Creswick’s Oscar Broad, and Lachlan McKenzie were just 16 when they noticed a police officer being assaulted and seriously injured in a park in Creswick several years ago, and rushed over to help.

It’s a moment the two young men, now both aged in their early 20s, are unlikely to forget any time soon.

About a fortnight ago Lachlan and Oscar each received a Citizen’s Commendation award at a special Victoria Police ceremony held at the state’s police academy in Glen Waverley.

Recalling the moment they noticed the assault back in 2019, Oscar, now a customer relations officer at the Bendigo Community Bank Creswick & District, says it’s troubling to think about what may have occurred had they not rushed over to help that day.

The commendation citation that both Oscar and Lachlan, respectively, received says it all. It reads “On the 7 December 2019, At Creswick, without hesitation he went to the aid of a Victoria Police Officer who had been assaulted and seriously injured.

“The offenders continued to menace the officer until he intervened, placing himself between the officer and further harm. Under the real threat of physical assault, he continued to provide significant support until further assistance arrived.”

Recounting the incident Oscar says he and Lachlan, who now works at the town’s IGA supermarket, were both students at Ballarat High School at the time of the incident and had been preparing to go to a Christmas party when they noticed the assault taking place in a Creswick park.

“There were three people assaulting an officer and he was on the ground tussling with one of them and the other two were throwing things at him,” Oscar recalls.

“We just looked at each other and ran across the road. We didn’t really think much. We just ran over there to help him out.” Oscar says that during the violent incident he and Lachlan became aware that the officer involved had been injured.

“There was no one else around,” says Lachlan, recounting the 2019 incident. Their actions were enough to fend off and stop the offenders who Oscar estimates to have been aged in their late teens or early 20s.

“It was pretty scary,” says Oscar recalling the incident and describing the way he and Lachlan reacted as “just sort of instinct”. Oscar says that receiving the commendation in recent days was memorable and also involved getting to see new police cadets graduate at the academy.

“It was inspiring. It is a great award and meeting the commissioner was quite surreal,” he says. “It was a privilege.”

“I was very honoured,” says Lachlan when asked for his thoughts about attending the recent commendation presentation.

While it’s understood that the officer they had assisted at the time is not currently working with Victoria Police, a currently serving officer with the Creswick police station, Leading Senior Constable Peter Brown also went along to the recent ceremony at the police academy, acknowledging the impressive effort made by Lachlan and Oscar.

Words: Eve Lamb  

with Eve Lamb

Woodend photographic artist Deborah Mullins draws plenty of inspiration from the landscape, including frequent trips to the Outback and also from her own 1.6-hectare garden on the stunning 16-hectare Hesket Farm property where she and her husband Tom reside. Deborah’s work has been displayed in many galleries in Melbourne and the Central Victorian region. Some of her latest work will be part of Little Gallery’s winter fundraising show launching in Trentham this-evening Friday, August 2.

Eve: I can see why your surrounds inspire a lot of your work.

Deborah: Yes. We’ve been here for 14 years now and just absolutely love it. We have never regretted our move from Melbourne for a minute.

Eve: Your garden here inspires quite a lot of your work doesn’t it?

Deborah: It does, and the animals and birds within the garden itself. I also do quite a bit of still life photography as well. It’s a hard genre and not everybody likes still life but I enjoy doing it, and it is suited to winter.

Eve: Can you tell me a bit more about your process of creating images and the way you use the term photographic art or digital art, as distinct from ‘photography’?

Deborah: I like to push the boundaries. I have a huge library of photographic images that I have taken over the years and I do a lot of composite work. I do a lot of Photoshop work. I use the images I have taken using a digital camera to create new landscapes and scenes. I suppose it’s a bit like a digital collage. I use photographic images in a similar way so you could call it digital art. At the moment everything I create is of photographic origin. There’s no AI in it. I take the photos and mix them up and overlay and combine to create some sort of new image.

Eve: How did you get into photographic art?

Deborah: I did an advanced diploma of photography, finished in 2011 and pretty much started with straight landscape photography.

Eve: What work are you planning to exhibit as part of the Winter Show?

Deborah: I’m leaving it until the last minute to decide. I’ve got a couple of different series I have been working on recently. One is a series I’m doing called Entice which involves urban landscapes and the figure of a child…and another landscape series focusing on the colours of the landscape. We do a lot of outback travel. I draw a lot of inspiration from the Outback. The textures, colours, the birdlife. I also do aerial photography.

Eve: Do you use a drone for that?

Deborah: Yes. Tom drives the drone and I tell him where to go so I can focus on getting the image.

Eve: Have you ever worked in any other area besides photography?

Deborah: Yes, I was a physiotherapist and then a health educator. I managed health education programs.

Eve: What do you shoot with? And what sort of lenses do you use?

Deborah: A Canon R5 mirrorless and a standard DSLR, a Canon 5DS R. If I’m doing a lot of bird photos I use a 100-400mm telephoto lens with an extender that gets it out to 600mm. I also use a fixed 50mm lens which is an absolutely brilliant lens, a 100mm macro lens, and a very wide 11-24mm rectilinear wide angle lens.

Eve: Besides Little Gallery’s winter fundraising exhibition, do you have any other upcoming exhibitions on your radar?

Deborah: I have got work on display at Verdure in Romsey and I will be a feature artist at Art For All which is a major fundraiser for Fairfield Primary School in Melbourne over September 6-8. Then I will also have some work in the Kerrie Hall Art Show over October 18-20.

Eve: What do you enjoy most about your work as a photographic artist?

Deborah: I like the challenge of creating something new. I like trying to turn something that might be seen as quite bland into something that might be considered more interesting. As much as I can I try to create a bit of a story in my images. I think that lends itself to interpretation a little. I don’t like to spoon-feed people. I like to leave it a little more open to interpretation and it can be very interesting to see how differently various people interpret the same image.

