OCLife20200402

FREE COMMUNITY MAGAZINE | LOCAL MEDIA IS BEST

02 APRIL — 08 APRIL, 2020

ORANGE PROPERTY MARKET

— YOUR GUIDE TO THE BEST PROPERTIES AND BEST AGENTS — STARTS ON PAGE 17

DAT E W E N

AT E D W NE

Anh Do

Leaving Jackson

The Happiest Refugee Live!! Saturday 10 October at 7.30pm Tuesday 15 September at 8pm

DAT E W E N

DAT E W E N

Fables from Afar

The Robertson Brothers

Dance Theatre of Orange Tuesday 27 October at 6pm

DAT E W E N

DAT E W E N

AT E D W NE

Banff Mountain Film Festival

1970: The Year in Music

A Tribute to Mario Lanza

Friday 18 September at 7pm

Thursday 10 December at 7.30pm

Mark Vincent

Saturday 6 February 2021

Saturday 22 May 2021

EL CAN C

LED

Melbourne

International Comedy Festival

ELL C N A C Aurora

Tuesday 21 April at 7.30pm Wednesday 22 April at 2pm

EL CAN C

www.orange.nsw.gov.au/theatre

LED

A Migrant’s Son Thursday 9 April at 8pm

THIS IS CORRECT AS OF 26.03.2020 Bookings: 02 6393 8111

ED

Orange Civic Theatre

OFFICIAL MEDICAL ADVICE

Coronavirus: You must take action to save lives in your community.

Stay at home unless absolutely necessary. Banks, supermarkets/groceries, petrol stations, medical services and suppliers will remain open. You must avoid non-essential travel.

If you can, work from home. If going to work, avoid groups. Use phones for meetings and stop handshaking. Tap to pay where possible instead of using cash.

You must stay 2 arms lengths away from others and wash your hands for 20 seconds.

Exercise away from others.

Make sure you stay informed by visiting australia.gov.au Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra

CUT OUT AND KEEP 2 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

contents ADDRESS: Suite 3/241 Lords Place ORANGE PHONE: 02 6361 3575 EMAIL: reception@oclife.com.au WEB: www.orangecitylife.com.au FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/orangecitylife

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT ORANGE CITY LIFE

Sponsors To further help Orange City Life keep our team employed and keep bringing you our magazine each week, we’re inviting community minded businesses to sponsor us through this difficult period in our history.

Any business interested in sponsoring us, please contact our office on 6361 3575 or email reception@oclife.com.au The following businesses have graciously agreed to sponsor us until June 30th.

We are extremely grateful for their support.

ASHCROFT’S

Friends!

A lot has happened over the last few weeks and it’s fair to say that the world as we know it will be different from here on, and for quite a while to come.

Many are now facing hardships that they would never have dreamed of just a few weeks back.

People in safe employment last month now find themselves on unemployment queues, previously successful businesses are now facing ruin.

And so it goes on.

My wife and I, like so many other business owners at this time, are scrambling to meet Government regulations, while trying to keep up with community expectations and still come out at the other end. For some, this must seem mission impossible.

In our case, and with the unbelievable co-operation of our fabulous team, we’re going to try and defy the odds.

My wife and I have come up with a strategy that we hope will enable us to keep all our full-time employees in work, keep producing Orange City Life each week and hopefully come out at the other end. This strategy also relies on others who we rely on, such as our printer in Sydney to survive as well.

Defying the odds however will require a number of changes, sacrifices and a lot of understanding.

CHANGES — From this issue, Orange City Life will look very different to what you’ve become used to. Many of the types of stories and features we’ve included in recent issues simply can’t be done under the present distancing and isolation rules.

To help us all through the Coronavirus crisis, for now at least, we’re taking a completely different approach.

We’re going to try to meet the changed needs that many readers now have as a result of isolation or being housebound.

We’ll also make more use of our available space to ensure you have plenty to read and enjoy each issue.

Orange City Life will now provide you with more entertainment, more things to do, more ideas on how to keep yourself busy, all while trying to lift your spirits and put a little sunshine into your day. To that end we’re including more puzzles, and we’re also including a serialised Novella titled Sunshine (pure coincidence) that given the extra time we all have, we hope you will read and enjoy. We’ll also bring you quite a bit of helpful news from local businesses who are keen to keep serving you, and we’ll be encouraging you to send us items to include.

SACRIFICES — To keep our costs to an absolute minimum we’ve also had reduce the number of pages we print and suspend several regular features in OC Life that we regularly pay for, among these is our TV Guide. I know a lot of people love our TV guide but given our present circumstances, the cost of providing this is beyond us, if we are to win this battle. Despite all this, there are still ample copies of OC Life being distributed in many of the usual pick up spots right across Orange.

UNDERSTANDING — It’s a shame that it takes a disaster like this to bring home to people just how important our small businesses are in the scheme of things, and why supporting local businesses is so important. Without dwelling on it too much, my hope is that locals will knock themselves out to spend every dollar they can with local businesses as we battle through this crisis together. Please keep spending as much as you’re able and do it at local businesses. We all need every dollar we can get right now because at the end of the day we’re all in this together.

THIS WEEKS COVER Always look for the beauty!

During these times we encourage our readers to take each day as it comes. Find beauty in the everyday, something that you would usually take for granted. Stay safe, take care of your health, take care of your mind, we’re all in this together. #TogetherApart

Good luck everyone!

Bob and Jackie Holland Publishers – Orange City Life

Spirit WE CAPTURE THE

OF ORANGE

General disclaimer: Whilst every care is taken in preparing this publication, we cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. The publisher accepts no responsibility for letters, notices and other material contributed for publication. The submitter accepts full responsibility for material, warrants that it is accurate, and indemnifies the publisher against any claim or action. All advertisers, including those placing display and classified or advertorial material, warrant that such material is true and accurate and meets all applicable laws and indemnifies the publisher against all liabilities that may arise from the publication or such material. Opinions expressed in the publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. The editor, Bob Holland, accepts responsibility for election comment. Articles contain information of a general nature – readers should always seek professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances. Complaints: Regional Life Group Pty Ltd trading as Orange City Life has a policy of correcting mistakes promptly.

If you have a complaint about published material, contact us in writing. If the matter remains unresolved, you may wish to contact the Australian Press Council. © Copyright 2018 Regional Life Group Pty Ltd. Copyright in all material – including photographs and ads – is held by Regional Life Group Pty Ltd or its providers and must not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the Publisher. Printed for the publisher by Spotpress Pty Ltd, 24-26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville, 2204.

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2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 3

OCLife

HEADER

— MELISE COLEMAN —

FINDING THE

With many of us having to change or alter our lifestyle right now; whether it be working from home or choosing to self-isolate.

Nutritionist, Jacki Jazprizza is encouraging the community to use this time to revaluate our views on nutritious cooking.

Joy in Food H

aving published her first book in December last year, ‘The Very Best of Jacki’s Gastronomical Gossip,’ the cookbook features everything from pastas to stir-fry, salads to soups and everything in between including lots of immunity boosters- perfect for right now.

“It’s time to bring cooking back,” Jacki exclaimed, “Sadly the art of learning from your Mother, Grandmother or even distant Uncle is disappearing and I’ve noticed over the last five to ten years, people’s efforts and food prep are skewed.

My biggest influencer in health and nutrition was my Mother, she was the best cook ever and a beautiful and gentle soul too. She didn’t have a lot of formal nutrition knowledge, but she always knew whole food was full of goodness. My parents both grew up in the 1930’s after the great depression and during World War II, people during that time were ingenious on being thrifty and using things up completely, and that flowed onto the meals Mum would prepare.”

“So, last year I thought to myself, ‘Ok, what is my legacy? What is my contribution to the world?’ I’ve helped a lot of people over the years but I wanted something people would remember me by. So, I decided a real handson cookbook that helps people to look after themselves would be the trick, and hopefully is just as relevant in another 50 years.

My basic premise has always been putting into practice the theory of healthy eating by educating and imparting knowledge and skills. In the 25 years I’ve been a Nutritionist I’ve put out monthly newsletters for my clients to give recipe ideas and inspiration.

Some of the recipes in this cookbook are from the newsletters, some are recipes passed down from my Mother and some have also been contributed by clients.”

Ideally, picking up a cookbook these days entails pages of bright and almost too good to be true imagery. Jacki mentioned she intentionally wanted to steer clear

of that, “It’s not pretty and full of lovely styled pictures, it’s a working cookbook, I want people to work through and scribble their own modifications on it, it’s a book for everyone, from families, to oldies, Uni students or pregnant Mums, every recipe in there can be altered to your liking.

They are simple but tasty recipes, with basic ingredients you have in your pantry and cheap as chips and now more than ever is the time to get back to making a wholesome meal from next to nothing.

“The feedback I have received about the books contents has been overwhelmingly positive, so I am really happy it’s helped so many people. I want people to change their attitude and find the enjoyment in cooking and preparing a good home cooked meal.”

With over 250 recipes to enjoy it’s a perfect time to get back to basics and make great meals from common and tasty, simple ingredients that the whole family will enjoy as well as wholesome nutrition to support your immune system. Contact Jacki to purchase a copy. Email markjacki@bigpond. com or 0427 621 318.

JACKI’S TIP: Spend about 15 minutes a week to sit down on a Sunday afternoon and nut out some basic meals for the weeknightseven factor in a takeaway to support local businesses doing it tough. You can save money and maximise nutrition, enjoy cooking again and have leftovers for the next day. Make your own or my menu planner proforma is in the back of the cookbook.

At Orange Credit Union, we’re here to help.

For over 55 years, we’ve proudly supported our local, Orange community. Local is where we live, it’s where we work, where we have our homes. It’s where we’ve built our lives, together.

Now more than ever, we’re focused on supporting you.

Our local people, our local customers and our broader Orange community.

Together, we continue to navigate these unprecedented times. We have introduced social distancing measures in our branch for the safety of you, and our team. Please know that we are open for business and our team is here, ready to help with all your banking needs.

Our in branch services continue as normal, with our online channels and ATM network also available for your convenience.

• Our App and Internet Banking are available 24/7 • Make balance enquiries and withdrawals using your Orange Credit Union, Visa Debit Card from any major bank ATM, free of charge.

4 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

For assistance using either our online channels or ATMs, please get in touch. Whether you’re a Orange Credit Union customer or not, we’ll spend the time with you to ensure you’re comfortable with these channels.

Getting in touch with the team at Orange Credit Union is easy.

• Call us on (02) 6362 4466 • Drop in and visit our branch • Visit our website www.orangecu.com.au, for more information or to log in to internet banking • Download our App (available via the Apple Store or Google Play) At Orange Credit Union we’re proudly staying true to our heritage and founding principles, as we continue to help people help themselves and each other.

