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ISSUE 59 | WINTER 2020 www.bendigomagazine.com.au

field of colour BENDIGO ART GALLERY BRIGHTENS

SCHOOL’S BACK LITTLIES OUT OF LOCKDOWN

ISSN 1833-1289 AUD $5.95 (Inc. GST)

Sedgwick chick MEET THE WRITER’S MAGPIE

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dear reader, “I have been using this period of isolation to go through my life’s work, making collections, organising, scanning in thousands of old slides, making books, and throwing things away,” writes our columnist Geoff Hocking in this pandemic-era issue.

EDITOR Lauren Mitchell PHOTOGRAPHER Leon Schoots CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Schilling WRITERS Geoff Hocking, John Holton, Kate O’Connor, Raelee Tuckerman and Marina Williams

A quick survey on my own social media feed found dozens of friends doing the same, either finding time for long-labouredon work, or fresh projects from the backburner. Many were pursuing new creative outlets; Jana and Darcy had taken up crochet hooks, Gena had discovered mosaics and Claire was using alcohol inks (as opposed to alcohol, although stats tell us that’s also been popular).

CONTRIBUTORS Beau Cook, Lisa Chesters and Ashley Raeburn

Susie asked if assistant teacher counted as a new hobby. Fair call. Anyone else notice that schooling was a hot topic? Parents were swapping daily tales from the trenches, otherwise known as the kitchen table, or under the table, depending on the school day’s success.

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We popped into the Epsom Primary School post-lockdown to see how the community there had fared. Even the reluctant students were relieved to be back again.

PO Box 5003 Bendigo, VIC 3550 Phone: 0438 393 198

One thing Bendigo Magazine has always done well is report on the city’s social scene, before and after. With events cancelled and physical distancing in place, much of Bendigo kept calm and carried on, online; which is wonderful, but no substitute for the real deal, really. Despite the immense challenges of publishing during the pandemic, we’re proud to bring you this winter issue, with the hope it can be read in the ‘real world’, on the kitchen table, now the kids have – thankfully – vacated.

LAUREN MITCHELL ON THE COVER: What a treat it was for photographer Leon Schoots to get out of the house and into the Sedgwick wind to shoot this issue’s cover, featuring the hugely talented author Katrina Nannestad and her magpie companion, Otto. Read their story within. 4

EVENTS PHOTOGRAPHER AJ Taylor PRINT MANAGER Nigel Quirk

Bendigo Magazine takes all care but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Bendigo Magazine holds copyright to all content unless otherwise stated. ISSN 1833-1289. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, the publisher accepts no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or resultant consequences including any loss or damage arising from reliance on information in this publication. The views expressed are not necessarily endorsed by the editor or the publisher.

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Ag Art

2000-2020

Living Arts Space exhibition

EXTENDED UNTIL AUGUST 16 This year marks 20 years of the Elmore Field Days Ag Art Wear Contest, which has challenged artists to create wearable art using only materials found in an agricultural setting. This exhibition showcases the winners of the 2019 Ag Art Wear Competition alongside highlights from the last 20 years and a selection of works from decorative metal artist, David Dawson.

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contents ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PEOPLE & LIFE

What’s been on? - Bendigo’s cultural scene

Field of colours - Ross Taylor Exhibition

Façade of the past - Brett Jenkins

Immersed in art - Kerry L Brown

Pets on paper - Charlotte Daniel

FOOD, WINE & WEDDINGS

Simone and Luke - Wedding Feature

Nicola and Max - Wedding Feature

Lamb shanks - Beau Cook

Eliza and Jamie - Wedding Feature

The school report - Epsom Primary School Students on site - Bendigo TAFE No expectorating in Eaglehawk! - Bendigo Memories Asking the big questions - Leanne Healy Restoring hope - Dr Anne Southall Old school uniforms are new again - Girton Grammar Sharing the love - Councillor Matt Emond When old meets new - Home feature Black, white and read - Katrina Nannestad Words of warning - Jimmy Crute

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Michael Cook, Invasion (Laser girls), 2017. Inkjet print. Courtesy the artist and Andrew Baker Art Dealer. © Michael Cook

what's been on?

Bendigo’s cultural scene continued online, thanks to the city’s arts institutions. Plus, there’s more to come. BENDIGO ART GALLERY IS GOING STRONG Bendigo Art Gallery has stayed true to its aim of providing great art to the community despite COVID-19 temporarily closing its doors. Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot says her team has been kept busy creating exhibitions online, gallery walk-throughs, 360-degree views, artist and curator talks, interviews, artworks and more. “Our education team developed an ‘art at home’ program for hands-on activities for adults and children,” Jessica says. “We also had the opportunity to do larger maintenance works and deeper cleaning, which is difficult to do when we are open seven days a week. “Plus, we’ve been working on some more exhibitions, programs and events for the coming year, so watch this space!” Jessica says the response to the gallery’s new online content has been “overwhelmingly positive”, with increased traffic to the website and social media channels. “Discovering art online for our audience has been very successful, so much so that we will continue to develop our online content, however nothing beats the experience of seeing artworks live.” The gallery is pleased to report it’s now open again, with a restriction of 20 people per gallery space and physical distancing for visitors and staff. Exhibitions to enjoy during winter are: Bessie Davidson & Sally Smart – Two artists and the Parisian avant-garde; Ross Taylor: Field notes; and The Burning World, featuring works by leading Australian artists Hoda Afshar, Peta Clancy, Rosemary Laing and Michael Cook, which interrogate urban and natural landscapes to reveal truths about human inhabitations. RIGHT: Ross Taylor - Black Hill (The Big Top) 2019, pencil on paper, 112 x 152cm

BENDIGO PLAYS ALONG AT HOME Bendigo Venues and Events launched two online initiatives to support local artists and provide great content for a global audience during lockdown. For visual artists and art lovers, What I Did Last Week is an online exhibition curated by the Creative Communities team, showcasing diverse works from local artists, created in isolation. By the end of June there were more than 250 works available to view at bendigovenuesandevents.com.au For performing artists and audiences, the Play At Home initiative sees shows streamed live from the Ulumbarra Theatre and The Capital Facebook pages on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 7pm. Manager David Lloyd says all performers in the Bendigo region are encouraged to submit a video to Play At Home showcasing their talent, with 29 performers shown in the first eight weeks, reaching audiences of up to 5000. “To further enhance the initiative, we have recently partnered with Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival to facilitate Friday night performances,” he says. What I Did Last Week was developed to support mental health during lockdown. Some of the artists who took part completed a survey, with 98 per cent reporting that making art had helped them deal with lockdown. While it continues to work with performing arts industry peak bodies and take advice from government, the Bendigo Venues and Events team is busy preparing to reopen its iconic Bendigo venues. “We are working towards reopening performance spaces in September, with an anticipated reduced capacity due to density quotient requirements,” David says. “The expectation is we will be in a position to increase venue capacities later in the year, hoping that we will soon be operating at full capacity, to enrich and delight our community.” Keep an eye on the Facebook pages for local and regional performers playing live from various Bendigo landmarks and attractions through July, as part of the Play At Home and Love Your Local campaigns.

LOCKDOWN SPARKS ONLINE YARNS FOR WRITERS FESTIVAL The Bendigo Writers Festival team hasn’t let a pandemic stop the program. Book lovers from Bendigo and beyond have been enjoying the festival’s e-events series, Backstory, with weekly author interviews via social media. Festival director Rosemary Sorensen says they’ve also been publishing an online magazine, called Day by Day, where local writers have been sharing their lockdown stories. Go to www. bendigowritersfestival.com.au/day-by-day to read stories from the likes of Carmel Bird, Dianne Dempsey, Pamela Harvey and Bendigo Magazine’s own Lauren Mitchell. “It’s been excellent to finally get the know-how for online events,” Rosemary says. “We’ve been meaning to improve our website and to make sure we’re talking to writers and audiences throughout the year, so, while there’s still challenges in this, it’s now very possible.” All going well, the festival is planning a return to ‘real life’ events in September. “Bendigo Venues and Events is working on how the restrictions will work, to keep everyone safe, so we’re keen to have a go,” Rosemary says. “Again, this may enable us to do things a little differently, which is always a good thing.” In the meantime, Backstory events planned for July will highlight a couple of YA books, with Sarah Mayor Cox talking to Kay Kerr about Please Don’t Hug Me and Cecile Shanahan talking to Davina Bell about The End of the World is Bigger Than Love. Go to the festival’s Facebook page for details. 10

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HELEN GARNER, TRACE BELLA AND PAIGE TOON AMONG WINTER’S LIBRARY GUESTS The Goldfields Library certainly quashes the old cliché of bibliophiles being a quiet bunch. Even during lockdown it was all action stations across the local library branches, thanks to an ever-expanding program of online events. Programs and events coordinator Tammy Higgs says in some ways, the lockdown expanded the library’s world of opportunities, as it connected with authors and audiences from Bendigo and beyond. “While it’s been a strange time for public libraries, Goldfields Library staff have not been resting on their laurels,” Tammy reports. “Storytime staff kept in touch with young families by recording their sessions and making them available on YouTube and library Facebook pages – it was a steep but valuable learning curve in our quest to promote a love of language and stories. “Author events were also successfully converted to an online format with a range of fantastic authors discussing their new releases and their writing craft with library In Conversation partners. Digital literacy and writing workshops were also particularly successful online.” Tammy says library lovers can now benefit from an online archive of author talks and Storytime readings, and there’s much more to look forward to this winter. “We have a fantastic ‘Wild and Woolly Winter’ School Holiday Program planned for July featuring Minecraft and Lego challenges, STEM, cartooning and writing workshops, and two great high-energy tutorials of street dance,” Tammy says.

“We are very excited to be hosting AFLW’s Moana Hope, who will share the joys and challenges of being a full-time carer to her sister Vinny, her business and her passion for football.” Other highlights include author and illustrator Trace Balla sharing her new cartoon story, Bubble Time, and showing people of all ages how to mark this period in time through story, cartoon-style. Heather Blakey will be running a six-week series on The Art of Visual Journalling, and author talks will include Helen Garner in a Weltschmerz conversation with Castlemaine’s Robyn Annear, and Paige Toon all the way from England. Tammy says the digital learning needs of people over 50 are a high priority, with practical learning workshops supported by the Be Connected program being offered. “We are particularly excited to be able to offer some devices, with internet access, for a three-month loan as part of this program to people who would benefit.” Tammy says, it’s an uncertain time for the library with COVID-19 restrictions changing frequently. “Our very first priority is to keep our library environments and our patrons safe,” she says. “We plan to be ready though, and are currently developing protocol for a gradual reintroduction of small events in a controlled manner. Smaller Storytimes will be high on our list, as will workshops and IT help. High-profile author talks and events may have to wait a little longer.” Details of all program opportunities can be found at www.ncgrl.vic.gov.au

BLUES FESTIVAL KEEPS THE MUSIC COMING Bendigo has missed its live gigs these past few months, but blues fans were well served with a steady online stream of festival favourites. Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival director Colin Thompson says that thanks to volunteers and supporters, they were able to present a host of quality online shows, plus plug the social media performances of others. “We immediately started sharing links to artists’ self-run online gigs, especially those that included the opportunity for punters to buy tickets or make donations,” Colin says. “We also started looking at ways we could present online ‘live’ performances, featuring some of the awesome artists we get to work with, in particular providing those artists with paid gigs, especially when they’ve been hit so hard by the shutdown.” Colin says one of the pluses has been seeing how many people still crave live music and are looking for ways to support grassroots artists. “We’ve had extremely positive feedback with our efforts so far and have had great results with people engaging with us and with our artists online through the events we’re staging,” he says, adding that’s great as there’s no telling when live concerts will resume. “We would obviously hope to be able to stage our four-day festival in November,” he says. “This year marks our 10th annual festival and would again host around 100 acts performing in 40 or so venues in the CBD and across our region. But that’s obviously contingent on restrictions being well and truly lifted. “If punters can’t move freely and congregate in a relaxed fashion in our venues, we can’t reasonably expect those venues to kick in the kinds of budgets we need to pay our artists and present the shows. In the meantime, we’ll keep taking it month by month and stage our Blues Tram events and gigs online, to keep supporting artists where and how we can, until we get to host audiences in person and in a relaxed atmosphere again.” Head to the festival’s Facebook page events listings for online concerts over winter, including Wayne Jury + Walkers Road on July 11 and Luke Watt + Sherri Parry on August 8.

