photo: Julie Millowick.
Roads were closed across the Mount Alexander Shire and the local region as Thursday’s rain event saw local creeks and rivers burst their banks and flood roads, footpaths, parks, reserves and impact homes and businesses. Local residents are being urged to take care and not enter floodwater.
Motorists which encounter floodwater over roads in the region are urged to turn around and find an alternate route. Do not enter floodwater as you could put yourself and emergency responders at risk. SES volunteers warn it doesn’t take much to make your car become unstable, lose traction or wash away. In fact , it only takes 15cms of water to float a small car. Just don’t risk it.
Gingell and Bruce Streets were once again flooded and Camp Reserve and the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens were inundated with a massive body of water. All roads into the township were cut as residents at Castlemaine, Chewton, Elphinstone, Barkers Creek, Campbells Creek, Yapeen, Guildford, Newstead and Baringhup braced for flooding.
Floodwater has inundated the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens reigniting memories of the 2011 floods.
Power was cut to 9800 Thursday evening when Powercor/Citipower forced to switch off the Castlemaine substation due to rising floodwaters from Campbells Creek. Powercor/Citipower teams and emergency services had been monitoring the situation for days and striving to keep the water out with sandbagging, raising equipment and using pumps. Despite these actions, rising floodwaters reached a level at the Castlemaine zone substation that made it unsafe to keep power on at the site.
“We have been unable to keep water out of our control room and as a result we have de-energised the substation,” a spokesperson said.
“We have taken this step to reduce the safety risk to emergency services and our employees and to minimise long term damage as much as possible in the circumstances.”
By late Thursday predictions on the restoration of power blew out to 6pm Friday. However, as rain ceased and the flood level dropped late Thursday power was able to be restored.
The situation will continue to be monitored over Friday and beyond.
The Castlemaine Mail’s coverage of local floods is free to read. Please consider a digital subscription to support our local journalism. Free trial available for a limited time.
Young people also have free, priority access to a Music Interviewing Skills workshop led by Journalist and Broadcaster Jane Gazzo.
Gold Sounds Music Conference returns this weekend with a bounty of guests and sessions – including a dedicated Youth Program. Taking place on Saturday October 15, the Gold Sounds Youth Program has been curated in conjunction with young people from Central Victoria, and includes access to Industry sessions at The Phee Broadway Theatre, including Yarning Strong, Marketing & PR, Community & Public Radio, Copyright & Licensing, and Songcraft: In Conversation. Speakers at these sessions include musicians Mitch Tambo and Dallas Woods, along with a very impressive list of industry professionals. Further youth-only sessions facilitated by The Push include Touring & Artist Management 101, with guests Sean Simmons, who is the director of Booking Agency Press Play Presents, and Katie Besgrove from Lookout Kid, Courtney Barnett’s management team. It also includes a Planning & Publicity Workshop – a hands-on session on event planning and creating music/event press-releases, with Emily Kelly (Director, Deathproof PR) and Lisa Lorenz (All Ages Programs Manager, The Push). Young people also have free, priority access to a Music Interviewing Skills workshop led by Journalist and Broadcaster Jane Gazzo. The full program and tickets are available on the Gold Sounds website. Participants will need to register for the program ahead of time at www.goldsounds.com.au
Declan Fraser is proudly pictured with Lowndes and his family at the event.
Castlemaine born Declan Fraser did the region proud as a wildcard entry racing alongside motorsport legend Craig Lowndes in the Bathurst 1000 last Sunday. Declan said it was an incredible experience. “Where do I begin. First Bathurst 1000, led the race, highest ever wildcard finisher and finished inside the top 10 in 8th!” he told his followers. The 22 year old thanked everyone from Supercheap Auto and Triple Eight Race Engineering and his family for their support. “I love you all so much and can’t thank everyone enough for everything they’ve done to make this possible.” “Finally to Craig Lowndes, thank you so much for taking me under your wing these past few days. I learnt so much from you, it’s a debt I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay.” Declan’s dad Justin Fraser told the Mail the family were thrilled with his historic wildcard result and his efforts in Super2 where he currently leads the championship. “Leah, Jasmine, and I are incredibly proud of everything Declan has achieved to date,” he said.
The Mt Alexander Falcons and Kyneton Tigers are set to feature in Sunday’s AFLW game at Mars Stadium in Ballarat after both teams were invited to play in a curtain raiser before the Western Bulldogs take on St Kilda. Kicking off at 11am Sunday’s game forms part of the AFLW’s Pride round celebrations and recognises the focus that the Mt Alexander Women’s Sports Club and Kyneton FNC have dedicated to giving women and gender-diverse people of all backgrounds the opportunity to play football in regional Victoria. Mt Alexander Falcons and Kyneton Tigers have already met this year in a couple of cracking games including contesting the inaugural Gender Equality Cup in partnership with Women’s Health Loddon Mallee. Both clubs work hard behind the scenes to provide an environment that is welcoming encouraging and fun for players and supporters of all backgrounds. Sunday’s game will start at 11am at Mars Stadium in Ballarat, ahead of the Bulldogs playing St Kilda at 1.10 pm. Mt Alexander Falcons president Alana Wearne said the team is excited to take part. “It’s thrilling to get the chance to showcase the Falcons’ game at Mars Stadium, and at the same time we’re incredibly humbled to be recognised by the AFLW for the work that we’ve been putting in to give LGBTQIA+ people the chance to play footy who might not otherwise be able to in regional Victoria,” Alana said. “We’ve played Kyneton in the rain and mud to get hold of the Gender Equality Cup and we’ll bring the same mentality as we run out together at Mars Stadium on Sunday, they’re a great bunch of people and we can’t wait to give them another hard game.”
