BIG4 Castlemaine Gardens Holiday Park has won gold in the caravan and holiday parks category at the Victorian Tourism Awards!
Park operator Claire Height and her dedicated team are pictured receiving the award honour at the gala ceremony at the Melbourne Town Hall on Friday evening.
Ms Height said the award means so much, especially after the challenges and uncertainties of the pandemic.
“It’s a testament to the sheer grit of the team and a celebration of our belief in the business and in future growth in Castlemaine tourism that we not only survived but thrived,” she said. See today’s Mail for more…
Castlemaine park wins gold!
‘The Ecologist’ claims portrait prize
Malmsbury artist Gabrielle Martin is the winner of the 2022 Maldon Portrait Prize.
The winner of the Maldon Artist Network’s (MANet) ‘I Be Human’ themed prize was announced at the opening of the highly anticipated 2022 event at Edge Galleries in Maldon last Saturday evening February 5.
The prize attracted entries from all over Australia.
The judge of the 2022 Maldon Portrait Prize esteemed artist and 2018 Archibald winner Yvette Coppersmith expressed her delight at the quality and diversity of the exhibiting portraits which she says made her task of selecting the winner, Gabrielle Martin’s portrait ‘The Ecologist’, all the more challenging. See the Mail for more…
New show explores beauty and ageing
Former Fryerstown local and talented actress Maggie McCormack is set to perform at the Adelaide Fringe Festival later this month in a world premiere of one woman show – F*cking Ancient.
The hilarious, uplifting and moving show follows one 45 year old woman’s struggle to accept herself in a beauty and youth obsessed world.
Maggie McCormack (Marriage, Hearth Theatre; The Will, Anthropocene Play Company) attended Chewton Primary School where she discovered an early love of acting and later studied a Diploma of Acting at the National Theatre Drama School in St Kilda where she honed her craft. See the Mail for the full story.
A splash of pink
Castlemaine Bowling Club held their ‘Pink Charity Day’ in honour of founder Brian Medbury last Wednesday February 2.
This fundraiser was very well supported by members. The club room looked very welcoming, decorated in the Breast Cancer emblems. Three games of Drawn Bowls were played, then a lovely afternoon tea of scones, jam and cream was enjoyed by participants. The wonderful generosity of members raised $700 for this worthy cause. Donations from people unable to attend on the day all supported this effort. Winners on the day were Malcolm Barker, Alicia Beauchamp and David Carlin.
Welcome to Country
Castlemaine Lawn Tennis club stands on Jaara Country within the traditional boundaries of the Dja Dja Wurrung people.
This sense of place and connectedness was celebrated with a ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony at the club last weekend.
Uncle Rick Nelson, Elder of the Dja Dja Wurrung clan and Uncle Ron Murray Wamba Wamba man and Cultural Educator performed the ceremony and club members were invited from the youngest members to the oldest to be part of the smoking ceremony.
A priestly pursuit, Rev Vaughan’s exhibition
Eve Lamb
Reverend Darcy Vaughan is not just the local Anglican priest for Maldon and Newstead.
He also has a keen eye for photography and a talent for using creativity to help make the world a better place.
And that’s exactly what the local Rev hopes to do through his new exhibition which opens tomorrow at the Newstead Railway Arts Hub.
Homesick, an exhibition features poster-sized photos which Rev Vaughan took of local congregation members he visited throughout last year’s lockdown as part of the pastoral care he provides for the Maldon Parish community, and also for the Inglewood and Bridgewater communities in the Inglewood Parish.
Concerned about how our communities were coping with the pressures of lockdowns and their resulting anxiety, Rev Vaughan went visiting along the Loddon River from Inglewood to Newstead to see how people were holding up.
Each visit resulted in a photo at the front gate, a figurative representation of the way in which we had to keep apart to keep safe.
At each socially-distanced catch up, each person was asked to share their reflections on the theme ‘homesick’.
Homesick: an exhibition is the culmination of those visits… Read more in today’s Castlemaine Mail…
Win racked up for cyclists
Eve Lamb
Cyclists will be able to bring their bicycles with them when travelling on local bus routes in Castlemaine, Maldon, Bendigo and Heathcote following the extension of the state’s Bikes on Buses initiative.
In Castlemaine, the locally operated Whitmore buses have just been fitted with the new racks which were pressed in to use for the first time this week.
Mr Whitmore said the Whitmore Bus Group has been involved since the start of a successful trial began back in 2016.
“We’ve been involved since the start of the trial at Strathfieldsaye six years ago and it’s gone really, really well,” Mr Whitmore said.
He said the racks are available for use by cycling passengers aged 12 and over.
“They’ve been used in Canberra for a number of years now. They’re also in use all over the world and they really do suit Castlemaine.”
State transport minister Ben Carroll was in Castlemaine on Tuesday to highlight the extension of the initiative that’s being hailed as a win for cycling locals, commuters and bicycling tourists alike. Read more in today’s Mail…
Local on the frontline of ocean conservation
The ocean is not often synonymous with Castlemaine but local resident James Brook has devoted over a decade to protecting it, serving as Captain on the Sea Shepherd ship M/V Ocean Warrior.
Brook joined Sea Shepherd in 2009 after becoming inspired to stop environmental destruction by time spent in nature.
“I’m with Sea Shepherd because I believe we are an organisation that is very effective in protecting the natural world,” James says.