We’re here to help, anyway we can.

OCLife

OCLife THROUGH MY EYES

Comment

“

with Bob Holland

YOUR CHANCE TO RETURN THE FAVOUR How much do you value your weekly With all that said, the bottom line copy of Orange City Life? is this.

In the 12 years we’ve been producing our magazine, we’ve had a constant stream of people tell us how much they enjoy their copy of our magazine each week, and if you’ve been with us since day one, you would have received around 600 copies of our magazines during that time, and at no cost to you whatsoever.

A sea lion basking in the San Fransisco sunshine along Fisherman’s Wharf with a view that many people would pay thousands of dollars to come and see.

~ Melise Coleman

Like so many other businesses at this time, we don’t know whether we’ll be able to afford to keep going or not. We don’t know for sure whether we’ll be able to secure enough advertising, we don’t know whether the Government will tighten the screws even more, we don’t know if businesses that we rely on We want to keep it all going for a (our printer for example) can keep number of reasons, but given what’s going and so on. happening in businesses right now, That’s the bad news. that’s become extremely difficult, The good news is we’re up for the you see it’s businesses who advertise fight and I’m not leaving one stone with us that enable us to provide OC unturned in my efforts to keep my Life each week at no cost to readers, staff employed and my community many of those wonderful businesses served in the way that we do, and are themselves now fighting for our readers entertained. survival.

One stone I’d like to turn right here Among the reasons for keeping OC and now, is to invite you our readers Life going are that we employ eight to consider making a cash donation full time staff along with a number towards helping keep Orange City of casuals who do our deliveries, Life on the streets each week. clean our office, take social photos It’s desperate times and this may etc. Then there are other service seem like a desperate measure, providers who derive some of their but I’d prefer you to look at it as an income from us including a local opportunity to return the favour that freight company and an independent we’ve done for you over all those family printing business in Sydney. years. We’ve often been asked why Before Coronavirus we put almost a we don’t sell OC Life, many have said million dollars back into the economy they’d gladly paid for it. each year.

That’s not who we are but any Then there’s the value of what we donation you make now could be do to make Orange and surrounds viewed a bit like paying something a better place for all who live here. for all those years of free reading.

No one could put a value on that but I’ll leave all that with you to consider. the fact that around 13,000 copies of OC Life have been picked up week If you would like to donate, you can after week for 12 years suggests call our office on 6361 3575 and use a credit card, or you can use other something good is happening. means like dropping cash or a cheque Finally, we’ve been able to give into our office or by posting a cheque countless people, events and in the mail. businesses heaps of publicity in one form or another for both their benefit Thanks for considering helping us to and for the benefit of those they are keep bringing out the best in people while capturing the spirit or Orange. trying to reach.

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ASHCROFT’S

P E I S L E Y S T R E E T S TO R E O N LY

Where our customers are the heart of the community 2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 5

OCLife

HEADER

COUNCIL NEWS COUNCIL MEETINGS GO REMOTE, ELECTIONS POSTPONED Our current crop of councillors will be with us for a further 12 months after the local government term was extended in the face for the COVID-19 crisis.

Local government elections were to take place in September, but they have now been postponed until September 2021.

The NSW Government has also cleared the way for local councils to legally make decisions without having the councillors together in the one room.

Orange City Council CEO David Waddell said they are already investigating what will be the best way forward.

“The technology to stage virtual meetings is now commonplace, so we’ll be weighing up the options,” said Mr Waddell.

“We do want to use an option where community members can at least watch the debate. We’re already able to do that by live streaming. We will also look at ways community members can speak on issues before council, as is the case with the public forums when council meets face to face.”

The next meeting is scheduled for 7 April and Mr Waddell said they are working towards that date, but he did indicate it may be necessary to postpone it.

The proverbial may have hit the fan, but at least we’ll all have somewhere to go!

Progress has been made on the much talked about public toilet block in Robertson Park. Debate over whether to proceed with building the amenities occupied an inordinate amount of Council’s time, but work on the $195,000 amenities finally kicked off in January. Here’s to happier times ahead when we can gather in the park for one of Orange’s famous night markets.

FREE HOME Delivery We understand that many people, especially the elderly and immunocompromised are hesitant to come out to public places due to worries about the spread of the Coronavirus.

To ease customers access to medication we are offering free home delivery.

OPTIONS FOR ORDERING PRES

CRIPTIONS

PHONE 02 6362 1267 Customers can phone the pharmacy before 12pm Monday - Friday and we can pick up their prescriptions and have them delivered that afternoon. *Conditions Apply.

Shop 19, Orange Central Square, Summer Street, Orange NSW 2800 P 6362 1267 E orange@blooms.net.au W bloomsthechemist.com.au 6 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

Jokes!

A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One goes to a family in Egypt and is named “Amal”. The other goes to a family in Spain, who name him “Juan”.

Years later Juan sends a picture of himself to his mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wished she also had a picture of Amal. Her husband responds: “They’re twins.

If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Amal.”

A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette were all lost in the desert. They found a lamp and rubbed it. A genie popped out and granted them each one wish. The redhead wished to be back home.

Poof! She was back home. The brunette wished to be at home with her family. Poof!

She was back home with her family. The blonde said, “Awwww, I wish my friends were here.”

Just because you’re working from home, or curled up on the couch bingeing Netflix, doesn’t mean you should miss out on drinking delicious Cider!

We’re extending our free delivery area to include Orange, Nashdale and Borenore.

Touch free Cider and complimentary delivery for all orders over $45, local area (Orange, Nashdale, Borenore).

Pre order cider online at www.smallacrescyder.com.au and in the “choose shipping option” click on “click and collect” for no delivery charge to local area.

12 Akhurst Rd, Borenore 02 6365 2286 www.smallcrescyder.com.au

PROUD ORANGE BUSINESS

ROUNDTUITS

THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF ONLINE LEARNING — MELISE COLEMAN —

With all of the happenings of the world today, teachers were, like all of us, expected to adapt.

Sarah Gilchrist is a special education teacher at Anson Street School and is one of many teachers who has found online learning a way of connecting with her students, now, it’s not only her students following along, Sarah has many fans who are engaging each day, including families from across NSW and Queensland.

B

efore the ripple effect Sarah’s YouTube channel started as a way to connect with her students who are learning from home. “Most of my class are nonverbal so I can’t really talk to them on the phone and their parents are sometimes working from home.” Sarah continued, “This platform allows me to still interact with them and students are still able to see a familiar face during this very confusing time.”

Her channel has since evolved and is now used to assist any of the school’s families, as well as her own friends and family who have also shared it to their friends and family who are trying to stay connected with learning while at home.

Sarah uploads three videos each school day, “We check in, we look at the day of the week, date, weather, what the book we are going to read for the day is and an activity that the child can do around the house with minimal support. There is a story book read loud and an AUSLAN video (Australian sign language).”

With so much response and engagement online Sarah

mentioned it was a bit overwhelming at first. “It’s nice that families and students are still able to connect with us whilst they are unable to be physically here in school, and it means I have to brush my hair every day,” Sarah laughed.

“My students tell me that I am so cool now because I am a ‘YouTuber’, they get excited that they are still able to see me and they enjoy listening to stories I am able to read to them.”

Nooters Club A5 With the world a little chaotic right now, Sarah reminds us to remain kind, “I am one person in a whole world of educators who are currently trying to redesign what school looks like. We are still learning the best way to do things and each student, family and school are different, which means that each educator might be trying a different way. We are pretty creative people but is perhaps our trickiest task yet.

Please be patient with your teachers and parents, please use this time to show kindness and calm to your own children.”

To follow along you can find all of the videos on YouTube, ‘Teaching With Miss Gilchrist.’

Vets are “essential services”, so we are here and working hard to take care of your pets at this difficult time. The wellbeing of your pets is so important to Dr Judith, but she also wants to take care of you, and her team of vets and nurses. This means we have had to make a few changes here at Mulberry Lane Vet Hospital.

What has Dr Judith done? She has split her vets and nurses into 2 teams. They work on different days and won’t meet each other. So if anyone gets sick, we can keep the hospital open to care for your pet. We have introduced extra cleaning throughout the day and spent a lot of time working on new procedures to ensure each team is working well together and following strict health guidelines.

What can you do? If you are visiting the Hospital to collect repeat medication or Prescription food for your pet, please ring us, order and pay over the phone in advance. We will gather together what you require, and can bring it straight to your car! If you have an appointment, please ensure your dog is on a lead or your cat in a carry cage. You will find the front door closed when you arrive, but don’t worry – we are all here. Just press our new door bell and then follow the instructions of our friendly team. Please bring a card, not cash, to pay for any treatment, as well as your own pen.

And please – only one person per pet. While we love to see relatives and children on normal occasions, now is not the time, as we try to keep a sensible distance from each other. Don’t worry if these new procedures all feel a little complicated – if you have an appointment, you will

flyer.pdf

Has there ever been a more perfect situation for us to think about doing those jobs that we keep putting off or saying we’ll get roundtuit one day, jobs that we know we should do but where something else always takes precedence.

With little or nothing to do and many of us being confined to our homes, it’s a perfect time to get some of those worthwhile jobs done.

Given the present situation, doing ANYTHING will provide us with some form of entertainment that’s not otherwise readily available, and if you complete the type of jobs I have in mind, you’ll enjoy a measure of satisfaction as well.

The type of roundtuit jobs I have in mind include such things as - cleaning out your pantry and getting rid of all those items with a well and truly expired use by date, cleaning out and re-organising your garage, washing all your windows, going through your wardrobes and kitchen cupboards to clear out any never to be used again stuff and to reorganise them. What about giving your car a really good detail-like clean, more than the usual quick tub. Then there’s cleaning all your light fittings, replacing any globes with energy efficient ones and cleaning your exhaust fans of all that grim, it’s amazing how grotty they get.

Doing simple things like this will not only make you feel good, but any sort of household cleaning has 1 21/01/13 3:37 PM health benefits as well, among other benefits.

Then, depending on what you decide to do, you might donate items you no longer need to local charities for someone else to benefit from, or you might buy items like paint, garden needs, car cleaning materials, or components to make or build something and if you do, this helps keep the sales going at local businesses.

Everyone would have roundtuits on their bucket list, so why not get around to doing some of them now, if you do a lot of people, yourself included will benefit.

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OCLife

on desexing cats and dogs for the YOUR monthPET of LOOK February DOES •Pre-surgical examination SORE IN THE MORNING? •Injectable and gas anaesthesia Nooters Club A5 flyer.pdf

receive a phone call from one of our friendlyCteam before you arrive, to remind you and to answer any Mquestions you might have. We are here to help!.