Local celebrity John Flaus is set to feature in a biographical documentary being developed by independent filmmaker Penny Moore. The documentary aims to acknowledge the huge body of work that John Flaus has produced and will explore his contribution to film culture in Australia over the last 70 years. Flaus became active in the film society movement in the 1950s and began writing film reviews for independent and industry publications. A member of the Push Movement (an intellectual subculture in Sydney) John was also actively involved in the Sydney University Film Group and the WEA Film Study Group in the 1960s. John was giving free film lectures in and around Sydney when he came to the attention of Dr Patricia Edgar who was lobbying for film to be included as a legitimate course of academic study in Australia. She offered John a job in Melbourne where he worked with her to develop and design a course in Cinema Studies. The Media Unit was established at La Trobe University in 1975 and it is the first film course of its kind to be offered in Australia. John subsequently went on to become Head of Education at the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School. A dedicated teacher, Flaus has lectured at numerous tertiary institutions over the last 40 years. Considered ‘the Father of Cinema Studies’ in this country, this title reflects the huge contribution John has made to film culture and education in Australia. Thrust in front of the camera in 1969 as part of an experimental film made by members of the Push Movement, Flaus went on to be cast in numerous independent and student productions which he continued supporting throughout his career. In 1978 Flaus was approached by a casting agent and began acting professionally in his spare time. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that John devoted himself to full-time acting. With over 130 acting credits in film and television plus dozens more in live theatre, John has established himself as a veteran performer. John was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in late 2019 and is currently dealing with the early onset of dementia. In a race against time, filmmaker Penny Moore is running a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds that will enable her to capture and record important footage before John’s health deteriorates and his dementia makes it impossible for him to participate in filming. If you would like to make a contribution, all donations are tax-deductible and every dollar donated is doubled (up to $5,000) thanks to Creative Partnerships Australia through MATCH Lab and the Australian Cultural Fund. Contributions can be made online until October 18 at the Australian Cultural Fund. Donate today at: artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2E9q000000A8RzEAK/john-flaus-documentary-in-development
Staff at Maldon Hospital are now visiting and transporting their patients in battery-electric cars. The rural hospital has received three Hyundai Kona Electric cars replacing the existing petrol and diesel models. The initiative is part of a state government fleet conversion investment of $15 million for 400 ZEVs and associated charging stations over a two-year period. Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards said Maldon Hospital is a vital part of the community and they’re proud to support the hospital’s staff and programs with this initiative. The Kona’s have a 480km range which enables staff to make long trips for outpatient work or meetings without needing to charge en route, with dedicated charging stations located at Maldon Hospital. Deputy Director of Nursing Peta Ballinger told the Mail that Maldon Hospital has been putting a number of sustainable initiatives in place. “We’ve changed to a segmented waste system which includes, compost, soft plastic, recycling, and general waste,” Ms Ballinger said. “We’ve also started a composting project with the residents. The aim is to have the least amount of general waste left to go off-site. “Shannon Uren our General Manager and Director of Nursing at Maldon Hospital has been a huge driver towards the hospital becoming more sustainable,” Ballinger said. In addition to reducing emissions to make our towns, cities, and regions more liveable, the ZEVs will also deliver ongoing savings due to having lower maintenance and running costs than their petrol or diesel predecessors. Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio said it was a positive step forward. “This is an important step towards ZEVs making up half of all light vehicle sales by 2030, part of our nation-leading climate action which will see us slash emissions by 50 percent by the same year,” she said. To help spark community interest in the take-up of sustainable transport, the government will make the ZEVs available for public purchase at the end of their lease. In addition to reducing emissions to make our towns, cities, and regions more liveable, the ZEVs will also deliver ongoing savings due to having lower maintenance and running costs than their petrol or diesel predecessors. Victorian-based industry expert JET Charge is fast-tracking the government fleet’s transition as the contractor supplying and installing the charging infrastructure. The 7kW charging stations are manufactured in Victoria. The government has also invested $19 million in grants to expand the publicly accessible fast-charging network, including several locations in the Maldon region. Under the government’s $100 million ZEV Roadmap, more than 5,000 Victorians have taken up subsidies of $3,000 on the purchase of eligible ZEVs with sales in 2021 sales jumping 310 per cent.
The Spring Sculpture Prize returns to Lot 19 Arts Precinct this weekend after a two year hiatus! Since its inception in 2006, the Spring Sculpture Prize has been a key event in the Central Victorian artistic calendar. Featuring over $6,000 worth of prizes, independent judges and a three-week exhibition, the prize is beloved by artists and visitors alike. The Opening Party will take place this Saturday October 15 from 2pm. Judging will been carried out earlier in the day, and the celebration will include the prize-giving, along with live music from gypsy-folk band Vardos, gorgeous Thai inspired food from Good Thaimes and bar by Shedshaker Brewing. Lot19’s Mark Anstey told the Mail it’s an absolute joy to feature such an incredible array of work. “We’ve had a record number of entries for our 14th annual event, and it’s wonderful to see the gallery and outdoor space come alive with spring and sculptures,” he said. There are eight prizes as part of the competition, including the Lot19 and Ron Anstey Memorial Prizes, which are both adjudicated by a panel of independent judges. There are six other prizes which are donated and judged by a selection of local businesses. Mark said 2022 also sees the return of the Kids Sculpture Prize and the introduction of a ‘People’s Choice’ award. “It’s an honour to be hosting such a high calibre of work, especially after being forced to take two years off the event,” he said. “We’re looking forward to sharing this exhibition with the community again.” The Spring Sculpture Prize is open to the public from 2pm on Saturday October 15, 11am-4pm Sunday October 16 and then 11am-4pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday until October 30.