All images are courtesy of the artist and Sophie Gannon Gallery

field of colours

A move to Central Victoria has a profound effect on artist Ross Taylor, whose locally inspired works are now on show at the Bendigo Art Gallery. By Emma Busowsky Cox - Curator, Bendigo Art Gallery Field notes is an ambitious new body of work by Central Victorian artist Ross Taylor, exploring the landscape, history, people and architecture of this region and the forces that have shaped them through time. Ross incorporates aspects of the sacred and the everyday into his layered and colour-rich drawings, which are gently humorous – and 14

at times critical – observations of daily life and human endeavour. In He’s a mighty good leader (2019), Ross pays homage to the architectural marvel of Bendigo’s Sacred Heart Cathedral, while critiquing the problems of the system it represents. With a palette predominantly of pinks and mauves, he takes a patriarchal

system into a more feminine realm; acknowledging the spiritual and emotional power of such spaces while revealing his own transition from a Catholic upbringing to atheism. After studying Fine Arts at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, the Kyneton-based artist immigrated to Australia in 2009.

TOP: He’s A Mighty Good Leader, 2019, pencil on paper, 112 x 152cm ABOVE: Lumber,2019, pencil on paper, 76 x 112cm

Initially landing in Melbourne, he says the move to Central Victoria five years ago has had a profound effect on his work.

flax-lily and winged star-wort. Endangered brush-tailed phascogales, greater gliders and powerful owls are also found.

“Moving here provoked a significant shift in my practice,” Ross says. “I transitioned from making intricate, repetitive monochrome marks on paper to a much looser style and with a more vibrant palette. The landscape here continues to agitate something in me and I feel compelled to discover new ways to capture it.”

Following a bushfire in January 2015, which burnt around 80 per cent of the site, Ross started a series of drawings documenting Black Hill’s regeneration. Noticing how the brilliant colours of the regrowth contrasted against the blackened landscape, he was inspired to use colour in a new way.

Black Hill Reserve on Taungurung country, north of Kyneton, is one site Ross has sought to capture again and again. Its ancient, elevated terrain features imposing magmatic boulders and a hilly woodland of rare flora, both remnant and non-Indigenous. Among the messmates, peppermints, manna gums and yellow boxes are the floodplain fireweed, arching

Perhaps the most arresting aspect of Ross’ works in this exhibition are the colour relationships within them, as he asks us to see the familiar in a new way. In his dedication to noticing, recording and interpreting aspects of life in this region, his works read like a book of field notes, in which a new – and often playful – chronicle of Central Victoria’s cultural landscape is offered.

TOP Order And Variation (For Robert Jacks) 2019, pencil on paper, 112 x 152cm ABOVE: Cacatua, 2019, pencil on paper, 76 x 112cm BELOW: Namesake, 2019, pencil on paper , 76 x 112cm

FIELD NOTES 28 MARCH â€“ 18 OCTOBER 2020

#BendigoArtGallery

architects in demand

Local architects add interest to Bendigo’s built landscape, from commercial projects to home-sweet-homes. Photograph by Leon Schoots Bendigo-based e+ architecture has been making a mark on Victoria’s landscape through five decades, with its team of architects designing new and transforming existing places into not only exquisite works of art but functional living and working spaces. Projects of note include restoring the Bendigo Town Hall, commercial projects such as Coliban Water and Powercor, renovating myriad period homes, and redeveloping nearly 20 educational facilities across the state, including Girton Grammar, Kalianna School and government primary schools in Epsom, Marong, Eaglehawk and Spring Gully. The design firm’s leadership team of directors/ architects Terry Mitton, Nick Marino and Lucas Hodgens is expanding to include senior architects Rachel Hannan and Rimmon Martin. Both have extensive experience in design and construction, having worked in Melbourne and overseas before moving to Bendigo in 2008. They are looking forward to helping guide e+ architecture into the future. “We love contributing to Bendigo and being involved in many innovative and exciting projects that are taking place here,” Rimmon says.“ One of the gains of working regionally is the variety of work that keeps things really interesting. We don’t necessarily specialise in any type of

architecture or type of project and I don’t think you can in regional areas.”

reputation for providing innovative, functional and unique design, they say.

Lucas says taking a collaborative approach is key to e+ architecture’s ethos and success.

“Diversity can bring many positives to the community,” Rachel says. “Commercial and education projects require broarder public engagement and, therefore, wider contribution to the city landscape. Whereas residential enables us to maintain a more intimate connection with people in the design and construction of homes, and it’s these private projects that can sometimes offer the opportunity for real refinement of design and to explore more interesting design outcomes.”

“The reason we are a ‘practice’ and not working as sole traders is so that we are able to share and test ideas, work in a studio environment and most importantly learn from one another,” he says. “Having the experience of Rachel and Rim in the practice has been great for our progress as a leading architectural firm, not only in Bendigo but Victoria.” Being integral to the design of homes, commercial and education spaces in recent years has appealed to the architects. “We have worked on some fantastic projects, but to be involved in education and create spaces for students to learn and create in, while having a sense of belonging, is something special,” Rimmon says. “The Epsom Primary School was a really successful project that Lucas won a state design award for, and we now have Marong Primary School having a significant upgrade, which will enhance the community.” Providing connection within a community through a diverse range of projects is key to e+ architecture gaining and maintaining a

This includes a strong interest in bringing alternative housing models to Bendigo. It’s an approach that considers the social, financial and environmental sustainability implications of building homes for people and not profit. “We are very interested in how Bendigo grows and housing stock is a real issue here, as there’s not a lot of variety. Any changes or positive impacts we can have on that, we are really interested in,” Rimmon says. Adds Rachel: “The regions are starting to have that potential for exponential growth that Melbourne has experienced and learning from the issues that have cropped up in the city will ensure we get better housing outcomes, which is important for our community.” 17

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businesses innovate Despite the challenges of 2020 many Bendigo businesses survive and thrive thanks to innovative local operators and a supportive community. INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE AGENCY EXPANDS TO BENDIGO Formed in 2014 by James Nihill, Patrick Leo is a nationallylicensed real estate agency helping people achieve their goals through property. Patrick Leo specialises in sourcing and acquiring residential investment properties, and to date has helped more than 1000 people buy property all over Australia. The business has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and now Bendigo. “Property is a tremendous asset to help you retire comfortably but Australia is a large place with many different markets across the states and territories and even within those areas,” James says. Patrick Leo works with the buyer to understand their resources and how efficiently they are working for them, then focuses on the goals of the buyer to determine if property is an appropriate asset for them. The team then looks Australia-wide for the right investment property for each buyer. Patrick Leo assists with all aspects of the purchase including contracts, engaging solicitors, securing finance and, finally, providing property management.

SWEET TIMES AHEAD

“Good property management is a crucial part of a successful investment property,” says James.

The founder of much-loved Bendigo Brittle has a new home. In the midst of Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown, Greta relocated Bendigo Brittle’s headquarters from her home-based kitchen to a new, state-of-the-art, commercial kitchen in Wills Street, Bendigo.

“Bendigo is a city we have recommended to investors for many years and 12 months ago we opened an office here so we could be sure our investors’ properties were being well managed. “We have the best property management team in Bendigo with Laini Schilling and Demi Keegan. They both have a keen eye for detail and outstanding communication skills. We don’t aim to be the biggest in Bendigo, but we do aim to be the best. Visit www.patrickleo.com.au for more information.

Talk about iso cooking; confectioner Greta Donaldson didn’t let a global pandemic hamper her kitchen capers.

Greta says the move will enable her booming business to increase its output and employ more local staff. “This will give us the capacity to keep up with the growing demand for our products and add new varieties to our offering,” she says. “While COVID-19 has slowed business somewhat, mainly due to a reduction in the number of markets throughout the region, I am confident that as social distancing restrictions begin to ease, demand will be stronger than ever. “The move means we are now well-equipped to keep Victorians stocked with our much-loved brittle throughout this pandemic and beyond.” Bendigo Brittle has developed a cult-like following since it was officially launched on World Peanut Brittle Day in 2016. “If someone had told me five years ago, when I was relocating myself and my public relations business to Bendigo, that this is what I’d be doing, I would’ve thought they were nuts”, Greta says, no pun intended. Her business idea came after family and friends couldn’t get enough of her home-made treat. Bendigo Brittle is now sold at markets throughout Central Victoria and at more than 70 local stockists, including IGA supermarkets, Bendigo Visitor Information Centre, Central Deborah Gold Mine, Bendigo Tramways, Bendigo Pottery and online at www.uniquelybendigo.com.au Greta says a new Bendigo Brittle e-commerce site is set to launch later this year. Bendigo Brittle currently produces peanut, vegan peanut, macadamia and cashew brittle, with almond brittle due out for Christmas. To discover which markets Bendigo Brittle will pop up at next, follow them on Facebook - Facebook.com/bendigobrittle, Instagram @bendigobrittle or visit www.bendigobrittle.com.au

Photographer Nicole Cleary

SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION For nearly two decades, Mat Boyle and Anna Winneke have informally plied Castlemaine folk with recycled building materials, and in 2016 launched The Salvage Yard as the go-to place for home renovators or those seeking something out of the ordinary for their home. From hard-to-find hardware, large structural timbers, custommade trusses, windows and doors, landscaping features to pendant lamps and pots made from disused fire hydrants, the six-acre yard is a visual feast for those wanting a treasure. Mat and Anna proudly say they are obsessed with “creating value out of waste”, stocking their business with recycled building and sculptural materials. When they first embarked on their sensible building campaign, it was not uncommon to see heritage materials readily discarded and destined for landfill or firewood, says Mat, who worked as a registered builder for 20 years before opening the business with Anna. “We were inspired from a love of preserving the culturally valuable waste created through demolition, and building beautiful things with it, whilst supporting the wider process of ‘reconstruction’ in our community,” he says. “We like that we are heightening the awareness and value of that cultural heritage and playing our tiny part in resource management within the building industry.” The couple credit the Castlemaine community with giving them confidence to start a salvage yard. “It was our community of resourceful creative thinkers always looking for a more sustainable and interesting way to build that really propelled us to open The Salvage Yard. Years later we still aim to be a place for inspiration, resources, fabrication and community.” Find out more at thesalvageyard.com.au

IT SOLUTIONS ARE KEY TO EVERY BUSINESS’ FUTURE Having the right IT solutions in place to manage your company information and data is a key component of business success. To understand what computer and security systems are needed to maximise your business performance is where Wayne Robertson and his team at The Internet of Things (TITOT) come in. Wayne established TITOT four years ago on recognising businesses needed to keep pace with technology and how it is consumed. With a team of 10 in-house specialists, TITOT incorporates a security-centric approach to deliver IT solutions that are robust, effective and simple to use.. “Business continuity plans and information security must be a top priority for organisations of all sizes,” Wayne says. “Our strategic consulting services help your organisation develop an IT roadmap that not only plans future technology investments but also drives to deliver maximum value out of current investments. We assist executives to accurately assess and manage the risk in their environment to guide decisions, which align IT objectives with business goals.” Managed services agreements outline fixed costs and ensure priority access to information and communications technology (ICT) services. “This allows you to maintain focus on your business,” Wayne says. “By facilitating your team and your technology to work together, we help reduce your risks, streamline your operations and accomplish successes.” Cloud services are also available for public, private or hybrid cloud implementation.

