Arts ……………………. 35,36 Cinema ……………….. 27,28 Community ………………3 to

Moruya Red Door Theatre presents - "Agatha Crusty & The Village Hall Murders" by Derek Webb

A fantas c mystery comedy whodunnit with a cast of 15.

Agatha Crusty is a crime novelist. And when her sister-in-law Alice invites her to spend a few days with her in the village of Chortelby, it’s not long before she gets caught up in a series of murders which seem directed at members of the All Saints Village Hall commi ee. Packed full of wit and very funny scenes, this is also a genuine murder mystery with an ingenious plot which will tax the li le grey cells of the audience at the same me! 7 shows at the #Moruya RSL Hall Fri 18 & Sat 19 Nov 7pm Fri 25 & Sat 26 7pm Sun 27 2pm Ma nee Fri 2 Dec & Sat 3 Dec 7pm Tickets Selling Fast Book a table for a BYO night out at the theatre or grab a couple of ckets and join in the fun. Table bookings are easy at www. cketor.com/mrdtc or pop in and see the great team at Moruya Books

Nov 12th - Sco Stone at Club Catalina Nov 12th - Ricky Bloomfield – Tomakin Club (7.30pm) Nov 12th - Dave Berry – Tuross Club (7.30pm) Nov 12th - Jeff Aschmann will be playing at Grumpies cafe on Saturday November 12 in Mogo November 12 - 12:00 3:00

Nov 12th - Southbound xo from 8pm at Steampacket Hotel Described by Tripe M County as "AUS-Country Ho est Supergroup", Southbound xo are a new all-female country/ rock band featuring Missy Lancaster, Sarah Bernardo and Andrea Krakovska.

Tickets: https://www.stickytickets.com.au/n48es/ southbound_xo.aspx

Nov 18th - The Pilgrims at Broulee Surf Club 6 - 9pm Nov 18th - Pla num Duo at Batemans Bay Soldiers Club Nov 18th - The Detonators at Batemans Bay Soldiers Club $27.50 Nov 18th - Rick Bamford – Club Malua (8pm) Nov 19th - Pla num Duo at Batemans Bay Soldiers Club Nov 19th - Country Pumpkins – Moruya Markets (10am) Nov 19th - Rick Bamford – Tuross Club (7.30pm) Nov 19th - Jackie Marshall at One Tree Tavern Nov 19th - Driving Sideways at Club Catalina Nov 19th - Jamie Parkinson – Tomakin Club (7.30pm) Nov 19th - Jan Preston at the Monarch Hotel, Moruya 4pm Tix $25.

The evening will showcase one of the na on’s renowned string quartets, performing a diverse and dynamic range of repertoire that conveys the potency of chamber music of today when in their hands. The musical journey will move through a triptych of miniatures from an exci ng genera on of Australian voices – equal parts animated, reflec ve and atmospheric. The night will culminate with Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 9 – a vibrant work of masterful contrast and counterpoint that conjures up ecsta c moments, brimming with energy. ‘’A diverse array of sonorous string sounds – invi ng listeners on a journey to reflect and connect’’ Ma hew Hoy, Four Winds Ar s c & Crea ve Director A delicious dinner will be available on the lawns of the Windsong Pavilion from 5:30pm. The light meal will be sumptuous Thali plates created by J-Bird catering. Meat and vegan curry op ons will be available with fluffy steamed rice and flavourful condiments to match. All meal op ons are gluten free and dairy free. Dinner is available for pre-purchase via the Four Winds website or at the event. The Four Winds bar will be open throughout dinner, during interval and a er the event. Four Winds welcomes to this event Guest of Honour Margaret Throsby, who re red recently from her role as a broadcaster on ABC Radio. Margaret has made a significant contribu on to many Four Winds fes vals as MC and presenter on ar st panels. We thank Margaret for her contribu on to Four Winds and the arts throughout her career in radio and television.

