The TV show “The Block” maybe coming to the Daylesford township, or at least it was coming to town until a few objectors, climbed onboard the “Leave our pretty town alone” train and stopped it in its tracks.

Or that was what it looked like from the outside and it was strange that the TV show that normally keeps to itself in terms of outside media unless they are looking for attention, started communiques to media outlets pertaining to it’s struggle in getting permits from the Hepburn Shire Council.

It seems the trouble is over the scale of the builds, the heated pools and maybe a bit of Tall Poppy Syndrome. I personally sit in the pro-development camp, after realising a long time ago that there is not much you can do about it, the way our society is setup with the rules bending to the elite and rigid for the rest of us.

Like The Block I have done a few renovations in my lifetime, buying my first house in my twenties, and just before moving in, getting a job with a demolition crew in the old George Walkers building (kind of like the Myer of New Zealand).

My whole purpose of getting the job was to figure out how a wall was constructed in the days before Google, so as I would be able to renovate my new purchase. I also needed to remove a wall in the house as it was a rough, gang-ridden neighbourhood and you had to unlock the back door and walk across the porch to access the toilet.

I was on a four-week swing, meaning I would spend four weeks at sea with the next four weeks off when I was on the offshore tugboats. Which meant leaving my girlfriend at the time home alone, so the wall had to go.

I also asked dad how to remove a wall and he turned up with his chainsaw and yes cutting into a 1960’s laundry wall which abutted the toilet with a chainsaw and no protective gear is not recommended. Think asbestos poisoning.

But I had no idea and removed the wall rendering the toilet accessible from inside the house. This meant I had a taste of the renovation bug and still had Dad’s chainsaw. So, I kept removing walls and renovating, looking back I’m surprised the joint didn’t come down like a house of cards.

I have done a few small renovations since but even though I measure twice and cut once I am not much for getting things level so leave things to the professionals. But back to The Block, I haven’t watched the show for years and decided to tune in last Monday. Because maybe it is coming to town or maybe it isn’t? Either way I figured I should get in sync and after 35 minutes I decided it was a load of emotional waffle. I kid you not, I was screaming at the TV set “for the love of God, just build something.”

But, I wasn’t entirely caught up with things at The Block and it had been an emotional weekend (Go the Pies), so on the Tuesday night I once again sat there ready to be entertained and was once again disappointed. As two of the bickering back-biting teams went to Scotty’s house in Gisborne to have dinner and talk about their emotions (strike me pink) – just go and build something.

It’s like watching a teenager’s party when some young drunken idiot cracks onto someone else’s squeeze and fisticuffs and emotion ensue.

So, for mine, if the Block comes to Daylesford it could be good to shine a spotlight on our area, but in terms of entertainment it is tantamount to the Days of Our Lives, with long lingering looks, a lot of emotions and not much actual building taking place.

Block rant over…

Words: Eve Lamb. Images: Supplied

There could hardly be a better way to welcome the quickening pulse of the season. All who are partial to a good wine will be keen to note that the famed Macedon Ranges Bud Burst Festival is back and happening over the weekend of Friday 17-Sunday 19 November.

The quintessential Macedon Ranges wine-tasting experience, Budburst is a once-a-year chance to step behind the vines and meet the knowledgeable winemakers.

Over a glass of something good, and amidst a backdrop of lush vineyard rows, volcanic rock and ancient plateaus, festival-goers soak up a unique sense of how the region’s family-owned and small-batch makers shape mainland Australia’s coolest wine region.

Across the weekend more than 25 of the Macedon Ranges region’s winemakers across 18 budburst sites, will open their wineries and cellar doors offering tastings, curated food menus championing local produce, art shows, sculptor walks and live music.

Notably, last time it all happened was 2019, pre-COVID, and this time there’s additional good reason to mark the event up big on your personal wine appreciation calendar.

That’s because this time the vineyards on the western (Daylesford) side of the Calder Freeway will also be offering a special wine bus loop – in the same way that those on the eastern (Kyneton) side do.

Among the ‘Daylesford side’ wineries participating is Musk’s Passing Clouds Winery owned and run by Cameron and Marion Leith (pictured below).

In recent days Marion chatted to The Local about preparations for the festival and explained that previously the wineries from this end of the region had participated by showcasing their wines at a central hub at Trentham’s Cosmo Hotel.

But Bud Burst really is all about getting out into the beautiful vineyards themselves – experiencing the terroir where it all happens.