“Where our service excels is the attention to detail when planning and migrating from traditional, legacy systems to a cloud environment, ensuring minimal interruption to business operations and a high level of customer satisfaction,” Wayne says. “These result not only in a costeffective solution but also streamlines business processes.” Phone 1300 848 687 or visit www.titot.com.au

CREATIVE HUB READY TO OPEN ITS DOORS The Studio, Bendigo’s first coworking space for the creative industries, is almost open for business. Located in the heart of Bendigo on the ground floor of the building that was previously home to Morley’s Emporium, The Studio is committed to supporting the commercial success of our local creative industries. Conceived and designed as a place for creative practitioners, entrepreneurs and businesses to work, connect, build their skills and expand their networks, The Studio offers flexible project spaces, meeting rooms, communal areas and casual and long-term desks for tenants. Communal work spaces, says studio manager David Hughes, are transforming the way people work. “In recent years there has been a global shift away from lonely office cubicles to dynamic shared workspaces that inspire creativity and collaboration. Creative people thrive in coworking spaces, because they like to collaborate,” David says. “Our aim is to support, develop and promote Bendigo’s creative industries, so this new space is not just about work stations, it’s about giving creatives a place to create, connect, learn and grow through networking, business development programs and mentoring.” The Studio is an initiative of Creative Victoria, the state government body dedicated to supporting and developing local creative industries. It was developed by ACMI, working with a local advisory group of members who have deep connections to the local creative sector. “We are committed to supporting the commercial success of our local creative industries. They have the opportunity to become part of a vibrant community that also offers business development programs and mentoring opportunities. If you have a creative business and value connection and collaboration, we’d love for you to become part of our community of coworkers.” The Studio is at 25 Mitchell Street, Bendigo. To book your creative space, phone David on 0424 360 724 or visit the.studio.org.au

QUALITY SPACES TO KEEP YOU MOVING AND LIVING Living small doesn’t mean compromising on space or location. The team at Turnkey Portable Buildings offers instant solutions to people wanting more space at home or at the office, with a range of quality residential and commercial spaces. Their buildings have solved space problems for dozens of businesses and homeowners across Australia, many of whom needed an instant and affordable accommodation solution. Owners also gain the freedom to ‘pick and move’ their building as many times as they like, and the option of buying a granny flat offers buyers potential to generate a rental income. Turnkey Portable Buildings has a range of portable office sites or small homes ready for purchase or, if buyers want something specific, they will custom-make it to exact requirements, including budget and size. Buildings bought ‘off the shelf’ enable the buyer to complete the fitout, while customisation can include options such as completing electrical wiring, adding wall insulation, air conditioning, kitchen and bathroom installation and much more. Their service enables buyers to save money through purchasing direct from the manufacturer. They deliver nationally and offer six service and quality assurance guarantees. With each building designed and manufactured with moving in mind, they are built to Australian standards and fabricated from quality steel, with frames welded by expert craftsmen. Delivery is available in flat-pack or pre-assembled. Check out their range of floorplans at www.turnkeyportablebuildings.com.au

FINANCE TEAM DELIVERS BUSINESS SOLUTIONS For the past five years, boutique advisory service Fortem Finance has been offering integrated, tailored business and advisory services to help Victorians achieve business and personal goals. Co-founders Tim Croke, Lisa Wills and Gerard Horan started the business after recognising a gap in the market for a business to offer high-quality advisory, finance and wealth management services. “We started from scratch,” says Gerard. “For me, it was a big leap of faith leaving a secure job at a ‘Big Four’ bank. But the three of us knew that our structure would be ideally positioned to meet client needs in today’s environment, and flexible and responsive enough to change with them as they move through the business lifecycle. “Our dynamic and highly qualified team services clients from all over Australia and across a diverse range of industries. “We are extremely proud of the long-term partnerships we build with our clients. We make it our business to know what drives them and help them make the most of every opportunity, whether it’s right in front of them or around the corner.” Services include finance solutions, specialising in commercial finance such as commercial loans, asset finance, insurance premium funding, trade and debtor finance, as well as finance solutions for home and personal loans. “We have had some significant customer successes with restructuring and reviewing clients’ commercial facilities with the banks. With interest rates at historical lows, the opportunity for the clients to access meaningful savings has never been better. Having the ability to have an independent view over what can be potentially changed, has allowed some of our clients to springboard into their next project, taking advantage of current low rates. “We also provide solutions for clients to fund their Workcover premium over manageable instalments rather than as a lump sum. This also provides an upfront discount on the premium payable,” Gerard says. Fortem Finance is located at Level 1, 111 Mitchell Street, Bendigo. Phone 5441 3377 or visit www.fortemgroup.com.au for more information.

From Day One in Prep at Girton Grammar, your child will enjoy a unique educational journey acquiring skills and interests that last a lifetime. From Day One they feel included in a safe, caring community where successes big and small are celebrated. Small children will discover they can do big things when they are provided with the tools and nurturing to develop and achieve.

Contact our Registrar or see our website to discover how Prep at Girton delivers an exceptional education, from Day One.

PREP 2021 AT GIRTON AN EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATION FROM DAY ONE

the school report

One of the hottest topics of conversation during COVID-19 restrictions was schooling. Parents, teachers and kids were comparing notes all over Bendigo. So, how did Epsom Primary score? By Lauren Mitchell â€“ Photography by AJ Taylor

From the front gate, Epsom Primary School is a picture. Consider brand new, Grand Design-like buildings fronting a vast green lawn. A bush backdrop, an art installation, and according to piggy-tailed prep Delilah, an excellent slippery pole in the playground. For a couple of months last term though, this place lost its best feature. “It was a strange place without people,” says acting principal Kate FitzGerald. In the past four years, the student population here has grown from 190 to 370, but for most of term two, just 20 kids came by necessity. And some days, Riva the wellbeing dog joined them. One week after students and teachers reunited post-COVID-19 lockdown, there is an energy here that’s unusual for a school

inching towards its mid-year holiday. “It was a pretty exciting day when the big kids came back,” Kate says. “We felt like a complete school again. And we’ve found that they all want to be here. There’s no ‘I hate school’ from anyone anymore. They missed us more than they thought they would, and we missed them, too.” Kate’s staff haven’t had a break all year. Last school holidays, like schools around Australia, the teachers rallied and spent the fortnight planning for unprecedented remote learning, including building their own website to communicate with and teach their students; a resource that’s proven so successful they’re now thinking of ways to incorporate it into class.

Grade 3 / 4 teacher Kylie Warfe says she’d film her lessons, post them to the website, set tasks and support her students from afar. There was even room for the odd cooking lesson from her kitchen, complete with voting scores from the kids. She says the experience gave her new insight into the lives of her students. “The majority of the kids handled it really well,” she says. “Making the videos was harder for some of us than others. If I made a mistake, I left it in because that’s part of learning and I was happy for the kids to see me make mistakes. “The other really powerful thing was seeing those kids who maybe didn’t have a voice in the classroom all of a sudden find their voice and have a presence online. The challenge for me now is, how do I keep the momentum going for those students now we’re back in the classroom? “One of those kids started their own YouTube channel during lockdown, interviewing their family and now people in the community. That’s a really good example of a student taking on board online learning and extending it in a different way.” Kylie says after six years as a teacher, remote learning has shown her a different perspective on her chosen career. “As teachers we can talk a lot and one of the

challenges of remote learning was, how do we get across that information via a video in a short amount of time? What is it that we really need to teach?” There was another bonus for Kylie during lockdown; as carer of wellbeing dog Riva, she had lots of motivation to step away from work and walk off any pressure the pandemic threw at her. And just look at that golden groodle’s face… how could it not make you happy? Riva is certainly happy to be back among the students, and so is Kylie. “It’s been really exciting and they’ve all come back really calm and keen to start learning. They’re saying ‘I don’t want to do that again, I’m happy to come to school now’. For many, it was that social connection they really missed.” Grade Five student Ethan Softly missed a lot, although that didn’t stop him excelling. “I did every single task,” he says. “I’d skip recess to do my work. I really love school. I was sad when we had to do remote learning. At school I can see my friends and I like learning. “I missed my friends. I was emailing some of them, but I genuinely wanted to see them. The first day back went super quick because it was just so fun being back at school.” Turns out 2020 will be a year for Ethan to remember for the rest of his life, for two reasons, as he reveals to us his mum is 39-weeks pregnant with a little sister. “I’ve always wanted to have a sibling,” he says. “It’ll be fun when she gets to about three months old because she will be able to play with baby toys then and be more entertaining.”

Grade Four student Ayla Lowndes combined remote learning with being at school on the days her parents worked. “It was a bit hard working from the videos instead of talking to the teacher, but it was good to stay home in my PJs as well,” she says. Although Ayla did swap her pyjama bottoms for a tutu on Wacky Wednesday. She says the best part about being back at school is being with her friends. “Just sitting on the green hill with them and watching the alpacas.” Yes, as we’ve all come to realise, it’s the simple things… Grade 1 / 2 unit leader Tania Peirce-Whyte reminds us many teachers are also parents and were supporting their own children’s learning during lockdown. “Time was an issue for me, balancing my working hours while making sure my own children did their work at home,” she says. “Often I’d be up until 11 o’clock at night still working.” Tania says after 20 years of teaching, the past few months have been a revelation. “It was not something we could have had any preparation or training for,” she says. “But we just all got on board and went with it and learnt the IT skills along the way. “I really missed seeing my colleagues and the kids and just getting out of the house. When I was away from that environment, and from interacting with the children, I definitely knew that yes, I made the right career choice all those years ago.” Kate is full of praise for the students and teachers at her school. She says although the experience of lockdown forced them apart physically, in truth it brought them together. “It was exhausting and some days I just couldn’t think anymore,” she says of the pressure of being principal, of being on a screen all day, Zooming in and out of meetings. “But it’s shown us how collegial we all are,” she adds, as to how the whole community worked to stay connected online. Perhaps the last line of this story should go to the Grade Two boy who, on entering that school gate for the first time postlockdown, took a running leap across the lawn, fist-pumped the air and yelled “Yes! School’s back!” 28

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Lisa Chesters MP - a strong VoiCe for Bendigo Lisa Chesters Lisa Chesters MP MP -- a a strong strong VoiCe VoiCe for for Bendigo Bendigo federal Member for Bendigo Ifederal am honoured to have been elected as the Federal Member for Bendigo. Member for Bendigo federal Member for Bendigo As your Federal to Member of Parliament, my office and I can provide a II am honoured have elected Federal Member for am honoured to have been been elected as as the the Member for Bendigo. Bendigo. As your Federal Member of Parliament, myFederal office and I can provide a wide range of services. As your Federal Member of Parliament, my office and can a wide range of services and support. As your Federal Member of in Parliament, my office and IIeither can provide provide a Please don’t hesitate to get touch with me anytime, at my office wide range of services. wide range services. on (03) 5443of9055 or by lisa.chesters.mp@aph.gov.au Please don’t hesitate to email get inat touch with me anytime, either at my Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me anytime, anytime, either either at at my my office office office on (03) 5443 9055 or by email at lisa.chesters.mp@aph.gov.au on (03) 5443 9055 or by email at lisa.chesters.mp@aph.gov.au on (03) 5443 9055 or by email at lisa.chesters.mp@aph.gov.au

www.lisachesters.org Authorised by L Chesters, 16 Myers Street, Bendigo www.lisachesters.org www.lisachesters.org

2021 Year 7 Transition at WCB

2021 is going to be an exciting year at WCB. All our latest transition information is currently avaliable online at www.weeroona.vic.edu.au/year7-info-night/ Take a virtual tour of WCB, watch the Information Night video, check the Student Guide or contact us for more information. At Weeroona College Bendigo we care about our students and help them to thrive. Facebook.com/weeroonacollege Instagram.com/weeroonacollegebendigo

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03 5443 2133 weeroona.vic.edu.au

Helping students

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Additional Year 7 class available from 2020.and Information Packs

College tours available Expression of Interest upon forms request. and further information available.

