Castlemaine is set to host the Mainstreet Australia National Conference in August.
The city was one of eight across the country in the running to host the event and was thrilled to be shortlisted to the final four.
In a visit to Castlemaine this week, Mainstreet Australia president Georgina Pikoulas announced that Castlemaine had beat out the competition.
The August 4 event will feature a conference based at the Phee Broadway Theatre and a networking event.
“We are expecting around 120 members from across the country which will be a great boost for Castlemaine’s accommodation providers, restaurants and cafes and a wonderful opportunity to showcase the town and the region’s retail offerings,” Ms Pikoulas said. See the Mail for more…
Conference coup for Castlemaine
Magpies claim Cup!
The Castlemaine Magpies season has started off with a bang with the club’s Women’s side making their AFL Central Vic debut under lights at the Camp Reserve on Saturday night, and the club claiming ‘Challenge Cup’ honours over long time rivals Kyneton with seven wins from nine matches.
Castlemaine Magpies Women’s assistant coach Jordan Cochrane said it was a special night with the club’s Senior Men’s side forming a guard of honour to welcome the club’s newest side to the ground.
“The team celebrated by running through a banner prepared by team manager Georgia Banks and the Youth Girls side and went on to have a fantastic first up win in the competition,” Jordan said. See the Mail for more… Out Now.
CDOC Saturdays
Castlemaine Documentary Festival (CDOC) invites the community to attend two free public screenings at The Village Square Castlemaine over the next two Saturday nights.
The two music docos feature extraordinary performances and great storytelling and are well-suited to being screened outdoors.
The first film Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami will hit the big screen tomorrow night Saturday April 16 from 7.30pm.
Larger than life, wild, scary and androgynous – Grace Jones plays all these parts. Yet here we also discover her as a lover, daughter, mother, sister and even grandmother, as she submits herself to our gaze and allows us to understand what constitutes her mask. See the Mail for more…
Celebration of new beginnings
The end of an era and new beginnings for CHIRP Community Health were celebrated in March at an event to acknowledge the service’s role in the community and offer a formal farewell.
The event held in the Botanical Gardens began with a Welcome to Country from Aunty Kerri Douglas. This was followed with a formal presentation of artwork ‘Gadjigadji’ by Arkeria Rose Armstrong.
Arkeria is a Gamilaraay artist who was born in Ceduna and now lives and works on Dja Dja Wurrung country.
The painting ‘Gadjigadji’ was commissioned to mark the integration of CHIRP Community Health with Castlemaine Health. The painting is a representation of CHIRP Community Health’s past achievements as well as the coming together with Castlemaine Health for future strength and growth. See the Mail for more…
Doing the time walk
Eve Lamb
If the walls of Castlemaine’s old streetscape could speak they might tell tales something like those being brought to life by the keen band of volunteers leading the town’s new autumn series of guided walking tours.
“As an initiative to welcome visitors back when travel restrictions eased we engaged the Castlemaine Historical Society to offer these guided walking tours of our historic streets,” says Mount Alexander Shire Council team leader visitor services at Castlemaine’s Visitor Information Centre, Aileen Walsh.
“At 2pm each Saturday throughout the months of autumn, these one hour long tours set off from the historic market building in Mostyn Street.
“They highlight many of the town’s notable landmarks in addition to various sites of historical significance.”
The walks are being led by a keen crew of knowledgeable volunteer guides who are all members of the Castlemaine Historical Society – each with a specialist area of expertise.
“We started doing them in spring last year trying to get people back into the town, and really to welcome people back post COVID,” Aileen says.
“And we’ve definitely noticed that we’re getting people who… Read more in today’s Mail
Scone bake-off promises hot comp
Eve Lamb
They say if you can’t take the heat it may be best to a steer clear of the kitchen.
So it’s probably just as well this evening’s Great Aussie Scone Baking competition happens in the courtyard of the Maldon Hotel as the competition tends to set the temperature rising.
This evening’s (Thursday April 14) big scone bake-off is just part of the jam-packed program for the Maldon Easter Fair that gets started this evening and runs right through to Monday.
The Great Aussie Scone Baking Competition has been a favourite part of the annual fair for many years and attracts fierce competition with different categories for adults, juniors and commercial scone-makers.
Among those getting set to pull on an apron and compete is Castlemaine’s Renee Thompson who knows a thing or two when it comes to whipping up a winning scone.
“It’s taking place in the back courtyard of the Maldon Hotel from 7pm and you can just rock up,” says Renee who is also on the Maldon Easter Fair organising committee.
“Most of the local cafes and also the pubs do get quite competitive and you could have anything from… Read more in today’s Mail
New exhibition opens at Hoppers
Eve Lamb
Award-winning Sutton Grange artist Chris Moule says he bought his beautiful rural home for the view from his back fence.
“It’s only taken me about 18 years to finally get around to painting it,” he said this week while hanging the resulting piece along with many other original works ahead of this week’s launch of the new group exhibition that opens at Maldon’s unique Hoppers Gallery this Friday (April 15).
Chris is renown for his landscapes and that bucolic vista he finally got around to painting from his own back fence celebrates his view to Mount Alexander (Leanganook).
It’s among the diverse line-up of original art by 16 different local artists to feature in this latest offering that will run at Hoppers daily through to April 25.
