Words: Eve Lamb. Images: Mitch Nivalis

When documentary maker Mitch Nivalis contacted The Local a little way back requesting use of an article the paper had published in 2017, editor Donna Kelly was happy to oblige.

Mitch, who resides just out of Castlemaine, was keen to include the article as part of their new doco Equal The Contest to help “connect the dots for the history of women’s football in the area.”

“I’m making a self funded documentary film called Equal the Contest about my football club The Mt Alexander Falcons in regional Victoria,” Mitch told Donna at the time.

Now that documentary is about to have its world premiere as part of the ninth annual Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival happening this month.

The film synopsis provides a taste for what Equal The Contest is all about: “When the rules exclude you, rewrite them,” it states, and continues…

“When a filmmaker joins a new local women’s footy club in central Victoria, a simple desire to play becomes a complex journey of inclusion and belonging. An unexpected turn of events means the team has to fight to play. Their campaign challenges age-old traditions and joins the wider movement for gender equity.”

The documentary’s premiere screening happens Saturday June 17 at 5pm and will be followed by a panel discussion with Mitch who also co-produced Equal the Contest with Tony Coombs.

Mitch’s role in making the documentary was initially Director and Director of Photography, but that expanded when they realised their own lived experience was a key part of the story…”So I’m not only the maker, but the participant, which was extremely challenging, confronting and in many ways healing,” Mitch said.

“During the making of the film one of our executives, Sam Henty, sent me a link to a 2017 article that had been written by Heather Mutimer and published in The Local about two women’s football teams that played two games in 1947 / 48 – The Castlemaine Woollen Mill women’s football team, and a Daylesford women’s football team which was a combination of two teams that existed in Daylesford at that time,” Mitch said.

“So that sent me on a quest to find any surviving members from the Castlemaine team. I did end up finding a woman called Mavis, who ended up becoming a much loved part of our story. So I’m extremely grateful to The Local for celebrating women’s sporting history and shining a light on some of the pioneers of our local area.”  

But Mitch saysbarriers still exist for women and gender diverse people to access and participate in sport across codes in Australia and hopes the documentary will contribute to positive change.

“I hope Equal the Contest creates an opportunity for people to understand how to create safe and inclusive spaces within clubs, particularly at the local level and to open up important conversations,” Mitch said.

“Conversations around fair and equal access to resources like gender neutral changerooms, playing and training times, distribution of club finances and allocation umpires, as well as conversations around access to safe spaces to participate for trans and gender diverse people.

“Historically, particularly male dominated sport, has focused on winning at all costs, on field aggression and making excuses for off-field incidences of violence and Equal the Contest shows how the Mt Alexander Falcons is leading by example to change club culture and provide a new model for community AFL. 

 “I’ve always been interested in documentary and I make short advocacy based doco style video content as part of my production company MDP Photography and Video.

“Equal the Contest has been my biggest undertaking to date though and the first time I’ve made a feature length film, although it comes off the back of a 35min doco called The Wonder of Improvisation that I made in 2017.

“Very quickly when turning up to the Falcons first ‘Come and Try’ day, I knew I had found a community unlike anything I’d ever been part of.

“The club and my teammates have become like a family to me and it has become a space where we are all able to celebrate each other, regardless of race, sexuality, gender identity, age, body size or ability.”

Those keen to get more information about Equal the Contest, the festival it’s part of, and to book tickets can head to: https://cdocff.com.au/2023-festival/equal-the-contest/

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

ABC Statewide Drive broadcaster Nicole Chvastek remains missing from the airwaves after two months with no explanation from the national broadcaster.
The show was also replaced for some weeks by Melbourne Drive but has returned with former Country Hour host Warwick Long.
An ABC media spokesperson said the matter was now before the Fair Work Commission and he could not comment.
Ms Chvastek’s lawyer, Mark Comito of Stal Employment Lawyers, said the matter was adjourned for a further conference at the Fair Work Commission on June 15.
“Discussions are continuing about Nicole’s application seeking orders to stop bullying,” he said.
On April 13, the ABC media spokesperson told The Local that Statewide Drive had been temporarily replaced with Melbourne Drive “due to operational reasons outside our control” but the show and Ms Chvastek would return.
On May 4 the spokesperson said Ms Chvastek was on leave and would return when refurbishments at the ABC Ballarat office were finished.
Ms Chvastek, a Malmsbury resident who has presented Statewide Drive from ABC’s Ballarat studios since 2012, was unable to be contacted for comment.
On a petition at change.org one person wrote: “I miss hearing Nicole on my radio every afternoon. Nicole lives in regional Victoria and she knows the issues which are important to us. She is such a compassionate person who is able to discuss very emotional and emotive issues so respectfully and with a focused and balanced approach. I miss her sense of humour and banter with guests, people who call in and colleagues. Please bring her back.”