“This time we have created a special bus loop for the Daylesford end as well,” Marion says.

“We have teamed up with Attwoods at Glenlyon and Zig Zag Road winery, and with Wombat Forest Winery and also Shadowfax Wines to offer a bus loop.

“To have a bus loop is a new thing for us and I think it’s a great way of bringing the wineries together.

“People can really make a weekend of it and stay for the weekend, so they could do the wineries on the Kyneton side on one day and then the wineries on the Daylesford side on the other day,” Marion suggests.

Festival goers can jump aboard any of the festival buses and visit up to five wineries on four different dedicated bus routes – including the new Daylesford Drive loop. There’s also the Lancefield Loop, the Kyneton Cruise or the Woodend Wander bus loop options.

Alternatively, wine appreciators may travel independently around the region’s winding country roads and scenic ranges to visit participating wineries and vineyards.

“The festival is really championing cool climate wine,” Marion says.

“Here (in Musk) we are one of the highest vineyards in the Macedon Ranges at 774 meters above sea level.

“Some of the wineries will be offering music and food and there will also be some special umbrella events on the Friday as well.

“We (at Passing Clouds) will be offering an exclusive tasting list highlighting our cool climate wines.

“The Macedon Ranges Vignerons’ Association, which we are part of, really wants to get people to the vineyards. It’s really nice for people to see the vineyards and experience where the wines come from.

“It’s a great weekend for locals to come out and support their local businesses and wineries.”

More detail about the festival, participating wineries, and different ticketing options available can be found on the festival website www.macedonrangeswineandfoodfest.com.au

With Eve Lamb

Long established artist and observing Jew, Daylesford’s Bill Meyer (pictured above) can name a multitude of diverse career highlights. They range from a painting commission for the Werdiger family, and their patronage over many years to having works included in the Hirsh collection and incorporated in multiple public collections. Further highlights include a touring exhibition of prints and drawings called Gapscape which, in the eighties, was showing in 26 state, regional and national galleries nation-wide. Today, while now in his 80s, this gifted local remains busy with digital arts and music.

Eve: How would you describe your style Bill? Does it fit a particular genre?

Bill: Art writers have described my work variously as related to German Expressionism, to lyrical abstract expressionism, to heavy metal girders rather than petit-point… I prefer to think of my visual work as landscape-in-metaphor.

Eve: How did you come to Art?

Bill: There was never any real alternative…I attended night classes in life drawing for several years until graduating from university when I was accepted as a full-time day student at the National Gallery Art School, which, by the time I graduated with a fine arts degree in painting and printmaking, had transformed into the VCA and nowadays is part of Melbourne University. Graduate studies in London followed and I spent the next decade in the Northern Hemisphere. Exhibitions lead to further development and encouragement from visiting artists to The Royal College and also curators and directors of the Institute of Contemporary Art where I exhibited, brashly, several times.

Eve: Where do you do most of your work? Where is your home?

Bill: I have lived and worked in Melbourne…also in London during the seventies. There have been multiple stays as a guest artist in Israel at the studios in Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem, several years in America, again Australia as artist-in-residence at several university-attached art colleges and regional city galleries; rural accommodations for artist-in-schools projects, and now, for the past four decades mostly living and creating from my studio on the family property in the beautiful bushland of Hepburn Shire.

Eve: Which artists have influenced you?

Bill: The artist most valued by me would be Rembrandt for his philo-semitic intensity, his draftsmanship and composition, his use of light and shade, dramatically, aesthetically, and his tenaciousness towards creativity even under the worst of adverse times. My list of admired and influencing artists include the New York Greenbergian artists of the fifties through the seventies, including Morris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, Rothko, Barnet Newman … also artists such as Modigliani, although I am not a figurative artist, I admire the poetry of his figuration, same for Klimt and the Viennese secessionists. Landscape influences include Turner, Caspar Friedrich David, and Hobbema.

In Australian influences I include Arthur Boyd, Fred Williams and my mentor with whom I learned so much about the philosophy and beauty of being an artist; Roger Kemp. The friendship extended to the entire Kemp family household. Victor Majzner, an artist friend to this day, has been part of both that world involving galleries, professional practice and education, and also the more spiritually focussed aspects of the Jewish art world. There are others…

Eve: Are there particular factors which have influenced your creative work?

