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.
John Waters to visit
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.
Gallery stalwart honoured with OAM
Former Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum director Peter Perry has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the museums and galleries sector.
Perry told the Mail he was surprised but delighted to receive the award and would love to know who nominated him for the honour.
Perry was director and secretary of the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum (now Castlemaine Art Museum) from 1975 until the end of 2013, a record period of 38 years.
During his time as director he was closely involved with two significant building upgrades, including the 1987 Alex and Beth Sinclair Building Extensions and Percy Chaster Museum Extension.
“The second upgrade in 2000 was made possible by a Centenary of Federation Grant of $2 million dollars and included an administration wing, conservation studio, research library and an upgrade of the temporary exhibition gallery with environmental controls, security and early warning smoke detector system,” he said.
During his time with the gallery and museum Perry secured several major bequests which included the Sybil Craig Bequest Fund, June Davies Bequest of over 50 Australian paintings and drawings from 1991 until 2004, the Percy Leason Bequest in 1990 and following his retirement he secured the Rosemary Fazakerley Bequest Print Fund for the trustees in 2016.
The former director also oversaw the gifts of important art works by Ethel Carrick and E. Phillips Fox from Major Basil MacNay in 1983 while visiting Scotland and was then responsible for distribution of other works by the Fox’s to be gifted to other Regional Galleries for the state government.
He also secured the Len Fox Painting Prize in 2010 with funds from the Fox family with a bi-annual acquisitive prize of $50,000.
Perry said another highlight was founding the permanent photographic collection of ‘Portraits of Australian Artists’ in 1991, which is a unique collection for a public art museum.
Perry also established a working art library of Australian and International art for students and academics and assisted to fund this project through his direct involvement with the A G Lloyd-Stephenson bequest.
In addition to his efforts to boost and support the Castlemaine collection he also wrote and co-wrote a number of publications.
These include R W Sturgess Watercolourist 1892 – 1932 (co-author Beth Sinclair) 1986; Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum Seventy-five Years 1913 – 1988, 1988; Max Meldrum & Associates Their Art, Lives and Influences (co-author John Perry) 1996; A M E Bale Her Art and Life 2011; Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum History & Collections (co-authors Kirsten McKay and David Golightly) 2013; and Biographies for Australian Dictionary of Biography and The Dictionary of Art (England).
Outside of the gallery and museum, Perry guided and advised local philanthropist Stuart Stoneman on his purchases for the Duneira Estate at Mount Macedon, enabling Stoneman to acquire an extensive collection of fine art works.
He also acted as a tour guide of the collection for the Stoneman Foundation.
Dance teacher receives OAM
Former Castlemaine resident and long time local dance teacher Roma Ivetic has been awarded an Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the community of Castlemaine.
Ivetic was the owner and teacher at the Roma Ivetic School of Dance for an incredible 60 years teaching thousands of children at Castlemaine, Kyneton and Sacred Heart Kyneton before retiring in 2017.
Many would recall her weekly classes based at the Faulder Watson Hall in Barker Street and concerts over the years at the Town Hall and Library Hall.
Ivetic no doubt inspired a passion for dance in countless young people during her six decades of dedicated ballet, jazz and international dance instruction.
Mrs Ivetic told the Mail she was surprised but delighted to receive the award honour.
“It was a shock but just lovely and I thank whoever nominated me,” she said.
“I think the dance classes and concerts really helped to increase the children’s confidence and many have gone on to use this to forge successful careers,” she said.
Mrs Ivetic, who now resides in Strathfieldsaye, was also recognised for her contribution to various local community groups including as a volunteer at the Castlemaine Pioneers and Old Residents Association and a supporter of the Alexander Home for the Aged.
“We enjoyed giving annual Christmas concerts at the Aged Care Home and it was a real highlight for the residents and really brought a smile to their faces,” she said.
Mrs Ivetic was also recognised as a financial supporter for a range of local community organisations including Castlemaine Fire Brigade, Castlemaine Pipe Band, and the Kyneton Fire Brigade.
And for her efforts as a former trainer of local debutantes for the Castlemaine Hospital and Mayoral Balls.
Mrs Ivetic said much of the funds from their annual concerts were donated to the Save the Children Fund.
“I would tell the children we are raising funds to help other children in need across the world,” she said.
Wositzky’s Oz Day honour
Eve Lamb
Castlemaine’s Jan Wositzky is quick with a joke when the Mail contacts him for reaction to his being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) among this year’s Australia Day honours.