Creek Street ChriStian College Year 11 & 12 coming soon. 91 Creek Street Bendigo 3550 t: (03) 5442 1722 CREEK STREET e: info@creekstreet.vic.edu.au CHRISTIAN COLLEGE 91 Creek Street, Bendigo www.creekstreet.vic.edu.au

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students on site

Matthew Hague and Chelsea Atkins

Campus becomes a case study for Bendigo’s budding building designers. Photography by AJ Taylor The turn of the first sod in February set in motion a multi-milliondollar revitalisation project at Bendigo TAFE’s City Campus to provide thousands of students with new learning facilities by mid2021. But there’s one group of students already benefitting from the project well before its completion. Enter Bendigo TAFE’s building design students. “Practical experience is an important part of learning, which is why the opportunity for students to be involved in one of our city’s most prominent construction projects was not to be missed – especially one involving the creation of state-of-the-art new facilities alongside refurbishment of important heritage buildings,” says Bendigo TAFE education manager Matt Hague. The advanced diploma students will conduct site visits with appointed builder Kane Nicholson to track the stages of the build – from preparatory work like heritage overlays and soil tests, through to community engagement, design approval and the actual build. Students will also complete assignments based on the visits.

“These students will be able to interact firs-thand with the builders and see a reallife building emerge from a plan. They will get a much better insight to the industry from being so closely involved,” Matt says. The first visit took place in April, with students donning hard hats and personal protective equipment to tour the site and learn from the experts in the field. It was a good way to get an understanding of how it all worked in the real world,” says student Chelsea Atkins. “We were shown a presentation demonstratinghow the buildings were being designed and why they were being designed like that, and then had a chance to go onsite to see the demolition works.

“The visit really opened our eyes to how many people are involved in the design process. It was interesting to see how builds of this scale are highly collaborative and a huge team effort, with the building designer playing a central role to pull together different elements for the building to go ahead.” Currently a second-year student, Chelsea works as a trainee draftsperson and hopes to run a business as a building designer in the future. “This project will really help my understanding of how the building design process works from concept to the actual build,” she says. “We will also get to see any problems that might occur and have an inside look at how they are resolved. Having access to industry experts like the design manager and project director and being able to ask questions is a really useful learning process.” Working with industry will continue to be an important part of learning at Bendigo TAFE. “We appreciate the support of Kane Nicholson in involving our students in this important project that’s set to transform our campus and cityscape,” Matt says. “We look forward to more opportunities to develop new and unique practical learning experiences for our students well into the future.” To find out more about Bendigo TAFE and the Advanced Diploma of Building Design (Architectural), (22477VIC) visit bendigotafe.edu.au

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We welcome enrolments fromOUR all families in our region. Enrolments for YearMORE 7, 2021 close Friday 12 June, 2020. VISIT WEBSITE TO FIND OUT VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO FIND OUT MORE

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VIRTUAL TOURS | PROSPECTUS | ENROLMENT APPLICATION FORM ENQUIRIES: Please contact Audra Petri, College Registrar, for details of future College Tours and for all enrolment enquiries. Catherine McAuley College | A Ministry ofCollege Mercy Education 69 154 531| 870 ENROLMENT ENQUIRIES | Please contact Mrs3466 Audra Petri, RegistrarLtd| | ABN 5445 9100 5449 info@cmc.vic.edu.au A Ministry of Mercy Education Ltd

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Photograph by Leon Schoots

Original photograph source: State Library Victoria, Rose Series Postcards.

façade of the past Behold the Bendigo of old; seen in a bright new light thanks to the hobby of passionate history buff and collector, Brett Jenkins. By Lauren Mitchell – Images restored and coloured by Brett Jenkins Curiosity, creativity and generosity are the hallmarks of Brett Jenkins’ hobby. Bendigo born-and-bred, Brett is proud of the city’s golden past, and as such spends his down time digitally dusting off images of yesteryear until they shine like nuggets.

“I don’t have any feeling of ownership over what I’m doing. There’s an old saying that art is owned by the people who look at it – not that I think what I’m doing is art, but that’s how I feel about the pictures. I like to just colour them and see where they end up.”

Brett’s recoloured pictures from the archives are a popular addition to the Lost Bendigo and District Facebook page; a community resource that democratises the recording of the city’s history.

And here they’ve found their way into Bendigo Magazine, not to mention the social media feeds of an appreciative audience.

“I’m only putting them on the Lost page but once they’re on the internet they’ll stay there for infinity,” Brett says. “I’m adding to the photos and trying to give people an idea of what Bendigo might have been like in those days. I’m not aiming for realism or perfection, I’m aiming for believability.

Brett sources the pictures mostly from the State Library archives, which are free from copyright, then uses a colourising app to add a wash of colour over the top. He then spends between half an hour to five hours carefully adjusting and playing with the colour until the image comes to life, until “you feel like you can step into that photo and imagine yourself being there”.

“Depending on the image and how evocative of the past it is determines how much time I’m willing to spend on it,” he says. “The thing I love about the old photos is they’ve lasted so long and they’ve made it all the way to the State Library archive, and they’re now digitised images available to look at any time. Sometimes I think these colour ones will be the same and people may be looking at them in another 50-plus years.” Brett’s always been a creative person. Throughout his life, on and off, he’s pursued drawing and building and collecting. He started colouring old black-and-white family photographs his dad had taken before turning to the Bendigo scenes, from the “hillbilly gold days” to the 1920s to his own childhood years. 35

“I really do it for myself, just to see the results, but certainly it’s good to see other people respond to them and enjoy them,” Brett says. “I’m pretty proud of Bendigo, it’s a place with a great history and a great photographic history as well.” Brett says comparing the photos he colours with the same scenes today has shown him just how much of the city’s architectural past has been lost. “It’s really sad to realise how many of the buildings are gone, and then you find out a council in the past allowed some amazing building to be knocked down. There’s an old hotel in Mitchell Street that was cut in half. Those decisions disappoint me.” Brett says the era he’s most interested in is his own childhood. “I like the history of what was around when I was younger.” He’s talking peak milk bar days… A recent shot shared on Facebook was of the former View Street Milk Bar, opposite the Queen Elizabeth Oval, complete with The Age, The Sun and The Herald signs,

Pall Mall Original photograph source: State Library Victoria, Rose Series Postcards.

Pall Mall circa 1870s Original photograph source: State Library of NSW. Photographer: American & Australasian Photographic Company

Pall Mall Original photograph source: State Library Victoria, Rose Series Postcards.

Mitchell Street Original photograph source: State Library Victoria, Rose Series Postcards.

Charing Cross Original photograph source: State Library Victoria, Rose Series Postcards.

City Family Hotel circa 1870s Original photograph source: State Library of NSW. Photographer: American & Australasian Photographic Company

Pall Mall between Williamson and Bull Streets Original photograph source: National Library Australia. Photographer: Alex Fox. Pre-colour restoration by Geoff Cartwright.

retouched with primary colours. Vintage cars are parked in the street, there’s a web of tram and powerlines overhead, and a uniformed tramways inspector waiting for the next Eaglehawk-bound tram. It’s a beauty. “Back in the early 60s the milk bar was run by ex-boxer Bert Butters,” states one of over 100 comments. “He used to make a mean hamburger.” Brett loves a milk bar so much he built his own nostalgic façade in the back yard. He says the Holy Grail of images to find would be one of Mrs Hughes’ White Hills Milk Bar in Napier Street. “I’d love that,” he says “Every day, I’d wander up the footpath from Grey Street with the kid across the road to Mrs Hughes’ for a bag of mixed lollies or an ice cream or a Sunny Boy. They were good times. When you’re a kid, the world seems pretty new and all’s good when you’ve got money in your pocket to get a bag of lollies.”

View Street Original photograph source: State Library Victoria, Rose Series Postcards.

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no expectorating in Eaglehawk! Bendigo Magazine’s own bard of the past writes of ye olde quarantines as he quietly isolates at home. Words and illustration by Geoff Hocking I remember that many years ago, there was a sign under a verandah on the footpath in Eaglehawk that stated “NO EXPECTORATING – FINE £5”.

What was the problem, other than the public nuisance? Answer: it was an attempt to control the highly infectious disease, Tuberculosis.

Apart from the fact that I didn’t know what ‘expectoration’ was, it seems now that it would have been a clearer communication for the casual spitters who, unaware of the dangers of their expectoration, gobbed all over the pavement where other folks walked.

As descendents of underground miners, on both sides of our family, we were called to the Bendigo Base Hospital every year for compulsory chest x-rays, just to ensure that we were clear of this insidious lung infection. I remember that several uncles spent some

months in quarantine in the tuberculosis ward at the hospital, and, just as it has been at the time of Covid19, they were truly isolated. No family visits, just months spent getting as much fresh air and sunlight as possible, while lounging about in the rehabilitation lounges. It may well have been a rest from swinging a pick 500 feet below the surface, but I imagine the prospect of an early demise, while one coughed up bits of your lungs, was no pretty prospect either. 41

In the underpass at Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station, a similar message remains, cast into tiles on the wall – DO NOT SPIT. It makes sense. Because of the risk of transmission and infection, we were told never to put our mouths on public drinking taps, never to put coins in our mouths, never to drink from someone else’s cup. A friend of mine tells a story of being at a party when a young lass picked up a glass of wine and asked “Is this mine, or yours”. He replied “God put alcohol in wine, so it can be anybody’s”.

While in the middle of this forensic exploration, I came across two diaries: both written by William Hocking. One by William Edward Hocking, who travelled to the West Australian goldfields in 1902, apparently to accumulate a nest-egg before his marriage the following year; the other, written by his father, also named William, who sailed away to the US in 1915, to visit members of his family not seen for 40 years – since 1876 – when the entire family migrated from Cornwall to work in the copper mines of Michigan and the gold mines of California.

While I am sure that alcohol does not cure everything, his point is well made. We have been advised to use alcohol hand cleaner, and while I wouldn’t splash a bottle of Grange over my fingers, I have appreciated those business premises that have provided hand sanitiser at the front door.

Great-grandfather William writes that upon arrival at Honolulu, going out, and Pago Pago, coming back, no one was allowed to leave the ship before the doctor approved them for landing. Anyone found to be a potential for disease transmission was put into quarantine. The Ruby Princess could have learnt a lesson from that.

Like so many colleagues who have spent their lives in the practise of the Visual Arts, I have been using this period of self-imposed isolation to go through my life’s work, making collections, organising, scanning in thousands of old slides, making books, and throwing things away. It is surprising the number of old cultural warriors who are doing the same thing. Maybe, we are all protecting our own oeuvre for posterity – just in case. Whatever, it has been a useful exercise.

My grandfather, William Edward, writes of a digger mate who had a touch of miner’s complaint (pulmonary phthisis), and how he could not work very hard or for very long each day, as his lungs were shot. This friend would have left the WA mines if he could have worked enough to save the fare back to Bendigo (which was quite a journey, 3-5 days in the train from north of Kalgoorlie to Perth, then train to Fremantle to catch a steamer back to Melbourne via Adelaide,

then the train back to Golden Square), but he was stuck where he was with no hope for his future. William Edward, like so many men who spent their youth underground in dust, water and dangerous gases, did not live what we today call ‘a full life’. He too, died quite young, of miner’s complaint. His wife, my grandmother, survived him by many years. She lived in Booth Street. Her little cottage is still there, slowly being gentrified and brought into the 21st century. Out the back, under the lattice fernery, she always kept a singing canary in a cage. As seemed to be the Cornish custom, this little canary was named Dickie (bird). ‘The canary in the coalmine’ remains part of the contemporary lexicon. It simply means a warning. When the canary down the mine was found dead in the bottom of its cage, it was time for everyone to scramble for the man-cage and be hauled to the surface. It signified deadly gas was spreading through the mine. I think my grandmother’s canary lived a full life in the open air in Specimen Hill. It did it cark it, but it was simply replaced with a new Dickie-Bird, and we were none the wiser. What we need now is a COVID-canary – or just stay apart – and no expectorating.