Bill: Money was always an issue but somehow I have survived with the help of democratic governments, friends, family and patrons albeit that they complained often and frequently at length.. Networking and working on projects with other artists has been personally and creatively a great thing… In the past several decades, being located in the Central Highlands has given me a sense of much needed personal, spiritual and working space.The forests around Daylesford have contributed content and metaphor to my work.

Eve: What is your media of choice? Why so?

Bill: Printmaking as in fine art editions, initially as a conventionally analogue printmaker and more recently using digital technology. I also paint on canvas with either acrylic or oil, I draw, and have constructed multi-media installations with sound, light paper and natural organic materials. Recently, over the past decade, I have returned to musical composition, recording the finished works in digital formats.

Eve: What work, goals or projects do you have in mind for the future?

Bill: A large project on Trees in History, legend and Metaphor. Images, text and my dreadful poems. I’m also working on musical compositions which I had deferred for years whilst establishing as a professional visual artist. The music is very important to me.

Eve: What would you rate as the biggest challenge in being a professional artist today?

Bill: In some ways the challenges to professional artists today are similar to challenges to artists since the rise of mercantile civilisation from the Renaissance onwards. Money, creative head space and time, quiet creative time… The speed of life today however is destroying the creative head- space required for the truly competent and caring professional. We may ironically have to search out the scorned amateurs as in the C19th for a truly spiritual experience to be gleaned from the Fine Arts.

Eve: And for you, the greatest rewards?

Bill: The greatest rewards are that well- known ‘frisson,’ that delicious shivering when, in your soul, you know that something good has happened; a creation which has meaning…This is so rare but it is an affirmation that I am in the correct type of service and in the right place…

A free workshop is being offered to LGBTIQA+ people to help them plan to enjoy a fairly fabulous older age.
Facilitated by Justice Connect in partnership with local LGBTIQA+ support groups, the workshop will help people clarify what matters most as they age and help them communicate their wishes and decisions to the people around them.
“Talking about ageing and end of life plans is not easy,” says Belinda Brain, pictured above, from Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health’s Country LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Program.
“But planning now means you can live the life you want as you age. These are important discussions to have so we got together with the Silver Rainbow Social Club Castlemaine and GLOBE Victoria to provide a safe and supportive space for the rainbow community to do just that.”
The workshop, which takes place later this month in Kyneton, references the guide, Preparing for your future: A conversation guide for the LGBTI+ community, designed to encourage older people to engage with the process of future planning.
Justice Connect will lead participants through the conversation guide, answer questions and facilitate the discussion of ideas.
RSVPs are essential and lunch will be provided. The workshop takes place on Friday, October 20 from 11am to 1.30pm in Kyneton. Register: www.surveymonkey.com/r/your-future-kyneton Details: 5421 1666 or email admin@scchc.org.au

Words: Bronislaw Sozanski BA DipEd ATCL VMTA

Internationally renowned pianist Leslie Howard, pictured above, during a rare visit to Australia, gave an outstanding recital on September 17, as a fundraiser for Central Highlands Rural Health.
London-based Howard has recorded the complete piano works of Franz Liszt and is recognised as a leading scholar of the music of that composer. The capacity audience enjoyed a spectacular performance of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt.
The Mozart sonata K331, with the well-known Rondo Alla Turca, was performed (at a private local venue near Daylesford) with refinement and clarity. Continuing scholarship allows the contemporary listener to get closer to Mozart’s original score, with Howard performing the updates in his exciting reading.
The rarely performed Beethoven Fantasie Op.77 successfully projected Beethoven’s dramatic intentions, with the improvised character shining through. The sense of purpose and direction were always evident.
The performance of Chopin’s Barcarolle, from its simple, joyful opening to the colourful dramatic development remained true to the lyrical and poetic character demanded of this composer’s music, assisted by deft pedalling and well-controlled chord voicing.
The recital included Liszt’s Der Todesengel (Death’s Angel), a relatively recent discovery. The emotional intensity within the piece was clearly heard as the narrative was slowly revealed in this short but powerfully dramatic piece.
The recital was completed with Liszt’s two Ballades. The fireworks of these two bravura works were comfortably realised as Howard revelled in the music with which he is so closely associated.

Words and Image: Eve Lamb

Creswick’s Tony Clark has received the inaugural Kimberley Kitching Human Rights Award at the recent ALP National Conference in Brisbane, using the opportunity to advocate strongly for a cause so dear to his heart.