Montague Visi ng Ar sts 2022 - Affinity Quartet 2:30 pm Saturday November 19 - St Paul’s Anglican Church, Narooma Tickets $28 from Mitre 10, Narooma & Nested on Wallaga, Bermagui, $30 at the door or from Trybooking h ps://www.trybooking.com/CECMT More info: 0439 648414 www.montaguechoristers.org, montague.choristers.narooma@gmail.com, Kindly supported by Nanda Taylor & Helen Ryan Lada Marcelja, Ar s c Director - Montague Visi ng Ar sts says "The final Visi ng Ar sts concert for 2022 is on Saturday, November 19 and I think many of you will agree that we have le the best for last. The Affinity Quartet has had a very successful year. "In April they travelled to London and par cipated in the pres gious Wigmore Hall Quartet Compe on (h ps://wigmore-hall.org.uk/string-quartet-compe on/2022-wigmore-hall-interna onal-string-quartetcompe on) and placed third in a highly compe ve field of quartets from around the world. "Then, in August they were a Senior Quartet at the McGill Interna onal String Quartet Academy and worked with the best to further hone their cra h ps://misqa.com/concerts/. "Now, on Saturday, November 19, they are coming to Narooma with two amazing works, Haydn's String Quartet in B minor, Op 33 No 1 and Mendelssohn's String Quartet in F minor Op 80, as well as a new piece by Ingi Kim. "Haydn described his Op.33 set of six quartets as having a ‘new and special’ style and sent the scores of all six to Mozart. Mozart was so impressed that he, in 1785, dedicated his six superb string quartets Op. 10 to Joseph Haydn. "Mendelssohn’s sixth and final string quartet was composed just two months before his death in 1847. In this 30 minute work, sub tled Requiem for Fanny, Mendelssohn turns to the in macy of string quartet wri ng to grapple with the sudden death of his only sister and closest confidante, producing one of his most musically incisive and arres ng works. "We hope you can join us for this wonderful concert."

A suspension of feral animal shoo ng is the latest chapter in the struggle over feral horses in Kosciuszko Na onal Park. The cull is intended to protect the park by reducing feral horse numbers to 3,000. At last count in 2020 there were 14,000 feral horses in the park with that number increasing 20% each year. Whether the cull is making any headway will be seen in another count occurring before Christmas this year. The cull was secretly suspended by the NSW government in mid September in an apparent bid to placate Sydney shock jock Ray Hadley. ‘Although the suspension is the latest worry, feral horses in the park have long been a big concern,’ says film-maker Mandy King who explores the issues in her film Where the Water Starts. To make the film, King and her partner, Fabio Cavadini, teamed up with Indigenous and non-Indigenous community leaders who King says are really concerned about feral animals trampling and bogging up the fragile ecology of the headwaters of the Snowy, Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers which is also suffering climate change impacts. ‘Over genera ons, the landscape has been degraded to the point where 34 species of na ve plants and animals are now under threat. The high country has not evolved to handle hard hooved animals such as deer and especially feral horses,’ says King. Richard Swain, a Wiradjuri descendant raised in the high country and Indigenous Ambassador on the Invasive Species Council, is a strong, passionate voice in the film. ‘It's at pping point now, if you get the horses off and do a li le bit of remedia on, this will recover,’ hopes Swain. ‘Locals can learn more about this important na onal discussion and what the future holds at the screening of Where the Water Starts at the Narooma Kinema on 17th November,’ says King. Ted Rowley whose farm adjoins the Kosciuszko Na onal Park and Ngarigo custodian Aunty Rhonda Casey who is in the film will be on the Q&A panel a er the film. Tickets can be purchased here h ps://fan-force.com/screenings/where-the-water-starts-narooma-kinema/

