Lions Hearing assistance dogs, also known as “furry ears” are being provided to people with deafness and hearing difficulty free of charge.

The program was founded in 1980 and since than Australian Lions Hearing Dogs has delivered more than 650 Australians a professionally trained Hearing Assistance Dog.

Recently, the Lions Club of Castlemaine provided Gumhaven Just Jagger aka Buster to Helen Williams.

For more information contact Gita Khatri from the Lions Club of Trentham on trenthamlion@gmail.com or ALHD at www.lionshearingdogs.com.au

Thousands of cycling fans are set to head to Ballarat when the AusCycling Road National Championships return next year from January 4 to 7.

The event will see some of Australia’s best elite and junior cyclists and para cyclists battle it out for the coveted green and gold national jerseys on the roads of Ballarat and Buninyong.

This year’s event saw more than 10,000 spectators attending.

with Clive Hartley

The pursuit of pinot
Pinot noir is a significant grape for the Macedon Ranges, along with chardonnay. Climatically, we are on the edge of being able to ripen the grape. However, that is not a bad thing as the grape responds well in a marginal climate. Grapes grown in a hot climate can lose their varietal identity and have ‘cooked’ fruit aromas if not carefully managed. If the bunches fail to ripen the resulting wine becomes weedy and herbaceous. You need a long summer and warmish autumn to get the right balance. It is a low yielding grape variety, losing its flavour if you crop too high. Vignerons walk a tight link between success and failure. You can see why I like to think of it as a ‘tightrope’ grape variety.
Pinot represented only 2.6 per cent of crushed grapes in Australia in 2022. The pursuit of pinot is often only the quest of smaller producers and not the big players in the industry. It’s a winemaker’s grape that brings out their artistry and skill. There are close to 50 clones available in Australia. MV6 is the most widely planted clone, and it produces more firmer, darker red fruit wines. Whilst other clones, such as D5V12, are light and aromatic with bright red fruits. Choosing the right clone for the vineyard site is critical and vineyards are often planted with a number of different ones.
In general, pinot should be light bodied, dry with soft tannins and aromas/flavours of red fruits and oak. You do get variations of this, and I divide the wines into three categories. First there is the soft, fresh cherry and strawberry fruit dominated style that is very light and acidic. Opposite to this is a more meaty, even tannic style that has savoury game, mushroom and oak derived aroma and flavours. In between you get a nicely balanced ripe red fruit style with some subtle oak.
Here is a top 10 of some local producers that I’ve recently tasted and recommend: Attwoods, Joshua Cooper, Curly Flat, Hanging Rock, Musk Lane, Lyons Will, Passing Clouds, Silent Way, J.P Trijsburg and Zig Zag Rd.

Clive Hartley is an award-winning wine writer. Want to learn more? Buy his 300+ page full colour Australian Wine Guide (7th ed) from Paradise Books in Daylesford or via his website – www.australianwineguide.com.au

The Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve now has Hepburn Shire’s third electric vehicle charging station as part of a collaboration led by Chargefox with partners Hepburn Energy, the Hepburn Shire Council and Central Highlands Water.

To date stations have also previously been installed in Creswick and Daylesford with two more planned – for Trentham and Clunes.

The program has received co-funding from state government’s Destination Charging Across Victoria Program and installation has been carried out by local electrician Fells Electrical.

These stations are hoped to contribute to shire-wide efforts to reach zero-net emissions by 2030 as part of the Hepburn Z-NET partnership.