A passionate advocate for inclusivity of people with disability, the Creswick-Clunes Labor branch member received the award from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The citation on the award states: “For demonstrating an outstanding commitment to the advancement of human rights in Australia or globally”.

Deemed legally blind since the age of 20, the Creswick local was accompanied at the national conference podium by his guide dog Timmy and, in perfect timing, worked in a quick quip to assist the PM in ushering him to the lectern to accept the award.

“Take my elbow, Albo,” Clark tactfully advised without missing beat, before going on to deliver an impassioned speech to the 500 or so decision-makers in the room.

A member of the Victorian Labor Party since 2008, the Creswick local has spent much of his adult life challenging organisations, business and the Labor Party itself to be more inclusive and more accessible for people with disability.

“I took the view that I was going to use my blindness as a great strength,” Clark told delegates at the national conference that he attended with his partner Melanie Bellingham who is also a member of the local party branch.

“Those strengths are around tenacity, determination, thinking laterally, thinking outside that square, and persistence in the face of challenge,” he said.

These are all things Clark knows about first-hand.

“I was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition when I was 19 and declared legally blind at 20. Tough thing for a young man of 19,” he said.

“I remember one of my greatest fears was ‘who the hell’s going to want to marry a blind guy?’

“And I did have a moment. It was with the Commonwealth Employment Service, the old CES. I’d just finished telling them I was looking for work. I had an honours degree in science in immunology.

“The response was ‘most people like you weave baskets’. I kid you not. And I have to be honest, people might not say it in those words anymore, but that’s still there. That’s absolutely still there.

“Attitude is the big thing and we all have some responsibility to think about how we can change,” said Clark who, besides his honours degree in science, also has a masters in communication, is a qualified company director, and chairs a board.

“I can tell you first hand of the passive discrimination and barriers that are out there that prevent good quality people getting jobs,” he said.

“We have higher unemployment. Higher poverty. These things have not moved for decades.”

Driven by his strong desire to see these things change, Clark has stood for Parliament three times including for the federal seat of Deakin in 2016 when he ran with the catchy slogan “No Sight, Great Vision.”

Believing that leaders should reflect the people they seek to represent, he ran for the seat, hoping to be a voice for the one in five Australians who are living with a disability. “When I got to 38, I thought: You know what? I don’t respect people who sit on the side and throw mud. I believe you’ve got to get in there… and government is what changes our community,” he said.

“It sets regulation, it sets job policies, it sets legislation. Everything comes from government and that’s where change can be made.” Although Clark didn’t win the seat of Deakin, the campaign trail nevertheless provided an opportunity for him to generously engage with the voters, the media, the ALP and the Parliament to get a fairer deal for people experiencing disability.

His decades of advocacy have resulted in the founding and formalisation of Labor Enabled Victoria, where, alongside Annie Payne, he has successfully argued the need for a Disability Action Plan for the party – a national first.

The Creswick local continues to advocate across the broader community to achieve greater access for people with disability to education, employment, economic opportunity, and healthcare.

Giving the example of the ALP’s quota system for gender equity, he is particularly keen to see quotas similarly introduced to ensure fair representation for people with disability in Parliament at state and national level.

“Twenty percent of people in Australia – one in five – experience some kind of disability. Yet we’ve only had eleven people with a disability in federal Parliament since Federation. Since 1901. It’s appalling,” he said.

Removing barriers to employment opportunities is also particularly high on his agenda for positive change.

“We are spending billions on billions of dollars supporting people with a disability and yet we are not taking advantage and grasping the value that they bring with their lived experience,” he told the recent national conference.

“I think the biggest barrier we face is perception and giving people an opportunity for a job.”

Clark said receiving the inaugural Kimberley Kitching award was “very humbling”.

“I’m incredibly humbled. It’s just Wow.”

Within his hometown the Creswick local is currently also advocating for a new scout hall.

“The current scout hall is in a flood zone and has been flooded several times,” he said.

“We want a new hall that’s fully accessible and can be used for the First Creswick Scout group and many other community groups as well. We want it to be built at a site near the train station and we’ve applied for $500,000 through the federal regional grant fund. We’re also seeking $400,000 through the state and working with our local member Martha Haylett.”

