In today’s fast paced jobs market is not uncommon for employees to move on to a new opportunity every few years.
In fact, it is estimated today’s young people may have as many as 17 employers in their lifetime!
So when Flowserve’s Castlemaine pump division stalwart Gordon Brown recently notched up an extraordinary 50 years of service at the local foundry, it was certainly cause for celebration.
Gordon told the Mail he started work at the foundry, then known as Thompson Kelly and Lewis, as a 16-and-a-half-year-old.
“I was tired of school and my trade teacher suggested I approach Thompsons to see if there were any opportunities available,” Go
rdon said.
“I approached them early in the week, got a positive response and returned to school on the Friday to let the headmaster know I was leaving indefinitely.”
“He was delighted and wished me the best of luck with my apprenticeship.”
Flowserve general manager operations Australia/New Zealand David Boak said that Gordon’s achievement was remarkable.
“We regularly present service awards for 10, 20, 30 and 40 years service but when I saw Gordon’s 50 year award it really made me stop and think. This employee has devoted his entire life to the company and that is something that we as a company, Gordon’s family and of course Gordon himself should be very proud of,” Mr Boak said.
Flowserve employees celebrated the milestone with a cake, the presentation of a certificate and gift followed by a luncheon.
Gordon said when he started at Thompsons, which was founded in Castlemaine in 1875, there was more than 600 employees.
“I feel fortunate to have survived the various restructures. I’ve had to adapt to suit the changes and have worked in numerous roles, predominately in machining, including the role of supervisor.”
Gordon said when he started with the company work was carried out in gangs where the older more experienced workers would pass on their skills and knowledge to the younger workers.
“I’ve seen many characters before me achieve their 50-year milestones so I guess that really inspired me,” Gordon said.
“I appreciate everything the role has given me, it has help put a roof over my head and put our children through school.”
Gordon said he has certainly seen a lot of changes at the foundry in his time.
“It was all pen and paper when I started back in 1968, there were no computers! There were also big changes when we moved from the imperial system to metric,” he said.
Nowadays Gordon works as shop controller and spares using his extensive knowledge to ensure everyone has the components they need and everything is running smoothly.
Celebrating 50 years
Local Power
It was a day to remember in Ballarat on Sunday, July 29 when home grown footballing talent, Kane Farrell, made his AFL debut for Port Adelaide. For the full story see last Friday’s Castlemaine Mail.
New building unveiled
Senior students at Winters Flat Primary School were delighted to move into their brand new classrooms last week.
The move follows the long awaited completion of the school’s redeveloped main building just prior to the beginning of this term.
Winters Flat Primary School principal Suzanne Kinnersly and school council president Katie Wilson told the Mail last week the entire school community is delighted with the final result. For the full story see last Friday’s Castlemaine Mail.
New lease of life
The quiet hamlet of Taradale is once again abuzz with life following the recent reopening of the town’s service station and post office.
Community members were forced to travel out of town for their fuel and postal needs when the former business closed almost two years ago.
The new Metro service station opened to the public on June 26 and the Australia Post outlet housed within the facility was officially launched on July 2.
Business proprietor Deepak Raghvani said the former site was purchased by a private buyer and had been subject to a major upgrade by the petroleum retailer in preparation for the opening.
The revamp, which has been watched with great anticipation by the community, includes new tanks, petrol pumps and concreting, while the former service station building also received a spruce up.
Mr Raghvani said they aimed to provide the community with all the essentials they needed and the response they had received had been amazing.
“I really didn’t expect this sort of response this quickly, we have a lot of people coming in off the freeway and the locals love it. The feedback about the renovations and what we have to offer is great, they feel life has returned to the town.”
Mr Raghvani said Australia Post approached Metro about taking on the service for the community and they were happy to support them.
The service station is open from 7am to 7pm seven days, while the Australia Post outlet is open 9am to 5pm weekdays and 9am to 1pm Saturday.
“Of course residents can collect their mail anytime during business hours.”
Taradale resident Donna Fearne said community members were delighted to see the service station reopen and their post office reinstated.
“I think it’s fantastic. It’s great to see them investing in our community,” she said.
“It’s just so handy. My kids can ride down on the weekend and collect the paper. I’ve just done my banking here which saved me a trip to Castlemaine or Kyneton!” she said.
Ms Fearne said Elphinstone Post Office had been amazing to community members in the interim.
“We would like to thank them for their support over the last two years,” she said.
Firefighters take on the challenge
Three members of the Campbells Creek Fire Brigade will be running up 28 floors loaded with 25kg of gear on September 1 to raise money to fight mental illness.
Brenton Smith, Jayne Young and Shelly Watson will join 650 firefighters from across the region to participate in the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb, running up the Crown Metropol Hotel wearing full turnout gear and breathing apparatus. Read the full story in the Castlemaine Mail.
On the roundabout
A major landscaping project has transformed the large Harcourt roundabout on the Midland Highway making it safer and more presentable as a gateway to the town locals say.