Are you an artist or do you know an artist who might like to feature in The Local? Eve would love to hear from you. Email editorial tlnews.com.au

Ducking into the Clunes IGA supermarket for a few essentials, the sound of a puppy yap from somewhere within says it all. Dianne Hill, owner-operator of the supermarket has another puppy in her care.

“Yes” says Dianne. “This is Rishi. He’s a 14-week-old Seeing Eye Dogs Vision Australia puppy and he’s just been with us since last Tuesday.”

Rishi is the eighth puppy that Dianne has taken on in her role as a puppy carer for Vision Australia, the succession of carefully bred young pups in her care frequently cause for delight among shoppers and staff at the local supermarket as Dianne daily takes her growing charges to work with her.

But while young Rishi is onsite learning, growing, socialising and generally being adored by the humans, he’s not lacking canine company either as Dianne’s permanent pet pooch, Pepper the Jack Russell is office dog – or some might say “Door B….” for the store’s administration department.

Presiding over the admin office, Pepper rules the roost, generally ensconced in her fluffy bed, and keeping a watchful eye on all who enter her office door.

“She is definitely a princess,” Dianne says. Nine-year-old Pepper does not let anyone unrecognised pass into admin without notice.

From within her office she maintains a commanding view over the supermarket security screens and is quick to let the boss know should someone unrecognised walk through the office door into her domain.

“She’s the office dog and she’s better than any alarm system,” Dianne says. “She’s never bitten anyone but my goodness can she bark. She’s the same at home. She’s just part of the team.”

As he is being socialised and cared for until he is old enough to potentially be trained as a Seeing Eye Dog, young Rishi has an official badged harness and is able to move through the supermarket store space itself, much to the delight of many shoppers especially children.

“He’s a beautifully calm puppy and very food motivated,” says Dianne, noting the way each of the Vision Australia puppies she’s cared for over the years all have unique personalities.

“He’s number eight. I love it but it does have its moments. At the moment he’s waking me up at 2am to go to the toilet,” she laughs.

“Basically it’s just looking after the puppies, socialising them and hopefully we end up with a well-socialised dog that can then go on to Melbourne for training with Seeing Eye Dogs in Kensington.

“With one we had before, (golden labrador) Maggie, we were invited to go and see her train at Seeing Eye Dogs. It was awesome.

“Having a pup in your care is a good excuse to get out and about and, having the dog, people stop and talk to you and you also go places you might not otherwise go. You can basically take them anywhere other than commercial kitchens and operating theatres.

“We go to a lot of the markets in the region. Markets are awesome places to socialise a dog as long as you don’t overwhelm them.”

After 10 months with their puppy carers, pups like Rishi are assessed to see if they’re suited to progressing on to being trained to become Seeing Eye dogs and later matched with a vision-impaired person for whom they can make a tremendous improvement to quality of life.

Dianne says that if Rishi is assessed as being suited to go on to train to become a seeing eye dog at the 10-month mark, then she must bid him a fond farewell.

If he’s not deemed suited to train as a seeing eye dog, she may go on caring for him for a further couple of months while Vision Australia finds him a suitable permanent adoptive home or role in society.

“A lot of people think they wouldn’t want to do it, puppy caring, because you’ve got to give them up,” Dianne says.

“But it doesn’t bother me as I know they’re going on to bigger and better things. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sad to see them go, but it’s a bit like seeing a child go on to university.

“The last one we had was Petal and she was a bit unsure, but she has now gone on to start proper training.

“Another one, Alfred, was also a black lab and he got through and ended up on the Gold Coast and the lady that got him rang me up and had me in tears as to how grateful she was that someone had put the effort into training him.”

If pups are assessed and found not quite suited to go on to train as Seeing Eye Dogs there are many other important and valuable avenues for them to take to “live their best lives,” Dianne says.

“It’s all about the dog and whether they’re interested. I had one that went through and almost made it but would get a little nervous when the pressure was on and she got sent to Canberra to do post-traumatic stress work instead.

“There are lots of avenues for them to take and some may just end up living their best lives as pets.”

Dianne says she started taking puppies on as a puppy carer for Seeing Eye Dogs Vision Australia about six years ago.

While the role, which can last from six to 12 months, can be challenging she loves it and finds it immensely rewarding, especially thinking of the enormous improvements it can make in the life of a visually impaired person.

But already young Rishi is generally making life a good bit brighter for everyone he encounters – while closely monitored by princess Pepper of course.

Words & Images: Eve Lamb

If you know of a critter, large or small, who is an important part of a local business or workplace, let us know as we’d love to feature him or her as part of our Pets Work series. Email editorial@tlnews.com.au

Winterfest transforms Trentham this Friday, August 2 from 4pm to 8pm with businesses trading late and lighting up the town with colourful light displays.

In the spirit of a European midwinter festival the town’s traders are embracing the cold winter night and celebrating the chill with light projections, neon displays and special events happening within each business.

Hepburn Shire mayor and Trentham local, Cr Brian Hood is among those looking forward to the debut free family occasion that’s hoped to become an annual fixture on the region’s calendar.

“It’s just such a good cause. It’s going to help all of the local traders and will help the whole mood of the town in the middle of winter,” said Cr Hood.

Cr Hood makes no secret of his enjoyment of community events and will be among quite a number of locals glamming up for the wintry occasion which is offering plenty of enticement to get out and be part of the sparkling atmosphere.

Little Gallery celebrates opening night of their renowned annual fundraising Winter Exhibition with proceeds benefiting local community groups and showcasing local and regional artists.

Featuring works by 16 talented artists from the Daylesford and Macedon Ranges shires, the exhibition launch gets started from 5.30pm with nibbles and drinks provided and all welcome.

