Local residents of all ages and abilities are being encouraged to get active now more than ever, with the state government launching a new campaign to keep active and healthy during the coronavirus pandemic.
Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence launched the initiative Get Active Victoria on Wednesday this week,including an online platform with free workout videos, challenges and ideas to get you moving at home. See the Mail for more.
Get active at home!
More to say after ‘R U Ok?’
Mount Alexander Shire Council is urging local residents to learn more about initiatives designed to support positive mental health, ahead of R U OK? Day on Thursday September 10.
R U OK? Day is a national initiative that shines the spotlight on mental health and the importance of supporting and looking out for each other.
The slogan for R U OK? Day 2020 is, ‘There’s more to say after R U OK?’.
“This year, more than ever, we need to check in with each other” the council’s community partnerships manager Gaynor Atkin, says.
“Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a huge impact on the mental health and wellbeing of many and is expected to continue to for some time,” Ms Atkin said.
“This year’s R U OK? Day highlights the importance of asking someone if they are ok and knowing what to say if someone you know says that they are struggling”.
Resources and conversation steps to support and help someone find strategies to better manage their mental health can be found at www.ruok.org.au. See the Mail for more.
Good news
Barry Dunn, Castlemaine
On hearing ongoing stories of country newspapers being closed it’s great to see that our locally owned ‘Midland Express’ and ‘Castlemaine Mail’
are still being published.
Reading them is a positive in my lockdown lifestyle. Thank you to all involved.
Being locally owned, not capital city or even overseas owned is why we still retain our local newspapers. Another example of why we should patronize local businesses. Money spent locally benefits the whole community.
Covid Classroom
Former local principal Kevin Brown says his daughters, like many parents of young children, have been struggling with home schooling.
His advice was that they shouldn’t try to replicate school but utilise the amazing local resources that can be found all around us, such as the environment and local knowledge.
“I suggested they should seize the opportunity to utilise the home and outside environment to follow and foster the kids’ curiosity,” he said.
“I believe my best teaching was when I ran a ‘Wheels of Discovery’ program. One day a week the class and I accompanied by the art teacher Judy Laycock would jump on our bikes and explore a part of Castlemaine: the Botanical Gardens, the sewage farm, the diggings etc. The children’s discoveries would be the learning
focus for that week in the classroom.
“I suggested my daughters utilise the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club guide and explore and study the indigenous flora and its been a real hit!” he said.
Two of Kevin’s granddaughters are pictured here in their ‘classroom’ in the back paddock of farm Gowan Brae. ‘Gowan Brae’ means hill of daises. Allegra and Sophia discovered numerous Yam Daisy plants so they think that is why the farm was named Gowan Brae over 100 years ago.
Peddling Pastry despite Covid
Castlemaine business Peddling Pastry – Wholesale Patisserie headed up by classically trained pastry chef Chris Edwards has been treating the local community to pastries, cakes, nougat, biscuits and chocolates made with the finest ingredients for the past decade.
Whilst COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns have dealt a blow to their kitchen shop at Workspace Australia at the old hospital site in Halford Street and their wholesale business, Chris said there have been positives to find at the local markets. See the Mail for the full story. Out Now.
You can find Peddling Pastry and many other local producers at this Sunday’s monthly Castlemaine Farmers Market at the Western Reserve.
Colossal creations
A team of Castlemaine museum specialists, artists and technicians bid farewell to their latest creations this week – a full scale model of a 100 million-year-old Titanosaurus and a menacing predator of the deep – a Great White Shark.
The models were handcrafted right here in Castlemaine and will take pride of place in the main gallery of the brand new Western Australian Museum.
The 16 metre-long dinosaur, which would have weighed in at approximately 30 tonne, walked the earth in the Cretaceous Period. It has been reconstructed in collaboration with the Western Australian Museum, using a variety of methods including computer-generated imagery, engineering, and thousands of hours of hand-sculpting. See the Mail for the full story. Out Now.
Health services to become ‘one team’
The Boards of CHIRP Community Health and Castlemaine Health announced on Monday that they are developing a plan for the integration of community services and will undertake staff and community consultation.
