Creswick residents have already started delving into the depths of their garages and assembling all manner of goodies and curios ahead of the town’s popular community garage sales set for next month.

The much-anticipated event happens Saturday October 19 and raises funds for the town’s neighbourhood centre and also for ongoing efforts to establish an indoor aquatic centre for the town.

Local households with goods to sell and garages to cleanse are invited to register for the all-of-town event and can then host a garage sale at their own address on the day.

Alternatively, they can get in contact with the neighbouhood centre and for $20 they can book to instead use one of a limited number of tables to sell their goods at the town’s regular monthly market happening on the same day as the big community garage sale.

“We’d love people to have a spring clean for  a worthy cause and help both the neighbourhood centre and  also the aquatic centre project,” says Creswick’s Hether Ingram, a staff member at CNC and coordinator of this year’s big community garage sale event.

“The old saying is that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure and it may be a bit cliched but it’s also true.”

Secretary of Creswick and District Aquatic Centre Inc, Julie Moran says efforts to establish an indoor aquatic centre for the town are gaining momentum with the tabling of a feasibility and business case study for the long-mooted project at this month’s council meeting.

Julie says the goal of getting an indoor aquatic center, complete with hydrotherapy facilities, for the community has been a long-held vision with the committee driving it formed back in 2012.

She says that the popular annual community garage sale is a great fund-raiser toward helping to realise the project and has proven particularly popular in previous years.

“Last year we had 55  registrations for the garage sale and we’re hoping to get just as many again this year,” CNC manager Crissy Austin says.

“Registrations have opened and registration forms are available at the Post Office and the Information Centre and also here at the neighbourhood centre, although we will be closed over the school term holidays.”

“We recommend that when people register to participate that they list the top seven items that they will have for sale, rather than just say ‘bric-a-brac’ for example,” Crissy says.

Julie says the list of goods for sale is  pretty much endless: “clothing and children’s toys, workshop tools and camping  gear, plants, seedlings, pots and garden tools, sewing machines, fabric, mirrors, tiles and renovation materials, fishing rods…”

“Creswick Community Garage Sales have been an annual fundraising event for the Creswick Aquatic Centre Campaign  since 2014,” she says.

“The need for year-round access to aquatics provision was identified as part of the Hepburn Shire Council’s Aquatics Strategy.

“Creswick is a growth area with young families and healthy retirees choosing a regional lifestyle where they have access to all the city facilities. But Creswick has no swimming pool.

“A feasibility and business case study has now been presented to the council but due to council now being in caretaker mode any decision or discussion regarding the report has been held over until early next year.”

On the day of the big garage sales event maps with addresses and directions to all participating garage sales will be available from 8am at the Creswick Bandstand and the Creswick Market, and from 10 am at the Creswick Information Centre.

Maps will cost $5 and proceeds will be shared between the CNC programs and the ongoing campaign to get  indoor heated pool for the town.

Words and Image: Eve Lamb

It was impressive to hear multiple school children reeling off the names of famous Indigenous Australians through history as they gathered for a special event in the Creswick Neighbourhood Centre hall.

Hundreds of children from Creswick Primary School, Creswick North Primary and St Augustine’s attended the special NAIDOC event that took place last Wednesday (July 24) following the earlier national event that had coincided with the school holidays.

“NAIDOC week should be a month. It’s worth celebrating,” said musician and music educator Cocosounds’ Stella Savy, who taught the children some Indigenous songs and accompanying moves.

The children also learnt about time-honoured Indigenous traditions like respect for Elders, Welcome to Country, and Acknowledgement of Country – and the difference between them, as well as what the acronym NAIDOC actually stands for – National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee.

Outside the hall it was a chance for the children to launch the finished results of a special arts project to which they’d all contributed, along with preschool and playgroup children.