Revitalisation of the busy roundabout that directs traffic into routes bound for Harcourt, Melbourne, Castlemaine or Bendigo – is now reaching its final stages in a significant project that Harcourt Progress Association secretary Jacqueline Brodie-Hanns says dates back at least five years.
Catch the full story in today’s Castlemaine Mail …
School holiday fun
Castlemaine Football Netball Club’s recent school holiday program provided an opportunity for kids to get out and get active at Camp Reserve in Castlemaine.
Run by Shawn McCormick, the two-day program for boys and girls aged 6-13, included footballs skills and structured football competitions in a fun environment. On day one, the kids began with some basic football skills before participating in a football match, which was used as a mock ‘draft combine’ and was an opportunity for participants to showcase their skills. Day two saw the three selected teams, the All Stars, the Raging Bulls and the Cobras, play to contest the Fitzpatrick Cup, and participate in the Fitzpatrick Medal vote count.
Shawn McCormick said about 27 kids participated in the program.
“The kids were fantastic and we had some great feedback from parents,” Shawn said.
“It’s a great initiative put on by the Castlemaine Football Netball Club and hopefully we will be back again next year.”
Locals recognised at sports awards
Three local sports stars were recently recognised at the Bendigo Academy of Sport annual presentation evening.
Chloe Langley was awarded as athlete of the year in netball, Alex Murphy received the coach’s encouragement award in clay target shooting and Liam Richardson won the individual athlete of the year as well as being the overall winner of the Gary Tierney memorial scholarship athlete of the year.
The Bendigo Academy of Sport annual presentation evening celebrated the successes of the athletes and coaches for the 2017/2018 year.
The athlete of the year, Liam Richardson, was born with minor cerebral palsy which effects his left leg, but that doesn’t stop him from working hard to achieve his dreams. Liam represented Australia at the World Para Junior Championships in August 2017 in Switzerland in the combined T35-38 100m and 200m sprint events. In the 100m event Liam placed first in the T35 category and 11th overall. Liam also placed first in T35 in the 200m event and 9th overall. Liam is currently ranked number two in the World Juniors for 100m and 200m. This year Liam also competed in the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in Sydney and placed first in the 100m event and second in the 200m event. He also participated in the Victorian Junior Athletics Championships in Melbourne and placed first in the 100m Under 20 Para event and achieved a personal best time.
Liam is the recipient of a Pierre de Coubertin Award, an international award given each year by the Victorian Olympic Council, which recognises secondary school students who are active participants in sport and display the Olympic ideals of fair play and sportsmanship.
Unique restoration scores industry accolade
A Castlemaine business has won a major award for its restoration of what is widely regarded as the most important historic racing car in Australia.
Castlemaine’s Up The Creek vintage car specialists used cutting-edge laser scanning and 3D printing technology to help restore the world’s only 1914 Delage Type-S grand prix car – owned by Melbourne collector Stuart Murdoch.
At a recent black tie awards ceremony in Melbourne, the unique project saw Up The Creek declared among the state’s finest automotive businesses, taking out Victoria’s Best Restoration Project (Mechanical) in the 2018 VACC Industry Awards.
Up the Creek, owned by Grant Cowrie, was among 31 other automotive businesses announced as winners at the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce awards.
Up The Creek manager Daniel Clarke said the local business had engaged industrial designer Phil Guilfoyle as project manager for a significant aspect of the project – the replacement of the vintage racer’s cylinder block – while the project also included the overall mechanical restoration of the Delage.
“We’ve been very fortunate to be trusted to do it and appreciate Stuart, the owner’s foresight and faith in us to be able to complete the project for him,” Daniel said.
“It’s probably the most important historic racing car in Australia. In fact it is the most important historic racing car in Australia and we’re very pleased that we were able to deliver a result for it.”
The project even attracted the attention of ABC personality and vintage car buff Jon Faine and was documented on the ABC 7.30 Report.
But encounters with the rich and famous are nothing unusual for this niche local enterprise which – fans of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series will be interested to note – worked on the engine for Phryne Fisher’s Hispano-Suiza car as it appeared on the ABC TV series.
“We did some repair work to the engine in time for the series to start filming. It was a fabulous car to drive,” Daniel laughs.
He describes winning the VACC award for the Delage restoration as somewhat humbling.
“Very pleased,” he laughs – “and a little bit humbled. It means that there’s an appreciative audience that finds the work we do interesting and useful.”
Local promotion, global connections!
An innovative project has seen the local creation of 130 bags to be used at an international radio conference, promoting local radio station MAINfm to the global radio community.
Teacher Cathy Boerema and her husband Chris Wilson initiated the project. Chris is an employee of Monash University in Melbourne and he is the main organiser The Radio Conference, a bi-annual radio conference which has been running since 2001. The Radio Conference 2018 is being held in Italy this month.
“As with all conferences, delegates receive promotional material. Chris and I hatched the idea of making funky denim shoulder bags for the conference delegates using the skills and efforts of local teachers, students and volunteers from MAINfm with all profits from the project going to MAINfm,” Cathy said.