Words and images: Eve Lamb

Mention the word “clogging” and many will immediately visualise heavy Dutch clogs and maybe pitch in a mental windmill and a few tulips as well. Wrong.
Turns out clogging is all about rhythm and not about wearing wooden clogs at all, as The Local discovered after catching up with experienced local clogging instructors Cheryl Holland and Nev Flegg (pictured above).
Cheryl, from Sulky just out of Creswick, and Creswickian Nev started the Creswick Cloggers just over two months ago. While they’d been quietly confident of a reasonable turnout, even they admit they’ve been surprised at the enthusiastic uptake among locals who are keen to clog.
The weekly sessions happen Tuesdays 6.30-8.30pm at the Creswick scout hall and have been been pretty well packed each time.
At this point Nev and Cheryl are considering starting a new beginners’ class either before Christmas or early in the new year depending on demand, and they’ve already registered the Creswick Cloggers to perform at next year’s CresFest.
“We’ve now got 22 cloggers – 14 beginners who have turned up and eight ex-cloggers,” Nev says.
Besides teaching clogging at Creswick Nev teaches the niche dance form in Footscray and also teaches line dancing as well, while Cheryl also runs weekly clogging classes in Cheltenham.
“Soon as you say clogging people think wooden Dutch shoes,” Nev laughs.
“We’ve actually got (moveable metallic) plates on our shoes and clogging taps rattle as opposed to tap dancer plates. Tap dancers have a solid piece of alloy bolted to their shoes.”
By way of demonstration, Cheryl and Nev pull on their nifty white dancing shoes, which look fairly flexible, and turn up the soles to display the metallic moveable plates attached beneath.
The plates mean the clogging steps they perform will make an infectious percussive sound that everyone within earshot will hear and find hard to resist, as Cheryl and Nev deftly demonstrate.
Coincidentally, both Cheryl and Nev took up clogging in 1988 while living in entirely different parts of Australia. Even more coincidentally, they both started teaching the dance form in 1992. Clogging has taken them both all over Australia and overseas to perform, often to high acclaim.
The new Creswick Cloggers group is affiliated with the Australian Clogging Association. In fact they’re just back from participating in the annual National Clogging Convention in Gosford, NSW, where they had a ball performing their chosen showcase dance, Cheryl says.
“The National Clogging Convention takes place in a different state each year. Next year it’s in Western Australia and we are hoping to hold it in Ballarat in 2025,” Nev says.
Beginners start out simply by learning to bend and straighten their legs in time with the music – “learning the down beat,” Cheryl says. They go on to master eight basic movements. “And the steps are cued so you don’t have to remember a whole routine,” Cheryl says. “You just remember the steps.”

Performed in time with other dancers and with those little moveable metallic plates attached to your soles, the steps create a very satisfying percussive impact. Cheryl and Nev say that while clogging used to be done pretty much entirely to country music, these days you can expect plenty of current contemporary pop in the mix.
“The actual word – ‘clogging’ means ‘time’ in Welsh so it’s actually a time dance,” Cheryl says.
I ask Cheryl and Nev what they love most about clogging, what drew them to it in the first place.
“The friendship and the fun,” Cheryl says. “And it takes us to a different state in Australia each year and to New Zealand.”
Nev – whose prior clogging fun traverses Seattle, San Francisco, Santiago, Los Angeles and Chicago, to name just a bit of where it’s taken him – says it’s tops for stress relief as well. Time out from life’s little, or not-so-little worries.
“I tried giving up once and I couldn’t do it. I really like teaching and so does Cheryl,” he says. The national association website informs that clogging – or “Appalachian Mountain Folk Dance” – is actually an American folk dance with origins in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the US.
While it has strong ties to the step dances of the British Isles brought to the region by white settlers, clogging is also influenced by the traditional dance of Native Americans, and the traditional solo dances of African Americans.
Clogging is a misnomer, since it is not performed in clogs, although some of the original step dances from Europe were.
Nevertheless, the name persists, although in Appalachia, this form of percussive dance is often known as buck dancing or flatfooting. In recent times the dance form has spread to all parts of the world including Japan, England, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, as well as many European countries.
In Creswick, Cheryl and Nev say anyone interested can roll up and check out the class in action on a Tuesday evening, or you can email creswickcloggers@gmail.com if you’re interested in pulling on a pair of clogging shoes and joining in.

