Community Corner

Community Corner NEWS AND UPDATES FROM YOUR CORNER OF THE WORLD Anglesea & District Men’s Shed

2020 began for the Anglesea and District Men’s Shed in early January in much the same way as we closed 2019, slowly.

The year gathered pace as we started preparing ourselves for the Easter Riverbank Market. March saw a dramatic change as Victoria entered lockdown due to COVID-19 and the Shed closed.

During lockdown, we organised a phone tree to keep in contact with our members, visiting where possible, keeping appropriate distancing and coming to grips with social isolation. Some of our members found it much more difficult to cope with than others. The Shed recommenced activities on 23 June when the first round of restrictions were eased. There were many relieved faces and greetings from members in the first few sessions. Members adjusted to the new norms of social distancing, hand sanitising, temperature checking and being mindful of numbers of people in each room. In late July, quite a few of our members turned up with face masks, which soon became the norm for all of us.

During the lockdown, Shed members completed a number of community tasks, including a set of disability stairs for Zarah Marretta from Geelong. This project took longer than we had hoped, but it was worth it when we saw a photo of Zarah standing at the top of the stairs with a great big smile on her face. We also completed a ramp to enable a

Zarah Marretta showing her delight in the set of practice stairs made by the Anglesea and District Men’s Shed.

dog to get into a car without being lifted and a community library for the Anglesea Community House. We have been working on some seats for the Aireys Inlet Tennis Club, as well as producing Christmas decorations and other goods for sale at the Anglesea Riverside Market. The Shed will run a woodworking course for women as part of the Community House’s Spring 2020 program. Whilst social outings have been severely restricted, a number of our members have a weekly walking group on Mondays. As NewsAngle went to print, we were still in Stage 3 restrictions but, all going well, the Men’s Shed will re-open to the community as soon as restrictions have eased.

Men are most welcome to come and have a look, and see if the activities and social opportunities of the Shed might be of interest. Once we re-open, you’re welcome to join us for a cup of tea at 10.30 on Tuesday or Thursday mornings, at the western end of the Anglesea Bowls Club precinct. You can also contact the Convenor, Ross Davey, on 0432056270 or email the Secretary, Jeff Wilson, at sec.angleseamensshed@gmail.comto see what we are about.

Correction

In the Winter edition of NewsAngle (Issue 142), the article about Offshore Café incorrectly referred to Pastor John Russell as being from the Lutheran Church, instead of the Trinity Uniting Church in Anglesea, where he remains an active member. Apologies to John for this error. Acknowledgement also to Margo Davey from the Trinity Uniting Church, who also visits Prue regularly to assist with the ‘Pay It Forward’ project, supporting people in need in the community.

By Murray Surkitt, Principal, Anglesea Primary School

The impact of COVID-19, coupled with Anglesea’s status as a rural area, has presented the community with unforeseen challenges when it comes to creating and maintaining meaningful community connections with older residents.

Similarly, there have also been challenges for children who are missing out on the social connection with older Australians that they once would have had from grandparents and other older family members. In response to this, all students in Grade 3 and 4 at Anglesea Primary School are participating in a letter writing project in conjunction with Anglesea Medical Centre and Japara Nursing Home. This authentic learning opportunity aims to forge meaningful community connections between students and older residents living at Japara and older patients at the Anglesea Medical Centre. Hence the name 9 to 90, linking 9-year-old children to 90-year-olds. The students were matched to an older resident to exchange letters on such topics as chores, school, sport, games or pets. Benefits of this project include:

 Linking older and younger residents of Anglesea to forge meaningful connections with each other;  Older residents who are experiencing loneliness, depression and anxiety due to the COVID lockdown will have something to look forward to; and  Anglesea Medical Centre was the conduit for a positive community project, benefitting many patients and community stakeholders. Thanks to the Anglesea Medical Centre team for initiating the 9 to 90 Project. Following are some reflections from the students after writing their letters. The 9 to 90 project was where I got to write a letter to a resident at the Aged Care Home in Anglesea. When I heard we were doing this project I was jumping up and down with excitement! I loved expressing my emotions and sharing my story with someone via a letter. I was even lucky enough to get to write to two people! The best part about the 9-90 project is that the residents write back to me! I can’t wait to get a letter back from them! By Scarlett. The 9 to 90 project is about writing a letter to an older person in Aged Care. I enjoyed writing to Doug and I’m excited for him to write back. Everyone in my class is excited and we are waiting for the older person to write back. The topic that I chose was sport, so the older person could share some memories from their childhood. I chose two classic sports and one sport that is really new, so Doug can learn about it. By Alexander.