“We have invited 16 artists who represent … Read more in today’s Mail
That’s the ticket!
Our fourth annual Castlemaine Mail ‘Golden Ticket’ buy local promotion kicked off on April 1!
Did you get your free Golden Ticket with the April 1 edition? If not you can collect one from our office at 13 Hargraves Street or participating businesses.
Collect all nine puzzle pieces over the nine weeks of the promotion to be in the running to share in $5000 in prize money to spend at our 15 fantastic local businesses.
First prize is $3000, second prize $1000 and third and fourth prize winners will receive $500 each.
Mensland Castlemaine proprietors Renee Ramsey and Lauren Barker have been part of the Golden Ticket promotion since its inception in 2019 and encourage community members to ‘Buy Local’ and support our local businesses which are the lifeblood of our community.
Lauren said they purchased the business in July 2007 and have been proudly serving the fashion needs of the community for 15 years.
“The Golden Ticket promotion causes a real buzz and it’s a great way of giving back to the wonderful customers that support us,” she said.
Renee and Lauren currently have huge range of new winter stock arriving in store, including gorgeous knitwear and their popular wool jeans for men and women.
“We also have top quality flannelette shirts perfect for that Easter river trip or if you have a special event coming up we have a fantastic range of more formal dress shirts and jackets and women’s clothing in store,” Renee said.
Mensland Castlemaine also have all your essentials covered such as socks and underwear and a beautiful range of necklaces, earrings and accessories to complete your look.
For more details our Golden Ticket businesses see page 29.
Our lucky winners will be drawn on June 15.
Bird walk for beginners
Eve Lamb
The leafy surrounds of Castlemaine’s Forest Creek set the scene for this week’s launch of a new concept in bird watching.
Even if you don’t have a David Attenborough or a Sean Dooley by your side, the new Bird Walk for Beginners enables anyone and everyone to boost their knowledge of our feathered friends while taking a 1.5 km saunter along Castlemaine’s Forest Creek.
The newly launched Bird Walk for Beginners brings together the expertise of Castlemaine Landcare, Field Naturalists, Connecting Country and BirdLife Castlemaine to produce a new brochure that uses QR codes highlighting a wealth of info about the bird species likely to be found along the walk’s length.
“You can scan the code and it will give you as little or as much information as you want,” Connecting Country director, ecologist Frances Howe told the Mail during the mid-week launch.
“It’s kind of a choose your own…. Read more in today’s Mail
Belly Beautiful…
Eve Lamb
Castlemaine’s belly dancers have a big public outing planned – their first since COVID struck.
The keen local group will be among the colour and movement taking part in this month’s Maldon Easter Fair grand street procession that’s set for Monday April 18.
The procession gets started at 10.30am that morning and cuts at least two laps of the town’s main thoroughfare in what has become a time-honoured highlight of the annual event that’s widely acknowledged as Australia’s oldest continuous Easter fair.
But that won’t be all for this accomplished group of dancers who, when the parade ends, will then give a public performance outside the town’s famed Kangaroo Hotel from 12.30pm on the day.
“It will be our first public performance following COVID,” says talented local belly dancing instructor Anita Zacchigna who has been teaching the age-honoured art as part of Castlemaine Community House’s program of community education classes.
And Castlemaine locals have jumped at… Read more in today’s Mail
Dialogues 2022 – Change your thinking
Castlemaine State Festival’s second annual Dialogues series is underway!
The theme for this year’s event is ‘Change Your Thinking’ and sees dynamic writers and theorists from a diverse range of fields come together for a collaborative reflection on the issues of ‘Change.’
Taking place from the April 7-10 at The Goods Shed and venues throughout Castlemaine, Dialogues 2022 aims to stimulate active discourse where speakers and audiences challenge, inform, reassure and inspire each other.
The festival commenced last night with a visit by special guests Bill and Chloe Shorten at The Goods Shed and continues today with ‘Chance Meetings and Life Changing Events’ with Jon Faine and Derek Guille and ‘A Matter of Trust’ which explores leadership in the media, the workplace and our daily lives.
Dialogues curator Kristin Gill of Northern Books said speakers across the 11 events will include writers and authors, musicians, journalists, mental health experts and more discussing topics such as climate change, the impacts of covid on regional communities, food, politics, family, the environment and even exploring subjects such as death and dying. See the Mail for more…
Mega Easter raffle!
The team at Maxi IGA Castlemaine have pulled out all the stops to create a mega Easter Raffle to raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Good Friday Appeal.
Maxi IGA raffle coordinator Min Daw said their volunteer team has done a fantastic job collecting donations and they have an incredible 100 prizes to be won!
First prize in the raffle is a giant handmade, hand-painted Easter Bunny kindly donated by the Ministry of Chocolate in Melbourne.
The myriad of other prizes include Easter Eggs, chocolate goodies and other delicious items donated by Maxi IGA suppliers and prize 100 is a ‘Mystery Box’.
Shoppers are also invited to ‘Guess the Lindt Balls’ in the jar and kids can take part in an Easter Colouring competition with two prizes to be won in each of the 2-7 and 8-14 age groups.
Raffle tickets can be purchased at any of the registers for $2 or 3 for $5 and you can take a guess at the jar for just $1. Simply pop in and collect a picture for the kids to complete for them to be in the running to win.