The possibility of integration and co-location was first flagged in February following a public meeting at the Castlemaine Town Hall. The meeting was called by community group Friends of CHIRP over continued concerns about service funding shortfalls and the future of the independent community health service which has been serving the local community for 36 years.
CHIRP Community Health chair Lexi Randall-L’Estrange and Castlemaine Health chair Peggy Ronnau told the Mail on Tuesday that both boards are fully committed to making this work and are feeling positive moving ahead. See the Mail for the full story. Out Now.
Something sweet…
The coronavirus shutdowns may have put Millie Ousley’s work
cleaning local B&Bs on hold for now.
But the enterprising Maldon local has turned that to advantage, switching her
talents to making speciality jams to complement the custom cupcake-making
business she’d already established as a handy sideline.
And the jams Millie has started making in her home-based commercial kitchen in
Maldon are far from your common garden variety of jam.
For a start – they feature edible flowers. Read
more in the Castlemaine Mail, Friday September 4, 2020
We are here: grants announced
The Castlemaine State Festival will go ahead next March celebrating the arts and culture of central Victoria in a specially curated program encouraging community connections with local artists and artforms.
The Festival this week announced the recipients of its COVID-19 artist relief commissions program, We Are Here, focused on offering financial support to local regional performing and projection or visual arts projects.
Central Victorian artists Jessie Boylan, Andrée Cozens & Mark Penzak, Furze Brothers and commonplace productions, Hermione Merry & Helen Mathwin, Brodie Murray, Cameron Robbins and Wide Open Road artist collective will each receive a share of the $15,000 grant pool to develop and create their performing, projection or visual arts productions. Read more about this in the Castlemaine Mail, Friday September 4, 2020
Egg-cellent pasta innovation
There’s an upbeat saying – ‘when life gives you lemons make lemonade.’
Now some local open range egg farmers have taken a different twist on that maxim – ‘when life gives you odd-shaped eggs make egg pasta!’ – to create a valuable new sideline.
After 12 months of trialling, the Honest Eggs Co has just launched its fresh egg pasta on the market with excellent results.
Honest Eggs Co runs its open range hens – less than 30 hens per hectare – at Muckleford just out of Castlemaine and, from its grading and packing base in Daylesford, distributes its eggs widely in regional and metro Victoria.
“We’d been looking for another way to use the eggs that were too big or too small, to value-add,” says local fourth generation farmer and Honest Eggs co-founder Paul Righetti who co-founded Honest Eggs Co together with his wife Jacqui and fellow local farmers Ian and Kim Garsed back in 2014. Full story in Castlemaine Mail, Friday, August 28, 2020.
Fire pits to be banned?
Bill Maltby, Castlemaine
Recently the metro newspapers carried a story of Melbourne councils moving to ban the backyard fire pit and pizza oven, citing complaints of offensive emissions “of smoke and odour”. Really?
As we live more on our properties due to Covid many people will be looking at ways of enjoying life by being adventurous in outdoor entertaining, like cooking the family a homemade pizza or a charcoaled cooked spit roast, or just the simple barbecue, yet we are seeing a bureaucratic attitude being espoused to a simple way of being creative and socialising with our families (and hopefully soon with our friends) because, just maybe there will be a waft of smoke and an aroma that some of us mightn’t like. The sensational smells of cooking, especially from some of our immigrant families, is a part of our cultural learning. I sincerely hope our current and future Mount Alexander Shire councillors don’t follow this thought process, they should have more important issues on their agendas, like assisting businesses and sporting clubs to get back on their feet when the current pandemic subsides.
News from the Nest
Castlemaine Football Netball Club (CFNC) are pleased to announce that their football coaches for season 2021 have been appointed.
Don Moran will return as the Seniors Coach.
CFNC president Caleb Kuhle said Moran had an explosive start to his time as head coach of the club, with many new and old faces getting behind him ready for season 2020.
“Unfortunately with the season cancellation the Magpie faithful have missed seeing what could have been, but with Don continuing on they can rest assured that big things are happening,” Kuhle said.
Club stalwart Dave Stephens has also been reappointed as Reserve’s coach. See the Mail for the full story.