Words: Donna Kelly

A PLANNING application for five dwellings at 1 Raglan Street, Daylesford, has people wondering if it is the site of next year’s series of television show The Block.
The site is diagnally opposite the Farmers Arms Hotel.
The application to Hepburn Shire Council has a report prepared by Niche Planning Studio but the name of the applicant and owner of the land, on the corner of Raglan Street and the Midland Highway, has been redacted (blacked out).
The application says it supports the proposed development of five carbon-neutral, architecturally designed residential dwellings.
Each has a large kitchen and living/dining area with a mezzanine. There are five bedrooms in wings, two with en-suite bathrooms and all with access to a terrace. There is also another bathroom, rumpus room, three-car garage – and a heated swimming pool.
The application says a key principle is to maintain Daylesford’s leafy and spacious entry along the Midland Highway, transitioning from rural farmland to township-built form character.
It says access to the Midland Highway for the 3.8-hectare site has been proposed in a previously lodged application to Hepburn Shire Council.
Queries to Hepburn Shire Council Birch Ward councillors Jen Bray and Lesley Hewitt, and Mayor Brian Hood, were not responded to by press time. A query to Niche Planning Studio was also not responded to.
Hygge Property director Adam Walsh said he could not comment on the application but 1 Raglan Street, Daylesford was part of Hygge Property’s Middleton Field community.
The Block has told media outlets it does not comment on future sites although a number of media outlets have published articles saying that The Block will return to a regional area next year and is looking in the Hepburn Shire region.
Meanwhile, reaction on social media to the application is mixed.
“Anyone know more about The Block attempting to get permits to build massive houses and pools on the Wombat Park corner block near The Farmers? That would be devastating for the town! We don’t need a bogan TV station bringing hoards of day trippers.”
“Don’t know what the problem is – they won’t be the only ones building. Think of the money it will bring into the traders of the town.”
“With their Macca’s food van and Bunnings vouchers? Doubt the local small businesses are sponsoring the show.”
“Those places would look ordinary in that paddock. I’m interested to see how long permits take for them in comparison to local applications. Could be interesting.”
“Mitre 10 is the sponsor, and I’m sure there is one across from the site. I think they will be pretty happy to be supporting the build. I think a lot of businesses will benefit. Three months accomm for over 100 production staff, fuel and food just to start with.”
“I bet The Block gets permits while everyone else in the Hepburn Shire has to wait years for a simple one, typical of this shire.”
“The only positive that I can see for this is that otherwise that area is going to be subdivided into suburban (city) sized blocks and then be filled with cookie cutter big houses with little to no yards. If the rumours are true then these Block houses will be older period homes that have been relocated and then renovated and will at least provide a visual buffer from the Midland Highway to what will otherwise be a mini Caroline Springs housing estate.”
“I like that this is where we draw the line…have you looked at the town? It’s a joke. It’s already Caroline Springs.”
“You aren’t going to stop tourists coming or people moving to Daylesford. It’s a commutable distance from Melb and has all the amenities making it a very liveable town for all ages. Better to push for upgrades to services than to fight a losing battle.”
“It’s called progress and brings visitors and dollars into the town. Also more residents that will support local business. Great idea.”
“Don’t know about you but a home on a 2 acre or 1 acre block would be preferable than an estate for 50 blocks and actually help retain the trees. If it was a housing estate you’re more likely to see wholesale cutting out of trees. I do agree that the traffic will be bad and surprised they have built in such a prominent block rather than down some back road where they can control things.”
“I’m pretty sure something else is going in that location and the block is going in Glenlyon.”
“I swear if The Block get permits before us I will sue the council.”
“As they are always having McDonalds does that mean Daylesford will get a Maccas?”

Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barnes

Want to warm up for winter? Head to the Guilly. A friendly family pub just this side of Castlemaine.
The pub is well back up and running after a little incident, ok, they had a small fire, and ready to receive locals and visitors alike.
There is always a friendly welcome from owners and hospitality triple threats Tom and Megan, who know how to provide great food, drinks and atmosphere.
We always choose to sit in the front bar which has a fantastic fire roaring away during the cooler months but there’s also the refurbished dining room and plenty of people still opt for outside if the winter sun is shining.
On a recent visit with good friends Mr and Mrs B, we opted for a bar corner, so we could chat, ordered drinks from Tom and checked out the menu.
I chose, as I always do, the chilli & garlic prawn spaghetti ($32). It is so good, full of plump prawns, just the right amount of chilli and garlic and pops of cherry tomatoes.
Being a Sunday, Kyle went for the Sunday roast. A huge piece of pork, loads of veggies, a corker of a gravy and topped with crunchy crackling.
Our friends decided to both enjoy the lemon pepper calamari ($28) served with salad and chips. Now, everyone has had those 1970s stringy calamari rings but this is not that. It is lightly dusted, big pieces of calamari and it’s just perfect to the bite. I know, because it’s my other go-to meal here.
We weren’t up for desserts, perhaps because we started with a couple of serves of the cheese & garlic bread ($10) but there are three to choose from, all $14. The chocolate pudding, creme caramel or the vegan apple and rhubarb crumble.
The Guildford Family Hotel is open five days, with dinners on offer from Wednesday through to Saturday, and lunches on Saturday and Sunday. It’s also a great spot to just chill with a drink and watch the world go by, Wednesday to Friday from 3pm, and the weekends from noon.
If you are feeling lucky, make sure you head there for the Friday Night Raffle drawn at 7.30pm, supporting many local organisations and charities. So even if you don’t win, they do.
See you at the Guilly!

RE Just Sayin’… – July 3, 2023 Issue 283
I enjoy and appreciate The Local, thank you for providing this free publication. I look forward to getting to the back pages of The Local so that I can be annoyed or buoyed by Kyle’s rant, and entertained, informed and at times provoked by your Just Sayin’… column.
In this issue I was deeply disappointed. You wrote that you don’t know enough about the Voice, and you say the answer to the referendum question should of course be Yes, yet you advise voting No, based on not enough information.
I wonder how much detail the general public have been given in past for constitutional change? This is the first time First Nations people will be enshrined in our constitution and yet you advise to continue to wait? I’m not sure exactly what detail you want?
It is intensely upsetting that you echo and amplify Peter Dutton’s very loud and very privileged arguments, someone who has done nothing significant to improve the lives of Aboriginal people.
I’m not a First Nations person, but white people stole their lands, killed Aboriginal people, stole children and ruined their culture and now prevaricate about ‘letting’ them have a voice, when we are the ones on stolen lands. Enough information is out there to start the process, and the referendum is just the first step in the process.
I’m really upset that you are in a position of influence and are advising readers to vote no, whilst also saying you don’t know enough. Read The Voice To Parliament handbook, listen to podcasts, talk to First Nations people.
Are you hearing the voices of Aboriginal people? Are we used to being in a position of power and not able to see how truly devastating this would be if we voted against the referendum? If people vote ‘no’ then governments will think they have the authority to continue to do nothing of consequence, and nothing will change and nothing will improve the lives of Aboriginal people. Nothing.

From: Mez Lanigan, Trentham
(Ed’s note: For the record, I said the vote should be yes but I fear it will be no. Not to vote no.)
Letters and musings are always welcome. Email news@tlnews.com.au
Any addressed Dear Sir will be deleted – you know why 🙂

A grant from the Empowering Communities Fund through the City of Ballarat and Department of Justice and Community Safety means Cafs (Child & Family Services, Ballarat) Thread Together is delivering two free styling workshops specifically aimed at members of the LGBTIQA+ community, offering a safe and supportive environment to celebrate and embrace individuality.
The workshops will be facilitated by professional stylist, Claire Jensen. With her extensive experience working with the LGBTIQA+ community, Claire will offer guidance and insights about navigating personal style while embracing and expressing one’s identity.
Participants will have the chance to engage in one-on-one consultations with Claire, where they can receive tailored advice and recommendations to suit their unique preferences and needs.
“We are incredibly excited to host the Thread Together Styling Workshops,” said Cafs CEO Wendy Sturgess.
“This program reflects our commitment to creating an inclusive and supportive community that embraces and celebrates diversity. We believe that fashion is a powerful form of self-expression, and we want to provide a platform for LGBTIQA+ people to explore and showcase their style.
“For many of us, we get dressed every day based on what we know about fashion and what we’ve been conditioned to believe style to be. But actually, it’s so much more,” Claire said.
“When we can tap into how we want to be perceived and how this is reflected in our wardrobe, the impact is transformational. When a client is also going through a period of transition, the impact is 10-fold because suddenly the person presented to the outside world matches who they’ve always been on the inside.”
The next workshop is on August 30. Details: 1800 692 237 or threadtogether@cafs.org.au