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asking the big questions Bendigo’s 2020 Telstra Business Women’s Awards recipient changes outcomes for people living with a disability. By John Holton – Photograph by AJ Taylor When Bendigo businesswoman Leanne Healey founded Everyday Independence in 1997, she couldn’t have imagined the impact it would have on the lives of thousands of people living with a disability; that it would grow to become an organisation of more than 400 therapists Australia-wide, supporting individuals through occupational therapy, speech pathology and physiotherapy to live more fulfilling and independent lives.

Leanne was completing further studies at Melbourne University in the 1990s, working with people who had suffered neurological illnesses such as MS, brain injury or stroke.

Leanne’s own journey into occupational therapy began with a Bachelor of Science at the Lincoln Institute of Health Science in 1983, but it was Bendigo Senior Secondary College she credits with broadening her skills and knowledge – preparing her for the leap to tertiary education.

“That was the impetus for Everyday Independence… to provide therapy to people, in their own homes and communities, to rebuild their lives, or change their life trajectory so they could reach their potential.”

“I’d come from White Hills Tech, where I was one of the first intake of girls into the school,” Leanne remembers. “The subjects were largely trade-related, so I arrived at BSSC with hopes and aspirations to learn skills that aligned more with my natural abilities and where I thought I could have an impact on the world.” She paints a vivid picture of the ‘school on the hill’ in the 80s. “I fondly remember wearing purple cords to school, eating potato cakes from the fish’n’chip shop on High Street, and having lots of laughs in Rosalind Park with my friends.” Like so many other students of that era, Leanne also remembers the view from the first floor of the Alexander Wing – directly into the old Sandhurst Gaol. Above all, BSSC was her introduction to selfdirected learning. “The college showed us that learning is about experience and enquiry,” she says. “The curiosity that was fostered enabled me to go on asking the big questions.” It’s those big questions that continue to drive Leanne and her team at Everyday Independence. Indeed, the organisation emerged from a sense of curiosity and questioning. 44

“When you work in a hospital, there is a discharge date for patients and I think that can create a finite mindset for clinicians,” she says. “I would always wonder what happens to people when they leave hospital… how do they get their lives back on track?

It began with Leanne working as a sole therapist, focusing on what worked, and what ‘levers’ had the greatest impact on a person’s life. She then began to employ people to deliver these services under a social model. “The first main shift was in 2009 when physiotherapy and speech pathology services were added to OT services,” she says. “The next shift was in 2014 with the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, where the government attributed individual budgets to people living with disability to purchase the services that would help them achieve their individual goals.” The organisation has grown exponentially, and will likely reach 500 staff by the end of 2020. Leanne believes the social model – having a people-centred approach both within the organisation and in service delivery – has been the key to success. “We ask ourselves every day, will this meeting/ action/task make a difference?” she says. “We value and remunerate people based on contribution and impact. Everyone has a voice and we have a strong coaching culture. “When you have trust among your team, you can challenge each other with questions like, ‘why are we spending two hours doing something that is likely to have minimal impact on the people we support?’. We are data driven and measure everything we do.”

As well as advocating for those with disabilities, Everyday Independence has also become a model organisation for women in leadership, something Leanne is passionate about. She was recently recognised in the 2020 Telstra Business Women’s Awards and believes there is no better time to be a woman in leadership. “I think that we have some amazing role models, such as Jacinda Ardern, who are feminine and sensitive, but who also have a decisiveness and can make tough calls. “I still experience women who have some selflimiting belief, so I hope there are more role models out there so more women will have the courage and the confidence to follow their great ideas.” While her career blossomed in Melbourne, and has taken Leanne all around the country, Bendigo is once again her home base and also the location of an Everyday Independence Therapy Hub. “I left after Year 12 and lived in Melbourne for nearly 25 years before returning to Bendigo when I had young children,” she says. “It really is one of the most liveable regional cities in Australia. “There was a time when Bendigo lacked the entrepreneurial spirit to do things differently, and I needed to use other hubs or sites as ‘sand pits’ for business development, but I do think this is changing. “We need to be intentional about this change and embrace diversity of thought and a positive approach to risk.” The return to Bendigo also brought Leanne back in contact with her old alma mater, as her son Spencer graduated from BSSC in 2014. “It was great to see that the college is still a community that fully accepts people for their unique attributes and contributions,” she says. “There’s a pathway for everyone, and inclusion, acceptance and building on uniqueness are still the core values.”

Deb Penno, Mia Walsh and Karyn Singe

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GOOD FOOD, GOOD COMPANY There’s nothing like a farmers’ market to bring together community while showing off great produce that is grown locally. Friends and family gathered at The Good Loaf on a Thursday night in June for the Bendigo Community Farmers’ Market. They found stalls brimming with tasty honey, delicious preserves, fruit, veg and fresh-baked goods.

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WEâ€™RE HIRING Want to make a difference to the local community? So do we. Why not explore the wealth of job opportunities and fulfill your career goals at Bendigo Health. Bendigo Health is a leader in regional health care, combining outstanding services with a strong education, training and professional development culture. From staff health and wellbeing programs, flexible working arrangements and salary packaging, we offer a multitude of benefits for working at Bendigo Health. Bendigo Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We embrace diversity and social inclusion and encourage people from a diverse cultural background, Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait individuals and mature age group to apply.

To apply and register for job alerts, visit

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restoring hope

We don’t all begin at the same starting line; something that La Trobe University’s Dr Anne Southall – an expert in educating children with backgrounds of abuse and neglect – is acutely aware. Now she is supporting teachers to bridge the gap. By Kate O’Connor - Photograph by AJ Taylor When a young teacher from a Victorian specialist school first joined Dr Anne Southall’s research project, she was on the verge of burn-out. “She was having a lot of problems with a 15-year-old student, because there was a lot of conflict. He had a background of abuse and neglect, he was in trouble a lot, he was often violent. Every day in the classroom was a battle.” It wasn’t until the teacher participated in a series of ‘reflective circles’ with fellow teachers as part of Anne’s study, that her relationship with the student – and enjoyment of work – took a sharp turn. “Through this reflective process she questioned her own disciplinary responses to the student, and realised she was drawing her ideas directly from her father. His thinking around power and discipline was rigid, it was very consistent, it was very one-size-fits-all. It had no nuance to it, and it was always punitive. “By reflecting on that with her colleagues, she explored those ideas and realised that she wasn’t her father, and those responses weren’t appropriate for the students she was working with in this specialist setting. Changing her beliefs around discipline transformed her relationship with that young man.” The experiences of that teacher and five others taking part in the study formed the basis of Anne’s PhD at La Trobe University. Anne described all six of them as “growing as human beings” during the 12-month program. “When you articulate how you’re feeling and what you’re experiencing, and people around you understand and affirm your thinking, you develop confidence. It broadens you as a human being; it helps you to grow socially and emotionally, it offers you a way to challenge or affirm your own thinking. These teachers became more confident in themselves and in their work.” Anne now works with a research team exploring the impact of reflective circles*

in several regional Victorian schools. Given one in 32 students has a background of abuse or neglect, she is hoping the results will inform future practice in schools across the country.

Sadly, this whole movement towards evidence-based learning means that we have a narrow idea of what is best practice and what, therefore, has to be incorporated into all schools.

“I think critical reflection is an essential practice in education. Teachers do this deeply and very complicated interpersonal work with students with little support. Individual schools do a fabulous job of supporting their teachers, and teachers do a wonderful job of supporting each other – but it’s not structural and it’s not formal, and it needs to be both those things.”

“We do need to use evidence-based approaches, but we also need to respond to our individual communities and do our own research. As part of these reflective circles, you have to ask yourself, ‘What else do I need to know, what resources do I require?’ For instance, if my student has a parent in prison, I need to know about the effect of incarceration on families. And often that requires research.”

Such is the deeply complex nature of the impacts of trauma and abuse, Anne wrote a play to help teachers better understand it. Biting the Hand is based on the experiences of a student, Daniel**, who was the worst case of childhood abuse Anne had seen in 30 years of teaching at specialist schools. “I documented Daniel’s story as a way of exploring the neuroscience of childhood trauma. However, interpreting complex trauma for one individual – one very complicated individual who was not very good at communicating – was so difficult and so layered that I ended up putting it in a play.” Now performed annually at La Trobe’s Hard Yards conference in Bendigo to an audience of teachers, counsellors and allied health professionals, Biting the Hand is so successful that Anne is working on another play in collaboration with Headspace and Hobo Theatre Co. “The next one will explore transgender issues and the lived experience in schools. Plays can be confronting, but they are a really effective way to tackle complex and highly nuanced ideas and experiences.” Anne says while we’re getting better at understanding the science behind diverse learners, and equipping schools with useful knowledge and resources, there is still a long way to go. “We need to empower teachers to be more responsive to their individual communities.

Despite the setbacks and frustrations of working in the field, Anne says the rewards are worth it. And the outcomes of the reflective circles speak for themselves. “That teacher who turned around her approach to discipline is now doing brilliantly. She came back to the group and she’d given him ‘student of the week’, despite the boy being late back to class, or some other minor transgression on the day. When she normally would have punished, she acknowledged his achievements and celebrated his effort. “He couldn’t believe it – he cried. She said by Monday they were two different people. And they just went forward with their relationship and developed trust, connection and all the things you need to work with very damaged people.” Anne says we can’t underestimate the power of that type of connection. “Most kids who make it through school, despite really serious trauma, make it through because one teacher made a difference in their life. Good teachers change lives; we need to really support them to do this work. It’s a very, very important profession.” *Dr Anne Southall’s reflective circles research is being conducted in collaboration with Associate Professor Fiona Gardner and Dr Lindy Baxter from La Trobe University. ** Name has been changed.

Employers ranked La Trobe graduates the most innovative and adaptable in Victoria.* Applications now open for Arts, Business, Education, Engineering, Health, IT and Science Apply now: latrobe.edu.au/apply * Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT), 2020, 2019 Employer Satisfaction Survey

CRICOS 00115 DC37322 06/20

Learn from experts. Then become one.

old school uniforms are new again

In the mountainous area of Cebu in the Philippines, there is an elementary school of 300 students, many of who walk up to two hours every morning for the simple privilege of being taught to read and write. By Alex Fisher Families of the Pangamihan Elementary School make sacrifices to send their children to school that can barely be imagined. It is a basic but supportive community with many parents helping the school in whatever way they can. Many of the teachers are young and full of energy, travelling from the city to work during the week, and returning to their city homes only on weekends. One classroom has been turned into a bedroom for these dedicated travelling teachers. The students at Pangamihan Elementary School do not have a school uniform, which struck Father Junray Ryanga of the St Killian’s Parish Church in Bendigo as unfortunate. Father Junray lives in Bendigo but has a strong association with the Pangamihan Elementary School, visiting

often and donating many items to support the students, as well as assisting with the renovation of the very basic school buildings. This is where the link between this determined Filipino school community and Bendigo begins. With the announcement nearly three years ago that Girton Grammar School’s uniform would be updated, Junior School parent Kate Mahony wondered what would become of the old uniform items that were no longer required and set about finding a solution. For the past three years, Kate has devoted herself to achieving a Zero Waste outcome for unwanted Girton uniform items, starting with the establishment of the school’s Second-hand Uniform Shop.