Y Finally, if you are unwell, please don’t visit usCMat the Hospital. Phone reception to reschedule your MY appointment. Thank you for your patience and CY understanding.

CMY There are some good things coming from the Government asking us to stay home – your pets will K love it! There’s no evidence that pets play any role in passing on this virus, so you can enjoy spending time with them too. And yes its still ok to walk your dog! Not if you’re unwell or in a high risk group, and not with other people from outside your family, but for most of us , a brisk dog walk is ideal exercise as we enjoy this lovely autumn weather. As the weather gets cooler, have you noticed your dog limping on a walk? Does he or she look sore in the mornings, or are they finding the stairs a bit harder to manage? Its possible that he or she has arthritis. Arthritis is caused when damage to a joint or the surrounding tissue causes painful inflammation, and can be made worse by old age, being overweight or general wear and tear. In cats, the signs of arthritis are even harder to detect. The good news is that there are many treatments for the pain of arthritis and your pet’s life can be transformed. Anti-inflammatories, pain medication or changing your pet’s diet to one for joint health can make a big difference too. This month, your dog, cat or rabbit can have a FREE arthritis check up with one of our friendly vets.

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Stay well and best wishes from all the team!

2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 7

OCLife

Pam McAlpine wife, mother, and poet — DAVID DIXON —

Genius, as they say, can be found in the unlikeliest of settings and one never knows when they could be entertaining angels unawares.

Pam McAlpine was born in Ipswich, England on November 22, 1935, an only child.

Pam joined the Women’s Air Force in Britain in the 1950s, a devoted wife and mother who travelled halfway around the world with her husband, David and two young children.

Pam was also a gifted writer.

Like so many in the United Kingdom after World War II, Pam and David emigrated to Australia as “Ten Pound Poms” seeking the opportunity for a new life. David worked for years as an airline mechanic at Hazelton Airlines at Cudal while Pam raised their four children.

On a rural property without a car or driver’s licence, she experienced the unique isolation

and loneliness of a young wife raising a young family.

But it was here that she also discovered a love for poetry and story-telling.

At home, she would hone and rework her quirky, whimsical observations of love, life, and the foibles of human experience before sending them off for publication in the readers interest pages of the popular and candid magazines of the time Topics included her fear of snakes, romance, wit and comedy, and her homesickness.

One of these missives — Sweet Dream; a beautiful work about a lost life — was read out at her recent farewell.

Other works in her eclectic compilation

ranged in subject from the Venus Flytrap, envy, penguins, aliens, frogs, and 1980s American President Ronald Reagan’s love of jellybeans!

Pam believed that her distinctive, heart-felt poems were worthy of a wider audience; but was determined that she was not going to waste her works on “vanity publishers” that promise the world to unpublished writers, for a price, of course!

As with the eventual fate of us all; the millionaire and pauper alike; the knighted business titan and the lonely office assistant, we all come back to where we started.

Pam McAlpine — wife, mother, and poet, has returned home.

SWEET DREAMS I only have to close my eyes And I’m back home with you Recalling scenes from bygone days And things we used to do.

Those dear, familiar faces Etched so clearly on my mind , I watch them shed their silent tears As I leave them behind Although it’s more than twenty years, It seems like yesterday I’ll need no special photographs, They’re in my heart to stay .

One day I’ll see them all again, My homeland’s streets I’ll roam ; Such are the dreams a migrant dreams When he is far from home.

Pam McAlpine ©2020

PAMELA JOYCE MCALPINE, 22 NOVEMBER 1935–2 MARCH 2020

2021 Kindergarten enrolments OPEN monday APRIL 27TH Would you like to join the McAuley family?

90 Hill Street ORANGE | Tel. 6361 3344 8 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

|

www.mcauleyorange.catholic.edu.au

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OCLife

Together, Online — MELISE COLEMAN —

“In times of uncertainty lets control what we can, lets more than ever, support and shop local.”

This is the sentence that first meets your gaze upon the ‘Orange Supporting Orange’ Instagram page. A page that was set up just last week by Emily Mitchell.

With over 400 followers the page features local Orange businesses and initiatives making it easier to find out how to support the community in a time where we all need a little support.

“I initially created the account because I saw how well businesses were adapting to these ever-changing times and I wanted to support them.” Emily explained, “I thought by pulling together all the information of who was offering what in one place it might make it easier for our community to support them.”

I didn’t know what to expect but I love that it has grown so quickly because it shows

how supportive our community is which isn’t a surprise. This community has always been a generous one looking out for each other and I love being a part of that.”

Emily continued, “Every day the situation is changing and we can only take it day by day but having access to our favourite shops via delivery or pickup definitely helps keep things somewhat normal.”

With many appreciative messages from battling businesses Emily said she hopes the Instagram account helps in boosting sales and most importantly know that the Orange community is behind them throughout this time. What an absolute legend you are Emily, well done.

Give @orangesupportingorange a follow on Instagram and let’s support our community.

In the line

purposes

CROSS with

Quality Meats and Smallgoods Exceptional Service Phone 6362 2037

30 Moulder Street, Orange

10 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

ALEX MCFADYEN

It’s funny how in 24hrs one’s response to something can change. On our way up the coast for a holiday, my husband and I joked about toilet paper shortages. Our amusement continued with my in-laws as we light heartedly continued to joke about “panic buying.”

Then we read about 3 confirmed cases in orange and the gravity and seriousness of what was happening hit us - It got real.

Then events started to be cancelled, my churches youth group and kids’ program shortly followed and then we received the message that weekly church services would need to be suspended also.

If the severity of things hadn’t hit home before, they jolly well did now!

As I stood outside Aldi before the doors opened with my list ready to restock my pantry after being away, I pondered about the way God will return one day and prayed my hardest that people would get real about where they stood with Him and respond with the same level of urgency I was witnessing that morning. God is waiting for us to take Him seriously, are you ready?

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OCLife

AN UNUSUAL FIND — JONATHAN ROE —

Bushrangers have been a recent obsession with my seven-year-old and he was thrilled to learn that the Central West is steeped in history, when it comes to Australian outlaws.

So, of course, we found ourselves in Eugowra and stopped by the top little Eugowra Historical Museum and Bushranger Centre.

The museum boasts an interesting, eclectic collection of objects from bushranger firearms, to old farming equipment and displays of home furnishings and bric-a-brac.

I was somewhat surprised to see a pair of British cavalry lances alongside another unusual object.

Around five feet long, padded at one end, with a small loop at the other, the device is a bayonet training stick.

An instructor would throw “points” or thrusts with the padded end for the recruit to parry, while the ring on the rear end was held up as a target to thrust a bayonet through.

As well as training soldiers for war, from the late 19th Century through to the Second World War, bayonet fencing was a widely practiced

JamesSheahan Sheahan James

military sport - even here in Australia.

Competitions would pit bayoneteers against one another using dummy rifles with a retractable “blade,” they would even be matched against sabres, both on foot and mounted, and even against mounted lancers.

Olympic Fencing today includes the three weapons - foil, epee and sabre but a century ago it was common to see a tournament billing of foil, sabre and bayonet.

STUDENT PROFILE STUDENT PROFILE

Sharing the Journey

Sharing the Journey Name: Charlie Brown Charlie Brown Brown is an approachable, kind, NAME: Charlie

helpful and sporty Year 8 student at James Sheahan Catholic High School.

Charlie Brown ishisan journey approachable, Throughout at James kind, he has established himself helpfulSheahan, and sporty Year 8 student at a keen athlete having represented Jamesas Sheahan Catholic High School. the school his in CCC journey Swimming, Athletics Throughout at James and Cross Country after earning the as a Sheahan, he has established himself of age having champion represented in those three the keen title athlete He counts these as his biggest and schoolsports. in CCC Swimming, Athletics alongside being the elected Cross achievements Country after earning title of as the SRCinrepresentative thissports. year He age champion those three placing the localachievements Japanese countsand these as 3rd hisinbiggest Speaking competition last year. alongside being elected as the SRC

representative year and 3rd Charlie says this that Sheahan has placing helped in the localachievements Japanese Speaking him in these by providing competition lastofyear. a wide range subjects to choose from,

6362 1422 | www.jschs.catholic.edu.au | jschs@bth.catholic.edu.au

6362 1422 | www.jschs.catholic.edu.au | jschs@bth.catholic.edu.au

a good to learn has in and Charlie saysenvironment that Sheahan helped the enormity of opportunities available him in these achievements by providing students.

As he continues in his from, a wideforrange of subjects to choose journey he aims to improve his grades a good environment to learn in and the especially Japanese, help the school for enormity of his opportunities available more through the SRC and to continue students. As he continues in his journey to work hard to represent the school in he aims to improve his grades especially CCC events. Sheahan always encourages help the school more Acceptinghis Japanese, students to have a go even if they through the SRC and to continue to work fail and prides themselves in Enrolmenthard sometimes to represent the school in CCC being able to educate in many different Applicationsevents. always encourages ways,Sheahan which Charlie believes has Accepting students to have a go even if they contributed to his success.

Enrolment sometimes fail and prides themselves in Applications being able to educate in many different ways, which Charlie believes has 2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 11 contributed to his success.

Andrew GEE

Your Country MP Your Voice FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CALARE CORONAVIRUS – EMPLOYMENT & INCOME SUPPORT

A b

This week the Australian Government announced another two economic stimulus packages. This brings the total investment into economic support to $320 billion to help our country through these challenging times.

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The new packages focus on supporting mental health, front line health workers, the vulnerable and all those who have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus.

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The one-off cash payments of $750 for pensioners and those with concession cards have also started to go into the accounts of those eligable, and over 113, 000 businesses have already registered for the new Jobkeeper payment that encourages businesses to keep their staff on the books.

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The below information reflects the latest updates I have on the financial support that the Australian Government is offering.

WAGE SUBSIDY FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN STOOD DOWN - JOBKEEPER PAYMENTS

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The jobkeeper payment is $1500 a fortnight per worker to employers to pay their employees and keep them on the books.

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It covers full and part-time workers, sole traders and casuals who have been employed in the business for 12 months or more.

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Any business is eligible as long as their turnover has been affected by 30% or more.

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Anyone who has been stood down from 1 March will be eligible to receive the payment allowing businesses to backdate claims for workers.

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PARTNERS PAY INCOME TEST INCREASED •

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The partner income test has been increased from $48,000 to $79,762 to increase access to the JobSeeker payment, and associated $550 Coronavirus Supplement.

PROTECTING AUSSIE ASSETS

This means you will be eligible for $1500 a fortnight, if you have lost your job due to coronavirus, provided your partner earns less than $3,068 per fortnight, around $79,762 per annum.

The personal income test for individuals on JobSeeker Payment will still apply.

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Effective immediately, all proposed foreign investments into Australia will require government approval, regardless of value or the nature of the foreign investor.