Words: Tony Sawrey

CLARKSDALE is a town of 15,000 in the US state of Mississippi and considered by many music aficionados to be an important part of the development of blues music.
It is one of the main attractions on the modern day Mississippi Blues Trail with sites such as the Riverside Hotel where many significant touring blues entertainers stayed and the Delta Blues Museum, which for many years was the town’s only major tourist draw.
Over the years the place has counted artists such as Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, John Lee Hooker and Ike Turner as residents. And somewhere on the surrounding plains are the crossroads where, nearly 100 years ago, singer-guitarist Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil to improve his playing skills.
For this and many other reasons fans of blues music from around the world now come to Clarksdale in the heart of the Delta.
In 2006, Daylesford musician Adrian Kosky made his own pilgrimage to the area, but his journey turned out to be more than a fleeting visit. It led to love and marriage along with a lifelong connection to both Clarksdale and the contemporary Delta music scene.
“I met my wife Carla Maxwell the year before while I was on a music scholarship in North Carolina, but returned in 2006,” says Adrian. “Next time I saw her, I had an ambition to get to Clarksdale and needed a ride. She gave me that ride, and the rest is history.”
Carla is a musician from Tennessee with family roots in Kentucky. She had ventured to the Appalachian region bordering the east of the state to learn about her musical heritage and the music of the mountains.
Adrian, an Australian tourist with a deep interest in music of the American south was looking to get to Clarksdale and experience its rich blues history. Carla took him back to Memphis and gave him a quick taste of Clarksdale, setting the course for a union of friendship, love and music.
Together, as husband and wife, their music evokes the traditions of folk blues, combined with old-time Appalachia, while arousing the restless yearning that keeps them on a permanent walkabout between their homes in Mississippi and rural Victoria.
Though the couple came from completely different backgrounds, their entwined cultures of Australia and America inform their folk-driven sound and they regularly play together as Table Hill.
“Carla’s family live around Memphis, and mine are around the Victorian Central Highlands. We have created two homes, one here where our Australian family lives and another in Mississippi, which is close to our American family,” he says.
Before meeting Carla, Adrian had embarked on numerous projects renovating and restoring historic buildings in Daylesford and Trentham from the 1990s on.
With this sort of development experience under his hat, it was not an implausible idea to do something similar in Clarksdale – and in doing so merge the couple’s love of music with a project that would eventually see the creation of a unique cultural interplay between the Delta and the Central Highlands.
“We purchased an old Masonic temple in the downtown area of Clarksdale in 2012, and revitalised the building over three years. We called it The Holy Moly after the rebuild and it includes our US home on the second floor.”
Today the building is part of a revival of the Clarksdale downtown area that was, for many years, neglected and empty. As well as being the couple’s US base, it provides retail and residential spaces for creative people and features a multi-use theatre. And Adrian and Carla regularly open their place up for special events, house concerts and local festivals.
“Both of us are keen to support visiting Australian musicians and artists who have an interest in the Americana Music Triangle (covering an area between Nashville, east to Memphis and south to New Orleans.)
“Likewise, we are also happy to support artists from the US, who might be drawn to the Central Highlands region, to write, heal, create or record. We do this by having self-contained accommodation in both of our homes.”
Adrian adds that the 14 friends who have visited the local region from Clarksdale are called ‘Clarksdalesfordians’ and the many Australians who have come to Clarksdale are known as ‘Clarkstralians’. A cultural exchange that has grown stronger and stronger since 2012.