COMMUNITY CORNER Gardening in the Time of COVID-19 Community Garden 3231

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. At CG3231, we decided early on that the community garden had a vital role to play in nurturing and supporting our community, in keeping people connected, and providing members with quality garden produce.

However, in April and May, COVID-19 level 3 restrictions meant that we needed to think differently about how the garden could operate. This involved rethinking all aspects of the garden, including working bees, meetings and how people actually accessed the garden.

If we couldn’t meet at the garden, how would we connect? Committee meetings became Zoom meetings. Then why not garden on Zoom too? We organised a Zoom gardening workshop titled ‘Pests and how to be rid of them’ and followed this successful foray into the online world with a Zoom morning tea with special guest (and garden member) Barbara Evans, who had experienced COVID quarantine after her adventure and ‘cruise of a lifetime’ aboard the Greg Mortimer travelling to Antarctica.

We introduced new hygiene protocols, installed signage, hand sanitiser, limited numbers in the garden and developed our online presence with a revamped webpage, Instagram, Facebook and introduced a weekly bulletin.

When we were able to return to smaller group gatherings in public spaces, we modified our working bees by having 2 shifts of 10 people in order to keep within the rules.

We knew the lockdown was making people feel socially isolated and it was important to reach out and create opportunities for social connection. After months of neglect, the garden benefited from two working bee teams.

We organised a ‘snail stomp’ in response to the prolific damage snails were inflicting upon our garden plots (and it was a good excuse to have a night out). We produced a promo video and advertised the event via Community Garden 3231 Instagram and Facebook pages. This was an early evening soirée with local talent Tim Kingston (harmonica and guitar) providing some acoustic accompaniment. Unfortunately attendance was limited to only 10 people (including Tim). Stompees were encouraged to be self-sufficient and bring their own torch, drinks, glass and nibbles. The fire was well stoked and throwing out some decent heat, and the chairs around the fire were strategically placed to ensure 1.5m physical distancing could be observed. Tim’s tunes drifted out into the night air as our stompees wandered off into the darkness, torches in hand, to surprise a few unsuspecting snails and slugs. Chatter, squeals and giggles mingled with the music and our snail stomp vibe wafted over Aireys Inlet. Planning for our next snail stomp is underway, it might need to be a ticketed event!

Our capacity to adapt, modify and improvise in these strange COVID times means that our garden community can garden and socialise within the constraints we all face. Our experience demonstrates what is possible when communities are confronted with new challenges. In our case, we have thrived and found new ways of being.

Keep your hands dirty.

Anglesea Community Garden

The Anglesea Community Garden has been a life-line for many of its members who have been otherwise pretty much isolated in their homes since March.

From the onset of COVID-19, the Surf Coast Shire Council recognised that the investment in the Garden could not be lost and the plants allowed to die, so they gave the Garden members permission to continue to care for it –although under very strict conditions. It was explained to members through the newsletter and by word-of-mouth that it was permissible for up to six people to be in the Garden at a time. Members were scrupulous in their conformity to the rules and so our (often) sunny green space was used as a chance to get a bit of fresh air, get some exercise, continue growing food and, perhaps most importantly, to catch up with other people in a safe outdoor environment. Even though working many metres apart, the sense of working together for the common area was hugely therapeutic.

To make our visits more purposeful, there was a constantly refreshed list of jobs, big and small, kept on the table. A member with 10 minutes or an hour to spare could select a job from the tear-off list and get it done. This system has been a huge success. In-between our stage 3 lockdowns, we were allowed up to 20 people in the Garden at once, provided distancing and sanitising were observed. We had three fully subscribed working bees –so successful that we tried mid-week sessions to give everyone a chance to participate. It is now necessary to pre- book to attend.