“Besides the link of a small radio station being promoted at an international conference, the project also provides opportunity on a few other levels. As a teacher of VET Applied Fashion and Design Technology, I need to keep my qualifications current by maintaining my hand in industry. For students undertaking this VET course, hours spent on such a project go toward meeting outcomes. For MainFM volunteers, their assistance provides a donation to the much-loved radio station during their current fundraising drive.”
Chris said The Radio Conference is a forum for radio and audio media scholars, teachers and practitioners.
The Radio Conference 2018 theme is free radio. The program includes presenters from 27 countries covering a diverse array of topics such as educational radio programming, independent podcasters, the rollout of digital radio, government-funded broadcasting in the Asia Pacific, radio art practice and social networks and public service radio.
Chris said the idea of using the bags was to not only promote a small community radio station, but also to reduce waste.
“Instead of getting a clunky goody bag full of pamphlets, we’ve designed this bag which can be re-used, and all that will be in it is the program printed on one small sheet of paper,” Chris said.
MAINfm station manager Tina Helm said the funds raised from this project would be included as part of their current fundraising and subscription drive.
“MAINfm is currently in the middle of its Radiothon fundraising and subscription drive. To subscribe go to mainfm.net or call 5472 4376.”
Film shooting in Castlemaine
Castlemaine is set to feature as the backdrop of a short film being created by a group of students, staring the talented Castlemaine actor John Flaus.
The film titled An Old Man’s Epilogue is an emotional drama about an elderly, recently widowed man, Ronan, who is forced to make decisions about his life. His daughter, Daisy, is moving him into a nursing home.
The film’s screenwriter and producer Heidi Ylä-Ajos said the film crew chose Castlemaine as the location because they wanted it to be not like the city, not as hectic.
“Our lecturer actually suggested Castlemaine. We had a look around other towns in this area as well but we liked Castlemaine. We loved the colours. And everyone has been so friendly and helpful here, it’s been amazing.”
Ms Ylä-Ajos said the film is a collaborative work between herself, director Melisa Visca, first AC Liam Fouracre, first AC and editor Chris Michael, sound recordists Daizy Murithi and Sudharshan Hariharan, PA and runner Daniel Robbins, audio mix and post Timothy Knowles and Jordan Montgomery as the DOP (Director of Photography) who has worked on the film’s visual and how it comes alive on screen with Melisa. The film is the final project for Heidi and Melisa for their bachelor’s course at SAE in Melbourne.
“We had worked on another short film with John Flaus and when I was writing the script, I thought he’d be perfect for the role of Ronan. We totally adore him. His voice is amazing and we really love hearing it,” Heidi said.
Scene’s of the film were shot at various locations in Castlemaine including at Castlemaine Fresh and Top Meats, the Castlemaine Railway Station and at a private residence in George Street.
“Ronan’s house was generously provided by the owners Bronwyn and Rodney,” Heidi said.
“They have been really generous, the gave us the house for a whole weekend, then we had Bendigo Castlemaine Removals come for some shooting. Everyone has been really supportive and so helpful, so it feels like it was meant to be.”
The film crew began filming on June 15 and wrapped on June 20. The film will be screened at an exhibition at SAE in Melbourne on August 23 then it will become part of the filmmaker portfolios at www.taivalfilms.com.
Myths and legends
There’s the local woman who used to serve tea to kangaroos – or so Maldon folklore has it.
Then there’s the legendary visit paid by wartime prime minister Billy Hughes, the local nurse who’s ministrations gained her hero status, and the local writer Henry Handel Richardson – whose real name was Ethel.
All are among the local myths and legends represented in some bold new street art newly installed in Maldon to coincide with the town’s Winter Wonderland program.
Local native animals like the powerful owl and the phascogale, important to the Dja Dja Wurrung, are also represented in the art panels installed on McArthur’s Corner wall at the intersection of Main and Dolphin Streets and across the road on the Maldon Hotel.
The art panels are the collaborative work of seven local artists with Maldon Artist Network MANet.
“They’ve been commissioned by Maldon Inc Traders’ group,” says Maldon Artist Network’s Jenny Merkus, one of the participating artists.
Jenny says some of the work depicts Maldon prior to European settlement and aims to portray some of the magic of that time.
She says the town’s history museum was among sources consulted to help unearth local myths and legends depicted.
“Apparently there was a woman who use to give tea to kangaroos, then we’ve got Bill Hughes – who was sometimes called The Rat who visited Maldon and entered local folklore so he’s depicted as a rat on a speakers’ box,” Jenny says, mentioning some of the legendary figures depicted.
Others include the Maldon writer, Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson (1870-1946) who wrote under the pen name Henry Handel Richardson.
There’s a particularly notable local golfer and much-loved yesteryear nurse Jessie Bowe who once worked at the local hospital.
Local artists who created the works include Bernice Steinfort, Ted Waayers, Catherine Tait, Allex Hall, Andrea Ebsworth, Jenny Merkus and Norm Close.
“Even though we’ve all got very different styles it all come together really well,” Bernice says.
The work will remain on display in the streets until August 6.