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The change will be achieved by reducing to zero the monetary screening thresholds for all foreign investments.

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We can't have other countries or their companies taking advantage of this crisis by swooping in and taking over distressed assets and businesses.

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MEDICINE HOME DELIVERY •

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It’s an issue that many of our local community members have been raising with me since the beginning of this crisis and I’ve had very positive feedback on this announcement.

There is a new home delivery service being introduced for medicines on the PBS and RPBS schemes. For more details visit the Department of Health website: www.health.gov.au

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CRACKDOWN ON SUPERMARKET RAIDERS! A lot of people have contacted me about the issue of supermarket raiders. Yes, they're real, contrary to some media reports.

There is evidence at our ports and post offices that organised syndicates have been raiding supermarkets.

After relaying our local experiences to the Home Affairs Minister I am pleased that it is now an offence under the Biosecurity Act to send supplies in large quantities overseas. There will be penalties and enforcement. Items have and will continue to be siezed and redistributed to Australians.

Authorised by Andrew Gee MP, National Party of Australia, Suite 1/179A Anson Street ORANGE NSW 2800. Produced and printed using parliamentary entitlements.

12 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

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SLOWLY BUT SURELY WE'RE BEATING THIS As the coronavirus continues to take hold of our communities, our Aussie way life, as we know it, has had to adapt. For the time being, there’ll be no more BBQ’s and other face-to-face gatherings such as birthday parties and dining out with friends, as hard as this may be.

There are huge local challenges and issues to face and I continue to take our communities’ concerns back to the key decision makers in Canberra.

But despite these changes, and the fear of social isolation that some may be facing, it’s also an opportunity for us to come together, via other means, to stay connected. Families and friends are keeping in touch through things like Facetime on mobile phones, social media conversations, a simple telephone call and even via letters.

And it seems that as we all adjust to this together, we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, with some early indications that the infection rate curve may be flattening as most Australians are doing to right thing, by staying home and adhering to other social distancing measures.

However, it remains critical that we continue to follow the guidelines as they are released, as we are only at the beginning of navigating one of the most severe epidemics the world has ever seen.

We also need to be getting the message out to our seniors that it’s time for them to bunker down. We love our seniors and that’s why we need to keep them as safe as possible until this crisis passes.

We will get through this, together. That’s what country Aussies do.

•

SENIORS & THOSE WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

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Stay at home if:

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You are over 70.

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You are over 60 with chronic illness or have an underlying medical condition.

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Call my office if you need support. Contact details below.

SOCIAL DISTANCING FOR EVERYONE •

Everyone should stay at home unless going out is for essential reasons such as food or other goods and services , for exercise, work, study or compassionate reasons.

•

Indoor and outdoor gatherings are now limited to 2 people, with the exception of your own household. You can have one other person with you in addition to your household.

•

Public playgrounds, golf courses and skate parks are now closed.

•

Boot camps are now limited to 2 people.

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Funerals remain at a maximum of 10 people, with compassionate grounds for exemptions.

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Weddings remain at a maximum of 5 people consisting of the celebrant, couple and two witnesses.

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Subject to change!

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RESIDENTIAL AND RETAIL LEASE PROTECTIO •

There is moratorium on evictions over the next six months for commercial and residential tenants in financial distress and who are unable to meet their commitments due to the impact of coronavirus.

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Tenants, landlords and financial institutions are encouraged to come together to find a way through, ensuring businesses can survive and be there on the other side.

TELEHEALTH SERVICES EXPANSION •

$669 million is being invested to provide Medicare-subsidised health services into your home.

•

Australians will be able to use their telephone or video conferencing such as FaceTime to connect with GP services, mental health treatment, chronic disease management, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments, services for people with eating disorders, pregnancy support counselling, services for patients in aged care facilities, services for children with autism, after-hours consultations and nurse practitioners.

•

The GP bulk billing incentive will be doubled for GPs. This will ensure practices stay open to provide essential faceto-face services for patients with conditions unable to be treated through telehealth.

•

Those with concession cards will continue to be bulk billed.

Orange Electorate Office 1/179A Anson Street PO Box 673 Orange NSW 2800 (02) 6361 7138

Bathurst Electorate Office 85Keppel Street PO Box 54 Bathurst NSW 2795 (02) 6331 0524

For regular updates and news, follow me on Facebook @andrewgeecalare

Authorised by Andrew Gee MP, National Party of Australia, Suite 1/179A Anson Street ORANGE NSW 2800. Produced and printed using parliamentary entitlements.

2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 13

PaulTIERNEY MUSIC FOR COMPANY

Need something to keep you going in these lonely days? ‌ stay tuned.

I’ve got my dear ol’ dad to thank for it. I’ve been a music ‘fan’ since my earliest memories. I must have been about 3 or 4, but I can still fondly remember begging mum to endlessly rewind the reel-to-reel tape we had of the Beatles ‘White Album’ to play the songs that I called ‘Buffalo Bill’ and ‘Ronky Racoon’.

Then he introduced us to Elton, The Beach Boys, Hot August Night, to name a few. We certainly had the coolest and loudest stereo in the street, and the other kids would come over so we could play Acca Dacca and Sherbet at ear-blistering levels, whilst doing air guitar. Good times.

Getting my drivers’ licence meant I could play music in the car on my own as loud as I liked ‌ and I did. My go-to cassette in Subaru in the 80s had ZZ Top, Big Country, early Midnight Oil, Aussie Crawl, The Knack and of course Flock of Seagulls as big tunes. This ‘alone time’ was some of my fave memories of going from a school kid to an adult.

I’m alone again this week, working from home. Weird. Fun. Novel. Am I gonna get sick of it? Who knows. Am I sick of my own company yet? Nope.

Lovin’ It. My lovely wife made banana bread to go with my (many) morning coffees. My computer and work setup (see last weeks’ column) is aces.

Oh, and the music ‌ it’s goin’ on out here on the outskirts of Millthorpe, I’m telling you. Can you hear it?

These days, ten bucks a month will get you access to a billion songs, maybe more, and there’s no ads if you pay for it. I’ve still got the hundreds of vinyls and CDs in pride of place, and the music on my computer won’t ever be

On the TV and radio, they’ve been talking about making playlists of ‘songs you play when you’re lonely or alone’, but that’s just garbage.

I’m never alone when the music is blasting, I’m at peace. Late last Tuesday arvo, just before the awesome rain came, I jumped on the ride-on, stuck the buds in my ears and had my phone in my pocket, ready for an internet playlist.

I hooked into a list of songs by one of current faves, a relatively new Aussie band called Ocean Alley – and screamed out the lyrics at the top of my lungs whilst mowing for almost 2 hours. Bliss. Alone. Not lonely.

A couple of songs I might add to my extended playlists next week will include ‘Mad World’ by Tears for Fears, the song by John Lennon where he says ‘Strange Days Indeed, Most Peculiar Mama‌’, Onion Skin by Boom Crash Opera (‘these here are crazy times’), and The Doors ‘People Are Strange’. I know a mate who’d add ‘Here I go Again on my own’ by Whitesnake. The list is endless.

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Music – you’re never lonely, even when you’re alone. Turn it up. Loud.

(until advised

t, jigsaws Yugioh, For retail of board games, miniatures, pain yone occupied.

Magic and Vanguard – plenty to keep ever to deliver to For those “stuck at home� we are happy your door in the Orange LGA and a reasonable distance outside.

Give us a call or message us WEDNESDAY 11am - 4pm

TUESDAY: Closed

THURSDAY 11am - 6pm See you in store

FRIDAY 11am -6pm

14 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

SAVE YOUR RETIREMENT‌ BUCKETS ARE THE ANSWER! It’s amazing how a few weeks can feel like a few months‌ It feels as though we’ve been living through this coronavirus nightmare for a long time already!

I’ve been working in financial services since 2002, so I’ve seen a few financial crises during those two decades and in that time, I’ve learnt a lot. Not only a lot about how investment markets work, but also how human emotions work.

With all the craziness going on at the moment, many people are understandably concerned about their retirement savings.

Sadly, many people are making the wrong decisions in how to deal with this crisis, acting on emotion and not realising the long-term implications of their decisions.

I love helping people get their financial futures on the right track but also helping them make sure they don’t derail from that track when the going gets tough. I can guarantee you this won’t be the last time we see dark economic times‌ in fact, I guarantee all my clients there will be times when their money will go down. Moments like these are a good opportunity to remind my clients why their money is invested the way it is.

Many people will be finding themselves simply sitting in

that when a downturn occurs, those growth investments have time to recover.

While nothing can protect us from feeling some emotions when we see our life savings going down, it’s incredibly reassuring to know that when it does happen, a strategy had already been put in place to deal with it.

Now, imagine if that strategy was combined with saving thousands of dollars a year in investment fees!

If these sound like the sorts of things you want when it comes to your retirement savings and you value independence when it comes to advice, then head to wealthtrain.com.au and book an online appointment today.

There is no mistaking the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis, both from a health and economic perspective. However, the decisions you are making right now will have a huge impact on what your future looks like in 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

Stay safe!

Daniel

Daniel McGregor is the man behind Wealth Train and is a member of the Independent Financial Advice and Education. This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice which does not take into consideration any of your personal circumstances. All strategies and information provided are general advice only.

Daniel McGregor and Wealth Train are authorised representatives of Independent Financial Advice and Education AFSL 520963

Help with Grant Applications Knowhow can be the difference between success and failure To discuss your grant application and how I can help you succeed call Amanda Spalding

AMANDA SPALDING CONSULTING

SUNDAY 11am -3pm

aes@amandaspaldingconsulting.com

http://gamesnmore.com.au

a ‘balanced’ fund within their superannuation. This can be particularly dangerous for those in the retirement risk zone, that is, five years either side of retirement.

As you move closer to retirement, at retirement and during retirement, it’s important to put some strategy behind how your retirement savings are set up. A retiree with all their money sitting in a balanced investment option in retirement would mean that right now they are being forced to sell shares at the worst possible time in order to meet their income needs.

Sadly, many people are flooding super fund call centres to move all of their super savings to cash, robbing themselves of seeing their money recover when things go back up again‌ which they will!

A better strategy is to break up retirement savings into short, medium and long term ‘buckets’ to ensure that when something like this happens, there is no need to be selling out of growth assets (i.e. shares and property) while they are down.

This type of strategy ensures

If you’d like to find out more about how INDEPENDENT financial advice could help you manage cash flow, pay off the mortgage faster, get the most out of super and invest wisely, then get in touch on 0411 484 464 or head to wealthtrain.com.au

SATURDAY 11am - 4pm

171 Summer St Orange | T 02 6361 0524

sales@gamesnmore.com.au

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with Daniel McGregor

replaced. But ‌ online these days is just too peachy to ignore. All you have to do is type in one idea, like ‘The awesome 80s’ and you’re set for an entire day, maybe longer.