Gadfly 260 By Robert Macklin A sudden calm has swept across the international landscape with the happy results of America’s mid-term elections. No one is quite sure how long it will last, but we should enjoy it while we can. The great fear that a ‘red wave’ of Republican victories would elevate Donald Trump into the political wizardry of his imaginings faded to a mere ripple on the sandy shore. The extremists he endorsed largely fell by the wayside, and despite tottering Joe Biden in the White House, the centre held. The Republicans will win the House of Representatives and the Senate numbers will be decided in a run-off in Georgia to be held on December 6. The betting is that the Democrat candidate will take it and once again the Vice-President Kamala Harris will have the deciding vote. It’s not exactly business as usual, but it’s a far, far better result than was so widely predicted. Trump’s ‘fake news’ sloganeering has run out of steam. Already, he’s delayed his own much touted run for the 2024 presidency and the big win from his major competition for the Republican nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, means his candidacy will split the GOP. But before we get too cocky, the other side of the political coin is not exactly a pretty picture…more like a cubist Picasso. Tottering Joe will have been encouraged to seek a second term, or at least to delay a decision until the last minute. This would prevent an attractive alternative from declaring her or his candidacy, then raising the necessary profile - and funding - to win the White House. And at the moment there is no natural successor waiting in the wings. Moreover, in place of Nancy Pelosi as Majority Leader in the House, the Republican Kevin McCarthy – a man with the moral backbone of a squid – will take every opportunity to cripple the Biden administration. Not only will he stand in the way of legislation on climate change, gun control and rising inequality, he will deliberately provoke China over Taiwan and any other issue that he thinks will make him look tough. Happily, our own PM Anthony Albanese is taking the initiative to seek a resumption of sensible dialogue with our biggest trading partner. Reports in The Guardian have him embarking on a hectic week of summitry, from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, with a G20 in Bali sandwiched in between. A head-to-head with China’s premier, Li Keqiang, or possibly even the Pretend Emperor Xi Jinping seems to be on the cards. And to top it off, the war in Ukraine seems to be running against the Russian invaders. In fact, it’s going so well the Ukrainians themselves don’t quite believe it and suspect they’re being lured into a trap. Perhaps the Russian retreat from Kherson is merely clearing out the invaders before Putin makes good on his nuclear threat and wipes the city off the face of the earth. Maybe so. But perhaps we’re so used to the bad news coming from all points of the compass that we distrust this sudden calm in the international landscape. Who can tell? Maybe one day it will stop raining and give us a whole summer to relax, put our feet up and thank our lucky stars. robert@robertmacklin.com

Reading—A beer with Baz Bazza’s stomach kno ed as he entered the hospital and his heart rate jumped as his eyes flashed across the serious signs and warnings in the foyer. He sucked in a deep breath and adjusted his mask for the now familiar walk through the wards. His chest ghtened with the con nual beeps of medical machinery, the cla er of a trolley and earnest, muffled conversa ons.

As he approached his wife’s room, he half smiled at her claim she could detect his presence by the sound of his walk. Varying the length of his steps or padding gently along the corridor, had failed to trick her. Bazza grinned at the thought of skipping the last few metres but knew her detec ve skills extended to deducing his stupidity. The art of ‘knowing’ was reassuring and gave birth to certainty, and more importantly, planning. He paused at the door and thought about the ‘not knowing’. The ‘not knowing’ fuelled every worst case scenario, slowed me and churned the stomach. It dominated all thoughts, chewed the finger nails and ground the teeth. He wiped away the cold sweat from his brow and feigned a smile. For a moment, Bazza thought his deliberate slower steps were undetected but she was asleep, as another day of ‘not knowing’ faded. He padded across the room, sat for a long me but the ‘not knowing’ caged him and beckoned him to the window. ‘Knowing’ the full moon was only to be temporarily devoured by a total eclipse was reassuring. He breathed in deeply. Its whiteness was slowly consumed and a rusty, perfectly round ember glowed in the coal of the sky. He blinked into its eerie redness and shivered. Surely, there was a me of ‘not knowing’ about eclipses and for a flee ng moment, a fear the phenomenon was permanent. Bazza’s chest again ghtened at the thought. Bazza sat again and tried to match his breathing to the leaden footsteps of the ‘not knowing’. Have a beer with Bazza at john.longhurst59@gmail.com

At the recent Headland Writers Festival, Ruth Armstrong was announced as the winner of Olga Masters Short Story Award for her story Sandcastles.

Ruth's winning entry will be published in Island Magazine in November, which is available for purchase through their website and will appear on the Olga Masters website early next year. Miriam Webster was the runner-up for her story A Look of Extreme Festivity which is available to read now on the Olga Masters website. Ruth Armstrong has worked as a doctor, a medical journal editor and a public health blogger. Sydney based for many years, she returns often to her natural habitat in the waters off Magnetic Island. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of Technology Sydney. The winner of the 2018 AAWP/ ASSF Emerging Writers’ Prize, her short stories have been published in Meniscus, and the ACE and UTS anthologies. Miriam Webster writes stories in and around Melbourne/Naarm. Her stories are available in places like Aniko Magazine, Island online, swim meet lit mag and FDBNHLLLTTFPLAGIARISM. Her stories have placed in this year’s major prizes, and she is currently working on her debut short story collection. Congratulations to all entrants of the Olga Masters Short Story Award 2022. The calibre of stories received from all over Australia was extraordinary! The Award is managed by South East Arts and supported by Island Magazine and South Coast Writers Centre.