The second-hand uniform shop has now been humming along for over two years under Kate’s guidance, with the assistance of volunteer parents and students who help to sort items during lunchtime. With the end of the Girton uniform transition period, many items were donated but no longer able to be worn by the students, so Kate put her mind to the next phase of the secondhand uniform shop’s life. “Through the sheer volume of excellent quality goods, I felt there had to be a solution to the potential waste that was going to be generated. I spoke with many, many people, about a range of ideas. Eventually, I was introduced to Father Junray Ryanga at St Killian’s Parish Church, which was the turning point to our uniform waste challenge,” Kate says. 51

Kate invited Father Junray to the secondhand uniform shop to inspect the items that could potentially be donated, and he was delighted, seeing an immediate use for the uniforms at the Pangamihan Elementary School. The next challenge was to work out how the Girton logo could be covered or removed from clothing items and rebranded to suit the Pangamihan Elementary School, so that the uniform could truly become theirs. An introduction to SisterWorks led to a new and exciting project. SisterWorks is an international non-profit social enterprise based in Melbourne, supporting women who are refugees, asylum seekers or migrants. The group brings women together in friendship and provides them with skills that they can use immediately to work and support themselves financially. Kate says SisterWorks was genuinely pleased that a school might concern itself with the issue of waste and of repurposing uniform items for those in need. With a branch establishing in Bendigo, the â€˜Sistersâ€™ soon got to work. â€œSisterWorks has been working in a large space within Girton House, immediately upstairs from the uniform shop itself, repurposing the Girton uniform items. 52

“With the money that the uniform shop has made over the past couple of years, we have been able to print the Elementary School logo onto fabric, and SisterWorks has sewn it over the old Girton logos on school shirts, polo shirts and shorts,” Kate says. After six weeks in transit, 13 boxes of 1200 repurposed Girton Grammar School uniform items have arrived at the Pangamihan Elementary School in the Philippines, ready for the commencement of the new school year in mid-June. Acting Head of Girton Grammar School Dr Emma O’Rielly says that it had been quite a journey for the school uniforms and that many people have been involved. “This is a project of which we are so proud, and especially at this time, as we ask students to look beyond themselves, it is wonderful to have received photos of our boxes safely at the school. “For a country dealing with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and also having to manage evacuations because of typhoons, this donation means even more at this time. “The achievement of reducing waste in the transition to our newer school uniform style, engaging the wonderful Sisters, and helping those less fortunate has been immensely rewarding for everyone involved,” Dr O’Rielly says. 53

cyber security By Wayne Robertson — Managing Director, The IT Of Things THE SITUATION Malicious online activity targeting Australian businesses has increased substantially over recent years. Phishing attacks target email accounts, coercing the user to hand over their credentials to a bad actor. While spam filters can be mostly effective, no filtering system is 100% accurate in preventing all of these malicious emails from reaching your inbox. THE SOLUTION Simply put, passwords alone are no longer enough to keep your systems and accounts safe. According to Verizon, stolen and weak passwords account for over 80 per cent of hacking-related security breaches, and 57 per cent of people who have been scammed by phishing attacks don’t change their passwords after the fact. Modern ICT security requires a “defence in depth” approach, ensuring there are multiple layers of security implemented to minimise the risk of a data breach. One of our key recommendations to protect our clients from the risk of such a breach is to implement multi-factor authentication

(MFA). Microsoft analytics show that MFA is proven to block 99.9 per cent of automated attacks on their cloud platforms. MFA is used across many platforms including internet banking. For example, when conducting a first-time transfer to an account, the system may prompt the user with an additional security check, requiring a supplementary method of verification (such as a PIN code) before that privileged action is authorised. CHALLENGES Challenges with implementing MFA include: • Minimising disruption to staff during implementation. • Ensuring the ongoing user experience is as seamless as possible without compromising security. • Ensuring all methods of remote connectivity to systems are secured, ensuring there are no “backdoors” to enter. Remote working and the current necessity to minimise physical interaction poses an additional challenge when managing

change in a business. Using the Microsoft cloud platform, TITOT is assisting business to register for MFA utilising their existing mobile devices, then securing the network to ensure all remote access methods require MFA to log in. This approach results in a no-downtime implementation, allowing users to self-enrol, with our service desk available to support as needed. As part of our customised service offering, we also provide tailored security awareness training. RESULTS Since implementing MFA across our client base, there is yet to be an identified data breach. Deployment of MFA also builds awareness of cybersecurity throughout the business, identifying the need for a continuous improvement methodology to prevent new types of attacks before they impact your business. Self-service password resets via the MFA platform have also eliminated user wait time and reduced service desk calls, increasing client productivity.

DELIVERING VALUE IN ALL THINGS IT The IT of Things is a leading ICT services company committed to providing innovative, cost-effective, and flexible solutions to organisations in metro and regional Australia.

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sharing the love

City of Greater Bendigo councillor Matt Emond is relishing life as Daisy’s dad as he and state MP Lisa Chesters share the parenting load. By Matt Emond - Photograph by AJ Taylor The moment I felt like a father was on a rainy afternoon driving to Melbourne. Lisa called to tell me our tests had come back, and to ask if I wanted to know the sex of our baby. I had always imagined I wanted that moment to be a surprise on the day of the birth. You know the line; “Mr Emond, you are now the proud father of a bouncing baby…” But I wanted to know right there and then. Something had changed. Everything had changed. When Lisa told me we were having a girl, it was an amazing feeling. It continued to rain on the way to Melbourne.

day of her birth. It was a day when four other families were also about to meet their babies. Bendigo Health was on track for a busy night.

From that point, Daisy Jane became a member of our family, and fatherhood was very real. We spoke to her, sung to her, felt her move, kick, and groove her way right up to the

We are lucky Daisy is a good sleeper. Every day, she is growing and doing something new. When I think about the first full smile, it still takes my breath away. Or that first moment

Mother and daughter were not mucking around and Daisy flew into existence. We had that moment when we all came together at the head of the hospital bed for the first time. The world stopped, and life had begun. A friend told me you will never know a love like the love when you look into the eyes of your child. He was right. It is different and fresh and new.

when you feel like she recognises you. That smile makes everything feel good. Lisa and I have our routines during the day and night. I do the first nappy change in the morning when Daisy stirs, usually around 6am, while Lisa gets ready to breastfeed. During the pregnancy, Lisa and Daisy were doing all the work. How can a father help? I figured part of what I could do was to make breakfast and dinner most days, keep the house clean and do the grocery shopping. We feel it is important to share the responsibility of raising a child. We are in this together. For many families this can take many forms. And many people will play an important role in a child’s life. For us, we look forward to the years ahead. 57

Photograph by Leon Schoots 58

immersed in art

Kerry L Brown embraced the idea of a creative lockdown weeks before anyone else. Now, she’s ready to emerge with an exhibition. By Lauren Mitchell In the innocent days pre-pandemic, Bendigo’s Kerry L Brown had an idea to ensure 2020 would be the year she’d knuckle down and make enough art for a solo exhibition. Her Immersion 20/20 exhibition will be the result of spending 20 hours a week in the studio, creating 20 works over 20 weeks. Ironically, she started just as the world was likewise bedding down. “In one way, I feel like my concept is not as unique as it was before COVID-19 happened, but on the other hand it’s probably something other people will be able to relate to now, the idea of finding a purpose and filling a void,” Kerry says, just four weeks into her project. “Before the lockdown, I submitted an exhibition proposal to the City of Greater Bendigo’s Artists on View program for a hire subsidy grant and three weeks later I found out I was successful.” Kerry has been gifted beautiful Dudley House to stage an exhibition from August 19 to September 1, provided restrictions allow it by then. “The date may have to change, but it’s what I’m working towards at present,” she says. “I’m really forcing myself to produce work. Coming from an

advertising background, having a deadline makes something easier to complete. I definitely do my best work under pressure.” Kerry first came to Bendigo to study a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Graphic Design, at La Trobe University in the mid-1990s. After graduation, she moved to Melbourne and found work in the music industry, designing CD covers, posters and interactive CD content for bands. She then moved on to roles in marketing and in advertising agencies, before taking her design work freelance. “It got to the point where I was freelancing, with young children at home, and thought, I could be working from anywhere,” Kerry says on the move back to Bendigo. “My husband and I both loved our time in Bendigo (they’d met at uni) and thought it would be a good place to raise our kids. We began working with creatively minded people here and it was really lovely to be part of the local arts scene.” Alongside this, however, was Kerry’s growing desire to pursue her own personal journey. After more than 20 years as a creative professional, Kerry turned to her own art and last year completed the ‘Create’ visual arts course at Northern College of the Arts and Technology in Preston. 59

“A friend of mine did the course the previous year and highly recommended it,” she says. “And it was amazing. I was privileged to be part of an inspiring group of 34 matureage students, from professional artists and makers to first-timers from a range of professions and past lives. I applied on a whim really, attended an interview, was offered a spot and then had to figure out how to make it fit.” The course was two days a week, so Kerry cut back to working part-time and “bummed a blow-up bed” one night a week at a friend’s place. She graduated with a network of talented friends and a new focus for making art a priority in her life. Kerry says her work explores the concept of synergy. She has a keen eye for composition and detail and is interested in texture and mark-making. On the week she speaks to Bendigo Magazine, she’s been working with acrylic paint. “I’m giving myself time and permission to build additional skills for the things I want to do and am experimenting with different styles, but I am planning to rein things in soon and bring my focus back to the mixedmedia print-making that I love.” Kerry is influenced by a diverse range of artists, from Elisabeth Cummings, Grace Cossington Smith and Margaret Preston, to Brett Whiteley and Fred Williams, Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. She also loves 1960s and ‘70s Japanese designers and printmakers, such as Kazumasa Nagai and Yukio Katsuda, but is keen to maintain her own style, “somewhere in the middle there”, she laughs.

Although she’s missing the studio space at the Bendigo Pottery she established in November last year, Kerry is now making the most of her loungeroom in Flora Hill. Here, she’s placed drop sheets over the floorboards, set up a trestle table for her paints and works alongside the kids’ TV and PlayStation. “I’ve got nice big sliding glass doors with views across the gum trees in our front yard,” she says. “It’s elevated and it gets really good afternoon light. I do my best work when the sun comes through the windows.” Kerry plans on getting back out to Bendigo Pottery when it reopens, with a fresh batch of works for sale and a new-found vigour for making. She is also planning an online store to sell limited edition prints of her artworks. Kerry’s experience right now is testament to the power of making things when you seem powerless in the face of what’s happening to the world. “It’s an outlet for sure, and the more I create, the more I want to create,” she says. “I think it makes me a happier person.” Discover more of Kerry’s work on Instagram via @kerry_brown_creates

pets on paper A local artist finds her purpose creating amazing pencil drawings of beloved family animals. By Lauren Mitchell – Photography by Leon Schoots They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. And so when Bendigo artist Charlotte Daniel first begins to capture the essence of another via pencil and paper, she starts right there.

She says teaching for 15 years meant putting her own practice on hold. “I had a creative holiday while I was teaching, then when I had children, I started dabbling again,” she says.

“I start drawing the eyes first and then watch the rest come to life. It’s exciting,” Charlotte says of creating her pet portraits. “My aim is to capture the soul and character of each animal I draw.”

After the loss of her cat, Charlotte found a new purpose for her talent. “My beloved 17-year-old cat Albert passed in 2014 and I felt such a deep loss and heartache, realising that our pets are far more than just animals,” she says. “Albert was my everything. When he passed away, I was heartbroken. I had lost a loved one.”

Charlotte has been making art since she was little, often alongside her artist mother. Encouraged by her high school art teacher, she completed a Bachelor of Visual Art at La Trobe University in Bendigo, then studied to become an art teacher herself.

Charlotte decided to honour her pet by drawing him. Today, the picture of the tabby moggy takes pride of place in her studio.

