March 4th, 2023Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

I HAD a nice compliment this week. The Powercor PR guy said my column in the last edition was the best power outage story he had read. Even showed it to his boss.
We were chatting because there was another power outage last Wednesday, planned for 9.15am to 3pm. We knew about it coming up for about a month so were ready. Sort of. For some reason I thought it was from 9.30am so really shouldn’t have put that shampoo in my hair while having a shower at 9.14am. Oh well. It’s going to be super squeaky clean by the afternoon. (For us, no power = no pump = no water.)
Oh, I even had bottles of water in the bathroom. Mostly to wash our hands but also, you know, you can fill the cistern if you really need one more flush.
Anyway, the day went past, slowly. It was a bit annoying because this edition is our ChillOut edition and our biggest of the year. So we really wanted to get things done. But it was planned so what can you do?
Mind you as the clock hit 3.30pm I started to get a little antsy. I might have posted something on social media and one person wrote back to say the times were just an indication. Hmmm. If I was Powercor I would have put a later time and then if the power comes on sooner, win-win. Not the other way around.
I also emailed the PR bloke who called back straight away. He was very nice, made the nice comment about my column and said he would call back, which he did, just as the power came back on at 4pm. So all good. And if you are reading this it means The Local came out in a timely manner too.
We are looking forward to ChillOut. We don’t go to many events but we are usually in the parade which is always a lot of fun but a bit strange. Sitting in the passenger seat waving to crowds always feels a bit like royalty. I find myself wondering if I have the wave right – too much, too little.
Last year the crowds went absolutely mad for us. They cheered and clapped and were really showing their support. It was so lovely until I realised it was all for Hepburn Shire Citizen of the Year Danny Moynihan, who was on the back of the ute. Danny is a long time ChillOut volunteer, as is his daughter Natalie and I am sure one day, grand-daughter Wynter. They are like real ChillOut royalty.
But we are back this year, with a twist, thanks to a lovely bloke called Tom. You will have to wait and see but feel free to give us a wave. We will be handing out The Local – and if you can find one unsigned by Jon Barrell it will be worth a fortune. That’s an inside joke.
Another funny one with Jon, who has hung up his stethoscope after 36 years, is that he came out to TL HQ for a chat about his work and retirement plans. That’s not the funny bit. We did the interview and then I went and found Kyle to take a photo. Kyle comes out, says g’day and then: “Well Jon, your photo appointment is 2.50pm (which it was) and I’ll be with you in half an hour.” We all laughed and laughed. It is a great read and with terrific photos of Jon away from GP work.
This edition is the biggest we have done for three years I think. It’s 80 pages, only because our printer can’t do bigger than that. But it seems like so much is coming back after stupid Covid. And that is fantastic. We have actually reinstated our Out & About section and dine reviews are back, the gig guide is really happening (thanks Darren) and there are plenty of things to do and see.
We worked really hard over the past three years to keep the community connected and will continue to do that – and keep prices affordable so even small businesses can advertise big. I hope you enjoy this edition as much as we did. Just sayin’…