Words: Donna Kelly

Renowned opera singer and director Christine Douglas may have had a distinguished career, and continues to do so, but she remains down to earth when it comes to describing her passion.
The flyer says Christine Douglas & her Studio Singers, accompanied by Adam Przewlocki, will perform a feast of song from Purcell to Puccini on Saturday, June 24 at Christ Church, Daylesford.
Christine says she has “a bunch of really interesting singers” and she “thought it was a good time to bring some beautiful vocal music to Daylesford”.
The musical feast will include a big range from Purcell, to Puccini, to some very comic Rossini, she says. “It’s music that people would know, a lot of highlights, and everyone is going to recognise these pieces. They are not highly esoteric, they are melodies that people are familiar with.”
The Studio Singers are people the Daylesford resident is currently teaching – some close to starting careers, others just singing opera for the love of it. They range from in age from 22 to 45 and hold down a variety of full-time careers or are studying, but are committed to juggling their time, and Christine’s, to learn their craft.
“Lots of people want to sing when they are growing up but they become accountants, or whatever seems to be the most practical thing. It’s all about money. It is very hard to support yourself as a young singer. I did a lot of waitressing, working in department stores, trying to pay bills to become a singer.
“And many of these people have gone and worked in these regular jobs and done singing on the side, but are now really starting to prioritise their singing. And you have to be quite brave to do that, but they are saying at 27 or 40, ‘I am going to pursue this’ because if not now, when?
“And one of the singers came to me thinking she could maybe just muck around with a few songs but has developed into the most wonderful singer and I have just suggested that she applies to Opera Australia’s chorus – it’s been quite a journey.”
“And, of course, sometimes, no matter how good the voice is, if the ear is not sufficiently trained it is extremely hard to get that voice right.
“Especially if someone comes to you in their 30s – we have to lay down a pathway in the brain for any skill we want to have and the older you are, the trickier it is. But some others have a wonderful talent and if they are determined, they will get there.”
Christine said some people looked at opera as highbrow and “it probably is”.
“The difficulty with opera is that it was invented in Italy so Italian in the core language and for people to learn to sing in a classical way they do have to approach the Italian language to some extent to get the vowel sounds right.”
With audiences, such as at Christ Church, Christine is also the compere and will be explaining to people what they are about to hear “to demystify the pieces”.
Christine’s own move into opera came from being born into a theatrical family with a well-known singer as a father and a dancer mother. Christine tried singing a variety of genres but everything sounded operatic. “It is just my voice.”
She trained at the Victorian College of the Arts with Dame Joan Hammond and has since sung opera all over Australia in leading roles. She also started a young artists’ program in Sydney and moved into directing.
The move to Daylesford after decades in Sydney came in 2020, renting and then buying. She and her husband have two groodles, walk them every day around Lake Daylesford and have found their tribe. “It was the best move of our lives moving here. We love it. I just can’t tell you how many wonderful people we have met.”
A Glenlyon local also got Christine back into singing. “Jenny Jordan got me to sing at the Bastille Day celebrations at the Daylesford Town Hall last July. I had been
focusing on teaching and she said ‘you need to sing’ and got me a special arrangement with the brass band. It was great and I thought, I am going to start singing again!”
The June 24 concert is the first of six concerts at Christ Church
Links: Christ Church Concerts Facebook or www.trybooking.com/events/
landing/1040691

By Donna Kelly
PUTTING together our education feature took me on a trip back to my school days. Mostly good memories – I was what you would call a “goody-goody” – and loved most of my teachers and was pretty much a straight A student from prep to Year 10. The wheels fell off then but that’s a
story I have already told.

Frankston born and bred, and living in The Range, we four Kelly kids went to Overport Primary School. It was a big school, about 1000 students I reckon, and about 35 in each class. A bit of a shock to the system but we all settled in pretty well.
Mum would drop us off in the Holden Premier (KEO 505 – funny how you remember some old stuff but not what you had for breakfast) and off you would go to your respective classroom. We were all two years apart so when my brother started in prep, I was in grade 2, my sister was in grade 4 and my other brother was in grade 6.
Dad was on the school committee for a while but by the time I was the oldest at the school he had quit so I never got to take home the important looking letters for him which I was quite annoyed about.
Mum did canteen duty now and again which was always great because you got free lollies and a school lunch order. I think I mostly had a sausage roll and maybe a bag of chips. Don’t worry, little lunch was mostly healthy, a bunch of grapes. And be assured there was not a bento box in sight.
School was different then. Most of the teachers smoked, they still had the strap for the boys and the other punishment was often sitting with both hands on your head for long stretches of time or having to write lines on the blackboard.
We had different “houses” and you could win points for your house with the principal’s myriad competitions. I learned all of the poem My Country for one of them and had another win in maths by learning how to not look down when writing answers to equations on the blackboard. Shaved seconds off the time it took – yes, it was about accuracy but also speed.
When primary school came to an end I found myself at a very newly built Mt Eliza High. That was a bus ride away and I only knew one other student. Most of the others were already in cliques from their own primary schools but I slowly made a group of good friends, all quite different but all good value. Some are still friends.
I still did well and enjoyed most of the classes but found it quite tricky to traverse the moving from classroom to classroom depending on the subject for that period.
Kyle would say I still have geographical issues but who did not turn the Melway sideways and upside down as they navigated?
It was the late 70s and Mt Eliza was in an experimental stage. We learned 10 different languages over the first two years – for a long time I could ask “where is the toilet?” in Swahili. We were meant to be immersed but I think overwhelmed would be a better word. We were also perhaps among the first schools where everyone did both wood and metal work along with cooking and craft. Boys and girls. I joined both the Scrabble and religious education clubs – both because they were held inside
during winter lunch times. I also edited the school newspaper, no surprise there, and continued on with my straight As. It was going well until a friend mentioned they were moving to Frankston High for year 11. Hmmm, I thought, that sounds fun. What could go wrong? And that story has been told before.
Anyway, I hope you have a look through our feature, check out schools if that is on your agenda and maybe relive your old school days. I get the feeling, even with rose-coloured glasses, they might be better now. Just sayin’…