From Van Halen, to the Vapours, to Tears For Fears, to Spy V Spy ‌ it’ll get played for you, no problems.

I typed in ‘Rock’ just to see what would happen, and found a playlist that goes for over 6 hours called ‘Pure Rock & Roll’, I was and still am, in music heaven. The only two annoying things have been (i) having to stop doing my real work for a minute to find out the name of a new song as I am continually educated, and (ii) leaving the keyboard to play air guitar when songs like ‘Panama’ or ‘Kickstart My Heart’ come on.

PEN WE AREotO herwise)

MONDAY 11am - 6pm

Let’s Talk Money

0417 288 246

“30 years of executive management experience and success in applying for funding�

Phil Donato

STATE MEMBER FOR ORANGE WE’RE STILL HERE TO

DONATO’S

DIARY !

Help

I’m doing my part to prevent the spread of coronavirus and have temporarily closed my office to public visitation, however my team and I are still accessible by telephone or email during business hours, and are happy to assist you. Our email address is orange@parliament.nsw.com.au and office telephone is 02 6362 5199.

SHOOTING

CUDAL MEN’S SHED

THE BREEZE!

Recently I recorded the first episode of my new podcast and YouTube episode, ‘Shooting the Breeze’. I’m looking forward to using these platforms to chat with interesting locals. It wasn’t hard to think of who to have my first chat with! Pete Gerber from Pioneer Brewing Co at Bowan Park is a larger than life character to shoot the breeze with over a nice beer at his brewery. To watch this as a YouTube episode check out my channel “Phil Donato” or head over to http://phildonato.podbean.com/ to have a listen of the podcast, or check it out on the podbean app.

2020

Earlier this month I dropped in on the fellas at the Cudal Men’s Shed, which has been going for 10 years now. The boys showed me around their facility, which has some nice new pieces of machinery. They kindly put on a sausage sizzle and a nice cuppa, which we had over a few laughs. It was great to visit, thanks for having me along fellas and I’ll look forward to visiting you all again.

Huntley Berry Farm

Local Woman

of the Year for Orange Congratulations to our 2020 Local Woman of the Year for the Orange electorate, Mrs Rhonda Watt of Cumnock. A more worthy recipient of this annual award you’ll not find. Rhonda has contributed significantly to her community of Cumnock and the surrounding district for decades. Thanks for everything you do for community, Rhonda; you’re a true inspiration.

Orange Electorate Office

Earlier this month I visited Huntley Berry Farm and caught up with Tony and Gianni Belmonte. They’ve been managing the farm since it was purchased by OCTEC in recent years. As an NDIS provider they’ve been able to employ 15 disabled locals to assist them in transforming a former berry farm into an organic vegetable farm. Over 20,000 people visit the farm each year, and it’s a popular tourist spot. Well done to Tony, Gianni and their team.

|

123 Byng Street, Orange NSW 2800 |

The COVID-19 pandemic is now impacting the lives of us all in one way or another, and it is certain to do so for some time yet. We are all affected by this, and it is essential we do our part in mitigating the spread of coronavirus throughout our community.

We can do this by adhering to a strict hygiene, social distancing, and, where necessary, self-isolation.

Businesses who remain open have a responsibility to do what they can by having staff work from home where possible, and minimising public access.

It’s imperative we do what we can to limit unnecessary and avoidable impact on our health system, the resources of which will be under significant pressure in coping with patients presenting with coronavirus, in addition to their usual workload with all noncoronavirus medical issues.

We can all help to minimise impact on our health system by each doing our part. For enquiries about coronavirus it’s recommended you contact Service NSW on 13 77 88. For regular updates regarding COVID-19 and other electorate or State Government related matters, you can visit: • www.nsw.health.gov.au • www.health.gov.au • I also post updates on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ Donato4Orange In spite of these testing times, remember to be patient, considerate and courteous to one another. Remember we are all in this together, and together we will get through it.

Telephone 6362 5199 2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 15

OCLife

HEADER

BUSINESSES

INNOVATE IN CRISIS — JONATHAN ROE —

The COVID-19 pandemic is completely reshaping our lives.

No longer can people socialise in groups, go out to cafes and restaurants with friends, grab a beer at the local pub or even come together in places of worship. With Australians contained in their homes, businesses around the country have ground to a halt.

But even in the face of these unprecedented challenges, the last few weeks have seen some small businesses come up with innovative ways to keep the doors open.

O

ne Strength Gym owner Lyle Davis said they saw the writing on the wall three weeks ago and put together a plan to run a virtual gym that is keeping all their staff employed and helping their members stay fit.

“We had everything in place probably about two weeks ago and then when we got the news we had to close we just flicked the switch and converted to the digital world,” said Lyle.

“A lot of our members reached out and said they want to continue to support the gym, so in exchange for their normal membership fees that would give them access to the gym in the real world, we’ve invited them all to a closed group on Facebook where we are posting three different types of workout a day.”

The different workouts are targeted for those looking for muscle gain, those who want overall functional fitness or a high intensity circuit.

And it has all been designed to use whatever people have on hand in their homes.

“I know some people have gym equipment at home, but our angle with this is to use absolute bare bones, we’re assuming no one has got anything, so we are filling enviro bags

up with books and doing curls and things like that,” said Lyle.

With the physical gym closed indefinitely, the One Strength team also decided to loan out their gym equipment and have delivered it to members’ homes all over Orange.

“While all this is happening and we are shut down, we’re not going to use the equipment and we’ve got a great culture at One Strength and nothing but trust for our members, so we are just keeping a register system and loaning the equipment while on stand down,” he said.

“I can’t praise our team here enough! They are used to working in a gym and now pretty much they’ve turned into online social media producers and couriers. But they’ve all put their hand up to say they are totally up for whatever task needed.”

Lyle also said none of this would be possible without the support of their members.

“Honestly, deep down I’m a massive sook and it gets me very emotional - all the people that have reached out and said they want to keep their membership running,” he said.

“We’ve had people who don’t even train at the gym that have signed up in this last week, because they want to support us and they want to see One Strength through this thing. It has touched my heart in a very big

One Strength - keeping up fitness level s

16 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

way and the team feel the same.”

*** The ban on public gatherings has been a massive hit to the hospitality industry, with pubs, clubs and restaurants forced to close their doors to patrons.

Like many other food businesses Cafe Latte owner Aaron Wright has turned to takeaway and home delivery to try and keep some money coming in.

“We are just turning out a takeaway menu and posting on Facebook that we will deliver, so most of our menu is still available and our drinks are available. People can come in, collect it and take it with them or we are offering a free delivery service to anywhere in Orange,” said Aaron.

While turnover has obviously dropped, so far Aaron has been able to hold on.

“Up until now we are doing enough to keep open, which is good. Touch wood we will be able to survive with enough turnover to keep the doors open.”

*** Despite not being included on the banned list just yet, Orange Family Physiotherapy are also having to change the way they do business.

ery Cafe Latte open for takeaway and deliv

“Obviously there is contact in physiotherapy and we have had a lot of cancellations,” said physiotherapist Erica Eccleston.

“I completely understand that people don’t want to come out and that people are staying home more, so we’ve just had to look at other ways to not let the business go broke.”

Erica and her team have begun offering a telehealth service, which has enabled them to maintain contact with their patients and help them through their rehabilitation.

“It seems a bit strange, but a lot of what physios do is give advice and education, exercise prescription as well,” said Erica.

Research studies have shown that telehealth can be just as good for patient outcomes as hands on treatment, said Erica, as patients take more responsibility for their own rehabilitation.”

“We can hook up via video link - there’s so much good technology out there and we can look at how they are doing their exercises at home and make any changes to it.

“And that has been good, seeing people’s home environment, so we get a better idea of what equipment they have to work with or how we can fit the exercise program into the home equipment better so that has actually been a benefit.”

Stay in the loop with Orange Family Physiotherapy

OCLife A-Z of Home Improvements

W

W

FOR

WINDOWS

indows and doors should not be the last thing you decide on when building or renovating, Cherrie Handebo from Taberners Windows and Doors believes.

Leaving this most vital of decisions for your home to the last-minute is a common oversight for many homebuilder/renovators.

“They put a lot of effort into picking a fridge and taps, but these are things that can all be replaced, but your windows and doors, which are such a major part of your house, they see as an afterthought,” Cherrie said.

“You wouldn’t spend $50–60,000 on a car without having a long and hard look, but they do that with what is a permanent feature of their homes.”

“Your window and door decisions should be incorporated into your home-plans at the earliest stage. But it can be very hard to visualise what you want without coming-in and having a look, that is why we have such a good showroom,” Cherrie explained.

The technology and choices for home-owners with windows and doors are constantly changing for the better, Cherrie said. With the new

PART OF THE FABRIC OF YOUR HOME:

carefully choose windows, doors options available in 2020, there is now much more to consider when ordering the glass-featured elements of your new home or renovation.

“We have better-performing glass and better-performing frames. We have hundreds of different styles available. We have high-performing glasses that keep in energy, keepout the heat, and that are soundresistant,” Cherrie said.

For instance, she explains, the old timber-versus-aluminum argument is now moot with a range of textured timber-look finishes that provide the

aesthetic appeal of timber with the low-maintenance of alloys.

“You can have the wood-look but without the upkeep that was such a drawback of the full-wood frames and doors,” Cherrie said.

Another innovation transforming the glass industry is the widespread use now of double-glazing for external windows. “Probably 60–70 percent of our orders now are for doubleglazing,” Cherrie said.

“Councils are now very energyconscious and Orange’s climate is cooler for so much more of the

year, that it’s a real benefit for family homes.

“People are simply trying to keep their houses warmer, but it also works for summer as well, helping to keep houses air-conditioned cooler by locking-out the heat,” Cherrie said.

Once seen as a luxury for wealthy British and American homeowners, double-glazing has now become the norm in the Central Tablelands with the added cost far less than in previous decades.

“It looks now like ordinary glass; you can see straight through it, and the cost has come down dramatically,” Cherrie explained.

“No matter what your budget, we can always find a way to help our clients find an energy-efficient solution for their windows and doors without skimping on quality!”

Whatever you decide, get in early and give the time and attention to this central component of your house as you would any other. After all, your glass features are your window to the world!

“Windows are in your house forever, they’re a part of the fabric, of the envelope, of your home so put the thought and effort into them as much as you would another permanent feature of the house,” Cherrie concluded.

42 Weddin Street GRENFeLL $464,000 - $510,000 4

2

3

This charming Californian Bungalow is sure to impress!