“I’ve got a foundry out the back and took the opportunity to make myself one,” quips the celebrated local muso, storyteller and entertainer who’s just been awarded the Australia Day honour for service to the performing arts, particularly through theatre.
“When I got the email I simultaneously burst into tears and burst out laughing,” he then confides.
“It’s wonderful recognition from my peers. Basically it’s really good to be acknowledged for the work I’ve done.”
The work this natural storyteller and cultural custodian has done is nothing if not extensive.
Wositzky is author of multiple books, scripts, compositions and tales tall and true, among them Me & Phar Lap: the Remarkable Life of Tommy Woodcock which he wrote in 2011.
He has written and presented extensively for ABC Radio National, but is perhaps most widely famed as the founding musician member of the Bushwackers Band, 1971-1981.
“Like they say it takes a village to grow up a child,” Wositzky said.
“In the 50 years I’ve been making music and telling stories, I’ve worked with many, many wonderful, skilled people – musicians, publishers, writers, directors, actors, producers.
“It’s been a great fun ride, with it’s ups and downs. I’m incredibly proud to have worked with so many good people, who have all contributed to my work.
“So this OAM is also a salute to all of them.
“And here in Castlemaine I’m also very honoured by the people who have come to my shows and supported my work. This town is a great place for an artist to live, and I thank very much everyone for all their support.
“My family came here as Czech refugees and Scots migrants, and Australia has been a home for us all. We were all welcomed.
“My wish is that Australia welcomes all the people from around the world who need home.”
The newly minted OAM says his hopes and wishes for Australia also include seeing our nation’s political leaders treat climate change “as the emergency that it is” – “otherwise I think the nation will be shamefaced,” he says.
“And, I think we have to reconcile with Aboriginal people.”
Wositzky remains hopeful also of seeing Australia shed its ties to the British monarchy and become a republic – “we don’t need the Union Jack on our flag,” he says.
Right now his current focus is having yet another crack at bringing his 50th anniversary live show Thank You For The Welcome to the stage – after COVID repeatedly thwarted his attempts to do so last year.
“It was cancelled five times,” he laughs.
“I just had to roll with the punches.”
So now his sights are firmly set on making it happen with the latest new and amended date set for 4pm March 20 at Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal.
Dr Kelly named Order of Aus member
Eve Lamb
Castlemaine’s Dr Lynne Kelly, has been named a member of the Order of Australia.
Particularly well known for her works on human memory processes, Dr Kelly has been named a member (AM) in the general division of the order of Australia for significant service to science education as a writer and researcher.
The fact she herself has aphantasia, a condition which means she can not visually recall other people’s faces, makes her own rise to international fame for unlocking some of the most fascinating secrets of human memory and recall methods all the more remarkable.
Dr Kelly applied some of her own discoveries in memory training to help her clinch the title of over 60 Australian Memory Champion in 2017 and 2018.
But the prolific local writer last week told the Mail it was her own total absence of visual recall that prompted her to focus on memory and recall methods.
“That’s why I asked the question that led to my research in the field,” said Dr Kelly who now applies some of her own research in recall to thrive on learning French and Chinese, after having been “hopeless” at foreign languages as a schoolgirl.
When the Mail contacted her for response to her Australia Day honour, the local polymath, writer and researcher was self-effacing.
“I was pumped because I thought they were only for famous people,” Dr Kelly said.
“But also absolutely delighted that education is being recognised as significant.
“What matters most to me is education.”
Famed internationally for her work on memory and memory techniques Dr Kelly has written or co-authored many books.
Some of her best known works include: Songlines: The Power and Promise, Thames & Hudson, 2020 (co-author); Memory Craft: Improve Your Memory Using the Most Powerful Methods From Around the World, Allen & Unwin, 2019; and The Memory Code: The Traditional Aboriginal Memory Technique That Unlocks the Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Ancient Monuments the World Over, Allen & Unwin, 2016.
She has also written Grounded: indigenous knowing in a concrete reality; Rounded Globe, 2016; and Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies: Orality, Memory, and the Transmission of Culture, Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Dr Kelly’s fascination for the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it has also seen her author some esoteric and niche interest titles including: Spiderwoman, Hampress, 2013; Spiders: learning to love them, Allen & Unwin, 2009; and Crocodile: evolution’s greatest survivor, Allen & Unwin, 2006.
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal, Allen & Unwin, 2004; Exploring Chaos and Fractals, Informit, 1994; Nuclear Technology, STAV Publishing, 1991; and Practical Computing, Jacaranda-Wiley, 1987 sit among the many volumes Dr Kelly has coauthored.