By Donna Kelly

A FRIEND once told me, as the editor/journalist, I should attend council meetings. I told her she could go along in my stead. Her reply? “No thanks, what a waste of time.” Exactly.
I do get asked now and again why we don’t cover things like the aforementioned
council meetings, court rounds, police rounds or why we don’t chase ambulances or
perhaps do death knocks. If that has kept you up at night, it’s time I came clean.
Council meetings. Firstly, covering them is pretty much note taking. All the
decisions have already been made and these days the public pretty much gets about
two minutes to speak before they are pounced on for wasting time. Much better to
do the story before or after the meeting – and some of them last for hours. They are
live-streamed on Facebook if you are bored and have finished rearranging your sock
drawer.
Courts. When I was a young journo working on the Southern Peninsula Gazette
out of Rosebud, you would spend every Friday covering the courts in Dromana.
Now, sometimes you would find something good but mostly it was something pretty
ordinary. But we were there because that’s what old-fashioned newspapers did/do.
So some poor school principal who had spent 30 years giving his all to educate
thousands of kids, gets his name in the paper, and probably loses his job, for
being .051, or some woman with three shitty kids and a nasty, abusive husband is
named because her only chance to cry for help was stealing something at the local
supermarket. But we named and shamed. Not my kind of journalism and because I
am the editor, I get the last say.
Police rounds. Now, in the old days, police reporting was fun because cops and
journos would talk to each other. In fact there was more than one young female
journo, not me, who got all the best yarns in return for the odd bit of sex. And I also
remember one police station burning off a huge stash of marijuana – we all stood
around breathing deeply. And I am sure some of it went missing. But these days
everything has to pretty much go through the media liaison unit – so that was the end
of that.
Ambulance chasing. Who does this? Someone is having the most crap night/day
of their life and you want to know who and where and why. Maybe put a photo of
the crashed car on social media before the family has been informed? Maybe if you
are a TV station you can get a journo to stand in front of the Alfred Hospital and talk
about their condition? Maybe you could get a helicopter to fly above and get some
footage of the person being wheeled into said hospital? What a great way to spend a
day and what fantastic news. Really changing people’s lives. No thanks.
Oh, death knocks. Ever done one? There’s where they send mostly young journos
to someone’s house to try and find a relative to talk about the dead and dying.
Perhaps say things like “people would like to know what sort of person they were” or
“how is everyone holding up?”. If all really goes to plan you could take a moment to
grab a quick snap of a photo on the mantelpiece. Done the knock, nothing else, and
never again.
When we started The Local 10 years ago this September we wanted something
inspiring, educational, fun and informative. And I think we have done that.
And if you really want all that news above, just head to your phone. It is there
24/7 and we could never compete with that, even if we wanted to. Which we don’t.
We’ll just keep to connecting the community. Just sayin’…

ABC Statewide Drive presenter Nicole Chvastek is on leave but will return in six weeks, ABC
spokesperson John Woodward has told The Local.
Mr Woodward said the ABC Ballarat studios were being refurbished so the show was now coming out of
ABC’s Shepparton studios, hosted by Warwick Long.
“That arrangement will continue until the refurbishment work is complete, which is expected at the
end of June.”
On April 13, Mr Woodward told The Local the show had been temporarily replaced with Melbourne Drive
“due to operational reasons outside our control” but it would return with Ms Chvastek.
Mr Long, who hosted the ABC’s Victorian Country Hour, started in the Drive chair on Monday, May 1.
A change.org petition asking for the popular Malmsbury presenter’s return has more than 500
signatures, and a Facebook page, Fight for Nicole, is also up and running.
The petition says: “Nicole has been on our air waves for many years bringing relevant issues and topics to the forefront of public discussion.
“She tackles these issues with a passionate and balanced approach and has become a trusted
spokesperson for us all. She is irreplaceable.
“This axing is another example of regional Victoria not being adequately represented in the state arena.”
Words: Donna Kelly