Filled with an abundance of ornate traditional features paired with modern luxuries...

Very large Californian bungalow cc. 1920 on 1.75 acres a short walk to shops and other facilities. There has been a very sympathetic renovation adding a spacious kitchen/family room facing the north and the east with panoramic views to the garden through an expanse of ceiling to floor windows. Warm in the winter and and cool in the summer - with deciduous trees providing an extra level of shade in the summer months. There are 4 spacious bedrooms, one with an open fire place, a bay window and lead light stain glass windows. Polished hardwood floors are a feature as are the lovely high ornate ceilings throughout. The modern kitchen boasts a very generous granite benchtop, a double Falcon oven with gas cooktop

18 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

and a walk in panrty. The ducted reverse cycle air conditioner provides comfort year round. The formal dining room also has a built in fire place. Other features include an inground, under-cover salt water pool, a single brick garage, a double colourbond garage and a carport. There are two entertainment areas - one adjoining the pool and another sheltered from the western sun and wind which is used year round. There is a large understory games room currently used as a commercial office. It has a wall to wall glassed in bookcase framing access to a large walk-in safe and new Axminster carpet. It faces the east and the rear of the garden, is double brick and has a separate access. This is a beautiful home and is well suited

to a large family and catering and accomodating large groups of family and friends. It is nestled in a well established, leafy garden and it has the added luxury of a bore so you can enjoy this oasis all year round. Well worth an inspection.

Contact Danielle 0427 853 171

A-Z of Home Improvements OCLife

TILES, AS THE SAYING GOES, AIN’T TILES...

So, it’s important to consider carefully before choosing one of the major, longterm investments in your new home or renovation.

“There’s a huge range of tiles available now; you have marble, natural stone, travertine, limestone, sandstones,” Dave Shearing from Amber Tiles Orange explained.

“Because of the huge range now available, there’s been a resurgence towards tiles in the past 20 years.

“Tiles are durable and non-porous, because they’re heated to a highdegree, they’re generally sealed as well,” Dave explained.

“Tiles have replaced carpet in the Australian home, because tiles don’t wear-out”, he said, but remember to

consider function before form.

For this reason Amber Tiles keeps as wide a variety of styles, prices, and functions as they can.

“We buy from all around the world, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Malaysia, China… the Italian tiles are the dearest. We have so many on display, the cost can range from very low to very high,” he explained.

Dave said that the normal price range for a square metre of tiles ranges from $22–24 up to $100 for fine Italian tiles. “If you want tiles in a bathroom, kitchen, for flooring, outside, tiles can last as long as you want.”

With 45 years in the building trade and still a licensed builder, Dave says that choosing the tile you want is only

the first stage of the process.

“Particularly if you are doing the tiling yourself, there are a number of important rules to remember,” he believes.

“Here’s one important tip, when grouting tiles, use as pure water as you can find; not bore water or tank water.

They may be okay to drink, but they will colour the grouting. Use tap-water at least, but for an expensive job, we often recommend distilled water,” Dave says.

He said also to consider the tone, texture, features, and base of each grout you intend to use. “Many people are now going to epoxy grouts, but they are expensive.”

Dave says also to carefully choose the glue you use for fixing new tiles, whether it’s going over wood, hardboard, brick, plasterboard, or even old tiles.

“You’ve got different glues for different surfaces. People reject change but the industry is always developing. You want the correct glue for the correct fixing. Oh, and you can glue over old tiles. I’ve done it myself and it works fine,” Dave said.

When choosing tiles, also judge not only on beauty and aesthetics but practicality. Many expensive hotels feature stunning shiny-tiled surfaces,

but these can be unsafe when wet, especially for older guests.

“There’s now an international rating for both slip and ramp (angle at which tiles become unsafe when wet). You can go up to R-12 (non-slip) all the way down to non-rated.”

Other ratings now include for wear, skid, and uniformity of appearance.

“The industry is always changing — you’ve got to keep ahead of it,” Dave said.

He and his wife Diane also have the tradies and contractors in mind with equipment designed to reduce the occupational health risks for professional tilers. This includes two new tile-saws that almost eliminate the fine silica dust that can destroy the lungs of long-time operators in the industry.

One of the dustless saws has a constant waterflow over the blade as used by concrete cutters to eliminate free-floating dust, while the other has an ingenious suction system below the cutting blade that operates on the same principal as a vacuum cleaner.

With tiles now taking over for surfaces previously carpeted, concreted, or veneered, Dave has even seen houses clad in external tiles. “It works, but I’m not sure I’d do it,” he laughs.

T

FOR

TILES

As this goes to print,

Blowes Real Estate is still open for business, and plan to keep being here for the Orange Community, until instructed otherwise To protect our staff, vendors, tenants and prospective buyers we are making sure to keep to the required social distance of 1.5sqm.

Our staff have very separate office spaces and are cleaning all hard surfaces regularly.

ALL PROPERTIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE INSPECTIONS PLEASE CALL 6362 1233 TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

BLOWESRE.COM.AU

cnr lords place + kite street 02 6362 1233 2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 19

2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 21

22 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 23

OCLife

HEADER

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING There’s no shortage of good entertainment available online, but that in itself can be a problem. I know I’m not alone in having spent an unfruitful evenings trawling through streaming services, unable to settle on just what to watch So to help you cut through the choice overload, we decided to share what the team at OC Life are enjoying on the small screen at the moment: MELISE IS WATCHING WORKIN’ MOMS ON NETFLIX Maternity leave is over and it’s time for these four moms to return to work while navigating kids, bosses, love and life in modern-day Toronto.’

“A hilarious comedy which will take your mind off the happenings of the world right now. Despite the title this isn’t only a series for the Mums out there.”

JONO IS WATCHIN KINGDOM (SEASON 2) ON NETFLIX A Netflix original series set in 16th Century Korea. A dead king comes back to life and unleashes a plague of the undead on the population.

“Swords, matchlock muskets and zombies — what’s not to like! Definitely not one for the fainthearted!”

ANNABEL IS WATCHING THE LAST KINGDOM ON NETFLIX A British historical drama set in late 9th England.

The Anglo-Saxon lands are gradually being overrun by Viking Danes. The Kingdom of Wessex ruled by Alfred the Great remains the last major stronghold against the invaders.

“Season 4 will be released on the 26th of April.

I can’t wait!”

APRIL IS WATCHING THE GOOD DOCTOR ON 7PLUS Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the prestigious St. Bonaventure hospital’s surgical unit.

“I like this show as it’s interesting and I love medical shows.”

KESTER IS WATCHING ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT SEASON 5 (PART 2) ON NETFLIX “While it’s a bit madcap, I think it is one of the wittiest comedies out there with the crazy hijinks subtly balanced by dry one-liners… I’m also hanging out for new Letterkenny on SBS RACHEL IS WATCHING STATELESS ON ABC IVIEW Inspired by true events, the lives of four strangers intertwine in an immigration detention centre in the Australian desert.

“Love it! Great storyline and yet quiet disturbing to know that it is based on real events. Great casting - Yvonne Strahovski, Asher Keddie and Cate Blanchette to name a few!” another great ABC drama which is available on iView is The Cry .. it is another typical abc drama series.. compelling story with great casting again.. worth a watch OTHER NOTABLE TV SERIES MENTIONED FROM THE TEAM: Jane the Virgin, The Good Place, Good Omens, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Cry, Gracie and Frankie

26 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

Night markets stay home — JONATHAN ROE —

A

Last Friday should have been one of the busiest evenings in the Orange calendar with thousand of people filling Robertson Park to kick off the 2020 F.O.O.D. Week celebrations.

lthough public gatherings have become a thing of the past due to the coronavirus pandemic, it didn’t stop locals marking the occasion — just from their own homes.

The Night Market @ Home was an initiative of Orange360, a way to encourage people to support our local food and wine businesses that are doing it tough in these trying times.

“The Night markets are always such a fantastic communityfocused event, and so popular with local families, we thought this would be a perfect time to give people the opportunity to come together, virtually, and reconnect over something that is so treasured and loved by the Orange community,” said Orange360 communications manager Emily Mann.

“And there’s a lot of Orange businesses who are hurting at the moment, but who have done amazing things within their businesses to adapt on the fly and remodel their business in this new and challenging environment.”

To take part in the virtual event, people were encouraged to order takeaway food from one of our local restaurants or cafes, then take advantage of the amazing food, wine and spirits on our doorstep and share their meal on social media.

“Lots of people sat around the dinner table to do that.

Myself and my family we set up a picnic blanket in the

backyard and lit the fire pit and we all participated online using the hashtag #nightmarketathome so that people could see what others were doing and feel connected to them virtually because we couldn’t all be there together in Robertson Park,” said Emily, who is planning further online events to support our local retailers as well and food and wine vendors.

“I think it was a really successful event it was a good test case for us we are working towards developing some other online events, not only for locals, but for fans and followers and lovers of the Orange region moving forward.”

Although it is a difficult time for everyone, Emily said it has heartening to see local operators banding together to help each other out..

“If there is one good thing to come out of this whole catastrophe is seeing how innovative our local businesses can be and seeing businesses support one another,” she said.

“And to see the support from the local community who are really rallying behind all of these operators and making sure they are shopping local, giving a shoutout on social media, telling their friends and families to make sure they are supporting and spending their hard-earned dollars with local guys... It is really inspiring to see the compassion amongst our community.”

Your Space

SUBMISSIONS—EMAIL: reception@oclife.com.au // FACEBOOK: ORANGE CITY LIFE // instagram: #ORANGECITYLIFE

DERWENT COLOUR CITY DRAGONS ON THE 30th March, 2020 To the Citizens of Orange and surrounding area, We are the doctors of Orange Health Service and

we need your help to protect our community.

Orange Health Service is busy preparing its respons e to the COVID-19 pandemic and our staff of doctors , nurses, allied health and auxiliary staff are working hard to expand our capacity to care for the expecte d numbers of cases.

Colour City Dragons paddled a marathon event on the Derwent River, Tasmania recently before COVID-19 concerns ended the dragon boat season.

Colour City Dragon paddlers managed to squeeze in the Beaches, Bridges and Bays Marathon Challenge in Tasmania before COVID-19 event and travel restrictions were brought into place.

A total of 20 Orange paddlers made the 30-plus kilometre paddle, starting at Lindisfarne, heading south as far as Bellerive Beach, across to Constitution Dock to give the cruise ship passengers something to talk about then to Prince of Wales Bay via picturesque Cornelian Bay with its fishing shacks. The boats turned back at Bowen Bridge as conditions became a bit choppy with the strong winds.

The paddlers loved the unique

perspective on Hobart from the water, negotiating the wash of frequent MONA ferries and the change in scenery from sandstone cliffs to beautiful homes, gardens and beach shacks.