There is so much written about the benefits of gardening to our health and mental wellbeing, I think our many members would agree the Garden is helping them through these difficult and strange times. New members are always welcome. Enquire at angleseacommunitygarden.org.au

At the time of writing, the limit is two at a time in the Garden –but this will continue to allow us to keep the plants going while we wait for better times.

COMMUNITY CORNER Cinnamon Stephens Discusses Her New Role at Eagles Nest Gallery

NewsAngle caught up with local artist Cinnamon Stephens about juggling her new role at Eagles Nest Gallery in Aireys Inlet with COVID-19 restrictions and her own creativity.

When did you start working at Eagles Nest Gallery in Aireys Inlet?

You know, it happened so gradually I didn’t even notice until I was suddenly booking artists and working every Saturday! I had only recently resigned my position as Surf Coast Art Space coordinator in the middle of 2019, with the plan to dedicate more time and energy to my own art practice.

Your creative metalwork is very distinctive. How long have you been doing that?

I have been living off my artwork for close to 30 years. I feel very lucky, especially during this crazy year, to be able to work in the medium I love AND make a living from it. I like to work on different things week to week, you will find us creating large gates or wall pieces one day and then playing with my new jewellery designs the next. Variety is the spice of life! So why do you also work at the gallery?

Throughout my creative life, I’ve always enjoyed discovering new artists, supporting and encouraging artists and promoting artists! Working in a gallery certainly allows me the freedom to do all this. Eagles Nest is such a beautiful environment in which to work. A purpose-built space, right on the busy Great Ocean Road, it really is a dream come true to have the opportunity to work there. I have been involved with the gallery since it first opened in Aireys, as I am good friends with the owner’s son. I exhibited and sold my work from there, even before I lived on the Surf Coast. Colin and Jan Peele, the original owners, used to drive to Geelong West and pick up fresh artwork from my home studio. Then when they designed and built the gallery, I was lucky to be asked to create the Art Nouveau inspired door handles, plus a few other things around the building. Now I work with the current owner, Bruno Rocchi. He had been doing a fabulous job keeping the business going after his wife Nadia passed away. When I came along, he was really ready for someone with local knowledge to give him a hand. The timing just felt right. What is happening at the gallery now?

Unfortunately we had to close our red doors for the second lockdown! I am really disappointed because we’d just opened four new solo exhibitions. The huge difference this time is that we now have a fabulous website with all the exhibitions, plus examples of over 50 other artists’ artwork available for people to check out online. This is the result of many hours of work during the first lockdown to make the gallery more visible. So I am very happy we did that.

The current exhibitions (which I am guessing will be extended past the end of September) are: POLLOCK –Still Painting in the Main Gallery, large evocative intuitive paintings by Donna Pollock (Winchelsea) ON THE BRIGHT SIDE –in the Feature Gallery, bright colourful figurative oils on canvas by Peta Uthmeyer (Torquay) NEIGHBOURS –in the Mini Gallery, lyrical watercolour portraiture by Jiri Tibor Novak (Aireys Inlet) BEGUILED BY LIGHT –in the Foyer Gallery, impressionistic oil paintings by Ray Wilson (Aireys Inlet/ Melb) Coming up in October/November (ish) will be The Geelong Sculptors METAMORPH, Irene Majer LARGE ACRYLICS, Kathryn Junor LAND + SEASCAPES and Dianne Leslie ABOUT TIME. Give your websites a plug …

The community of Anglesea has long been advocating for an upgrade to the Anglesea Memorial Hall to improve the sound and lighting infrastructure.

With strong advocacy from Dr. David Corbet of The Sound Doctor, and Anglesea Performing Arts (2020 would have marked the One-Act-Play Festival’s 30 th anniversary), the Surf Coast Shire Council worked to fully scope the project.

This very exciting upgrade to the hall will mean more than improved sound and lighting. The hall will receive improvements to the stage, the curtaining, the window treatments, as well as a fully functioning projector and movie screen.