DAYLESFORD’S Beth Whiting is heading to Hungary next month to
take part in the World Kettlebell Sport Federation championships.
Looking at the woman many people call “a pocket rocket”, there are plenty
of toned muscles and a very healthy glow from a strict workout regime. But it wasn’t
always that way. Eleven years ago, Beth was working with the Melbourne Festival and on
tour for six months of every year. With no fridge or pantry stocked with healthy food, and
always on the go, she found herself losing control of any food or fitness regime.
Beth used that moment to change her life around and rather than just find a diet,
she did a personal training course and started to eat well and work out. Still with the
Melbourne Festival, she took part in a boot camp at The Tan in Melbourne, worked out
on the stage of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and toned up. It was fun however Beth
certainly never thought it would be the start of a career. But it was.
She moved to the Central Highlands to live with her now husband, Brett, and found
work at a gym where she was also approached by a few people to see if she was interested
in starting an early morning local boot camp. Victoria Park in Daylesford was the first
location, starting on the oval, eventually moving into the table tennis pavilion and finally
now running full-time fitness classes for all abilities and ages at Integrate Fitness, out of a
purpose-designed space off East Street with “an incredible community all keen to be the
best versions of themselves”.
It was during the building of her fitness business that kettlebells came along and life
changed again. Beth had always loved them and had been looking for something for “just
me”.
“As every mum knows you lose yourself a bit and working in the business meant
I didn’t have time for my own workouts and my mental health needed that. I did a
kettlebell coaching course in 2014 with my now coach Shannon Pigdon and then
basically stalked him until he agreed to train me. He lives in Albury and I go up there
every three months or so to do a session with him.
“In the first competition I ever saw, the competitors were lifting continuously for 30
minutes so I went home and wondered if I could do that, and I picked up a kettlebell
and did it. It turns out I can do that – and more.
“Shannon sent me a program that involved three sessions a week, and I am all about
being accountable, so since 2019 I have done those three sessions every week. And it was
about finding me – I was a mum running a business – kettlebell is my meditation, my
flow, my time. And I had found not only something I was good at, and enjoyed, I also
found the strength it brought into my life.”
Beth says being good at kettlebells is all about a combination of mental and physical
resilience and the ability to keep going, no matter how tough that going gets. In
competition, once you start, you never, ever put a kettlebell down. The kettlebell itself is
a hollow ball of iron with a handle made of iron, weighing from eight kilograms to 50kg.
They are all the same size with the same handle, just the weight and colour vary.
Competitions include single and double lifts and range from 10 minutes to half
marathons of 30 minutes and full marathons of 60 minutes. The competitor’s weight, the
weight of the kettlebell and repetitions completed all come into the winning equation.
Beth sometimes competes against people who weigh five kilos less than her, or 40kg more.
And after competing at the Australian Nationals in September last year she was offered a
place on the Australian team to compete in Hungary.
“I am excited and I can’t wait to experience being a part of the Australian Kettlebell
team with 10 other incredible athletes. We have a wonderful community and this is a
really good opportunity to be involved in that.”
Beth is the Girevoy Sport Australia treasurer and also among those working to have
the organisation recognised nationally, to gain some much-needed funding, with a dream
to one day have the sport in the Olympics.
Back home, she now trains five people in kettlebell at Integrate Fitness. “We have an
incredible lifting community in Daylesford. I love watching our athletes achieve things
they never dreamt possible. They inspire me every day. They are amazing people who all
do incredible things.
“We had wanted to call ourselves The Daylesford Swingers, but the name was already
taken – with a very different meaning,” she laughs.
“But I would love to get more of the community involved. We have two competitions
being held at Integrate Fitness on May 20 and July 15. Athletes will be competing from
Daylesford, Melbourne, Geelong and Albury. We’d love for people to come along to see
what the sport is all about.
“It’s not for everyone, throwing a kettlebell around, some people find it a bit scary, but
I love it and I love my kettlebells – they are affectionately known as my babies. And if you
don’t want to watch a competition, we train most Saturday mornings from 8am – contact
us to join a session.” Details: Beth at info@integratefitness.com.au

Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barn

By Donna Kelly

A FEW things.
First up, well done to Beck Lewis who, despite having breast cancer, is
spending her downtime from treatments encouraging others to get checked.
Amazingly she is nearly through her radiation treatments, they finish at the end of
this week, and all going well, that will be that. Sounds simple but of course the truth
is the worry of maybe, then the shock of it happening to you and then the never-ending trips to Ballarat and back for radiation therapy.
Beck got in early and has a 99.9 per cent chance of being able to look back at
“the little hurdle” over 2022/2023. So, please follow her call to keep health checks
happening – and many of us have been a little lax/reluctant over the past few years –
and stay on your game.
Cancer is something we all are going to have to face one day, or know someone
close to us who will face it, but science has come so far, so many can be removed or
treated. Of course, it’s still scary, but burying your head in the sand never worked
well for anyone. Well, it does for ostriches, they push their beaks into the sand to turn
their eggs over. True story.

Secondly, Nicole Chvastek and Statewide Drive being “temporarily replaced” by
the ABC due to “operational reasons” beyond their control. That’s nuts. It’s all under
their control. They are the ABC.
Why would an organisation like that remove the regional part of their weekday
Victorian radio service? Who else has a voice like that? And that is not just Statewide
Drive – that’s Nicole’s voice as well. I was lucky enough to do a few shows with
Nicole and it’s like watching a magician at work. She is on top of everything and
everyone. She can be as tough as nails when needed, hello pollies avoiding questions,
and as nice as pie at other times, hello regular callers.
I would sit there thinking about what I was going to say while Nicole was already
10 steps ahead of me, already working out the next segment while hitting buttons to
queue in interview grabs or let in a feisty listener. Pure gold. The ABC bloke I talked
to said he “believed” she would be back – and they would be mad if they let her walk
away. What a loss that would be for all of us in the regions.
Thirdly, and maybe finally, well done to all those people who donated to the
Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal – and to those who spent hours in
the rain shaking tins. It was a crappy, rainy day but there they were in high vis gear
hoping for a few bucks.
I knew they would be there so raided my piggy bank for a note and dropped it in
their tin. I hope you did the same. The Royal Children’s is an amazing place – full of
hope and love and science.
I did a short stint there when I was about seven years old. Very bad asthma attack.
I was at school, Grade 3 maybe, and the teachers noticed my breathing was getting a
little ragged and asked if I would like to go home. No, I said. I loved school. After a
while they just called Mum who called Dad and off I went to Melbourne.
It was a little different in the early 70s. One parent visit for one hour per day and
some pretty strict nurses. I remember a group of us kids getting told off for holding
wheelchair races down the corridor. But I got better and was home within a week. I
donate something every year.
I enjoyed this edition. Kyle was off in NZ – see his Rant – and while it was quiet I
felt like it was a nice little bit of alone time. Don’t tell him that. I had to do all the “I
missed you stuff” on his return but I was quite OK. Just sayin’..