“There are at least 400 shapes in the mural that were made by the local men’s and women’s sheds and the children have then decorated them using Indigenous style art and colour and they’ve all been curated on the panels by local artist Dale Oliver,” CNC manager Chrissy Austin said

Words & images: Eve Lamb 

Do you sometimes despair when your child sings around the house, perhaps not quite in
tune while banging out some crazy rhythm on the kitchen counter? Don’t!
The Creswick Neighbourhood Centre knows that your child is sending you a message that
says look at me! Your child is developing all sorts of skills in readiness for the next stage of
life. And the Creswick Neighbourhood Centre has the very program to harness the energy of
your child to make more than just music. Music is fundamental in all areas of childhood
development and skills, from listening and reading, counting and sharing, to learning to be
part of a team.
The Creswick Neighbourhood Centre has tailored a special music program that includes
singing, African drum playing and being a member of a choir. The program is run by Stella
Savy who is probably one of Australia’s best-known advocates for and specialist of music for
young people.
“I’ve been working with young people for over 30 years and I see the way in which music
helps the overall development of these wonderful children. The sounds and the rhythms
that we work with help the body and mind work together. The freedom to move and express
themselves encourages the building of motor skills and, of course, music strengthens
memory skills. Music is the most amazing package: learning, development and fun wrapped
in one happy bundle.”
For your child to be part of this innovative program, which starts on Wednesday 4 October,
bookings can be made through Humanitix or through the CNC website.

Young gaming enthusiasts are in for a treat tomorrw Thursday 21 September when the Creswick
Neighbourhood Centre hosts ‘Level Up Creswick’ as part of Youth Week.
This event has been funded by the Victorian Government and Martha Haylett will be in attendance to
see the kids doing their thing.
The event will be run by Level Up who are bringing with them the latest tech and games as well as VR
headsets, PS5, Xbox series X, Switch, Last Gen +++ and Mario Kart.
The CNC is very exciting to be hosting such a fun event, centre manager Chrissy Austin says.
“We know there are not many offerings for young people aged 10-14 apparent from sport, so we are thrilled to be hosting this event,” Ms Austin says.

“We have been flooded with inquiries from young people who are keen to come together and share their love of gaming”.
The CNC will be using this event to launch their brand new Youth Program in term 4 which will run on
Thursday’s after school from 4-5.30pm with Tom Brooker heading it up. This program for 10-14 year
olds will be a combination of gaming/tech, board games and lego building.

Words: Eve Lamb. Images: Supplied

There was a fair bit of wartangu happening at the Creswick Neighbourhood Centre as part of an occasion worth celebrating recently.

Wartangu? I hear you ask… It’s the Dja Dja Wurrung, Indigenous word for ‘coming together’ and this particular coming together celebrated NAIDOC week with the naming of several significant rooms at the local neighbourhood centre.

Centre manager Chrissy Austin had invited the state Member for Ripon, Martha Haylett, Hepburn shire councillors, centre committee and friends to the event which launched the new Indig names in the language of the Djaara People.

“I approached the Djaara Language Centre to gain approval to name a number of our rooms in Dja Dja Wurrung words in order to begin the passage of integrating Indigenous words into our own everyday language,” Chrissy said.

As a result, the centre’s programs room has become the wartangu (we come – learning/coming together/being together) room.

The computer room/learning lab is now the nyakang nyernang (seeing and hearing – learning/education/getting education room.

The shared kitchen is now the djakitj (food) room while the library is the Djimbayang (teaching/learning) room.

“We’re really keen to see the embedding of the Indigenous language into our everyday language,” Chrissy said.

“A main aim for us is to be more welcoming and inclusive and one of the ways is through language.”

After the naming event took place, Chrissy said that the Indigenous Djarra naming of the CNC rooms was already proving to be a valuable means toward achieving that goal.

“It’s proving to be a really good tool for our teachers and for our volunteers. It’s the start of a journey for us. We’re just hoping to grow it as much as possible and bring people on the journey with us,” she said.

“I want to encourage people to not be afraid to make a mistake with the new names in the rooms. They’re absolutely fantastic.”