Eve Lamb
Maldon pulls on its lycra and goes two-wheeled this weekend as the town hosts its second ever Maldon Classic celebrating the classic steel bike while raising funds for the local hospital.
Saturday is show day with all manner of retro steel frame beauties on display at the town’s community centre in Francis Street from 10.30am to 4pm.
“We’ve got classic bicycles from the late 1800s through to the 1900s,” says one of the event’s organisers, Peter Gray.
“We’ve got six iconic early bikes from the late 1800s that are part of the rare Farren collection in Richmond.
“People can expect to see Australian makes like Malvern Star, Ken Evans, Hillman and Paconi, and then also a lot of Euro bikes – Bianchis….. Read more in today’s Castlemaine Mail…
On your bike! Maldon hosts the classic
Runners inspire
Eve Lamb
Talented runners Taylah Cruttenden, Jack Boulton and Gabriella Boulton were in Castlemaine last weekend with their sights set on taking out some of the feature races at Sunday’s Castlemaine Gift athletics meeting.
But before competing on Camp Reserve on Sunday, the three spent time last Friday running clinics for local primary schools students.
Students at the Castlemaine North and Castlemaine South primary schools, and at the Winters Flat primary school all benefited from having the three classy athletes pay a visit and lead them through drills covering some key technical aspects… Read more in today’s Mail…
A bold vision
The transformation of the Castlemaine Goods Shed into a creative and community hub is a step closer with the appointment of renowned architects Cumulus to design the next stage of the redevelopment.
Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards visited The Goods Shed on Monday to announce the design team for the $6 million second stage of the project.
Castlemaine State Festival director Glyn Roberts said they have been brainstorming and researching what they would like to see and were looking forward to sitting down with the teams from Cumulus and project managers Root Partnerships to chat about their hopes and aspirations for the project.
“We can’t wait to see what they come up with,” he said.
This next stage of the project will create flexible spaces for exhibitions, performance, events and creative activities. See the Mail for the full story.
Lancia marks 50 year milestone
The Australian Lancia Register is holding its 26th biennial Castlemaine Lancia Meet this weekend, March 4-6.
The three day program will see Lancisti from around Australia come together in historic Castlemaine.
Australian Lancia Register president Angelo Monteleone said they are looking forward to catching up with many friends missed during last year’s turmoil of lockdowns.
“Unfortunately we were forced to postpone our event planned for October 2021 but look forward to coming back to Castlemaine this weekend!” Mr Monteleone said.
“The theme for this years rally is 100 years of the Lambda 1921-2021, but there will be Lancia cars from all eras present,” he said. See the Mail for the full story.
Newstead celebrates
The township of Newstead is celebrating with their Women’s Cricket team set to compete in this evening’s Castlemaine District Cricket Association (CDCA) Semi Finals in what is their inaugural season.
The team has received overwhelming support from the wider club and Newstead community and will proudly represent the town in their Semi Final bout against Guildford Cricket Club at the Newstead Recreation Reserve tonight, Friday March 4 at 6pm.
The Newstead ladies finished second on the ladder after a top season where they won five games, drew one and dropped only one game on their way to the finals. The winner of the match will take on the winner of the Barkers Creek v Hepburn semi in the grand final on Friday March 11.
The whole town is urged to get along and show their support for the Newstead side as they eye a spot in the finals.
Celebrating 50 years
Renowned local performer Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky’s ‘Thank You For The Welcome’ show is set to feature at Castlemaine’s historic Theatre Royal on Sunday March 20.
The performance, proudly presented by SteamPacket, will gather a half-century of songs and stories from the storyteller and musician into one incredible heartfelt performance.
Jan will be joined by Jack Norton on guitar and bouzouki; multi-instrumentalist Wendy Rowlands on piano, sarangi, accordion and violin; Ian White on banjo and a number of other special guests.
Fifty years after innocently stumbling into a life in the performing arts, and having now received an Order of Australia for his contribution to music and storytelling, Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky is celebrating the milestone with ‘Thank You For The Welcome’, a concert packed with his favourite stuff – songs and stories Jan believes are worth remembering into our future. See the Mail for more…
Tech Reunion Sunday
Past students of the former Castlemaine Technical College are invited to attend the school’s 2022 reunion event on Sunday March 6.