“It’s the first work of my own that I’ve had professionally framed and the only work I’ll have of mine on the wall,” she says. “I began drawing pet portraits for others as a way to celebrate this bond with our furry friends and it also became very therapeutic for me. I thoroughly love hearing stories about my clients’ animals and enjoy helping them celebrate their pets, or helping to provide comfort and connection with pets that have passed.” Charlotte is now commissioned by pet lovers around the world, to create works from her Flora Hill home studio. “It means so much to my customers. I feel like this is my purpose, to give them that sense of 63

connection and celebrate their loving bond.” “I love to see photographs and videos and hear stories about people’s pets. Each animal has a story, soul and character and this helps me connect and get a feel for their unique selves and what makes them, them.” Charlotte works on a few commissions at a time, each taking several weeks to complete. “So much heart and soul goes into each portrait,” she says. “This is my passion. This is what I love to do, to watch the picture emerge from a blank piece of paper. It’s exciting. “I feel so humbled. It’s wonderful to see and hear the reactions from my customers when they receive their portrait,” Charlotte adds on the point of handing a piece over. “Because I’ve spent so much time alongside that animal, I feel a bond with them and I feel a bit empty when the work leaves my studio.” Works in progress right now include Jig the kelpie, a couple of cute Maltese terriers and a bulldog in a cravat that no one would forget. But there’s another framed image in her studio, besides beloved Albert, that’s also a source of inspiration for this artist; a photo of her sons, aged six and nine. “I want to show my boys that you can create the life you want,” she says on her decision to focus on art. “You can find your passion and purpose, and you can make a living as well as a wonderful life by following that. I think you owe it to yourself. There are so many people working in jobs that don’t light them up. So many people living in fear of trying, thinking they’ll be judged if they try and don’t succeed. “I am living my purpose and my passion, and my hope is that I inspire my little boys to follow their hearts.” Follow @charlottedanielart on Instagram and Facebook to see more of her beautiful work, her website is www.charlottedanielart.com

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when old meets new

First-time renovators Jess and Kane leave their monochromatic mark on a stunningly transformed inner-city terrace. By Marina Williams - Photography by Top Snap Central Victoria

Successfully renovating a home to exacting standards not only takes time, money and good design, but also commitment. For one revitalised inner-city terrace, it’s hard to believe the latter could have stalled its stunning makeover. “Jess found the house and wanted me to go see it with her, but I didn’t want to, thinking it was too small to do anything with,” says Kane of he and wife Jess’ introduction to the property. “But after some convincing, I took a look and discovered that the place was quite deceiving for a single-front residence – it had three large bedrooms, high ceilings

and really good bones.” Typical of terrace design, the singlestorey semi-detached house was narrow, but it stretched deep into its long yard. The previous owners had completed a sympathetic addition, including restumping and rewiring. At the front of the house, the original Baltic pine floors were in great shape, with Victorian ash featuring in the extension. Coats of whitewash would later bring cohesiveness to the timbers, with Kane helping to build a feature black steelframed door to mark the transition from old to new.

On inspection, the couple knew the property would give them the inner-city lifestyle they so craved. “Its location and character was exactly what we had been searching for,” says Jess. “We could walk to dinner in town, play in the park across the road – we just fell in love with it.” Yet, renovating while raising two boys (then aged two and 14) and running their business was going “to be tricky”, she says. So they renovated in stages, starting with the bedrooms, hallway and bathrooms. “It took two years to complete from start to finish.” 67

Hands-on throughout, the couple brought in contractors, as needed, and a “good mate and qualified carpenter” completed all carpentry. Their vision was to let the house tell its own story, leaving imperfections and dents in the original architraves and skirting boards to reflect its history. Despite some protestations from their painter, the non-traditional monochromatic palette was non-negotiable, as was maximising storage. In bedrooms, floor-toceiling messmate timber cabinetry flank each fireplace, refurbished with new marble mantles and black granite hearths. ”Perfect for storing suitcases and extra bedding,” Jess says. Black granite and messmate also feature in the bathroom vanities, with walls, floors and a custom soaking tub clad in a large format porcelain product called Dekton. Hydronic heated towel rails, brass and timber showerhead and tapware along with timber

shutters add to the luxe look and feel. In the living areas, existing square-set cornices set the agenda for a modern streamline look. Flat-panel cabinet doors, a large marble-look block island bench and a lowline built-in Vic ash TV cabinet make for a cohesively sleek, clean design. For practicality in the kitchen, another porcelain product (called Neolith) was chosen for the benchtops. “You can spill anything on it and it’ll wipe up easily with no stains,” says Jess. To improve functionality in the large space and access to the back yard, a dated timber bifold door system was replaced with a large-span custom-made window and door that has been set to one side. “Rather than having it in the middle of the room, the space is now much more homely and usable – we have a nice couch area and can easily access outside,” says Kane. 69

In the back yard, a spotted gum deck incorporates bench seating, raised black granite-clad garden beds and exposed aggregate concrete for a low-maintenance finish. Additional storage and tool shed were added to the existing tandem carport. Out front, lacework has been returned to the verandah, with bluestone slabs replacing weather-beaten timber on the porch. Bay trees and hedges add greenery to both yards. Ecstatic with their home, the first-time renovators are reluctantly selling. “As we don’t like to sit still for too long,” laughs Jess, “we decided our next chapter involved more of a bush/acreage lifestyle. We love our home at Williamson Street and are extremely proud of what we have achieved. We definitely still have the renovation bug, therefore are excited to be looking for our next project.” To view the property online visit www.mckeanmcgregor.com.au and for more information on the stone products featured visit www.vstone.com.au

Aly and Ben Mahler

/Elliot, Christian and Liberty Leavesley

Evie and Maggie Morse

Teila, Micah and Caity

Hannah, Natasha and Aaron Inglis

Kye Roberts, Aaron Inglis, Lincoln Roberts and Ryan Roberts

LAKE BRIMS WITH LAUGHTER AND FUN When winter breaks out the sun, families can be confident of finding the fun at Lake Neangar in Eaglehawk. For some, this means enjoying a stroll around the lake or a spin at the skate park. For others it’s a chance to play on the myriad colourful things that swing and slide through the air at the ‘Mulga Bill’ playground or taking to the water for a sail with your own miniature boat.

BSSC Alumni

Finding their niche Jacqui Naunton – Class of 2011

At Bendigo Senior Secondary College we love hearing about the many and varied pathways our Alumni have taken to discover their strengths, follow their passions in life, and forge careers both locally and abroad. Alice Slatter – Class of 2014

Ryan Peterson – Class of 2017

Ashley Eadon – Class of 2016

2014 graduate, Alice Slatter, spoke to us recently about her passion for social justice and how it led her to study a Graduate Certificate of Arts in Theology of Justice. Jacqui Naunton, from the Class of 2011, found her pathway through a Graphic Design degree and now runs her own small business. Ryan Peterson graduated in 2017 and completed the first year of a Product Design course at RMIT before taking a break to work and pursue his role as Bendigo Youth Mayor. And 2016 graduate, Ashley Eadon, is the recipient of the New Colombo Scholarship, and is studying Law and Psychological Science all while learning Hindi. She recently spent a semester studying in New Delhi, India. All of these Alumni found their niche at BSSC, and were able to choose from the widest range of VCE, VET and VCAL subjects available in Victoria. Like to find out more? Drop us a line... alumni@bssc.edu.au

Bendigo Senior Secondary College Empowering learners for individual, community and global leadership

www.bssc.edu.au

Sam Glynn and Maddi Darouti

Hollee, Dehne, Teagen, Henry and Sarah Vinnicombe

ON SUNDAY, TO MARKET WE GO Jensen and Raquel Corbett

Joe and Leni McKern

Zachary Brown and Adam Hoogwerf

Rosalie and Jacob Ashman

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For many, a visit to the Bendigo Showgrounds Market brings hope of bagging a bargain, a chance to catch up with friends or simply a relaxing start to Sunday. The popular attraction brings in lots of locals and visitors each week, with stallholders tempting them with household plants, vintage clothes and furniture, knick-knacks, food and produce, as well as fruit and vegetables.

black, white and read

Children’s author Katrina Nannestad makes a magpie chick part and parcel of her happy life among the rolling hills north of Bendigo. By Lauren Mitchell – Photography by Leon Schoots Katrina Nannestad and Otto both throw their heads back and let loose with clear, bright laughter, which settles in the rafters of their Sedgwick hills home; a place of love and care and the carolling of a magpie chick saved from the brink. “He makes lots of different noises,” Katrina says. “When he’s cuddling, he does this little honk which means ‘I love you lots’. I haven’t worked out the loud carolling.” Oh, but we have. And why wouldn’t Otto be happy? There he was last October, thrown from a nest beside Katrina and her family’s walking route, with a gammy leg and a dire outlook. And just look at the little fella now. 74

When Katrina found him, she and her family were braving the brisk Sedgwick wind during their very own Octoberfest. Homemade German sausages and beer awaited for lunch. “On the ground there was this tiny fluffball,” she says. “We walked on and when we came back, he was still there. I read fledglings are kicked out of the nest a week before they can fly and if you find one you should put it up to perch, but he couldn’t walk and had a damaged leg.” So home he came, to be given a German name in honour of the day, and Katrina’s latest children’s novel. “I’d just finished writing my latest book and one of the main

characters is named Otto,” she says. (Her black whippet, Olive, is named for her popular series Olive of Groves.) Katrina is the author of several popular book series, including Red Dirt Diary, The Girl, the Dog and the Writer, Lottie Perkins and the stand-alone title The Girl Who Brought Mischief, which won the 2014 NSW Premiers Award. “I thought the highlight was when my first book came out, which was Bungaloo Creek in 2001, and then it was almost 10 years before I published another one,” Katrina says. The next was book one of the Red Dirt Diary series, about a class of rural kids during the drought.

“I thought, if this doesn’t make it, I haven’t got what it takes to be a published author, but I hope I would have kept on writing anyway,” Katrina says. “I think I just enjoy living in a fantasy world. My aim was to have enough work published so writing was my main line of work. Not that you need to be published to write, or even show another soul. Writing can be a nourishing and wonderful thing to do anyway.” Her latest novel, starring the other Otto and due out in November, is We Are Wolves. Katrina was researching a different story idea when she discovered the tale of the Wolfskinder; the name given to displaced German children from war-torn East Prussia. At the end of World War II East Prussia was invaded so quickly there was a rapid evacuation, of mostly women, children and old people, as the men were away fighting. Thousands died. Katrina says it’s believed up to 50,000 children ended up living in the wild, roaming the land, foraging for food. Many went to Lithuania, where their German heritage was hidden. Some ended up in Russian orphanages, others wandered for years until old enough to eke out a living. “Some survived abuse and slave labour, and abuse in other ways you don’t talk about in children’s books,” Katrina says. “And some were reunited with family. There are amazing stories of people finding one another against the odds. “I was fascinated by the whole thing. It’s a really sad story but a fascinating story. I thought, if I didn’t know about this, perhaps others don’t know as well.” Katrina mentioned the Wolfskinder to her publisher, who said they’d love to hear her story idea. “And at that point I didn’t have a story idea! But that’s how I ended up writing a serious historical story. I didn’t think I could write it, but I did and I loved it. It was hard but a great challenge.” Another challenge right now is getting the work done with Otto, who is a daily constant in Katrina’s life, in tow. Thankfully the bird loves routine, and so does Katrina, who says that’s the only way to get a book written. By 9am, Otto is at the window waiting for breakfast, and Katrina is ready to work. “I work as if I’m going to a job in an office,” she says. 77

“I need structure to trigger my brain. If I don’t have a routine, it’s too easy not to work. I’m a give-myself-an-inch-and-I’ll-take-a-mile kinda girl. So, I get dressed, I put makeup on. If I started work in my pyjamas, the next thing I know I’d have chocolate stains on my shirt and be 20kg heavier! I work to contracts so I do have deadlines, and I set tangible goals to work towards them.” Katrina writes for 3-6 hours a day, often with Otto napping on her shoulder, or playing with the papers on her desk. “When he starts to wander around the house and poop on things, that’s when I usually put him out,” she says. At 4.30pm it’s tools down and time for a walk. “He’ll ride on my shoulder, or down my jumper if it’s cold.” He’ll squawk if a hawk flies overhead. Katrina says her aim was always for Otto to be a free bird, if possible, but if he couldn’t fly she was prepared to care for him for life. After many failed attempts and crash landings, he was off, and now divides time between the house and the sky, and the neighbours… When Katrina introduced her new neighbours to Otto, she discovered they’d already made acquaintance. He’d been visiting them, enjoying their food and playing with their children, even accepted a new name. Their four-year-old daughter said, “that’s not Otto, that’s Maggie”. “We thought Otto was quite shy but they had a house warming party with a big jumping castle and Otto joined in and was jumping on people’s heads,” Katrina says. Katrina would love to one day write his story, but for now she’s happy to live it. “He’s given me joy,” she says. “Daily joy. Every day he makes me laugh, and I love to laugh more than anything else.”