The prize is funded by the Masters Family and the competition was originally established by Well Thumbed Books in Cobargo. h ps:// www.olgamastersshortstoryaward.com/

Aunty June is the proud owner of a TAFE certificate III in Investigative Services. It took her thirty hours to complete online. Now, she has set up her own private investigation service: Yanakirri Investigative Services – Confidentiality Guaranteed. Madukka: The River Serpent is a striking novel about family and resistance.

Julie Janson is an Indigenous woman of the Burruberongal clan of Darug nation. A teacher, artist, playwright and poet, Julie has won many awards and grants for her writing, She is co-recipient of the Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poetry Prize and winner of the Judith Wright

Poetry Prize. Her novels include The Crocodile Hotel, The Light Horse Ghost, Benevolence and her latest debut into Crime fiction Madukka: the River Serpent. @ The Moruya Waterfront Hotel Thursday 1st December, 12pm—2pm

Local authors, Edwin and Laurel Lloyd-Jones’ book ‘The Elm Grove Story’ – a mys cal journey will be launched by Anglican Bishop George Browning and his wife Margaret on Saturday, 26th November at 2.30 pm at St John’s Anglican Red Door Hall in Moruya. When their book was published in April this year Edwin and Laurel decided against holding a book launch due to the high risk associated with the covid pandemic. However, now that things have improved, and upon the urging of many people, they have decided to combine the celebra on of Edwin’s 88th birthday with launching their book. A reading, and an invita on for brief comment from those who have already read the book, will be offered along with a ernoon tea and some birthday cake. “All are very welcome and, if you are coming, we’d love to know in advance so that we have a big enough cake to share,’ said Laurel. ‘We are offering a specially reduced book price for the launch, and as we have had an amazing response from readers both here and overseas, we thought it would be a good idea to inform people about it in our local region. It has brought posi ve comment from both those who are agnos cs as well as those who hold a faith in a greater power. We were two agnos cs living in Sydney, and raising our two children, when we were bowled over by a clear, inner call that took us on an adventure from suburban life to Goobarragandra, near Tumut (in the remote Snowy Mountains) where we founded a spiritual retreat centre in 1983. Prior to this Edwin had been a musician and business owner and I was working as a social worker. In the founding of Elm Grove Sanctuary, we welcomed people from many different faiths, or of none, who were o en referred to us by health professionals, hospitals and cancer groups. Individuals, and o en families, came due to a member facing a life-threatening illness or other major challenge in their lives. Within the counselling support offered, and amidst the serenity and beauty of nature, they found rest, solace, healing and acceptance of their difficult life situa ons. Our charity, the Elm Grove Sanctuary Trust, remains founded on deep trust. The many amazing things that enabled the sanctuary’s development came about through trust and the loving support and shared vision of so many people. Our centre func oned purely on a dona on basis and over me we built accommoda on buildings, and an ecumenical chapel, for our guests believing that, if it was for the common good of all people, then the funds would become available. This was never found wan ng. Within the mystery of a loving and benevolent creator we saw many, many miracles unfold. ‘While Edwin and I are Franciscan Chris ans we always sought to care for the environment and to offer a warm welcome to people irrespec ve of their individual faith or life circumstances. We saw the healing that love can provide for people in close connec on with nature. The Indigenous people of the region, and the wider community were addi onal delights. We were supported and loved in our endeavours by many people in Tumut along with the invaluable support the local Shire Council and Bishop George Browning and Fr Francis Carroll, the Catholic Archbishop of Canberra Goulburn in their role as guardians of our community The li le Followers of St Francis.’ People interested in the memoir unable to a end the launch can find the book ‘The Elm Grove Story’ – a mys cal journey (ISBN: 9781922722553 and published by Greenhill Publishing) online through book distributors or through the local bookshops in Bega and Moruya. Further details can be obtained by emailing – egstrust2@gmail.com or Laurelandedwin@gmail.com