“Our famed art raffle is offering $10,000 worth of original artworks donated by local artists with all proceeds donated to the East Trentham Fellowship,” Little Gallery’s Rose Wilson says.

“People will be able to buy a ticket on the night and they’ll be available for the duration of the show. Expect glow sticks, human butterflies and amazing art,” Rose says.

The gallery has raised funds for groups including Trentham Wildlife Rescue, The Path of the Horse and The Quarry Street Reserve. Tickets at www.raffletix.com.au/2024wintershowraffle

Just some of the participating traders include:

The Green Store – The theme at The Green Store for WinterFest is Aurora Borealis. The store will transform into a winter wonderland. There is also a book launch/ signing by author Caroline Parker for her first book The Medicinal Garden.

Belle Property – Enjoy the Belle Property Trentham neon experience, with bright colourful neon installations by international visual artist Carla O’Brien from Volter International.

Little Gallery – Little Gallery is set to light up with a night of shimmering glow for the grand opening of the highly anticipated annual Winter Show fundraising exhibition.

Bendigo Bank – Community Bank Trentham – Community Bank Trentham is lighting up Town Square for a magical and fun experience for all. Drop by and pick up some glow sticks.

Cosmo – Cosmopolitan Hotel is inviting festival goers to warm up beside the fireplace while sipping on a winter cocktail or mulled wine.

They’ll also be lighting up their exterior, with plenty of warming candles inside.

Words & image: Eve Lamb

(Wings courtesy of Rose Wilson at Little Gallery) www.tlnews.com.au  

The Clunes Landcare and Waterways Group is preparing to plant and inviting everyone to get along to an upcoming series of working bees beside the Creswick Creek at Clunes. 

The group is planning plantings of carefully selected native species that are well suited to the creek-side environment, the group’s June Johnstone, pictured, says.

Some upcoming working bees this spring will include plantings of native species like poa grass and river callistemon (bottlebrush) and follow recently completed work clearing woody exotic sapling and sucker growth in the creek where it runs through the township.

Hepburn Shire Council Infrastructure and Delivery director Bruce Lucas says that project was funded by the North Central Catchment Management Authority and managed by the council on their behalf with $140,000 funding.

The clearing of woody saplings and suckers of introduced species in the Creswick Creek began in May and continued into last month progressing from just before Government Bridge to beyond Scenic Drive in Clunes.

A main objective was to remove invasive suckers from within the creek bed and lower banks with works timed in an effort to cause the least possible disturbance to the platypus population.

Over the next couple of years they intend to embark on a revegetation program in consultation with Hepburn Shire’s biodiversity officer.

June says some new seating and signage is also part of what is planned, along with planting carefully selected native species that are well suited to the environment and capable of withstanding flooding events.

“A number of cleared areas will be planted with native species with a long-term view to ensure the creek remains a suitable habitat for platypus. There will be some planting in the creek bed to provide shade for the platypus using native plant species chosen so as not to impede water flow.”

Working bees along the creek will start in September. Check out the Clunes Landcare Facebook page and the Clunes Online Noticeboard Facebook page.

Taking delivery of the first of the new native plants that are set to go in, June says the group has also recently received a volunteer grant to purchase new tools and will also put their new barbeque to good use during the working bees.

Words & Image: Eve Lamb 

Life is looking up as Dean gets set to stage its annual kite festival. 

The little locality between Daylesford and Ballarat loves its colourful annual kite festival that transforms the recreation reserve while raising dollars for good community deeds.

The Dean Kite Festival happens Sunday, September 1, Fathers Day, and it’s a great family day out, says Dean Recreation Reserve Committee president Brian Maher.

“It’s been going for 11 years now and we have Jo Baker of Kites 4 Kids who brings her entourage. Jo and her husband are from Melbourne and they travel around the world doing this,” Brian says.

Jo has the enviable job description of kite educator, kite flier, kite builder and 2005 world kite flying champion.

She started Kites 4 Kids in November 1995 and has since been running kite-making workshops in schools, school holiday programs, after-school activities, community events and internationally in places like Guam (USA), Kuwait, Thailand, Bali, China and India.

“We don’t have a gate fee for the festival, but for $10 kids do their own kite design and then Jo supplies all the materials and they turn the design into a kite that the kids can then get to fly,” Brian says.

“People also bring their own kites with them and we get some very large kites in all types of designs. We had 300 to 400 people last year.”

Brian reckons it’s pretty much the perfect affordable family day out, with an all-day barbecqe, tea, coffee and home-made cakes available for purchase, and raffle prizes to win.

The kite festival is one of two major fundraising community events held on the Dean Recreation Reserve annually with the other being the Dean and District Sheepdog Trials, also known as the Old Sniff Classic.

Set for Sunday, October 13 this year, the Old Sniff Classic has become a firm favourites on the calendar of competitors and spectators alike, attracting many top dogs to the pretty little reserve oval.

As with the kite festival, there’s no gate admission fee for the Old Sniff, but Brian says donations are gratefully accepted and all go to great community causes.

Words: Eve Lamb | Images: Contributed 

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up to help a young Clunes girl achieve her dream of becoming a jiu jitsu world champion.

And if her accomplishments to date are any indication, young Leiarnna Ferguson has a very real chance of doing just that.

The 11-year-old has been practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since she was six, last year becoming a national and state level champion after discovering a personal passion for the martial art early on. Last year as a grey belt she ranked number one nationally in the Australian Federation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

In her division she claimed the national championship and five individual state titles. This May Leiarnna claimed the first of the 2024 state titles, becoming Victorian State Champion in her newly promoted division of yellow belt.

Leiarnna’s goal now is to win a world championship at the biggest junior tournament in the world, the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation Pan Kids Championships to be held in Florida, USA over July 26-27.