We Are Wolves will be published in November 2020.

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Simone and Luke A local couple make it down the aisle in the nick of time, one weekend before lockdown commenced. Photography by Jamie Harrison By the time Simone and Luke’s big day rolled around, COVID-19 restrictions were beginning to limit the amount of people who could gather together. Fortunately, the Marong couple had planned an outdoor celebration, so all was good to go ahead by the gorgeous Loddon River. The pair had met four years earlier when they started chatting online. Both lived locally, so soon took their relationship into the real world, which eventually led Luke down on one knee. “Luke took me away for my birthday to the Mornington Peninsula and we went out for 80

tea and then to the London Bridge lookout,” Simone says. “We looked out over the ocean and he tapped me on the shoulder and proposed.” The wedding date was March 21, just one week before weddings were severely affected by the lockdown – a complication which almost cost Simone the dress that was coming from overseas. Luckily, she sourced ‘the one’ from Bendigo Bridal Collections. In place of a bridal party, Simone and Luke involved their families in every step of the celebration. “It was great to be surrounded

by our wonderful families,” Simone says, with special mention to her and Luke’s nannas. “Getting ready with my family will always play a big part in my memories, there was just so much happiness… and the cars were awesome as well!” After a ceremony by the water, and countrystyle photographs down dusty roads and under the river gums, Simone and Luke relaxed with their loved ones at a reception in the Marong Family Hotel garden. “We made it all about us and who we are as people,” Simone says. “It was very relaxed and simple, but beautiful.”

SILKS EVENTS & FUNCTIONS

phone 03 5448 4209 | email j.rawiller@bendigo.countryracing.com.au

Nicola and Max

Meet a couple with much to be thankful for – not least their siblings, who played an integral part in their love story. Photography by Justin & Jim Nicola and Max met by chance in 2009 while visiting their family members in Brisbane. “Our brother and sister were based in the army together and we both happened to be out for tea visiting our siblings,” Nicola says. “As they knew each other, they joined our tables. We got to know each other and that’s where it all started.” Max proposed by the sea in Torquay. Nicola says she knew sometime was up – “He was so nervous he couldn’t finish his fish and chips, which is very unusual for Max!”

They married on March 6 at Morrisons Winery in Moama; the riverside town being the place they bought their first home together. Nicola’s dress was from Bluebell Bridal Melbourne and Max’s suit from Peter Shearer in Adelaide. The engagement ring was custom-made using the diamonds from Nicola’s great-grandmother’s wedding ring, while the wedding bands were from Paul Stoddard, in Max’s hometown of Tumby Bay.

The couple’s good friend Lucy (from lucy_ jade_cakes) made the cake, the talented Jim from Justin and Jim Photography captured the day, along with Glen from Directors Edge on video. Bryant’s Buds Echuca supplied the blooms, but kudos goes to the celebrant, Nicola’s brother Aaron from Ceremonies by Aaron. “Having Nicola’s brother officiate the wedding ceremony is something we are especially grateful for and will always remember,” Max says. 83

“The speeches were also a big highlight. Everyone spoke so highly of us and so well. Plus, there were plenty of laughs. And our champagne shower and sparkler exit were definitely something to remember.” The couple’s beloved border collie Jax was not left out of proceedings, despite the dog sitter initially taking him to the wrong venue! In fact, the whole day was a Take Two for this couple. “Unfortunately, our first wedding and honeymoon was postponed as Max did his knee playing football four weeks before and had surgery so he couldn’t walk,” Nicola says. “Our wedding 2.0 went ahead right before the coronavirus restrictions, however the honeymoon had to be cancelled. We were meant to have gone to the Maldives and South Africa.” Still, there’s plenty to look forward to, as Nicola and Max prepare to now welcome their first baby into the world.

lamb shanks By Beau Cook - Photography by Leon Schoots

A locally inspired dish features Harcourt Valley Barbara’s Shiraz, Barfold olive oil, Castlemaine honey, locally grown garlic from Castlemaine Fresh and B&B Basil’s herb salad. Shore up your shank redemption with this melt-in-the-mouth winter warmer, which is perfect for kitchen isolation hours.

Ingredients:

Method:

• 5 Frenched lamb shanks

1. Preheat oven to 150 C.

• 2 tbl olive oil

2. Heat olive oil in a large heavybased ovenproof pot, sauté shanks until brown all over, remove and set aside.

• 1 large red onion, sliced • 6 cloves garlic, peeled • 2 sprigs rosemary • 6 sprigs thyme • 4 bay leaves • 400g crushed or chopped tomatoes • 750ml Shiraz • 500ml good quality low-salt beef stock • 1 tbl honey • 1 tbl balsamic vinegar

3. Place all other ingredients into pot then return shanks and press down until submerged. 4. Bring to a simmer and cook on stove top for 15 minutes, then cover with lid and place in oven for two hours. 5. Remove lid then turn each shank and return to oven uncovered for another two hours or until shanks are super tender and the sauce has thickened. Turn shanks again after one hour and baste with sauce. 6. Serve with mash and some salad or winter greens.

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Eliza and Jamie

Music, love and laughter characterised the wedding of Eliza and Jamie at the Ravenswood Homestead on March 7 this year – just prior to lockdown. Photography by Rusila and Josh Eliza and Jamie met eight years ago in Sydney while studying at the Australian Institute of Music, so it was apt to have a wedding day of song and dance, thanks to The Club Band, and the bridal party surprising the couple with an acapella version of Oh Happy Day, which is was. “Best day of my life,” says Eliza. “I think we put our own spin and personality

into everything we did on the day,” she adds, thanks to a wedding dress by Georgia Young Couture, bridesmaids dresses from Camilla and Marc, and suits from The Bespoke Corner, hair was by Hairfolk, makeup by Kristie Heddington, celebrant The Wedding Women, a gorgeous Café Essence cake, flowers from the Grounds of Ravenswood and photos by Rusila and Josh.

Eliza says Ravenswood was the perfect venue as it offered accommodation for Jamie’s family from New Zealand and Sydney, so they were all able to stay in the one spot together. “We were able to make a whole weekend of it there, which is what we wanted,” she says. “We had a barbecue on the Friday night, the wedding on Saturday and a big 89

brunch on Sunday morning. The venue was so great to deal with, which was also really important to us.” Eliza says her lasting memory of the day was simply how much fun they had. “I think the highlight for us both was the first moment we saw each other at the ceremony. Also the dancefloor, we loved the band, it just seemed like everyone was in such a good mood up dancing and because we are all rather musical, a few people got up for a sing, which was really awesome.” The couple’s honeymoon in Bali was cut short due to COVID-19, however they’ve had plenty of time together since, as lockdown measures saw them both work from home. “There has been no shortage of quality time spent together. We are loving it.” Eliza and Jamie’s advice to other couples planning a wedding is to simply enjoy the process. “It’s a party celebrating you and your partner, the whole thing should be fun.”

words of

warning

A home-grown martial artist finds international success within the pain and sacrifice of his sport. By Raelee Tuckerman - Photography by Leon Schoots

Mixed martial arts champion Jimmy Crute has some unusual advice for anyone considering following his footsteps into the cut-throat world of professional fighting on the UFC stage: Don’t Do It.

out and crush me; I had a big brace on my knee and 95 per cent of people wouldn’t have even made the walk, let alone fought. I felt like I had finally hit my stride and did what I’d always been meant to do.”

Behind the glitz, glamour and global adulation that comes with stepping into the Ultimate Fighting Championship ring, lies a world of blood, sweat and tears. It’s a life Jimmy knows well – the 24-yearold has endured much sacrifice and struggle on his journey from Bendigo training gyms to success with the pinnacle franchise of international mixed martial arts.

Throughout COVID-19, Jimmy has kept fit with regular home gym and running sessions, aiming to appear on UFC Fight Island (literally bouts staged on an island privately owned by UFC) at a date yet to be announced publicly. He also hopes to crack a top 10 position by the end of the year.

“Only those who have been with me through it realise the amount of work that has gone into this,” says Jimmy, whose first-round victory over Poland’s Michał Oleksiejczuk at UFC Fight Night 168 in Auckland in February earned him the Performance of the Night award. “It’s not an overnight thing. It’s been 12 years of discipline, determination, stubbornness and a little bit of luck, too. My mates will tell you I basically disappeared off the face of the planet for years to get where I wanted to go. “At times, I was sleeping in my car in Melbourne, having to choose whether to put fuel in my car to get to training or whether I would eat that night and I always chose fuel and training. That’s why I am where I am today. “I was determined to do this, or die trying, but unless you have that mindset, you shouldn’t be in this sport. When people tell me they want to be a fighter, I tell them don’t do it. If they take my advice, it’s not the sport for them. If they ignore me and try it anyway, they are much more suited.”

Jimmy credits parents Gary and Tania with having the biggest influence on his career, and life, saying he’d “probably be in jail” if it wasn’t for them. “They’ve taught me good morals and I’d like to think they are proud of me. Dad comes to all my fights and it’s great to have him in my corner. Outside of that, it’s my coaches – Stewie, Sam and now Daniel Kelly – who have all done so much for me.” Bendigo looms large in Jimmy’s future, with plans to buy a house here so he can return “home” when his fighting days are done. “I still consider myself a Bendigo boy,” he says, reflecting on just how far he has come. “When I first started and was winning Australian titles, we had to beg the media to give me a snippet of anything. Now people recognise me walking down the street in Bendigo and that blows my mind. They apologise for bothering me, but I always say, don’t be sorry. It means a lot when people come up and ask me for a photo or to sign something. “It makes my day.”

Jimmy grew up in Bendigo, the youngest of seven children. He was a shy child who loved sport and was always “the first to dive head-first into everything”. But all he really wanted to do was spar. He tried karate and judo, before joining Stewie Moulden’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school at about 11. “My old man is a nurse and Stewie did security at the hospital, so Dad asked if he’d train me. Ironically, he wasn’t interested in training kids, but Dad kept nagging and the rest is history. We are extremely close and he remains one of my coaches today. “I’m based in Melbourne now, apart from during this coronavirus business, but whenever I come back to Bendigo I try and drop in to see the boys at Stewie’s House of BJJ – it’s where I started and I’ll always associate myself with it.” Jimmy recalls the day he first heard about UFC during a changeroom chat among his older sparring partners. “I got on YouTube that night, typed in UFC and the first fight I ever saw was Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop, where Gonzaga kicked him in the head and knocked him out cold. I was 12 years old and said, ‘that’s what I want to do when I grow up’. From that moment on, I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me I couldn’t.” Plenty tried. “I got in trouble at school once because, when they asked what I wanted to be, I said a fighter. They said no, you have to choose something realistic, and called in my parents. “I got to my third year of a plumbing apprenticeship and people thought I was stupid for not giving it 100 per cent. All my tradie mates would say, fighting is not going to pay the bills and I’d tell them, you just watch me. Anyway, fast forward to now…!” Jimmy won state, national and Pan Pacific jiu jitsu competitions as a teenager, started kickboxing under the late Phil Chapman in Kangaroo Flat at 16, then transferred to legendary Melbourne trainer Sam Greco, whom he says is a life mentor as well as coach. He later made his professional debut in Australia’s Hex Fight Series, winning three light heavyweight (93kg) titles before signing with the UFC. With an 11-1 professional record, Jimmy rates his most recent win as a highlight. “It’s the only one where I nearly cried in the cage afterwards,” he says. “I was coming back after my first loss; Michal was hyped to be the next best thing and was supposed to come 95

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