The event was limited to seven teams including clubs from Bathurst, Dubbo, Bendigo and Tassie. Each boat had 20 paddlers and a sweep. The teams enjoyed a morning tea break, photo opportunity and followed up with lunch at the home of the host club Derwent Storms at the end of the voyage.

Colour City Dragons coach and sweep Phil Lambert said the club may have may have found its niche with the 100

metre sprints.

“The following day teams returned to stretch out their sore muscles for a 3.5 km race where Colour City Dragons performed well taking 6th place in a competitive time,” Phil said.

“They took out first place in their “fun” 100 metres sprints and the women let the men win “tug-of-war.”

“All our training at the Lake and Carcoar Dam paid off.

We lasted the distance in the marathon and held a good pace for the shorter race. And we finished our sprints with gas left in the tank,” he said.

The dragon boat season has now been drawn a close due to the COVID-19 concerns.

Despite our best efforts, we face an unprecedented challenge with the current COVID-19 pandemic and we WILL run out of critical care beds at the current growth rate of cases in our community. If this trend continues we will NOT be able to cope with the demand and provide you with the care you require.

Currently we have low prevalence of COVID-19 cases in our area and it is essential that is maintai ned.

COVID-19 will spread if we permit it. We ask that you follow the below advice around social distanci ng and help slow the spread of COVID-19 to give us a chance to maintain the services at your hospita l.  Stay at home as much as possible 

Do not travel outside of your local area unless absolut ely essential, especially not to Sydney and other areas with higher numbers of COVID-19 cases



Shop once per week and at quiet times of the day



Deliver groceries and other essentials to your elderly relatives or friends, leaving them at their door



Go out once per day to exercise alone or in your



Do not meet up with people outside your househo



If you are unwell with a fever, cough or other cold and flu symptoms isolate yourself at home and call Healthdirect (1800022222) or your GP for advice.

household group ld group

If at least 80% of our community follows these rules strictly then our hospital has a much better chance of coping with the demands of the illness caused by this virus and we can keep our local community safe and ultimately win this war. In this crisis we can all choose to be heroes. We implore you to be a hero for our community and help us stop the spread.

Thank you for supporting frontline doctors and

nurses care for our community,

Doctors of Orange Hospital

Emergency Department Orange Health Service Western NSW Local Health District 1502 Forest Road Orange NSW 2800 Tel +612 6369 3000 Fax +612 6360 2005

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Bob,

Thanks for your OCLife which is a spot of light in the dark place we find ourselves in. Your message is positive and hopefu l, so well done.

May I add some of my own thoughts? We are a couple of great grandparents living in Orange with no family within reach, but have received wonderful offers of support from people near and far; some close neighbours, and some we have never heard of – offers to do shopping, and advice as to where we can shop online and have goods delivered etc.

It is a stressful time, but I am old enough to remember other stressful times. Take WW2 era as an example. We didn’t self isolate. It just happened; petrol, food, clothing, and all manne r of things were strictly rationed, (no hoarding then) and as for service, all our best and bravest young people were off to give their service and, too often their lives, for the defence of this wonderful, privileged life we enjoy.

As for the kerfuffle about toilet paper, we used the SMH cut in squares, and mothers washed their baby’s nappies.

Bob, I like your positive attitude, because there is light at the end of any tunnel. History shows that after catastrophes there is mostly a quick and sustained recovery. The personal and economic tragedy of WW2 became the boom time of the 1950s.

Year 2020 is, and will continue stressful, with the burden falling most severely on some (the unemployed) and those who are fragile. As a community we must support these people, and I think our government is trying to do this on our behalf.

Our scientists are working to produce medication and vaccin e to ensure that we all come out of this present disaster strong er than ever, so we just need to behave rationally, keep our doors (and our mouths) shut and look to the light at the end of the tunnel.

if possible

DEATH NOTICES in Orange City Life

Housing Plus is here to help.

DOORS ARE OPEN 113 Byng Street

Letting people know about the passing of a loved one is never easy, but people do appreciate hearing of such losses, each having their own reasons for this.

You can now share your sadness in a thoughtfully presented Death Notice in Orange City Life.

Notices will be presented with dignity and at low cost $25 for words only and $50 if you include a photo.

It’s worth noting that a lot more people read Orange City Life than any other local publication, and it’s Free.

To place a Death Notice in Orange City Life, you have two options –

1.

Ask your Funeral Director to arrange it.

2.

Call us on 6361 3575, email reception@oclife.com.au or visit our office at Suite 3/241 Lords Place, Orange for more information.

Housing Plus provide services for people who have lost their jobs and may be in rental stress, people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and women who are experiencing domestic violence.

We are also always available to answer any questions our tenants may have, and help where we can.

We are asking people to call first, and to make an appointment before coming to the office. The Orange Office Hours are 9-5.

Please call 1800 603 300 if the lines are busy, please wait 5 minutes and try a call again or send us an email info@housingplus.com.au

We capture the Spirit of Orange

Yours in friendship and hope, Keith Rawsthorne.

2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 27

WHAT'S ON THE MENU @ TRANG HUE

28 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

WHAT’S ON THE MENU @ TRANG HUE

Marinades and Sauces In 2019 Trang Hue Vietnamese released a range of delicious Marinades and Sauces made for traditional family recipes, inspired by her hometown ‘Hue’ in Vietnam.

OWNER/CHEF: TRANG LE

— MELISE COLEMAN — BBQ Marinade, Salad dressing, Lemongrass chilli, Hoisin and Caramelised sauce.

You can experience these exquisite flavours any time with chicken, pork, beef, chicken and seafood, we are told they are delicious with steamed rice and vegetables. You can purchase them from any of the Trang Hue store in Orange, you can also purchase online at tranghue.com/ marinadesandsauces/ Each product lists a recipe on the label, however, Trang will be personally sharing more recipes in the future, so keep an eye out on her website and while you’re there sign up to the newsletter.

With the convenience of shopping online, Trang aims to

help you enjoy your cooking at home, regardless of your cooking skills or time restrictions living a busy lifestyle.

Offering specialty dishes from the ‘Hue’ region, as well as other authentic Vietnamese food, their rotating dinner menu features vibrant, fresh, and delicious options. With the broad range of Vietnamese dishes available, the hardest decision is choosing just one!

PRE-ORDER NOW! This Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nights Trang has a Family Dinner Special for $50 delivered to your door in Orange. Pre-orders are necessary at least 24 hours before delivery. Message order to page or text order to 0459 337 770 Facebook at ‘Trang Hue Vietnamese Food.’

TRANG HUE |

134 SUMMER STREET

| TEL. 0459 337 770 |

TRANGHUEVIETNAMESEFOOD@GMAIL.COM

“My love for food started when I was nine years old. When I was 13, my family didn’t have enough money for me to go to school, so I started working full time.

I left home at 18 years old to try get into the restaurant business in Hue. I worked for 25 dollars per month working from 7-10 and started learning English.

I met my husband whilst working in a hostel in Hue, two years later we moved to Australia.

I want to share Vietnamese food everywhere I go, especially Hue cuisine.

I cook from the heart and ensure taste and quality are essential to my products.”

WHERE TO EAT TAKEWAY ONLY NAME

ADDRESSS

BOOKINGS

Trang Hue

Vietnamese Cuisine

134 Summer St, ORANGE

0459 337 770

Hog’s Australia’s Steakhouse

Classic Australian

177 Lords Place, ORANGE

6362 2389

The Ophir Hotel

Family Friendly Pub

84 Glenroi Avenue, ORANGE

6362 4995

Coco’s Cafè & Catering

Fresh Homestyle Cuisine

37 William St, ORANGE

6362 8611

The Sugar Mill

Café and Gourmet Bakery

1/82-102 Summer St, ORANGE

6361 1529

Lonestar Rib House & Brews

American Cuisine

Shop 43 220 Summer St, ORANGE

6387 9000

Groundstone

Café

151a Byng St, ORANGE

6394 6386

The Beekeeper’s Inn

Modern Australian

2319 Mitchell Hwy, VITTORIA

6368 7382

Cheeky Barista

Café, Australian & Asian Cuisine

295 Summer St, ORANGE

0422 522 445

Raku Izakaya

Modern Japanese

129 Summer St, ORANGE

0478 759 050

2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 29

OVER $1,200 OF PRIZES TO BE WON EACH MONTH

WIN $50 A WEEK! I LOVE IGA

WIN $50

sponsored by ASHCROFT’S

We have a $50 gift voucher to give away each week from Ashcroft’s Supa IGA. To enter, simply tell us your name and contact phone and what product features in the Ashcroft’s Supa IGA ad in this issue of OC Life.

Entries close each Tuesday at 12 noon.

ARE YOU A

W I N N E R? I LOVE IGA KAY KENNEDY MY PLACE UNCLAIMED

Send entries via our Facebook page, Orange City Life, email to reception@oclife.com.au

BLS 81A

If your rego appears, call into our office before 5pm next Tuesday.

WIN A DINNER FOR TWO AT HOGGIES!

FACE IN THE CROWD

FIND HOGSTER

sponsored by

We have two $75 meat trays from M & J’s Butchery to give away each month. Somewhere in this edition of Orange City Life, you’ll find this face. To enter, simply write your name and address on the back of an envelope, along with the page number you found the face on or email us an entry.

RANDOM REGO UNCLAIMED

WIN 50 $

you’re

We have two dinners for 2 to give away looking each month. Each week we’ll hide a small for this... version of the Hog’s Steakhouse mascot “Hogster” somewhere in OC Life. It could be anywhere. To enter, simply find him, then write your name and address on the back of an envelope, along with the page number you found him on.

Send or email entries to Face in the Crowd, OCLife, 3/241 Lords Pl, Orange NSW 2800 or reception@oclife.com.au

is this your place?

if so - you WIN! Win a $50 IGA Gift Voucher

WHAT SHOP IS IT BROOKE STEPHEN

Send or email entries to FIND HOGSTER, OCLife, 3/241 Lords Pl, Orange NSW 2800 or reception@oclife.com.au

WIN A NICE TREAT LUCKY BIRTHDAYS

If your home appears, call into our office before 2pm the following Tuesday to claim your prize. Bring proof of your address with you.

We have a $20 gift voucher to give away each week from Cafe Latte. Be first into our Lords Place, office next Monday morning with proof and you’ll win the weekly prize. sponsored by ASHCROFT’S

?

T I S I P O H S T WHA

is this you

r birthday

july 19

sponsored by

...oops!

Deliver or post entries to “WHAT SHOP IS IT?”

NEWEY’S will fix it!

TO WIN: Simply unscramble these letters to reveal the name of a local Orange shop. Put in an entry and we’ll draw a winner from among correct entries each week. Entries close Tuesday 3pm each week.