But not one to rest on her laurels, however, Dr Kelly is now working with an American researcher to explore the possible role of a specific genetic mutation – the type that ‘Elephant Man’ had – in the development of some of humanities earliest knowledge and memory processes.
“My research since moving to Castlemaine has flourished and I’m convinced it’s being part of such a sensational community and being so widely welcomed,” Dr Kelly said.
Mountain biker airlifted
By Eve Lamb
A young local mountain biker has been airlifted to hospital with suspected head injury following a fall at the Harcourt Mountain Bike Park-La Larr Ba Gauwa earlier this week.
The Castlemaine SES unit was called into action at about 9.38am … Get the full story in today’s Mail
Castlemaine does Oz Day: local achievers honoured
Eve Lamb
Countless tough hours of volunteer work has seen local wildlife carer Kerry Reid celebrated as this year’s Mount Alexander Shire Citizen of the Year.
Enterprising young local secondary college student, keen volunteer and Young Makers’ Market regular Billy Lister took the Oz Day gong for Young Citizen, while stalwart of the Newstead Live annual music festival, musician and funeral celebrant Kelly Skinner is this year’s Senior Citizen of the Year.
And the shire’s new three-day Gold Sounds Music Conference has clinched this year’s title of Community Event of the Year with the event’s Fionna Allan happily accepting the award on behalf of the event’s organising team.
A COVID-aware crowd joined local dignitaries and MPs, council officials, musicians and local Indigenous community representatives at Castlemaine’s Victory Park to mark Australia Day-Survival Day in style on Wednesday.
Mayor Bill Maltby formally welcomed new citizens Charles Morse, Malgorzata Rybicka, Alison Francis and Eli Tavares.
Addressing the crowd, the shire’s newly named Citizen of the Year, Kerry Reid urged others to step up as volunteer wildlife rescuers, a role she said was both needed and expected by the wider community.
“The calls we receive come every day, every week, all year,” Ms Reid told the Australia Day crowd gathered in Wednesday’s humid conditions in Victory Park.
She said that while the work of being a volunteer wildlife carer and rescuer was frequently stressful, demanding and financially draining it was also incredibly rewarding.
“I love what I do and I’m part of a network of volunteers,” Ms Reid said.
“I would encourage anyone who is considering it to join our team. We need you. Please don’t hesitate to call me and I will help you get started. It’s for our wildlife and our community.”
MC for the official program Mount Alexander CEO Darren Fuzzard particularly paid homage to both the local and national First Nations Peoples as well as the nation’s first line responders.
And, performing the traditional Welcome To Country, local Indigenous elder Uncle Rick Nelson noted the well established part that the community’s Indigenous community has in Mount Alexander Shire’s annual Australia Day – Survival Day celebrations.
“We’ve been doing it for ten years now so we’re sort of cemented in,” Uncle Rick said.
Mount Alexander Shire is also proud to boast four community members which were named in the 2022 Australia Day Honours List by the Governor General. For more coverage on the local Mount Alexander Shire Australia Day-Survival Day Awards, our newest OAM’s and AM turn to pages 7, 8, 9, 10 and 14.
Battery pledge for Maldon
Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Bendigo Federal MP Lisa Chesters visited Maldon Neighbourhood Centre on Monday to announce an Albanese Labor Government will deliver a community battery for Maldon.
If successful at the upcoming federal election Labor’s ‘Power to the People’ community battery plan will invest $200 million to install 400 community batteries across the country. With Maldon to be one of the first in central Victoria. See the Mail for the full story. Out Now.
Ladies championship decided
On Tuesday January 25 in sweltering conditions Castlemaine Bowling Club members watched a fantastic contest for the Ladies Championship between Pam Hunter and Nina Hufer. It was an exciting game with numerous lead changes. It was perhaps the vast experience of Pam that counted in the end with the scores ending in her favour.
In other bowls news the Castlemaine Charity Pink Day in memory of club member Brian Medbury will be held next Wednesday, February 2 and the club’s popular ‘Girls on the Green’ competition returns next Thursday evening February 3. See the Mail for more details…
Babba returns!
For almost 28 years, BABBA have been thrilling audiences with their superb recreation of 70’s supergroup ABBA and the legacy of hit’s they gave us.
The group will be returning to Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal on Saturday February 19 for another memorable show not to be missed.
With glitz and glamour served up with Swedish accents and enough musical memories to fill you to overflowing BABBA will take you on a journey through time to when satin was King and Dancing Queens ruled. See the Mail for full details.