March 17th, 2025Kyle’s Rant  

I must admit I am a bit shaky right now, hives have broken out and a nervous tick has developed in my right eye.  

I think the reason for these new nuisances is trolling through the Covid  photos.  In 2020 there was a lot going on, we  had pivoted our publication to a weekly newspaper size and paper quality, which we only printed twice and then swiftly turned back to the magazine format, but we remained a free weekly publication for the next year.  

This tumultuous time, which included Donna’s mother passing away, not because of Covid but because of the disruption the virus had caused in hospitals, staffing situations and sheer making it up as you go along scenarios.  

My accountant Matt Richardson from Cooke and Foley in Ballarat had just had a newborn child which was adding to his stress levels. But he was on the other end of the phone helping me keep the air in the tyres of the business 24/7.  

Matt said something that stuck with me.

“If a pig had flown past the window at that point I would have simply acknowledged it, things were that crazy.”  

For me, if I had to pull my worst moment from the whole experience it would  have to be when former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian asked at a press briefing for companies which could re-tool to make respirators and lots of them. Bloody hell….  

But through the haze and the noise I must have had the presence of mind to ask for and store our communities’ images.

Unfortunately, I have no idea who actually contributed those images, but please take the time to reflect on them, and thank-you to the good folks who sent them in.  

While a lot of people were stuck at home under the doona or cleaning out their pantries, we dug in hard here at TL HQ.

The first hard job was to let everyone go and snap back to the original team, just Donna and I. As we made the calls through tears and frustration, all of our crew said they would work for free for as long as it takes,  which caused a lot more tears.  

For obvious reasons, advertisers rang in thick and fast cancelling their adverts with the exception of a few, who although their businesses were in hibernation, wanted to make sure our community kept its newspaper.

The historical newspaper for Hepburn Shire, The Advocate, quickly closed its doors after a hundred years or so profiting off the community. But you know what they say when the going gets tough, the tough get going.  

So, we pivoted and worked hard. The paper would go to the printer on Sunday,  we would allow ourselves a Monday morning sleep in and start the next one on the Monday afternoon.

I would shoot people photos in my studio which was the Glenlyon Reserve, it had everything I needed – lots of fresh air, social distancing, light and shelter under the trees from the weather.

And here we are five years later and all I  can say is thank F #K that’s over. Covid anniversary rant over…