“The world championship is the most prestigious competition in the world,” says Leiarnna who is also a grade six school house captain at Creswick Primary School. “I’d really like to win it. I’ve trained really hard. It’s a really big deal. Not many kids get the chance.

“It’s one of those sports where, when you step on the mat you know straight away whether you want to do it. It gives me a challenge and I enjoy it. I also like the friendships that you make along the way.”

Up until the end of last year Leiarnna had trained in Ballarat. But in December she was assessed by the most accomplished junior coach in Australia, with the recommendation then made to move her training base to G-Force Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Fawkner, Melbourne where she is now part of the Australian Elite Team.

With a shot at a world championship now firmly in her sights this move was necessary, however it has not been without its challenges.

Since January, Leiarnna has trained up to three hours a day, six days a week, meaning a lot of extra ‘Dad’s taxi’ driving for Leiarnna’s father, Jay Ferguson.

“The logistics and financial burden have been a nightmare to say the least, but her gains have been absolutely amazing,” says Jay, a single parent who also has two other primary school-aged children to care for.

“Leiarnna is the eldest of my children. I am a single father trying to do the best I can for my kids,” Jay says, as he discusses the decision to set up a GoFundMe fundraiser in an effort to help meet the travel, training and accommodation costs associated with making the championships in Florida.

“I own a lawn mowing and gardening business which I operate during school hours but business is pretty slow at the moment with the grass not growing.

“It’s been tough training at Fawkner, my work hours have been reduced as I need to pick up the kids early from school in order to be on time for training. The three additional hours of daily travel have had a significant financial impact.

“We’ve used all the money to chase her dreams and that’s why we’ve set up a GoFundMe to try and get that support because she really deserves a shot at the world title.”

Link: www.gofundme.com/f/leiarnnas-championship-fundraiser

Words & image above: Eve Lamb  

The experience of community members being talked over at an ageing conference was the spark that inspired the theme of a new short film shot in Clunes.

That film, Giving Voice to Ageing Well in a Small Community, has now gone on to become one of three made to help tell the story of a groundbreaking collaboration between Central Highlands Rural Health, Clunes Neighbourhood House and members of Attitude.

The contemporary Clunes-based alternative to the senior citizens of yesteryear, Attitude is a community-led initiative providing ongoing social, cultural, creative and physical activities for retirees and folk aged 55 plus, with all ages welcome.

The 12-month collaboration between Attitude, CHRH and Clunes Neighbourhood House has trialled a new approach to improving older folk’s physical and psychological well-being.

Findings were the focus of a special event held before a packed house in Clunes last Thursday, July 11, at Attitude in the town’s Fraser Street.

“When Attitude members got up to speak at an ageing expo at the very start of this project they were ignored and talked over by people working in the ageing industry,” said award-winning documentary filmmaker Dr Catherine Gough-Brady.

“So, I said let’s channel your anger about your experience of ageism into a short film where you get to express your thoughts,” Dr Gough-Brady said, describing how the new short film came into being.

Dr Gough-Brady, who has produced several ABC radio and TV documentaries, including The Communicator (2022), was approached by the Attitude members to film the story of the hub’s evolution in Clunes as a resource that shares real knowledge and practical insights for other communities.

“The script for the film is made up of lines from interviews with people from Attitude,” she said.

“Elders from Clunes chose a line they would like to deliver to the camera. Even though everyone is performing their lines, they are authentic experiences that are deeply felt. And it shows.”

Composer of the original music for the film, Elizabeth Drake, said the small film of just two minutes has some big things to say. Ms Drake’s other film credits include musical scores for Road to Nhill and Japanese Story.

“I was collaborating on this project that was challenging the stereotypes of ageing, but I was doing it from my studio in Melbourne, and I just wanted to get in and meet everyone,” she said.

“It led to me thinking about the tropes in society that accumulate around a certain identity or position. I also explored the word Attitude, which is the name the community has given to the loose collective in which they work to run their activities and the building in which they meet.

“The word is linked to ‘truculent’ and ‘uncooperative,’ so I wove those feelings into the music. Seeing how the film has come together, it is representative of real experience, giving a voice to real people.

The accumulation of voices adds up to a powerful message.”The Giving Voice short film screened during last Thursday’s gathering of industry and community members, during which the three key partners in the collaboration discussed the findings of the year-long project.

“Forty-five percent of people in our region are over 55,” says CHRH deputy CEO Phil Catterson.

“And only 17 per cent of people will go online to My Aged Care to help access services.”

The project has highlighted the huge importance of maintaining ongoing relationships between different community groups, agencies and service providers, Clunes Neighbourhood House manager Lana de Kort said.

Tess Brady of the Attitude, Ageing Well in Clunes working party highlighted the importance that the project revealed also of “doing things with people rather than for people”.

“People want to feel welcome and supported, safe, valued and accepted,” Mr Catterson said. “A sense of purpose and belonging is so important.”

The event also featured a guest presentation from Dr Mike Rungie from the EveryAGE Counts coalition steering group whose discussion touched on the way leaving a working life behind can present major life challenges.

Adelaide-based Dr Rungie highlighted the importance for every individual of maintaining a valuable role, or several, in the community throughout life’s journey.

He suggested sampling multiple different community-based activities, and particularly volunteering as a valuable means to achieve this for those who have moved on from the conventional paid workforce.

Words: Eve Lamb

With Eve Lamb

Malmsbury artist Tia Alysse discovered her natural and considerable talent for art while still a school child. From a very young age she was encouraged in her arts endeavour with praise from teachers. Her love for animals, however, would see her go on to study veterinary science at university before she ultimately resolved to dedicate herself to art. Tia has been selling her artwork commercially since late 2016 through galleries, interior design stores and her own studio, and now teaches painting classes as well. This gifted artist’s love of animals and the living world is reflected in the beautiful works she creates, some of which will soon be exhibited as part of The Little Gallery’s upcoming winter fundraising show in Trentham.