BECK Lewis has breast cancer, but she doesn’t want your sympathy. She wants you to check your boobs. And that’s you blokes as well.
In October last year, the 41-year-old was happily looking forward to a few
weeks of long service leave, after working as a casual for seven years, mostly at That
Bargain Place, and also Brick Lane Bazaar, both in Daylesford.
But finding “a weird lump” in her underarm eventually put paid to some much-earned time off. Beck knew something was not quite right but friends and family told her she was too young to worry about breast cancer.

“Many people told me it was just a cyst and I was overreacting,” she said.
Beck put the doctor’s visit off for six weeks but after feeling it again, and knowing
in the back of her mind she had to take action, made the call. It was just as well she
did.
“I had an ultrasound and the woman doing it was all chatty and there seemed to
be no worry about that lump but then she went a bit quiet after finding another one
in the upper part of my breast. A week later I got a call to go to Ballarat Base Hospital
for more scans and they booked me in for an ultrasound which led to multiple
mammograms and more ultrasounds. And in the afternoon, a half hour core biopsy
followed by another mammogram after inserting a tiny marker, called a magseed. You
know then something is really wrong.”
One week later, on January 19, Beck returned to see a doctor. She and her very
supportive partner Aaron Reading waited 40 minutes, and just as he left for a quick
toilet break, the doctor walked in with a McGrath Foundation breast nurse to share
the bad news. She asked them to wait for Aaron’s return.
“That is when the shock set it and I didn’t really know what shock was before
that. I remember looking at the wall, trying to process everything, this was happening
to me, looking at the wall again, trying to process again. I was shaking and then the
tears came. I didn’t want them to, they just came. They told me 10 women received
the same news as me, in that building, that day.”
Beck was fast-tracked for surgery just four days later with no time to think about
the future. “I just knew I had cancer and it was coming out. During the ultrasound it
was measured at 16mm but when it was removed it was 20mm. I was told it had been
growing for 10 years, since the age of 31, and had just started to spread over the past
two or three years.
“There are three grades – one, two and three, and I had grade two, not good or
bad but because I got it relatively early they said it was 99.9 per cent curable. If it had
been grade 3 things would be very different. Because I got in early, I avoided chemo.
And the radiation is really, just to quote the medical people, to ‘mop up’ anything left
after surgery.”
Beck had a week off work, thanks to that hard-earned long service leave, and
then went back to work on light duties for six weeks, waiting and getting ready for
radiation treatment. “I had to have 19 treatments in total. Fifteen plus four, they call
it. The last four are a different technology, stronger. And the radiation takes place
every day except weekends and public holidays. Having Easter and Anzac Day public
holidays have extended my treatment.”
Beck is now down to her last few treatments this week and while her breast is red
and raw, and likely to start blistering, she does not have pain which she thinks might
be because she takes daily antihistamine tablets for a skin issue.
Having daily radiation treatment has “thrown a spanner in the works” to say the
least for the woman used to getting up, getting things sorted and getting to work.
Daily trips to Ballarat from Hepburn Springs and back, and waiting for treatment
while talking to other patients or reading a book, are not much fun. Less so when
one of the two radiation machines breaks down, as happened recently. Despite any
malfunctions, Beck is quick to add she has huge admiration for those working at the
Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Care unit.
It is probably not as much admiration as those around have for her and the way
she has taken on her diagnosis and treatment – also taking time for daily updates on
social media under #checkyourboobs – with the eye-catching eight-ball emojis. They
have already led to many people leaving messages of not just support but “just got my
boobs checked – thanks Beck!”.
“I really just want people to check their boobs. Men as well. And if anything feels
wrong then go to the doctor, check it out. Follow your intuition, you know your
body. And if people say you are too young, or too old, or too healthy, just ignore that
and get checked. Don’t put it off. It could save your life.”
Oddly, given all she is still doing to give back with her message while going
through treatment, Beck said she had been surprised by the support from her
community, friends and family. It’s coming in spades.
“I really want to thank the community, no need to name anyone, they know
who they are. And my workplaces, That Bargain Place – I love that place, and Brick
Lane Bazaar, have been wonderful. My thinking through all of this is, I am going
to get better, it is just a little hurdle, and then I get back to my new normal. And to
everyone, please check your boobs!”
Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Luka Spoljaric

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

A bushwalker in his 30s was rescued after falling down a mineshaft near Sailors Falls on Sunday
morning, April 2.
Leonards Hill Fire Brigade captain Marc Dankers, who was the incident controller, said he received a call at
11.41am about the incident off Telegraph Road.

“It was a confined space rescue, a mineshaft, so that activated a specialist mining unit which was the CFA’s
Oscar 1 unit, located in Bendigo and Castlemaine.
“We also had Fire Rescue Victoria’s Hazmat 68 from Lucas in Ballarat, and a FRV pumper from Ballarat City
because of the possibility of toxic gases.”
Support also came from Daylesford CFA, FRV’sDistrict Operations, Ballan Group FCV, Birch Group
FCV, Ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police.
Captain Dankers said the man and a woman, in their 30s, had been bushwalking in the area with their dogswhen the man “misstepped” and fell into the mineshaft.
The woman called triple zero.
“The mineshaft turned out to be reasonably small,with a narrow shaft and only about two metres deep. So that was very lucky,” Captain Dankers said.
“The man just misstepped – there are heaps of mineshafts around that area – and
despite a dislocated shoulder, was eventually able to climb out with assistance using a
ladder. Everyone worked really well as a team to get that good result.
“It’s the first mineshaft rescue I have been involved in but you hear about
them from other areas, they do happen, but often people can get themselves out of
trouble.”
Captain Dankers said the rescue took a couple of hours and as they were
debriefing, a call came from Ambulance Victoria that a man had fallen off his horse in
Blampied. He had broken his femur, the thigh bone, and was in a lot of pain.
“He needed assistance so it turned out to be quite the afternoon – and I want to
thank everyone involved.”
Captain Dankers said being a CFA volunteer meant you could be called to any
kind of incident “from car accidents and traffic incidents to fires and bush rescues”.
“It really is very diverse but that makes it interesting as well.”