This wonderful new performance space will greatly improve both the hall user and audience experience.

Do you remember when you could go to the movies in Anglesea? With these improvements, movies and many more recreational arts will be delivered at a quality unlike any we have experienced in our town. Local hall user group, the Anglesea Rock Choir is also really The new regional parks management authority, the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCPA) is being established to protect and manage coastal Crown land along the length of the Great Ocean Road, and is set to commence operations on 1st December 2020, with coastal land parcels being progressively transferred to the Authority over a number of years. The Authority’s primary purpose is to protect and manage visitation of the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks. It will manage, protect, rehabilitate and foster resilience of the natural, cultural and heritage values of coastal Crown looking forward to the improved technology.

For this project to proceed, a commitment from the community is required. We need to raise 25 percent of the funds of the full $191,000 project cost, which equates to $47,500.

The Fundraising Committee is delighted to partner with the Anglesea Community House as our Auspice host, the local Anglesea and District Community Bank, and Anglesea Performing Arts, who are generously

Are you interested in making a financial contribution towards this community fundraising goal? Please make a *gift payment to: Anglesea Community House via EFT Bendigo Bank BSB: 633 000 Account #: 126493535 and include

reference: AMH2021upgrade.

To obtain a receipt, please request via email to admin@anglesea.org.au with your name and date of gift paymentand amount. *Please note any personal donation is kindly received as a gift and is not tax deductible. For more information please email:

amh2021upgrade@gmail.com

GREAT OCEAN ROAD COAST AND PARKS AUTHORITY (GORCPA)

The following information is taken from the ‘Great Ocean Road Action Plan —Quarterly Community Update, July 2020’, which is published by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. kicking off the fundraising efforts. land and marine waters along the Great Ocean Road.

On its commencement, the staff, assets, liabilities and Crown land of the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee and Otway Coast Committee will be brought together in the Authority. There will be no job losses and accrued entitlements will be retained.

The planning and implementation of the transition is being delivered in conjunction with both the Coast Committees. Community Views

To support the implementation and establishment of the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority, community views were sought on how people would like to be involved with the new Authority in the future, and their views on possible funding options to support the Authority’s operations. To view a summary of results of this community consultation, visit https:// www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-andstrategy/great-ocean-road-action-plan. Consultation summarised is from the community, as stakeholders were not targeted for this round of consultation.

If you would like to subscribe for regular updates from GORCPA, email

greatoceanroad.actionplan@delwp.vic.gov.au

with ‘subscribe’ as the subject line.

Surf Coast Shire News By Tony Revell, Councillor, Anglesea Ward

Community Responding to COVID Challenges

I was fortunate to participate recently in a Zoom forum attended by more than 50 community leaders from the Anglesea region. Sponsored by Bendigo Bank and supported by Surf Coast Shire, this forum challenged us to consider how our community is responding and how we will meet the challenges ahead.

I view these challenges through three lenses; the physical health response, mental health and wellbeing, and economic recovery.

In relation to physical health, the high level of compliance from the community is pleasing, the efforts of our businesses and the work of our medical centres is outstanding and we have kept a tight lid on infections in our region.

Participants all thought we were responding well as a community and we are seeing many examples of clubs and groups adapting and supporting members and those in need.

Discussion on looming challenges then focussed attention on where we may need to do more.

This includes older members of the community and those who may not access digital communication channels and may be feeling very isolated, young people unable to participate in the social interactions that are so important to their development, and others, such as single parents and first time mothers, who may require additional support.

Economic challenges are also significant. With the visitor economy currently on hold, over 50 percent of our businesses are reliant on JobKeeper and we all know this won’t continue indefinitely. So, what are some of the actions we can all take now to further our COVID response?

Reach out to others, call up those who you have not heard from and ask if they are okay. Some organisations have initiated a telephone call tree to keep in touch with members. Remember not everyone will ask for help. Be the one to offer it.

Shop local to support our businesses. Check out the Surf Coast Shire website for details.

Business groups and community organisations should consider recovery ideas. Surf Coast Shire has allocated $1,000,000 to a grant program that supports COVID recovery initiatives.