Eve: Hi Tia. Beautiful work! Your love of animals is obvious in your work. Do you think there’s any chance you might ever go back to studying vet science?

Tia: I don’t think so. I think I might be a bit too sensitive.

Eve: How far did you get with your vet studies before you switched to focussing on art?

Tia: I did one year.

Eve: Are you able to devote yourself to your art full-time now?

Tia: Yes. After so many requests for pet portraits, it led me down the path of focussing on animals. Commissions are such a big part of what I do. Also in the last two years my Country Canvases art classes have been my bread and butter. I will also be doing Spring-Summer workshops where people can choose a class by subject matter.

Eve: Why animals?

Tia: I do a bit of everything, but I feel like I have a real soft spot for animals. They’re one of my greatest loves really.

Eve: Your work is very realistic. It’s an amazing ability. Do you paint in any other styles as well?

Tia: I used to be a lot more expressive and abstract, but then I started to focus much more on figurative and realistic work. The demand for portraits has lent me more to realism.

Eve: Any recent career highlights?

Tia: I have just completed a mural for Nellie’s Shed, the garden and retail store, in Woodend. It was amazing to work on that scale.

Eve: That sounds like a lot of fun, to work large-scale in such a public space. What is the size of the mural? Is it outdoors?

Tia: Yes it’s outdoors. There were four exterior panels and each piece was 1.2 by 2.1 metres. I used a sort of notion of leading you down the garden path. It is a bit whimsical. I’d definitely like to do more murals into the future.

Eve: What is your work process, Tia? Do your work from photos or do you tend to sketch animals in the field or habitat?

Tia: I mostly work from photographs. When I first started painting pet portraits I’d get asked to take pictures of people’s pets for them, but I’ve since started making it a strict rule to supply the photo of the pet you want painted. But I do take a lot of reference images for things like bees and lady bugs. I take photos quite avidly, and I do painstaking pre-sketch work.

Eve: What media do you work with?

Tia: Acrylics mostly. But I do use other media as well including charcoal.

Eve: What are some of the portrait subjects you have had so far?

Tia: Mostly cats and dogs, but there’s also been horses, the odd lizard. There have been alpacas, rabbits, husbands.

Eve: (laughs) Ah! You paint humans as well?

Tia: Yes. Occasionally people. I do like to enter the Archibald just for the fun of it.

Eve: That’s great. Did you enter this year?

Tia: No not this year, but a couple of times in previous years.

Eve: Who have your chosen subjects been?

Tia: There was Manfred Zabinskas of Five Freedoms Animal Rescue one year, and also my partner’s parents who have been acknowledged with an OAM for fostering over 100 children.

Eve: What are you planning to exhibit as part of the upcoming Little Gallery’s winter fundraising show, Tia?

Tia: One larger piece and six smaller pieces. For the larger piece I kind of wanted something that has a cosiness to it with the English animals that I love to paint. Owls, pig, hare, deer. And for the smaller pieces, some little bees.

Eve: What do you enjoy most about your arts practice?

 Tia: It’s very therapeutic. Very calming. One of the reasons I work a lot at night is that it is my quiet, alone time. Working at night allows me to engage at a deeper level with the work. #

Eganstown artist and hobby farmer Louiseann King reckons there’s something just a little bit magical about alpacas.

The local creative makes no secret of the fact that she’s more than a tad smitten with the alpaca and its prized fibre.

Louiseann converts that passion into artisan product as she makes beautiful hand-woven items, weaving the fibre from the alpacas that reside on her family’s own local hobby farm property using her own loom.

Right now she is busy preparing to bring upwards of 30 of her beautiful hand-woven items to the upcoming Design Exchange Market taking place in Ballart’s Mining Exchange building over this Saturday and Sunday July 6-7.

Louiseann has made the shawls and scarves on her loom and will also be bringing the loom itself along to provide demonstrations of the creative process that she relishes.

“It’s a year’s work or more,” she says of the items she will bring to this weekend’s event.”

Also an artist and sculptor, Louiseann says she loves to bring the colour palette of the local landscape to her creations.

The Design Exchange Market will feature a diverse range of unique, quality handmade works by numerous independent artists and artisans, offering a chance also to chat to the makers about their work.

“We’ve had the alpacas for about five years now,” Louiseann said. “We have about 15. I fell in love with them and their beautiful fleece.

“I’ve come to the shawl in particular because it is so minimal in its shape yet so maximal in terms of potential function.”

The Design Exchange Market takes place in Ballart’s Mining Exchange Building on Lydiard Street this Saturday July 6 from 3pm – 8pm and Sunday July 7 from 10am – 3pm.

Words: Eve Lamb. Images: Supplied

There were several key reasons to strike up the band. No more leaky roof, no more underfloor damp woes, no more dodgy floor boards … to name but a few.

Very recently, Tuesday June 18, to be exact, Daylesford Community Brass Band joined with Daylesford Museum Reserve Committee of Management, museum volunteers, friends and VIPs to celebrate the opening of the town’s significantly upgraded, restored, and generally fixed band room.

The band has been serving the community for 160 years and rehearsing in the room at the back of the heritage listed museum building for over half a century, as co-tenants of the building, alongside Daylesford and District Historical Society that runs the museum.

But as upgrade works on the band room reached the pointy end over the past four months, the band had been temporarily using a front room in the building, made available to it by the historical society.

The major upgrade of the band room is part of a wider works project to maintain and restore the building, a project overseen by Daylesford Museum Reserve Committee of Management using funds from state, federal and local government tiers.