The 84th annual reunion will feature a ‘Family Get-Together’ function at the Mount Alexander Golf Club in Wimble Street, Castlemaine.
The event will kick off at 11.30am with lunch around 12.30pm.
The event will also include a memorabilia display featuring a collection of Old Tech school badges and uniforms from 1887-1994, and a chance to win one of many great prizes in the raffle. All proceeds from the raffle goes towards supporting the CTCPSA Awards at the annual Castlemaine Secondary College Awards evening.
For more information and to register your interest contact the CTCPSA Secretary on 0412 378 957.
Shed in demand
Eve Lamb
The changing face of some of the smaller towns in Mount Alexander Shire may be seen reflected in changes being trialled at one local men’s shed.
An influx of newcomers to town in recent times has motivated the men’s shed at Newstead to trial adding some new Saturday opening hours.
To date the local shed had opened its workshop doors for business on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9am-3pm and on Friday and Sunday mornings.
But now Newstead’s changing face has prompting it to add the new hours of 9am to 3pm on Saturdays as well.
“I guess you could call it the new Newstead demographic,” shed secretary Graeme Lees says.
“We had four join us last year who … read more in today’s Mail…
Council knocks back big ad billboard
Eve Lamb
A large advertising billboard mooted for the main road through Chewton has been resoundingly knocked back by Mount Alexander Shire Council.
The council at its February meeting last week unanimously voted to refuse an application seeking to erect the large advertising sign, measuring 8.25 metres in length and a maximum 5.1 metres in height with a display face of 8.3 metres wide by 2.1 metres high, at 188 Duke Street, Castlemaine, a key gateway entry to the town.
The applicant behind the proposal is … read more in today’ Mail…
Sizzling aths action: Camp hosts the Gift
Eve Lamb
Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve is looking fast ahead of hosting some sizzling athletics action this Sunday with the running of the annual Castlemaine Gift.
This year’s Gift has drawn a particularly strong field of entries from across Victoria and interstate with the Victorian Athletic League meet an increasingly important one ahead of the famed Stawell Easter Gift.
“The entries are really really good,” pleased race director Darryl Nettleton says.
This year’s running has additional significance also as it marks the 100th anniversary since Castlemaine’s Gift was first run on the Camp Reserve.
It’s also the first time that the meeting will be live-streamed, with boosted prize money up for grabs in some of the key features and the introduction of a new event – the Castlemaine Invitational over 120 metres – a handicapped contest for both women and men.
“This is for quality runners who … Read more in today’s Mail
Amalgamation approved
The state government has approved the amalgamation of the Maldon Hospital and Castlemaine Health.
The boards of Maldon Hospital and Castlemaine Health have welcomed the government’s approval of their integration proposal.
The new look health service will be united under the new title of ‘Dhelkaya Health’ and will officially merge to one service next Tuesday March 1, 2022.
The integration follows more than 42 years of strong collaboration and partnership between the two health services.
Castlemaine Health and Maldon Hospital CEO Sue Race will continue in her role as Chief Executive Officer for the newly integrated organisation.
Ms Race said that staff, residents and the community can expect the same excellent care they always have, with local teams focusing on the needs of patients and residents at each health service. See the Mail for the full story. Out Now.
Catch the Gift live stream
The debut live stream of this Sunday’s Castlemaine Gift athletics meeting will be shown via Athletics Exclusive’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages with individual race footage uploaded to Athletics Exclusive’s YouTube channel.
This weekend’s running of the longstanding Victorian Athletic League meeting marks the 100th anniversary of the Gift taking place on Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve with a packed program of racing set to start from 10am with the junior program. Hotly contested main features on the day’s program include the $5000 men’s 120 metre Gift, women’s $4000 120 metre Gift, and women’s $4000 400 metre final. The official opening happens 12.10pm with the first of the 120 metre masters’ heats scheduled to start at 12.20pm. The program concludes around 6.40pm with the open 400m final. Read more in the Mail.