Contact Anglesea Community House and Surf Coast Shire as valuable sources of information in relation to what help is available.

I was reminded that 37 years ago our coastal towns faced enormous challenges from Ash Wednesday. We recovered from that and we will get through this challenge.

By Tony Revell Community Safety, Anglesea CFA

With warmer weather approaching, Anglesea CFA is preparing for the coming fire season.

Pre-summer activities will commence as soon as COVID restrictions allow and will include equipment testing and upgrades, and reviewing and practicing firefighting procedures.

With many of us spending most of our time at home, now is the right time to start your own preparations.

Whilst we are doing all we can to make our town as safe as possible, we also encourage residents to take the time to reduce the risk to their property.

There are three main reasons houses burn down during fires. They are embers, heat and flame.

Many of the trees around Anglesea have bark that is prone to extensive spotting in the event of a fire, so even if the fire front is some distance from the town, significant ember attack is possible.

There are several things you can do to lessen the impact of ember attack,

reduce the risk of fire getting inside your house and reduce flame and heat near your house.:  Keep grass cut to less than 10cm.

Keep woodpiles away from house.

Remove flammable items from decks and verandas, such as boxes, furniture and doormats.

Store flammable liquids away from house.

Keep gutters clear of leaf litter. Get rid of dry grass, leaves, twigs and loose bark.

Cut back overhanging branches near buildings. Do not have large shrubs next to or under windows.

Prune lower branches of shrubs to separate from surface fuels underneath.

More information on preparing your property is available at www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare

SURFCOAST U3A STAYS ONLINE Surfcoast U3A has continued to offer courses online for as many of its members as possible.

We all miss the direct contact and companionship that face-to-face classes provide but at least this way we can stay connected and keep on learning. New classes that have come on board for Term 3 include Cafe Italiana and Yoga for Beginners. An Occasional Lecture is also on offer.

New members are always welcome and as Term 4 approaches, it would appear that online learning will continue.

If you are looking for something to fill in a little of your time, head to the U3A website www.u3asurfcoast.org.auas you may find just what you are looking for to keep yourself active and engaged. Stay well and stay positive!

By Melva Stott

Salutations I hope you're all coping with the disruptions to our lives. Lockdown wasn't much of a change for me as I'd been nursing an achilles and a hamstring, so I hadn't been doing much dancing in the street. One of the new rules meant sitting in the back of the local taxi and pretending to be a lady. Luckily I've had plenty of stage experience and street theatre activities, but I'm not sure that I fooled anyone. Inspiration A 113-year-old Spanish woman has survived the virus and only has four years to go until she enters the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest living female. I think I might have a go at that … it sounds like the lazy person's passage to fame. Isolation One good thing that came out of lockdown was that you could get a tradie at short notice. I even had two here on the same day –it was raining men! And I was surrounded by music. Oops! When thanking my son and granddaughter for visiting me, I said, “I always feel better after you've gone”. What I meant was that I feel better after having them here than I did before they came. Luckily, we all had a laugh together. I've had a bossy spur-wing plover guarding my driveway making sure that I don't have any visitors. Identification After all these restrictions, you may need a new career, and if you go into acting you'll need a good stage name. This is how you find one: Combine the name of your first pet with the name of the first street you lived in. That makes me Ginger Heatherton. And Stan was … wait for it … Pixie Brown. Do let me know what yours is. Reflection Tourism has been a casualty of this virus. When Stan and I were crying the virtues of the Surf Coast, I would say that William Buckley was our very first tourist and he stayed for 32 years, but we didn't expect our present-day visitors to stay quite that long. However, our area should remain a popular destination once again when this crisis is all over. In Conclusion Since I mentioned in the last edition of ‘Write Angles’ that I'm writing my memoirs, I've got people lining up for a copy! So now I'll have to get on and do it. The Cat has turned 12 –so now he's a bit older than me. But he is doing better than I am. I can't get over our new high paling fences. All right. I'm going. Keep smiling! Melva Stott

Mondays, Tuesdays & Fridays at the YMCA