Words: Donna Kelly

Planning is well under way for next month’s Words in Winter and Beck Lister will be hitting the couch on Sunday, August 27 with three guest artists.
Beck is an award-winning playwright, arts producer, MC and social worker. She is the co-artistic director of arts company Anvil Productions and the director of Education and Psychosocial Programs at Eating Disorders Victoria.
The Words in Winter event is the first of Anvil Production’s On The Couch with Beck Lister, an event happening every month from August, each show featuring two local guests and one “out of towner”. August’s guests are Adam Fawcett, Harmony Byrne and Alexandra Collier – with resident musician Douglas Lee Robertson.
“Adam Fawcett, pictured left, is a local playwright, a successful mid-career writer, living in Daylesford. He has a company, Lab Kelpie, and I am pretty excited to talk to Adam because he has a new play opening in November at Theatre Works in St Kilda. So it is a nice opportunity to chat about that.
“My second guest is local musician Harmony Byrne, centre, a beautiful young singer/songwriter who has a wonderful combination of soulful sound that is also grungy and thrashy. Harmony is a terrific woman and I saw her perform a few weeks ago at the Yandoit Cultural Centre.
“My third guest is a writer from Melbourne who has spent a lot of her working life in New York, Alexandra Collier, right. She has launched a book called Inconceivable, a memoir of her journey to have a child solo. She has worked as a playwright and writer for film and is very open and has a really great presence. Her book is beautiful and it was lovely to invite her to come up to Daylesford.”
Beck said the show was “part chat show, part therapy” with guests asked to speak about their art-making process. “There will also be the difficult questions about how do you go about making art when you feel flat or devoid of new ideas. Artists often talk about a low period and I want to know how they navigate that and start creating again, and how does their own life inform their arts practice?
“The artists have also been asked to read or sing or showcase a piece of their work and we also have music with Douglas Lee Robertson, who used to live in Daylesford and is pretty excited to be working on the show here.”
Beck, who lived in Daylesford about 15 years ago before moving to Melbourne and then north-west Queensland, and back to Daylesford a couple of years ago, said she was stoked to be a part of Words in Winter. She has two other shows in the festival including chatting about a book she co-wrote with her husband Tony Kelly, Growing Pineapples in the Outback, and a breakfast event, Future Women.
Link: www.wordsinwinter.com

Words: Darren Lowe

Following its sell-out success last year, Winter Sounds is returning to Daylesford in August with a great line-up of Australian artists performing in a range of local venues.
From August 17-20 the line-up including Mo’Ju, Gareth Liddiard, Jen Cloher, Tex Perkins & Matt Walker,
Adalita, Watty Thompson, Jess Ribeiro, Martin Frawley, Leah Senior, Coda Chroma, Skyscraper Stan and Jarrah Olive will play gigs around the region – Daylesford, Glenlyon, Bullarto and Clunes.
Winter Sounds is produced by the team behind the successful Riverboats Music Festival and supported by Visit Victoria and the event’s director Dave Frazer says: “Winter Sounds is about providing audiences with the opportunity to experience extraordinary performances in extraordinary spaces, and we are so excited to be rugging up and returning to the Daylesford region this winter.”
For one of the unique shows in the series, take the train to the Bullarto Hall for sets by Gareth Liddiard, Adalita, Martin Frawley and Jess Ribeiro. After a half hour journey through the Wombat State Forest on the Spa Country Railway, wander up the bush track to Bullarto Hall, where the fire drums will be roaring and the Mountain Goat tinnies will be on ice.
Alternatively, audiences can take a leisurely drive to Clunes, where Watty Thompson and Leah Senior will perform in the Clunes Town Hall.
In Daylesford, the phenomenal vocals of Mo’Ju, supported by Ballarat’s Coda Chroma, will play the Daylesford Town Hall on Saturday night, while Jen Cloher and Tex Perkins & Matt Walker will take over St Peter’s Catholic Church for two evening concerts.
Both buildings will be spectacularly lit by the team from RTR Productions to showcase the buildings’ architecture. Tickets on sale at www.wintersounds.com.au

Daylesford’s Brian Nash has long captivated art lovers with his powerful interpretations of the world around him, particularly landscape. Right now his work, together with that of photographer Bec Walker, is part of a feature exhibition showing at the Convent Gallery. In recent days, Brian generously shared his time with journalist Eve Lamb to provide some insights into his creative process, sources of inspiration, and life as a professional artist.