Words & file image: Donna Kelly

Hepburn’s Swiss Italian Festa is back after a three-year hiatus. From Friday, October 27 to Sunday, October 29, the region will come alive with a vibrant celebration of heritage, culture and lifestyle – with the theme Viva La Festa 23!
Coordinator Emma Ireland said she had been involved with the community festival in 2019 but with Covid, it had ground to a halt.
“I was all ready to go and then Covid happened. I was really looking forward to bringing it back to its heyday, it used to have a crowd of 20,000, and then all these years later I had time to help with community events, and that was Words in Winter and then the Swiss Italian Festa.
“I pulled in all the people I spoke to way back then and said ‘do you want this festival?’ and they all did, it is such an important cultural event. And I have two kids, one who doesn’t know anything about the festa and the other who has done the parade and was part of the performace at the amphitheatre and remembers the fireworks.
“And I thought about all the newcomers to the town and the kids who have grown up with such a significant festival. It used to be the biggest we had. I saw it in its shadow form and thought it might disappear and I wanted to get involved and have those stories told again.”
Emma said she had a lot of support from schools, teachers and the community with significant funding from Hepburn Shire Council and plenty of help from the Daylesford Community Opportunity Shop, Carol White at Lavandula, Liam Thornycroft at Beppe Restaurant and Daylesford Rotary, to mention a few.
“For those who haven’t experienced the festa, please come down and be part of the parade on Saturday and the family day at the amphitheatre, and then Sunday which is our lantern parade and fireworks. It is nice to gather again, it’s been a long time.”
Daylesford Primary School vice-principal Trudi Blick said she had been involved in the festa for at least 20 years, as the Italian teacher at the school. “It’s a really important festival and provides a valuable forum for students to showcase their Italian
learning, offer a real purpose for that learning, and to be involved in the community.
“All the community and schools get together for the parade in particular, and they
can perform and showcase their learning. It is a really valuable festival for our town and for us to celebrate our Swiss Italian history.” Link: www.swissitalianfesta.com

World-renowned garden designer and former Denver resident Paul Bangay, above, is the special guest of Sculptures in the Garden in the burgeoning art hub of Mudgee, New South Wales. And Kyneton sculptor Anne Anderson is among those exhibiting, with her work Treaty, pictured below.
This year’s exhibition, set in Rosby Vineyard’s gardens, will run until October 22 and showcase more than 300 large-scale sculptures and garden art, crafted by 130 of Australia’s leading and emerging artists.

Sculptures in the Garden combines a large-scale outdoor sculpture exhibition, a public program of artist workshops and talks, artist tours, live music, special guests, a themed local children’s exhibition, garden walks, and local food and wine.
It is a not-for-profit event, with proceeds going to local charity partners and the acquisition of sculptures for the Mudgee community’s public arts initiative. Since its inception 13 years ago event organisers have worked closely with Guide Dogs NSW/ ACT raising significant funds for the charity.
Mr Bangay opened the exhibition on October 7.
“I think of sculpture as enhancing the work of landscape designers. The correct placement of a sculpture in a garden brings life to the space. Its form, colour and materiality attract the eye and add interest to key places in the garden. I personally use sculpture to lead the eye around a garden.
“We have become increasingly aware of the need for art in the garden and, in particular, good Australian-created sculpture. Some years ago we looked to Europe for our source of ornamentation in the garden. Now we are commissioning or acquiring the work of our many talented Australian artists. For me this trend has developed as we become more confident in our homegrown sense of Australian
garden design.
“The inclusion of a well-placed sculpture can bring life to a garden by leading your eye to key areas of the landscape – it should extend your view in the garden, making the garden look larger than it actually is.” Link: www.sculpturesinthegarden.com.au

Words & image: Contributed

A word-art installation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is all around the walls of St George’s, Trentham. Put up by locals, it was dedicated by Bishop Matt Brain, the Anglican Bishop of Bendigo, on September 24.
“Jesus calls us to open our hearts to receive from and share with everyone,” he said. “I am delighted to bless this local initiative, which places the Uluru Statement in a space set aside for reflection and inspiration.
“The Statement from the Heart is a generous invitation from this land’s ancient peoples for more recent newcomers to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future. I pray that our hearts are open to respond.”
The Reverend Dr Charles Sherlock AM is the locum minister at St George’s.
“This referendum is very significant for our nation,” he said. “God calls us to live on the basis of truth. Yet much debate seems unaware of where the Voice proposal comes from – the Statement from the Heart.
“A parishioner came up with the idea of placing the Statement around the walls of St George’s, so that anyone can come in and engage with it in a safe space.”
Measuring the space available, planning how to fit the words in, then printing, cutting and pasting them up took some thinking. Finding a font large enough to make the word readable on A4 sheets saw Binner Gothic at 256 point do the trick.
“The practicalities were not only fun they made us look at the Statement closely. It is challenging and deeply thoughtful, and also a beautiful piece of English. That a large group managed to get it together on one page is amazing.
“We look forward to locals taking the opportunity to visit St George’s to engage with the Statement. We’re not telling people how to vote, but want everyone to be informed of what is being asked of us in the vote.”
During the day in St George’s, the Statement is read aloud by a variety of recorded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices. St George’s is at 58 High Street, Trentham. It is open daily, except from 3pm Saturday to 10.30am Sunday.

