Undeterred by the fires, parents, students, and teachers from Harcourt Valley Primary School are getting ready to make a record-breaking number of apple pies for the town’s annual Applefest.
A time-honoured tradition and a great fundraiser for the school, the usual number of pies baked is around 400, but this year, ambitions are high, and some people are aiming for 1,000.
Harcourt Valley Primary School principal Andrew Blake said it’s good to have high expectations, and he thinks they will at least surpass 500.
“From very early on, the families were committed to making the pies despite the devastation that occurred, which is terrific,” he said.
“It’s not just about the final product, though. It’s about the coming together of staff, students, parents, and community members, getting out the apple peeler and talking and healing.
“The final result will be funds for the school, but it’s the journey that is really important.”
Unfortunately, the apples were not grown locally; they have made their way to Harcourt with the aid of a volunteer group called Backpack for a Firefighter.
A Melbourne-based group, formed in 2020 to give support to the CFA through providing snacks and drinks.
After hearing about the fires in Harcourt and wanting to support the community, Backpack for a Firefighter founder Melissa Williamson approached LeManna Supermarket in Essendon, which generously offered to donate 200 kilograms of apples, and Skully RSV, which provided a truck and driver to take the supplies to Harcourt.
The pies will not be the only contribution made by the local school students this year, either; each student will submit a piece of artwork, and the school choir is working towards the opening of the festival.
Mr Blake told the Mail that it took a lot of work, but it was great to reopen at the same time as the other public schools following the fires.
“We really wanted to get the school back open as soon as possible because the families had been so busy and getting the students back meant they could take a breather,” he said.
“The south side of the school, along the fence line, was damaged. The Victorian School Building Authority was able to do an assessment really early on, on January 12.
“The inside of the school building had sediment damage on the walls, which was all cleaned, and all the air conditioning units needed to be cleaned,” Mr Blake said.
“It’s been going well, though, and we’ve been gently easing back into school and getting the kids back into establishing routines.
“We’re really placing an emphasis on caring and looking out for one another. The department’s been really supportive in terms of providing an on-site school psychologist, and tonight we’ve got a family information meeting, supporting kids after a natural disaster being presented by Dhelkaya Health and Castlemaine Community House. We want to make sure we can support the families as much as the students.”