Eve: How should we best describe your artistic style?
Brian: Realist, impressionist.
Eve: How did you come to art?
Brian: I didn’t come to art. It came to me. For as long as can remember I was always drawing and painting and I thought everybody could do the same.
Eve: How did you nurture your innate arts talent?
Brian: I am completely self taught, I nurtured my art through observation and practice.
Eve: Where do you do most of your art work?
Brian: Mostly in the studio although I sketch subjects as well, but I like to finish work in the studio.
Eve: Which artists have influenced your creative practice?
Brian: Quite a lot actually, but some of them are Andrew Wyeth, John Singer Sargent, Sorolla, Hans Heysen, and Edgar Degas.
Eve: Are there any other particular factors that have influenced your creative practice?
Brian: Not really but I have always been a keen observer of what is around me.
Eve: What is your media of choice?
Brian: I work in acrylic, oil, pastel and watercolour.
Eve: What is your subject matter of choice? Why so?
Brian: I am mainly a landscape painter and living here in Daylesford I find inspiration and diversity within Hepburn Shire and the Central Highlands.
Eve: Have you ever worked in any other areas besides working as an artist?
Brian: I worked in a large printing company in Melbourne for 18 years before I decided to make art my career.
Eve: What are you working on at the moment?
Brian: A series of paintings of the Hepburn Shire.
Eve: What work, goals or projects do you have in mind for the future?
Brian: I am in the process of producing a book of paintings featuring the many beautiful subjects of the Hepburn Shire. The book is called The Golden Shire and should be published by October this year; very exciting for me as I have been working on this project for over 20 years.
Eve: When you work in the studio do you like to play music and if so what is your music of choice?
Brian: I do listen to music in the studio. Mainly classical.
Eve: To date what have been your career highlights as an artist?
Brian: One of them was a painting trip to Tuscany with a group of prominent Australian artists that was followed up by an exhibition of the works in Melbourne.
Eve: Do you have any exhibitions or special arts events taking place that you would like to let others know about?
Brian: At the moment I have an exhibition at the Convent Gallery with photographer Bec Walker, that will be shown till the end of August.
Eve: What would you rate as the biggest challenges in being a professional working artist today?
Brian: The biggest challenge for me is for my type of art to be accepted by the public as there are so many different styles of art to compete with.
Eve: And, for you personally, the greatest rewards?
Brian: I think the greatest reward for any artist is to believe in what you do, in the hope that your work is appreciated now and long after you are no longer here.