The Hepburn Springs Golf Club is running a series of activities to encourage more women to
play golf at the club.
Spokesperson Sue Howard said Back in the Swing was a relaxed and social way to get back into golf in
a supportive environment with friendly and helpful club members.
“You’ll play five to nine holes with experienced players giving tips on golf etiquette and rules – with
some fun activities and prizes thrown in.
“The cost is $15 per session which will be held on Sundays from 3-5pm, from October 15 until November 26. Book by text to Bev on 0437 122 756.
“We promise a fun couple of hours for golfers of all levels.”
Meanwhile, the Girls Getaway Women’s Golf Promotion includes a discount on 18 holes of golf and cart hire ($30 each) for groups of six or more women.
“The Girls Getaway is aimed at groups of golfers looking for a new place to come and stay and enjoy a
game at the wonderful Hepburn Springs golf course.
“Games can be booked online at the Hepburn Springs Golf Club website at www.hepburngolf.com
Book using the Girls Getaway promo code to receive the discount.”
Support for the activities has been provided through the Victorian State Government’s Change Our Game Community Activation grants program.

Words: Committee coordinator Jenny Hopkins | Image: Contributed

Paintings. Well, on July 1 when art entries were invited, paintings began to flow in, soon afterwards however there was a hiatus. For someone new to this job that was a matter of concern despite the perpetual comments: Don’t worry they’ll all pile in on the last few days. So true – they did.
This is being written on D-day, October 2. A week ago, there were 84 paintings…right now the 150th one I dreamed about last night has rolled in and tumbling over it are more. Not just quantity but uniqueness and quality. Such a relief. Thank you artists.
While that is happening, entries for various forms of sculpture arrived. And, I mean various forms, from Overwrought to Humoroos.
Sometime in between, talented quilters Tina Whittaker and Chris Calheiros opened up and categorised more than 50 outstanding quilts.
Then there was the visit to Newstead to meet Trevor, Helen, and their bonsai trees in their flourishing garden. Many years ago, they replaced an empty paddock with plants including bonsai trees.
In early November, some bonsais will find a spot on the smaller stage in the Daylesford Town Hall with some locally produced pottery and sculpture – not far from the Bendigo Bank Bar, perhaps more appropriately named Cheers for Forty Years.
We needed a judge of course. Well, we have two, Kim Percy and Morgan Williams, who are very used to judging and commenting on art in many forms at Radius Gallery.
This is Daylesford Rotary’s Art Show. Already we are delighted to involve Rotary members and friends. The Art Show committee members are Hepburn Council former CEO Victor S, Citizen of the Year 2022 Danny M, Victorian Quilters vice-president Denise L, artist, book author and donor of the major raffle prize, above, Brian N and his partner artist Roberta D, our scribe, Koos H, and me.
We are pleased also to involved members of the newly established Art Co-operative. They will be seen during the Art Show, welcoming you at the door, ensuring we have lots of delicious food and refreshing drinks at the not- to-be-missed Bendigo Bank Daylesford District opening and awards night.
That night and the four days afterwards will be filled with activity including scones, jam and cream, with fresh coffee, while you consider buying a painting, sculpture or quilt.
That does sound like a lot of helpers/volunteers – but we do need more for the opening (awards) night. We would love to involve more members of the community who are sure to find the experience fun and enjoyable. Link: www.daylesfordartshow.com.au/openingnight

It’s almost time to dust off your bins and head out to your fav outdoor spot with notepad at the ready for Aussie Bird Count 2023.

This year marks the 10th annual Aussie Bird Count, one of Australia’s greatest citizen science initiatives that encourages people of all ages to step outside to their favourite spot and spend just 20 minutes observing and counting the birds.

There’s some great prizes to be won and plenty of online resourcees available to help keen bird watchers participate in the popular annual citizen scientist event.

