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THANKS to demand, The Local is bringing back Pets@Work. So if you know someone who has a pet at work, dog, cat, hamster, rabbit or other, let us know. Email donna@tlnews.com.au

THE Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by a pioneer of Catholic education Nano Nagle in 1775. Historically, the Sisters have focused their energies on creating and staffing schools to educate young women.

DAVID Haines, a Woodend resident, has been playing board games for about 20 years and wondered if there were other local board game players within the community.

THE Clunes Senior Citizens Centre in Fraser Street had been central to the needs of its older residents since the early 1970s. Sadly 2020 and the restrictions on social gatherings brought about the dissolution of the centre and a 50-year chapter of community history came to a close. The building, with its range of meeting rooms suitable for a whole range of intellectual, physical and artistic pursuits lay empty and silent.

HER stage name portrays her perfectly – Sophie deLightful. And delightful she is. While thousands of Victorian artists and performers were starved of work and an income, Sophie turned a negative (she had a double whammy – an entertainer and a home-based travel agent) into a positive and was the inspiration behind pop-up circus Curbside Carnies.

THE Kyneton Art Group has been operating for more than 40 years. Its members meet every Tuesday at the Red Brick Hall in Yaldwyn Street Kyneton. The aim of the group has always been to provide fellowship and a space for artistic creativity.

COMMUNITIES around the Central Highlands, Ballarat, Bendigo and beyond are rallying for wine connoisseur and regional wine advocate Brad Fernando, after he was diagnosed last year with an aggressive tumour of the jaw.

Alessandro 'Alex' Micheli moved from Florence, Italy 25 years ago, taking up an IT position in Albury, New South Wales.

"SHE said yes!", is inscribed in one of the many lovelocks starting to take over the spillway bridge outside the historic change rooms at Lake Daylesford.

Watching the Wind Move

IT'S hard to imagine that in today’s day and age, girls and women across the world are denied access to basic sanitary needs. While periods are a part of every woman’s life, thousands endure unthinkable hardships, simply by being a woman.

THE hamlet of Lauriston, nestled in the Coliban Valley between Drummond and Kyneton, boasts around 235 residents. It is a figure, give or take a dozen people, that has remained unchanged since World War I.

TWENTY-three-year-old Michael Smith is nothing short of inspirational. The Macedon Ranges resident has overcome the odds to become an inspirational role model for others and to prove that anything is possible even when you are paralysed on one side and unable to enjoy all the things able-bodied people do.

IF you’re a musician you definitely know how abysmal last year was for getting out and showcasing your music. And if you think it was bad in the capital cities, spare a thought for the people operating in regional areas like here.

THE 15th Annual Junior Provincial Championship was held at Daylesford Bowling Club, competing for the Flapper Family Shield and BDBD Medallions.

ON JANUARY 16 I received a COVID-19 vaccination. This is how it happened.

Walking to Daylesford Cemetery

IT LOOKED like Victoria had beaten COVID-19 into submission, and then new cases began leaking in from NSW.

BREAD tags, those pesky coloured plastic squares used to close bags of bread, are in high demand. From Woodend, and all across Australia, they are collected and recycled to fund wheelchairs for disadvantaged South Africans.

IT’S hard to find anyone today who is not in agreement about the need to find alternative replacements to fossil fuels. A recent poll by the Lowy Institute found 84 per cent of Australians believe that governments should increase investment in this area.

AS THE the events of the year 2020 played themselves out across the world, perhaps one of the most visual manifestations of its far-reaching effects was the sight of dozens of aircraft lined up at disused airports across the world. Grounded almost instantly as international and domestic travel ground to a halt when borders closed, it was certainly not a good time to be holding your life savings in airline company stock.

THERE is a commonly held assumption that as people get older they tend to fall into rigid habits and are less able to quickly learn and acquire new forms of knowledge. As people enter their 50s and 60s there may just be an element of truth in such assumptions; at least if one does not take steps to disprove them.

A Telstra blackspot mobile phone tower at Bullarto is out of action after it was damaged by thieves who stole copper cabling which provides power to the site.

THERE is no doubt, the Hepburn Hub at The Rex in Vincent Street, Daylesford has been an absolute disaster from the outset.