Words: Kevin Childs

LOVED by many for its music, eccentricity and atmosphere, the Old Hepburn Hotel upset many locals when the taps were turned off and doors shut three years ago.
Now, one of the new owners of the hotel and its land, local businessman Eddy Comelli (pictured above) says the hotel will become a house. “It’s zoned as residential and is to be sold soon,” he told The Local.
Bare soil around the heritage-protected hotel signals seven building blocks, plus three dwellings, making 11 residences, including the hotel, in a horseshoe- shaped area. The homes will be around the hotel that served the community almost continuously for 165 years.
Mr Comelli said a company had been formed but declined to name his partners. When the Old Hepburn shut it was threatened with demolition, but the Hepburn Shire Council obtained protection in the face of some locals saying the place should be pulled down. One suggested just a memorial plaque.
Using expert advice, the council found that the hotel “is of local historical significance as an example of the vernacular timber stores and hotels which sprung up along the principal routes to the goldfields around Hepburn and Daylesford in the mid-19th century”. Other local examples are Daylesford’s Beppe Restaurant, the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Trentham and the Swiss Mountain Hotel at Blampeid.
The Old Hepburn was the site of the first licensed store in 1854, serving Swiss Italian and Chinese goldminers digging in the nearby Breakneck Gorge until the late 19th century. As the rush ended, the village of Hepburn, and the Old Hepburn, emerged as a centre for the agricultural, horticultural and service industries.
Rebuilt in 1911 after it burnt down in 1906 and 1909, the hotel has a design that still resembles the 1860s building, incorporating fabric from the Victorian brick chimneys.
Included in the protection order is a requirement for external paint colours to either suit the building or be reinstated. Heritage Victoria says the hotel meets its threshold for listing and will be consulted on any work undertaken.
The council hoped that allowing further use of the building could contribute to its restoration and conservation.
In protecting the hotel, the council also said: “The application of the heritage overlay on a permanent basis may have an adverse economic impact by constraining development of the site. However, this would only apply to part of the property, with opportunities to develop the balance still able to be explored.”
As well, retention and conservation of the hotel could lead to “highly resolved and innovative architectural solutions.” Rather than someone’s home, as is now happening, the council believed that the old hotel would be “making opportunities for small business with benefits through tourism”.
“It is considered that economic effects will be offset by the contribution that the heritage place offers to the broader community and economy.”
Keeping a watchful eye on this is Cr Lesley Hewitt, who says one of the key conditions is protection of the cellar. Already, an ancient and unprotected pear tree behind the hotel is gone. Having twice arisen from the ashes, the pub that refused to die will now play host to new owners, their relatives and friends.