To take part, choose a spot, count the birds and take note of their species and the
numbers then share your data on the Aussie Bird Count app or the web form.

The Aussie Bird Count runs from October 16 to 22 with lots more info available via Link: www.aussiebirdcount.org.au

Creswick Woollen Mills is set to be the backdrop for a unique medley of musical styles, ranging from classical chamber music and opera arias to jazz improvisations and atmospheric soundscapes, as a selection of the region’s most esteemed musicians converge for the Musical Threads: Performers for Patients Concert.
With an aim to support the Creswick Health Upgrade Appeal, this concert speaks volumes for the town’s commitment to community health and wellbeing.
On Sunday, October 15, from 2.30pm to 4.30pm, listeners will embark on a transformative sonic journey, with pieces like a Mozart opera aria and a Schubert lied, jazz rhythms, and evocative cello loops, all underpinning Central Highlands Rural Health’s commitment to see better Creswick Hospital and Aged Care facilities.
Artists include violinist Susan Pierotti, Creswick’s versatile tenor Tim Drylie, harpsichordist Andrew Welsh, musical duo Judy Turner and Neil Adam, father-son jazz duet Adrian Deakin and Arlo Schwarz-
Deakin and cellist Conrad Hamill, pictured above.
Bob Orr, chair of the Creswick Health Upgrade Appeal Committee, said: “Musical Threads weaves together Creswick’s rich heritage, musical genius, and an undying spirit of community solidarity.”
Bookings: www.trybooking.com/CLRWK. For more detail: www.facebook.com/CHRHorgAU or get in touch at communications@chrh.org.au

Words: Eve Lamb. Image: Supplied

Former corporate lawyer, Mikaela Stafrace, (pronounced Staffarachi) is clearly passionate as she discusses her role as founder and CEO of WomenCAN Australia. The highly motivated change-maker will be guest speaker at the upcoming U3A AGM taking place in Daylesford on October 16.
Mikaela will share insights into why this not-for-profit, that helps disadvantaged women secure and retain good paid work, came into being, the work it’s doing now, and the difference it’s making.
Training and peer support are key aspects of what WomenCAN Australia does to help disadvantaged women secure good ongoing work.
It teams up with training institutions and employers to give free training and guaranteed jobs to women and girls who need them, but might otherwise miss out.
In the process, Mikaela says, it saves scarce taxpayers’ funds as the cost of its activities is “significantly less than Centrelink payments while the benefit is significantly more than that provided by Centrelink”.
In fact Mikaela says the numbers are currently being professionally crunched to work out just how much WomenCAN is saving the taxpayer.
Mikaela say women whom they particularly aim to help include refugees or asylum seekers who may need to retrain after fleeing oppressive and dangerous regimes. Sometimes simply learning to drive and gaining a licence is a key enabler for such women.
Other groups that may be assisted include women aged over 45, women who have fled domestic violence and those whose working lives have been disrupted by chronic illness.
In the four years since it started this organisation has changed lives and our wider society for the better.
“It’s now around 800 that we’ve helped and that includes 333 women who are now fully employed and 479 that have trained or are training towards securing work,” Mikaela says.
“A big sector of our cohort are women who have escaped domestic violence and are now getting back on their feet and coming into the healing process. We have some women who are exiting the justice
system.
“We only focus on five areas of high labour demand, providing peer support in five vocational areas, because we know there’s work there.
“That’s in aged care and child care, in transport, horticulture and commercial cookery, trades and, one for next year will be, cyber security. There’s a big need for data analysts and the like. Not the techies and the computer engineers, but data analysts.”
WomenCan Australia has a head office in South Melbourne but in the four years since it started it’s helped women in both metro areas and regional areas including the Castlemaine and Kyneton areas.
“I’d like to speak about the story of WomenCAN in terms of our journey and how we began and what we’ve achieved,” Mikaela says ahead of her upcoming Daylesford talk. “We’d rather that there was no inequality and that every woman had as much chance as the next person but that unfortunately is just not the case.
“None of us know each other’s stories and it can be incredible what a difference one offer of employment or one act of kindness can make.”
The AGM is at 10.30am with Mikaela’s guest speech set to start at 11am. Members of the public are welcome, but to help determine whether the venue is the town hall or the senior citizens building, those planning to attend should first email their RSVP to Hepburn U3A at info@u3ahepburnshire.com