Works to the band room included underfloor excavation, drainage works, floor rebuild, replacement of the slate roof, upgrade of architraves and skirting boards, new lighting and more.

Secretary of the Daylesford Museum Reserve Committee of Management Sue Howard said about $600,000 in state and federal funding had been attracted and spent on the wider works project over the past three years, including just over $280,000 on the band room.

“These works have conserved the building and helped the tenants be in these spaces as intended,” Sue said, highlighting also the state heritage listing of the building in February this year.

Band members like president and accomplished cornet player, Shani Clark made no secret of their delight at seeing the works on their rehearsal room done and dusted.

“It’s very hard to find the words to express what this means to the band,” Shani said.

“We no longer have to chase the raindrops around with a bucket or be in danger of falling through the floor boards.

“The band has been in this room for 50 years and we now have a space that’s going to last another 50 years.”

D&DHS president Barry Files also took to the mic to reflect on the significance of the works project, recalling a worrying moment prior to work beginning, when three sheets of roofing blew off.

“That’s all behind us now, and as co-tenants (of the building) we’re looking forward to many more years,” Barry said.

Barry also reflected on the band’s gratitude for temporary use of the room that the historical society had kindly offered to it for the purpose.

“The band said there’s a few notes in there… and I naturally thought they meant cash,” Barry mused.

“But when they left to move back in here, the floor was scattered with B-flats and G-sharps.”

Museum curator Gary Lawrence received a special recognition award, presented by DEECA regional manager Kylie Shanahan, acknowledging his vital role in seeing the upgrade through to reality.

“Community is what it’s all about and a space like this is a point of connection,” Gary said, accepting the award, and suggesting that anyone in the community who was suffering from nothing to do could resolve their boredom by getting along to the museum and becoming part of the volunteer crew.

The contractors involved in the works also came in for special mention for the “many times they went over and above” during the major upgrade.

Shani says the band is now hugely enjoying using their beautifully upgraded space to rehearse in.

It will perform at the annual French celebration event in Daylesford Town Hall on July 14, and is also looking forward to a special performance as part of the Christ Church concert series on November 30.

At that concert the band will premiere an original composition which they have commissioned using a Rosalind Pyers donation made in 2022.

“The sound in here is much better too since we got a new floor and carpet,” Shani said.

She says anyone interested is welcome to get along to band rehearsals that happen every Monday evening, and consider joining the band and learning an instrument themselves.

“If anybody wants to learn, or has an instrument they haven’t played for a while, we have quite a strong training band that rehearses from 6pm to 7pm on Mondays and our main rehearsal is from 7.30pm,” she said.

“Just follow the noise.”

Words & Images: Eve Lamb

It’s the sense of tradition, history and occasion that Creswick’s Philip Greenbank most loves about his role as town crier.

As official town crier for Hepburn Shire since 2015, Philip belongs to the rather exclusive group of individuals in Australia and worldwide who continue to preserve a tradition dating back to at least 1066 and the Norman conquest of England with William the Conqueror.

However, Biblical references suggest the time-honoured role of town crier as official public information bearer and announcement-maker goes back even further.

“Town criers used to give you the news and information,” says Philip who first became a town crier in 2014.

He says he became a town crier “by accident” after he was invited to attend a town crier competition.

After trying on the role himself he soon discovered an aptitude for it, swiftly taking out second place in the very first town crier competition in which he participated.

Today he is president of the Australasian Guild of Town Criers and among just five town criers in Victoria, 15 or so in Australia, and about 400 worldwide – about 20 percent of whom are women.

As official town criers they get to fulfil time-honoured declarative duties at important public, ceremonial and civic events – like the declaration of new mayors and deputy mayors, special anniversary and official occasions.

Adding a sense of pomp, pageantry and special occasion is very much a part of their public function today. In a private engagement context they may also provide formal services such as emceeing at weddings and other private celebrations.

Philip says that when he serves as town crier at community events, however, he does so in an entirely voluntary capacity, with sometimes a bit of recompense for travel costs where warranted, although town criers may receive payment for private engagements.

When The Local caught up with him for a chat last week, Philip was looking forward to serving in his official town crier capacity for a Victoria Day Council engagement on July 1, reading the historic Proclamation at a special anniversary event in Melbourne to mark the historic separation of the Colony of Port Phillip from NSW, thus forming the Colony of Victoria (precursor to the state of Victoria).

“You get to go places and meet people,” he reflected ahead of the significant public engagement taking place at the Melbourne Town Hall.

The experienced town crier also served in his official capacity at another special event that many Creswick locals witnessed recently.

On Thursday 6th June 2024, a worldwide event took place to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day known as D-Day 80.

Organised by England’s Pageant master Bruno Peeks, the day began with over 370 Town Criers from around the world reading the “D-Day 80 Proclamation”.

In Creswick, Philip did the honours, reading the Proclamation at the cenotaph before an appreciative crowd. School children read the D-Day Heroes poem, and bell ringers took part in the “World in Ringing out for Peace”.

Looking ahead, Philip will fulfil traditional ceremonial town crier duties in proclaiming the duly elected mayor and deputy mayor for Hepburn Shire Council following the upcoming local government elections later this year.

He says that hundreds of years before social media, printing presses and traditional media services, town criers served a vital role in informing the often illiterate town folk and community of important official announcements and sometimes even issuing important community warnings.

These days taking part in town crier competitions is also a much-enjoyed aspect of the role with town criers  judged on factors including volume, clarity, diction, inflection, accuracy, confidence and bearing.

The role is clearly not for shy retiring types, and Philip says many who shoulder it are motivated by the sense of public theatricality it enables, though his own motivation is more a strong appreciation for keeping tradition alive.

“I love the tradition and the history behind it,” he says.