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes & contributed

THE Drop, a $30,000 Hepburn Shire Council public art commission by artist Yu Fang Chi, has been installed at the Glenlyon Dam.
The sculpture is a 2.5 metre high reflective stainless steel sculpture in the form of a giant water droplet.
The work was chosen from a shortlist of artist proposals by members of the council’s Public Art Advisory Committee.
A media release said the committee felt the artist’s concept connected on many
levels to the local area “through the environment, climate change, community
interaction with the dam, springs and river, the Djaara people and the overall
importance of water to our community”.
“A series of circular inlays on the concrete base of The Drop provide clues to the artist’s intentions. The Dja Dja Wurrung word ‘wanyarram’, (meaning ‘water’) connects the work to the importance of water to First Nations peoples. The colour of the inlaid details references the role gold played in the area during the 19th century.”
Mayor Cr Brian Hood said the internationally renowned artist had created an
important addition to public art in the shire.
“This piece fits so beautifully in the landscape. It reflects the surrounding area and
is placed where it is visible right across Glenlyon Dam,” Cr Hood said.
“Public art is meant to be accessible and engaging. It starts conversations and I
expect this will get people talking.”
The track to the artwork is blocked by a locked chain on both sides of the dam.
A council spokesperson later said as “a water production reserve” vehicle access was
restricted.
The council will host an official opening on Thursday, May 4 at 2pm. Yu Fang Chi is a Taiwan-born, Melbourne-based artist working within textile, silversmithing, sculpture, and spatial installation.
Chi gained a doctorate from RMIT University and received the Diana Morgan
Gold & Silversmithing Prize in 2018. In 2019, she received Career Development
Grants from the Australia Council for the Arts and International Cultural Exchange Grants from Taiwan National Culture and Arts Foundation.

DAYLESFORD artist and musician Vanessa Craven has just published a children’s colour picture song book, Birds in My Tree: The Magic of Birds and the Joy of Singing.
“The Covid-19 lockdowns created a ‘stay-at home’ world in which I began to interact with the birds in my garden and in the bush around me,” she says.
“Several photographs of these wonderful feathered friends and a new song that I was moved to write, combined together to provide material for my children’s book, Birds in my Tree: The Magic of Birds and the Joy of Singing.

“It is a colourful picture songbook on birds. Their antics and their individual
characteristics play an important part in the lyrics of the song. Each birdcall is a live
recording at the end of each verse pertaining to the bird.
“This book is an interactive tool for teaching kids about the different bird varieties
and their birdcalls, and inviting kids to recognise and have fun with mimicking. A
QR code and a YouTube link give free access to the live performance of the song,
Birds in My Tree.”
Vanessa said the “picture, music book and teaching tool” was filled with colourful
bird photographs, lyrics, guitar chords and music notation at the back of the book.
“It provides children, parents and teachers with an audio-visual experience and
an opportunity to learn about different birds, their birdcalls and learn a new song as
well. It allows for creativity and experimentation with creating bird sounds, flapping
wings, strutting about and having fun singing together.
“The book invites the reader to let their hair down and be part of a bird’s life and
enjoy interacting with them and embrace their quirkiness. It invites the reader to sing
or recite the lyrics in the book.
“I hope the book brings much joy and appreciation of our flighty feathered
friends. May their quirky personalities, bird sounds, photographs and the song
enlighten and enliven the imaginations of ‘little folk’, aged 4 to 7 years of age.
“I hope it gives them a love for nature, leading them to a sense and desire to
treasure, nurture and protect wildlife; to grow up and be advocates for protecting our
ever-diminishing wildlife and their habitats; to spend more time in the fresh air and
not lose the art of connectedness to earth, and nature.”
Originally from the foothills of the Himalayas in India, Vanessa made the move
to Daylesford from Melbourne and has built an eco-friendly house with her partner
and enjoys living in this beautiful area.
She is a singer/songwriter by profession, and has three CDs, two of which have
original tracks which won awards from the Australian Songwriters Association.
Her music is folk, blues, alt-country, pop and Latin. She has three bands, Lunar
Dust, Lake Mist and Sugar ’n’ Spice and plays music in a variety of settings including
folk & blues festivals such as Newport, Denny Blues and Roots, Newstead, Maldon
and the Girgarre Moosic Muster along with performing at pubs, clubs, art galleries
and special occasions.
“Music, art, photography and writing are my loves. My music reflects the Himalayas, Ganges to right here with the Murray River. My photography captures poignant moments and moods in flora, fauna and landscapes, some published in Birdlife Australia. My artistic flair stems from my observations of nature, life and living. I love letting the paint and ideas run freely together to create ‘something’. I am mostly self taught.”
Easter pop-up art exhibition
Vanessa is also a member of DRAC, the Daylesford Regional Arts Cooperative,
and will join its Easter Pop-Up Art Exhibition at 94 Vincent Street (next to the post
office) and be signing her book on Saturday, April 8 from 11am to 2pm.
Artworks from 10 local artists will be available for viewing and purchase with
media including paintings, tapestries, collage, printmaking and timber homewares.
The exhibition is open Friday, April 7, 10am-4pm, Saturday, April 8, 10am-4pm,
Sunday April 9, 10am-4pm and Monday, April 10, 10am-2pm.
Exhibition details: Sandy Angliss – sandyangliss@bigpond.com
Book links: www.vircravenbirdsongbook.com
Song link: https://youtu.be/IVMNggnhpiA
Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes

IT MUST be one of the region’s most recognisable landmarks. “PISS OFF
AUSNET” was mowed in huge letters into a hill two years ago this Easter.
The reason behind the straightforward message at Mt Prospect was simple.
The community did not want to have huge electricity towers planted across pristine
views and valuable farming land. Nor did they want a giant terminal station.
And, as it turns out pretty much no-one else does either.

Support has come from many places including the young woman, Joee Aganetti-
Fraser, above, who mowed the message, being inducted this year onto the Hepburn
Shire Council’s Heather Mutimer Honour Roll.
In taking on the David and Goliath battle, the 19-year-old has been thrust into
the spotlight many times but takes it all in her stride. “It’s a slow process and a long
one but we will get there and we won’t stop fighting until it is where it should be.”
Joee, and many others, believe that the lines should be placed underground along
the Western Highway. It is not a “not in my backyard” battle for the community, it is
a “not in anyone’s backyard” message.
Joee said the induction onto the Honour Roll had been overwhelming but there
had been amazing support from all corners. “I was the only young one that got
through so that was quite an achievement.”
The farmer said she had the idea for the Piss Off AusNet sign after attending a
meeting against the powerlines and realising most of the farmers were not ready to
take a public stand.
“I thought the farmers needed to be heard so I took it upon myself and mowed
that into the hill. It was Easter so it was really busy and it was great to get the word
out and get people starting to talk.”
Joee said she mowed while being given directions from a two-way radio in a ute a
few kilometres away. “It took about six hours and now we just maintain it and keep it
up to scratch.”
As for the fight, Joee is quietly confident and, as she said, will not stop fighting.
“I am pretty confident with what is happening so far with the progress but it is a
right and a constant stress. There was a meeting with AusNet on Tuesday (March 21)
and that was pretty appalling but typical in that they don’t want to hear our concerns.
“It will be a long, slow process but we will get there. But with the constant stress
it is getting to the point where people are getting fed up. Right from the very start we
should have been consulted properly, each and every landholder in the district that
was going to be affected.
“But no-one really did that. AusNet is only bullying people and we have elderly
people here, both in nursing homes and still on farms, and at their age they just do
not need that worry.
“If AusNet is listening I would tell them to piss off and that it should be on the
Western Highway and underground so it doesn’t affect anyone. There is no point just
moving the terminal station 20km away from us and still say we will give you $80,000
just to walk on your property. If they have the money to do that, they have the money
to put it where it should be.”
An AusNet spokesperson told The Local that AusNet Services was working closely
and constructively with communities along the route “to ensure the proposed Western
Renewables Link is fully investigated for the strict Environment Effects Statement
which will be submitted later this year – the project will then be assessed by an
independent government panel”.
“The WRL project team have acted appropriately and legally at all times. AusNet
Services this week took a significant step towards negotiating compensation with
landholders who will host transmission lines for the WRL. Landholders were sent
guidelines to outline the process for AusNet acquiring an easement on their property
for the construction and operation of the transmission line.”
Meanwhile, Hepburn Shire Council is urging the community to make
submissions on the latest consultation report into the Victoria to New South
Wales Interconnector West project before the April 5 deadline.
The council has welcomed some aspects and expressed serious concern about other
conclusions outlined in the Australian Energy Market Operator and Transgrid report.
“Council will make a strong submission to AEMO and Transgrid regarding the
latest update,” Mayor Cr Brian Hood said.
“We know there is high community interest in this project and we encourage
people to take a close look at the report and make a submission. While Mount
Prospect is no longer the preferred option for a terminal station, it remains an option.
We also note that the proposed route of the Western Renewables Link transmission
line through Hepburn Shire remains largely unchanged and is highly problematic.”
A major concern for the council is the recommendation to increase the capacity
of the proposed power lines from 220kV (kilovolt) to 500kV along the section of the
Western Renewables Link west. From Mount Prospect to Bulgana, the height range of
the proposed towers will be increased from 40-60 metres high to 60–80 metres high.
The easement under them will increase from 40-60 metres wide to 70–100 metres
wide. “We are very disappointed that the undergrounding of power lines has not been
considered,” Cr Hood said.
Link: participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/VNI-West.
Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes

By Donna Kelly
KYLE was asked an interesting question the other day. Someone was wondering why we cover some festivals/events and not others.
Without going into too much detail, this is our business after all, here is a bit of an explanation.
The Local started in September 2013, 10 years ago this year, and it was pretty much Kyle and I wandering around asking businesses if they would like to advertise in what was going to be a monthly publication.
We did that because someone told Kyle that he and I should start up something in opposition to The Advocate, a then Fairfax paper, later sold to Australian Community Media, who pretty much promptly shut it down at the start of the pandemic.
To our surprise, quite a few businesses said ‘yes’. Our prices were low but we were
also determined to keep the quality of our publication high. And there would be no
charge to pick it up and read it. Yes, our wonderful advertisers/clients are paying for
your free read which is why it is so important you support them. Or at least buy local.
After our first publication we realised we had a bit of a success happening
and immediately went fortnightly, which we still do, except for 12 months from
March 2020 to March 2021 when we went weekly to get as much good news and
information out when we were all pretty worried we were going to die.
Anyway, back to the start, after asking individual clients if they wanted to
advertise we realised that there were many festivals and events which also needed
publicity at affordable prices.
So we teamed up with events like the wonderful ChillOut Festival, the Great
Trentham Spudfest, Lyonville Bake-Off, Daylesford Art Show, Swiss Italian Festa…
and other organisations like The Mount Players, Daylesford Community Op Shop,
Hepburn House…you get the idea.
And they pay us some money and we run their adverts and we also run free
editorial and photos – most of which we take. Sometimes we put them on the front
cover, sometimes on the back.
It works really well. But not everyone is keen to partner up. And that is fine. They
might just take a one-off advert or they might ask us if we can run something for free
because they are a start-up and have no funding. And we happily do that.
But sometimes organisations prefer other papers to place their advertising, which
is fine, but we then don’t run their editorial for free. That would be like paying for
a main meal in one restaurant and then strolling into the next and asking for a free
dessert because you were out of cash. Wouldn’t be fair.

So that is pretty much it. And here we are, almost 10 years on, so we must be
doing something right. There was a little bit of time, during the past three years,
when we wondered whether we would be able to continue printing, but we have.
And we are also online at www.tlnews.com.au and every day we upload four stories to
Google News Showcase, so the world can find out about our little neck of the woods.
And I hope you continue to enjoy the reads and the photos and your stories, and
support our local advertisers who pay for the reads and the photos and your stories.
And to the gentleman, and I use the word lightly, who asked Kyle the original
question, we do not run “all the gay stuff”, we run all the good stuff and that includes
our amazing LGBTIQA+ community. And if you don’t like it, that’s cool. Just pick
up a copy of the other local paper from the newstand. Oh, that’s right, there is no
other paper. Just sayin’…

Elizabeth Huxtable is a former Daylesford resident and has written a memoir about her time in the town while parenting her daughter with disabilities, Lucy.

Lucy passed away 16 years ago but most of her life was spent in the town, attending Daylesford Primary School part-time, and Ballarat Specialist School.

Elizabeth, who was known by her first name Anne while in Daylesford, is holding a book launch for Lessons from Lucy at the Convent Gallery this Saturday, March 18 and would love Lucy’s former
school friends to come along.

She chatted with Donna Kelly.
Donna: What prompted you to write your book?
Elizabeth: I was hoping that sharing my experiences might give ideas and
inspiration to other parents of children with disabilities.
Donna: What do you hope it will give others?
Elizabeth: I learned to look at my situation from a very different perspective near
the end of Lucy’s life. It might save parents time by seeing what I learned. However,
as I wrote, I realised that this story has wider appeal. It can apply to any adversity in
life. When we change our perspective, we can see the gift in the situation.
Donna: What did it give you?
Elizabeth: Writing the book was a cathartic experience. In the intervening years, I
have done a lot of healing and when I looked back on the events that started 27 years
ago, I gained some powerful insights and understandings.
Donna: What are your top three lessons learned from Lucy?
Elizabeth: 1. My biggest regret after Lucy died was all the time wasted worrying
about the future. This stopped me from more fully enjoying the present moment. I
no longer look too far ahead. The future is unknowable and so it’s best to enjoy what
is happening right now.
2. Lucy was unable to communicate in the usual way since she was non-verbal. I
discovered that it is only when our mind is quiet and still that we can truly listen to
another person. It is easy for our mental chatter, worries and fears to interfere, and
allow us to presume we know what another person is trying to communicate, rather
than truly listening from the heart.
3. I learned that unconditional love is about totally accepting what is, and not
trying to change it. It’s loving completely what is, instead of what I wish, or what I
think could have been.
Donna: You lived in Daylesford for 10 years – how was that?
Elizabeth: I loved living in Daylesford. Right from the beginning, we were made
to feel welcome. Anytime I pushed Lucy up the main street, children would rush up
to say hello. During Lucy’s first year of life in Byron Bay, she cried for hours every day
but amazingly, as soon as we moved to Daylesford, the crying stopped. The energy of
the place really suited her. I felt supported emotionally, but also physically. The local
permaculture group came and constructed a concrete path and wheelchair ramp from
the car port to the back door of our house, which was a huge help.
Donna: You now live in Malaysia – how is that and what prompted the move?
Elizabeth: After Lucy passed away, I tried turning my house, with its
modifications, into a B&B for people with wheelchairs. However, most tourists
wanted to rent the whole house rather than share it with me, so it wasn’t a viable
business for me. My brother has a business in Malaysia and he needed help to manage
the warehouse so a year after Lucy’s passing, I accepted his offer to join him. It was a
chance to reinvent myself. No one knew about my past. I found it easier to move on
and heal from the grief and trauma of the previous 10 years.
Donna: The book is being launched at The Convent Gallery – was there a reason you
chose that particular place?
Elizabeth: A friend suggested it as a venue and I recall loving the beauty and
ambience of the place. Years ago, I attended a Singers Festival event in the chapel
and loved the acoustics. I’m planning to share some of my sound healing work, with
crystal bowls and voice, at the launch, so it seemed like the perfect venue.
Donna: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Elizabeth: I’m hopeful that some of Lucy’s classmates, in their mid-20s by now,
still live in the area and can come. It would be wonderful to see them again.
RSVPs to Marija at The Convent Gallery at marija@theconvent.com.au