“We concentrate on the marine ecosystem, that’s where we can make a difference. And often the damage done to species underwater is not so obvious to the general human population. But it’s all connected. If the ocean ecosystem collapses, then so will life on land as well,” he says.
“The rainforest is the ocean, the ocean is the rainforest. I want to help nature, and for me, that means being part of an effective organisation,” Brook says.
Living in Castlemaine between stints on Sea Shepherd vessels, James is always happy to come home where he has plenty to keep him occupied as an active musician, playing shows in a Celtic rock band The Currency in Australia, the European anarcho-punk band Ecowar, as well as performing solo shows. See the Mail for more…
Just for Girls
Castlemaine District Cricket Association hosted a ‘Just for Girls’ training session at the Camp Reserve on Tuesday evening.
The session was open to all girls who would like to put their hand up for a representative side and to girls who just want to give the sport a go and was conducted by Stephen Field of the Geelong Cricket Club.
CDCA’s Under 14 and Under 17 Girls squads kick off their representative campaigns this Sunday.
The Under 14 Girls rep squad will play a round robin series consisting of two matches at Maryborough this Sunday February 6 and two matches at Woodend on Sunday February 20.
The Under 17 Girls will take on Gisborne in a 40 over match at the Camp Reserve this Sunday February 6. Best of luck to both sides.
John Waters to visit
Renowned Australian actor, performer and musician John Waters is set to visit Castlemaine this Sunday February 6 for a very special show which celebrates the work of the incomparable John Lennon.
The producers of ‘Lennon Through A Glass Onion’ are pleased to present John Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta with The Liverpool Band performing ‘The John Lennon Songbook’ in concert at Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary since the release of Lennon’s album IMAGINE – the whole album will be performed live by John Waters and this band – a band that has toured the world performing the songs of John Lennon to great acclaim. See the Mail for more details.
Guildford Primary School celebrates!
The Guildford community has their own local primary school again with demand for enrolments ensuring its future.
Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards visited the school on Monday to officially reopen the newly renovated building.
Ms Edwards said the school has 16 students initially enrolled with this number rising to 25 later in the year.
The school is operating as a campus of the Campbells Creek Primary School, rekindling a previous arrangement between the two sites. The partnership will provide students with the social and academic advantages of a larger campus, along with the sharing of teachers and resources.
Work completed on the Guildford site included a new toilet block, upgrades to staff amenities, improved accessibility, and works to ensure the site is bushfire compliant.
Ms Edwards said the Guildford community has been vocal in their desire for the return of a primary school in their town and the state government has listened. See the Mail for the full story…
Business advocate receives OAM
Castlemaine rural and regional business advocate Kerry Anderson has received an a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to business and community development.
Ms Anderson told the Mail she was surprised but delighted to receive the honour.
Anderson, who moved to Castlemaine as a toddler, said she learnt the importance of local business and hard work from a young age with her parents operating local business Jennings Earthmoving for many years before handing the reins over to her brother.
“We were expected to get in and work in the family business and we knew the important of supporting local business.
“Some years there were holidays and some years there weren’t depending on work and cash flow,” Kerry said.
The local businesswoman, writer and business mentor found her calling working as an executive officer and program manager with Community Leadership Loddon Murray (now LEAD Loddon Murray) where she had conducted numerous leadership programs for local community members.
More recently Anderson has also been working with Start Up Central Victoria mentoring enterprising businesspeople of all ages to bring their business ideas and concepts to reality.
Her work has taken her across the country where she has forged friendships with inspiring entrepreneurs from all walks of life and inspired two books on the subject – Entrepreneurship: It’s Everybody’s Business, 2016 and more recently Australian Rural Entrepreneurs: Redefining the Future, 2020.
“Rural entrepreneurs are visionary, courageous, and passionate and I wanted to celebrate them,” she said.
Her work in the sector has previously been acknowledged with Anderson was named in the Top 50 Australian Regional Agents of Change in 2018. She also won the 8point8 Regional Innovation Ecosystem Leader Award in the same year.
Anderson is also passionate about heritage and has been volunteering at Buda Historic Home and Garden for 20 years.
“I am a tour guide and I am also on the watering roster every Sunday morning. I just love being in the garden first thing the morning when its quiet and peaceful. It’s just magic,” she said.
Her passion for heritage led Kerry to join the state government’s Working Heritage committee in 2018 and in November 2021 she was appointed the group’s Chair.
Anderson said Working Heritage are custodians of important buildings across the state including Jack’s Magazine in Maribyrnong and the Former Royal Mint in Melbourne.
The group work to restore and maintain the buildings and find suitable businesses to lease the heritage spaces.
“We just took on the Kyneton Primary School. It will be a massive undertaking. We have a lot of work ahead of us,” she said.
Anderson was also on the board at Castlemaine Health from 2019 to 2021 and is a Castlemaine Rotary Club member. Taking on the role of Truck Show director in 2020 and 2021.
More recently the writer has begun working on her first fiction novel which also aims to highlight the importance of local business and features a trucking company based in a goldfields town. Castlemaine of course!
“My work usually takes me across the country but the pandemic saw me grounded and forced to work online. However, this has given me the time to delve into this new project. I dedicated every weekend to writing the book and I just couldn’t wait until Saturday morning to sit down and get to work!” she said.
With her initial draft complete the author is set to begin a rewrite and enjoys quizzing local truckers about the industry and the inner workings of trucks. It’s been a lot of fun!” she said.