“People come up to me and say ‘I love your costume’. But it’s not a costume. It’s town crier livery’,” says the dedicated town crier whose official town crier kit once saw him mistaken for the Mayor of Melbourne by visiting tourists who requested selfies with him as he strolled down Collins Street following a public engagement.

“You also get kids saying ‘look mum there’s a pirate!’,” he says.

“And no, it’s not a hat,” Philip corrects. “It’s a tricorn… because it’s got three corners. The three most important parts of the uniform are the tricorn, the bell and the scroll, and the coat is custom-made in the style of an 18^th century coachman’s coat.”

Just for the record, Philip says the notion that town criers get about declaring “Hear Ye! Hear ye!” whenever they’re about to make an announcement, is much misplaced.

“There is a common misconception that town criers’ first proclamation is ‘Hear Ye. Hear ye’. But that is an absolute no-no,” he says.

“We use the original French ‘Oyez’ (pronounced Oh yay) and we always start a proclamation by saying Oyez three times. ‘Hear ye’ comes from Hollywood.

Anyone who thinks becoming a town crier might just be for them can find out more by contacting Philip at 89agtc@gmail.com

Words & Image: Eve Lamb

with Eve Lamb

Creswick Regional Park Walk II: St Georges Lake to Gosgrave Reservoir via the Old Koala Park,
Chinese Plum Orchard, and Eaton’s Dam. 9km return.

Paddy H and I are in luck as Creswick artist and keen bushwalker, Craig Barrett has kindly offered to guide us on one of his favourite local walks.

It will, Craig says, take in the old Creswick Koala Park, relics of the 1860s gold rush era, an old Chinese plum orchard and the notable stone walls of Eaton’s Dam.

“Sounds good,” I say as we plan the walk for Sunday when, the BOM forecasts, a lower chance of rain.

Craig explains that the walk starts from the St Georges Lake smaller, lesser-used south eastern car park, just out of Creswick, off the Melbourne Road. I’m particularly keen to see this Koala Park site that I’ve heard a fair bit about but never actually seen.

Off we set, carrying camera gear, lunches, a proper bushwalking kit including maps, compass, walk guide and first aid kit (in Craig’s case) and plenty of dark chocolate (in mine).

We are in the Creswick Regional Park, part of the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung People. In part, our walk ahead will follow a small snippet of the Goldfields Walking Trail (Buninyong to Bendigo) and in small part it also overlaps with where Creswick’s new mountain bike track is being built.

In fact there have been reports recently of some overly keen types ripping down protective temporary barriers to get at the new bike trail before it’s deemed ready to go.

Fortunately our prudent guide, Craig, has checked with the relevant authorities to gain approval for our walk today. Later, when I read authoritative warnings on this front, I am pleased he has.

But as we set off and morning sunlight splashes down through tall eucalypts lining our path, my mind is unfettered by officialdom. As soon as we set foot on the walking track headed south straight out of the car park, Paddy H and I can see this is a fantastic little hike.

“You should see it in spring,” Craig says. “Superb wild flowers.”

Gaining gentle elevation, striding through aromatic bushland for just under a kilometre, we soon arrive at the remnant boundary fence of the old koala park. In 1942, forestry students built the koala park by constructing a fence in a section of the forest to be used as a breeding area for koalas.

However, just a tad comically, they failed to adequately acknowledge koala climbing know-how and the furry little fellas swiftly decamped into the surrounding forest.

These days, the literature states, “there is just as much chance to see a koala in the surrounding Creswick State Forest as the old koala park. I look up a fair bit but do not see a koala.

Having finally visited, though, I can now say that the paucity of the much-loved marsupial does nothing to diminish the site’s value as a top walking spot, with a short 2km loop walk around the
entire former koala park another nice option.

Today, we stop here briefly to check out an old metal stile for helping humans, back in the day, to get into and out of the park, then we move on, following the Goldfields Walking Trail to the north of the koala park, running roughly alongside Creswick Creek. The creek used to be called Back Creek on old maps, Craig says.

Further on we pass alongside remains of an old gold mining water race running through the bushland, scars of 1800s picks still fairly evident in places.

Roughly two or so kilometres further along the Goldfields Walking Trail, Craig stops and points out the site of the old Chinese plum orchard, today a grouping of ghostly moss-encrusted fruit trees whose limbs stretch bare against the early winter light.

We take a little detour through this ghostly orchard and historic market garden site. “Black plums,” says Craig, and then recounts the vision of spring blossom that still blooms here all these decades on. It must be a sight.

And slipping back into the past, to a time long before any of us existed, Craig now points toward nearby sites where hotels once stood nearby – “the Springmount Hotel was there,” he says… “and the Munsters Arms Hotel … in that direction.”

We leave the old plum orchard and its ghosts and regain the Goldfields Track, continuing on until we reach the intersection with Jackass Road. Instead of turning left onto the road and continuing to follow the Goldfields Trail north here, we instead simply cross the road and rejoin the walking pad that heads on, eastward toward the historic site of Eaton’s Dam about half a k further on.

Our resourceful guide provides some literature which instructs that Eaton’s Dam is: “a well preserved example of a mining dam built in 1862 on Creswick Creek”.

The site was leased by American brothers Benjamin and Charles Eaton. While the dam was breached in 1933, and after that fell into disuse, there’s still plenty to see here including some pretty remarkable, high stone walls.

“It’s also one of my favourite places for forest bathing,” Craig muses.

In the cold summer sunlight, a mossy outcrop has something of the bushland shrine about it, complete with tiny exquisite wren attendants.

We stop and admire for a while and then Craig suggests we finish up by continuing on for a few hundred metres more to reach the Cosgrave Reservoir.