with Simone Kaplan

TRENTHAM’S Mary Walsh describes herself as a simple Irish girl, from a farming family, in Brideswell. She doesn’t like talking about herself and her mum used to say “self praise is no praise”. Even still, we had so much to talk about and the essence and wisdom of Mary Walsh was abundant.
Mary, 90, and a mother of nine and grandmother of 21, lives in the Walsh family
home on Railway Farm, built by her late husband Tom’s grandfather. After marrying
Tom in 1963, Mary moved into the house and they were happily married for 60 years
until his passing in 2018.
Mary possessed a unique sense of confidence and independence as a young woman, long before the feminist movement gained momentum.
Mary was inspired by her neighbours who were doctors. Although she couldn’tpursue medicine, she saw nursing as the next best thing. She studied nursing in Manchester, England and then went on to study midwifery in Winchester.
Although Mary’s parents would have loved for her to continue farming on their property, Mary had a drive for adventure and persisted with her dream.
After nursing studies, Mary’s peers were all travelling abroad to work. Mary applied for a job at the old Kyneton Hospital and after six weeks travel by ship, landed in her new town. Mary loved Australia and appreciated the lifestyle, job opportunities and wonderful people.
She started her career as a midwife bringing babies into the world and completed her nursing years working in palliative care – the full life cycle. Her favourite was caring and looking after the dying – she called it “soul work”. For her, providing a friendly touch and giving hope was incredibly rewarding. Mary’s faith, believing in the hereafter, assisted with this and gave her an inner strength.
During her early career, as a curious young woman, Mary also took opportunity to join the Flying Doctors in Queensland for seven months or so, when she was 23 years old. She describes it as “quite an experience”. And if it was a different time, Mary would have gone back to study as a mature age student and complete medicine.
Mary loves drumming up a conversation up with anyone in Trentham, always opening with “Do you live in Trentham?” – getting to know locals and tourists alike.
She fondly recalls a lovely encounter when she missed a train in Woodend one day, making a lifelong new friend.
Mary’s attention to detail of people’s names is remarkable, even at 90 years young. She has the art of making people feel special by showing genuine interest in them and their stories.
Mary appreciates her upbringing and feels her Irish values were a beautiful foundation on which she launched. In her “old fashioned village”, her mother always encouraged visiting people for a cup of tea. And Mary loves it when people pop around without rushing. “People don’t do this enough anymore.”
Being friendly, welcoming and having a warm house was central to life. Her heritage instilled you “can’t go with your hands by your sides” – always remembering to take something and not go empty handed to visit someone.
After returning to Ireland for a visit after 20 years away, Mary remembers the traditional food – bacon, cabbage and potato – and recalls how much she loved it.
“Nobody cooks like that.”
Mary’s late husband brought into the house Irish music and philosophy. Mary enjoyed and encouraged this, even though she says she’s not musical herself.
Mary met Tom at a dance in Kyneton. Although they connected and he showed interest, Mary had the opportunity to go on a work adventure and did this before reuniting and getting married.
Mary describes Tom as kind, very special, a gentle soul and a farmer. She loved their time relaxing around their farm kitchen, dirty boots and all.
They did some travelling and Mary really appreciates how Tom organised these trips. She feels her strengths lie in the kitchen at home where “meals are important”.
Like any relationship, the marriage wasn’t all rosy “hills and winds” but the values of empathy, patience, communication and being serious and committed, allowed them 60 years of fond memories. Mary states it was a “joy looking after Tom” when he was unwell with osteo-arthritis after knee surgery. He died at home with her.
Tom and Mary tried to give the kids every opportunity during their childhood. They worked very hard and were social. They would sit in their “big room” lounge around the fire and enjoy music with lots of people.
There were usually at least five kids home at any one time. Some were at boarding school and the other children visited aunts and friends for the holidays.
When the kids were young Mary had a lovely woman who helped the busy household. The kids’ school friends and acquaintances were always welcome if they didn’t have anywhere to stay. It really was a welcome place.
“I always loved entertaining, cooking and gardening. Taking time to set the table nicely. People are my forte, they are everything.”
Mary says ageing is teaching her “acceptance”. Back issues are getting in the way now but she has “to accept my lot”. She has learnt with age, to accept others’ hospitality, something which she found difficult when younger. She loves the odd overnight stay with friends and appreciates being taken care of so well.
Sitting in the sun in the garden is also lovely on a sunny Trentham day, Mary says. Her passion in life remains offering help to others, being generous and caring. Smiles, Mary says, are important. “They light you up and show people you are friendly and warm. I love being greeted by a smile.”

Take homes from Mary: A cup of tea breaks down everything; Be yourself; Be grateful for the
small things; Get into people’s hearts; Always say nice things; It’s about the people and
places; and Deal with things as they come.

Writer Simone Kaplan wants to hear and share stories of love and connection, accomplishment and meaning and death and loss. “I’m always curious about people and love getting to know their stories. The region seems to attract people with such a wealth of knowledge, experience and backgrounds and I’m excited to have a cup of tea and a chat with some locals to hear their story.”

Email contact@simonekaplan.com.au

The Daylesford Town Hall was decorated in red, white and blue and alive with the festive music of France, and other parts of Europe too, for the annual Quatorze Juillet celebrations conducted by the Hepburn Shire U3A French Group and the Daylesford Community Brass Band.
Over 120 people braved the weather to celebrate the French National Day in style. There were prizes for French-themed dress and French-themed tables and almost everybody arrived in some form of French tribute costume.
This was the ninth annual French Night in Daylesford and all present enjoyed a happy evening of food and music and a little can-can in the grand finale.
This is the Daylesford Community Brass Band’s major fundraising event of the year and the band provided a number of rousing tunes from Bizet, Dvorak, Lecuona and even Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Christine Douglas sang Songs my mother taught me, by Dvorak and Millie Gouldthorpe sang La Mer. Euphonium soloists Chris Billings and Mark Lyall performed the duet from the Pearl Fishers by Georges Bizet, and Jenny Jordan led the band through the other numbers.
There were raffles and a silent auction to raise funds for the band and notable this year was the large number of Daylesford eateries who provided meal vouchers to be snapped up in the silent auction.