It proves to be an excellent place for lunch with two wedge tailed eagles circling above. As we sit there munching away, a man rolls up in a vehicle (the reservoir is accessible by car) and hops out brandishing swish Nordic walking poles.

“Where are you off to mate?” Paddy H enquires.

“Just walking around the reservoir,” says the bloke, bidding us all a cheery farewell and setting off.

Once we’re all fully fortified we head back, basically retracing our steps and listening to Craig recount tales of times well spent in France.

“And what do you like most about this walk?” I ask.

Craig pauses for only the briefest moment before replying.

“That there are great wildflowers. And there aren’t many people. I’m definitely a path less travelled type,” our guide says.

We continue on, all up covering roughly 9kms the round trip, and returning to a path more travelled to reflect on all we have seen and learned, over a warming red by the fire. It was a good day.

Words & Images: Eve Lamb

Creswick Theatre Company is inviting everyone to get along to its play reading at the Courthouse this Sunday afternoon.

It’s a chance to either participate and read a role, with scripts provided, or just kick back and be entertained.

This time theatre company members are taking on a time-tested script by famed 19th century Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde.

“It will be lady Windermere’s Fan,” says long-time Creswick Theatre Company member Jacinta Antonelli.

Lady Windermere’s Fan is a four-act comedy, first performed in 1892, at the Saint James Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere who suspects that her husband is having an affair with another woman.

As part of Creswick Theatre Company’s play reading series, they’re also planning to next month tackle a reading featuring an original script by a Glenlyon playwright with the possibility that one may lead on to a stage production as well, Jacinta says.

“We want to mix it up and have old favourites and originals,” she says.

Entry to this Sunday afternoon’s play reading is free and participants are invited to bring a snack along to share, with drinks, tea and coffee also available at the court house theatre bar.

“No prior experience is needed and we are encouraging people from all over the Hepburn Shire,” CTC president Neil Adam says.

“We would just like to encourage anyone who as ever thought of participating in something like this to come along.”

The play reading will take place 2-4pm this Sunday June 23 while the local theatre company also has plenty else happening in the wings including some school holiday fun called You’re an Instrument on Friday July 12, a night of live music and poetry on Saturday August 17, and a Spring racing season “interactive murder mingle” entitled A Murder at The Derby in November.

It is also currently accepting play submissions and production proposals through its website creswicktheatrecompany@fermigiohousegmail-com.

Neil says the committee is also especially keen to increasingly open up use of the local theatre company’s home venue, the historic Creswick Courthouse theatre, to other groups and activities.

Words: Eve Lamb

With Eve Lamb

Just at home riding a Harley motorcycle through the desert as he is mingling in a classy art gallery, Sailors Falls creative, Michael Lelliott works with paint, drawing, photography, film, sculpture and sound to celebrate beauty where he finds it. Currently, inspired by a very recent desert excursion, he is working on a suite of new paintings to exhibit as part of this August’s winter fundraising show at The Little Gallery in Trentham,  where he will be among participating artists.

Eve: Michael I hear that you are currently preparing for a rather special show at The Little Gallery in Trentham, the gallery’s annual winter fundraising show. What do you have in mind for that?

Michael: Phillip Edwards,  who has the Bullarto Gallery, and I are just back from a trip to the desert, the Mungo National Park, camping in swags, and I am doing on a body of work coming out of that trip for The Little Gallery show.

I am also planning to enter a work (coming out of this trip) in the Pro Hart Outback Art Prize.

Eve: A camping trip to the desert. Sounds like fun. Can you tell me a bit more about about it?

Michael: What I love about getting into that space, that landscape, is that the more you sit and wait, the more that’s revealed. You start to see the shift in colour and the shift in time, and the Mungo is on this amazing dune that’s constantly being pushed back revealing layers going back in time.

We had a little walking tour there with an Indigenous guide. And while we were there we also started painting under moonlight which was a really interesting experience.

Eve: What sort of media are you working with as you prepare work for the upcoming winter show at The Little Gallery?

Michael: Watercolour, pencil and gauche on paper. I often work at night. You can get a lot done at night, play dance music and have a glass of wine while you work. The work I am doing is very physical. I put a lot of movement into the work. I’m not a traditional watercolourist.

Eve: What is your background?

Michael: My background is in product design, consumer products. I still do a bit of brand work but I am now becoming a full-time artist.

I studied art at the Victorian College of the Arts in the late 80s, early 90s, print making and photography and I had an arts practice for 30 years, lived in Fitzroy, Europe, Germany for a while. I was pretty focussed on brands, product design but I decided to refocus at the end of ’22, start of ’23.

Last year I spent the first six months just discovering mark-making again. We went to the desert. Mutawintji and Bimbowrie. I think ‘space’ is the right word. The landscape gives you permission to be present.

Eve: Are you inspired by any particular artists?

Michael: So many. Right now I’m thinking of Fred Williams, also of Russell Drysdale in terms of landscape. Those sort of 40s, 50s, 60s Australian artists.

Eve: I know that you are truly a multi-media artist, who is even known to dance, but what genre are you working with currently?

Michael: Still life and landscape. With still life and landscape I can get out of my own way. With photography though, I do focus on people. And I tend to shoot without setting it up.  

Eve: Anything else coming up on your artistic radar, Michael?

Michael: Yes. A group show at the Bullarto Gallery with Phillip Edwards and one or two other artists in November.

I’m heading to the States (USA) in July and we – a group of friends, actors, artists, sculptors and I – are riding our Harleys from LA to New York, starting our trip by going across Death Valley.

We’re going to follow The Rockies so I’m expecting there’ll be other work coming out of that for the Bullarto show. Australia is my heart-space. But it will be interesting to see how the desert there is different.

I am also going through a series of photos I did between 2010 and 2014 for a book. It’s particularly about motorcycle subculture.