We do all sorts of repairs and alterations...

THIS WEEK’S PRIZE $50 Win a $50 IGA gift voucher, thanks to Neweys Drive-Thru Cleaners

E E E N N D R D A D

We have a $50 IGA Gift Voucher to give you if this number plate is yours

WIN A $75 A MEAT TRAY

LUCKY BIRTHDAY WENDY SHARP

Winners are FIND HOGSTER – March dy Kaufman.

Lindsay Griffiths and Bro come into our Congratulations! Please claim your prize. office with Proof of I.D to – March FACE IN THE CROWD and Jane ley Rid in Winners are Kev ! Please head ons lati Williams. Congratu Moulder Street into M & J’s Butchery in your prize. im cla to . with Proof of I.D

RANDOM REGOS

D

DRIVE-THRU CLEANERS 55 Sale St, ORANGE ✆ 6362 1814 Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat 7am-1pm

Last week – The Athletes Foot

DELIVER OR POST ENTRIES TO...

32 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

Orange City Life, Suite 3/241 Lords Place Orange or email reception@oclife.com.au and mark each entry with the competition name

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE

OCLife

Sunshine

ORANGE CITY LIFE IS PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO BRING YOU A SERIALISED VERSION OF THE ACCLAIMED NOVELLA, SUNSHINE, FROM MILLTHORPE’S

KIM KELLY

It’s 1921 and the Great War has left in its wake untold tragedy, not only in lives lost but in the guilt of survivors, the deep-set scars of old wounds and the sting of redoubled bigotries.

In the tiny hamlet of Sunshine, on the far-flung desert’s edge, three very different ex-servicemen – Jack Bell, an Aboriginal horseman, Snow McGlynn, a laconic, curmudgeonly farmer, and Art Lovelee, an eccentric engineer – find themselves sharing a finger of farmland along the Darling River, and not much else. That is, until Art’s wife Grace, a battle-hardened nurse, gets to work on them all with her no-nonsense wisdom.

Told with Kim Kelly’s inimitable with and warmth, Sunshine is a very Australian tale of home, hope and healing, of the power of growing life and love, and discovering that we are each other’s greatest gifts.

Stave I for those who bring us together and grow love

Along by merry Christmas time, and ere the week is o’er We meet and fix up quarrels that each was sorry for.

Our hearts are filled with kindness and forgiveness sublime, For no one knows where one may be next merry Christmas time.

Henry Lawson, ‘Along By Merry Christmas Time’, 1913

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

Here Matthew 25:35

JACK

Sunshine lay along a bend in the Darling River that curled around itself here in the shape of a finger beckoning, but not too many came this way anymore.

Two empty and abandoned homesteads were all that remained either side of what had fleetingly been a village, sprung up in the 1880s heyday of the wool trade, out the back of Bourke, on the red desert’s dusty edge.

Now, near forty years on, the schoolhouse was silent and lonely and doorless, a great hole in the floor where a curious young steer had wandered in out of the heat. The chapel had been swept off in the Great Flood of 1890, and the general store a few years later in the Great Trade Crash that took every last man, sheep and penny with it, looking for a job and a feed in town, or anywhere but Sunshine.

Drought set in then, and it seemed the land would be returned to itself, to the redgum trees, their gracious limbs arcing over the slow green river, corellas gossiping in their boughs, and beneath them, in their shade, Jack Bell – who was, on this day, fishing there.

Jack had been born on this riverbank, thirty years ago, in the June of 1891, or possibly the May, he couldn’t

tell you precisely when, as there hadn’t been a priest or public official handy that day to note it down. His mother and one of her sisters had walked the five miles into town a week or so after the event to have his arrival registered with St Stephen’s, Church of England, and none of them had ever bothered much with dates – never having had much of a need to.

Young Jack was christened immediately by a kindly parson, who had lately arrived from a mining town down south where worse things happened with a terrible regularity, so he didn’t ask too many questions of the women. Jack’s father was a wool classer from Sydney who would never name or know or care about his boy, much less his mother, who took a job with that parson’s wife, washing and sweeping, to make sure her boy was fed and learned his letters. She died when Jack was fifteen, too soon and too quietly, the way the overworked poor so often do, but he was out droving by that time, bringing a mob up from Wilcannia to Wanaaring, five thousand head, and getting paid ten shillings a week plus tucker, plus clothes and boots at cost price. He was doing all right, back then. He was a happy-go-lucky kid with a grin as big as the wild western sun, back then.

Not so today. Jack wasn’t wearing any smile nor any boots today. He was fishing; only fishing, waiting for a black bream or maybe a fat, juicy cod.

He’d seen men come and go from Sunshine. He’d come and gone himself, out to Broken Hill, up to Longreach, and from there all the way to Palestine with the Light Horse, the thunder and blood of the charge still ringing in his ears these three years on.

And now he was home again, at last: he wasn’t going anywhere else. Ever again.

He’d lately been approached with the idea of moving on.

‘Jack, mate …’ Sergeant Bill Greavy from the lock-up in Bourke had come out for a chat, just after a small pack of government survey blokes had been through, only a few months ago, sizing up the land with their theodolites, chewing on the ends of their pencils, chewing on the ends of their pipes. ‘The whole lot is being parcelled up and sold off,’ Jack was told.

‘Citrus fruits – that’s the go out here, that’s the future.

Oranges and lemons. Perfect Mediterranean climate, they say, and so all these acres are going to the Soldiers Settlement Plan.’

‘Land for returned men, ay?’ Jack had let that question hang in the air, staring at the policeman until he’d looked away, for the unspoken shame of the lot of

it, for the unspoken thought, I’m not your mate, mate, and then he’d told him: ‘I ain’t bothering no one. Nor have I got any plan to.’

‘You’re all right.’ Sergeant Greavy had nodded, but still he wouldn’t meet Jack’s eye. ‘You’ll suit yourself, I know. But I can’t say who your neighbours might be.’

‘Long as they behave themselves, I won’t mind.’ Jack had shrugged. He wasn’t going to move. He wasn’t going to be shoved off onto the Aboriginal station at Brewarrina; he wasn’t going to be corralled there – or on any reserve, be it at Wellington or Dubbo or Pooncarie – he wasn’t going to be told by some pinkcheeked superintendent he was no longer a man in charge of his own life, not after all he’d endured to get back here; to get back home. He’d die here – whether they shot him today or left him alone to let nature take its course, he didn’t care. There were potatoes growing on their own by the schoolhouse; old grape vines by the homestead to the south; tomatoes all through the overgrown garden – more potatoes there too, just bloomed. And fish – always fish. Yabbies in the dam to the north. He’d survive.

And Greavy had sighed. ‘Well, you stay at your own risk, mate. I can’t help you if things go bad.’

Jack had told him with a harder stare: ‘I’ve taken risks a lot worse than this one.’

He had, and although the policeman hadn’t served in the war himself, he knew where Jack Bell had been, he knew what Private Jack Bell had done. Everyone did, as everyone knows every such thing in any small town and its surrounds, even if no one around this one would admit it out aloud. Not that any of it mattered today. No one would give Jack Bell a flaming job, regardless of all he’d done for his King and his country. Regardless that this country was his by a right likewise unrecognised. But, in the four and a half years he’d been away, things had changed for the worse, and the worse. Now, whitefellers had every law imaginable to make a brown-skinned man do as he was told; and they had anthropology: Science has established beyond question that the Aboriginal is the lowest form of humanity existing on the globe. Crude … Degenerate … Lacking in the intellect for invention, with the exception of the boomerang, whose engineering it is supposed the savages discovered by some accident. So said a lecturer on ‘Australian Curiosities’ Jack had gone to listen to in Egypt, thinking it might be interesting.

Boomerang. Jack Bell couldn’t throw a boomerang if his life depended on it. Why would he? He’d learned 2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 33

OCLife

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE

to shoot when he was twelve years old – and from the saddle at a gallop. He didn’t have a rifle today, though. He was too worried he might use it on the wrong animal.

Only being home could keep the heartbreak contained, the incomprehensible tragedy of all that had happened. The ceaseless chatter of the corellas above; the frog song lullaby at his feet; the glimpses of a sweeter eternity in the stars at night: these brought him peace.

The vast blue spoon of the sky provided for his every need, day after day, after day.

And this day, he was determined, would be no different. A fish twitched on his line; a shingleback lizard blinked at him from a nearby rock; and the sound of bullock bells rolled into Sunshine.

SNOW The gate still bore the name ‘Copeland’s Corner’, burned into the top paling, greying and riven with neglect, and seeming to promise Snow McGlynn this land would never be his before he’d even set foot in the front paddock.

‘Oh, mate.’ Stu Egan, riding up the track beside him, tipped his hat back at the sight of the place: an impressive spread set into that northernmost fingertip of Sunshine, wound all around by the Darling but for its southern boundary, where the remains of the tiny hamlet lay.

‘It’ll be a dream come true to irrigate,’ Stu made his envy plain.

And Snow could only reply, ‘Yep,’ for that word comprised approximately half of his spoken vocabulary – the other half consisting of its opposite, Nah. Stu leant across the gulf between them, and gently knocked his old friend’s shoulder with a fist: ‘You’ll be right. Look.’

Snow flinched at the touch, but he looked ahead: the homestead sprawled above the river’s edge, inside the prettiest stretch of the bend, yet though the bank was steep-cut here, all he could think was: This’ll be hell in a flood.

Sure enough, a high-water mark could be seen on and in the house itself: a faint mud stain ran the length of the central hall, about two feet up the liner boards.

Rats scurried at the intrusion: this had been their domain for almost twentyseven years, since the previous owners, the Copelands of the careworn gate, gave in to the drought and the flood and the impatience of the bank, and upped sticks back to wherever they’d come from.

‘Jeez, it’s not too bad.’ Stu stepped into the sitting room, the hub of the house. A kerosene lamp still hung from the ceiling, its oil chamber rusted, its glass dome covered with a thick layer of ochre dust, cobwebs trailing from its fringe of beads: a grand piece. Stu pointed up at it: ‘Funny the things people leave behind, yeah?’

Snow supposed it must be broken, or otherwise unwanted for some reason: maybe it was thought to be ugly, or 34 2 — 8 APRIL, 2020

old-fashioned, or something that held memories of things better forgotten. A thought that only reminded Snow of — ‘Here,’ Stu called out from the kitchen: ‘They left the range as well.’

Because it must weigh a ton. Snow followed him out, frowning, and frowning deeper again at the cast-iron cooker sitting within its bricked ingle. All very solid, he noted; this was a grand place, for sure, once.

And now it was his. The Department of Lands said so. And so did the sound of the bullocky’s bells drifting in through the house on the breeze: the dray carrying his few bits of furniture, his tools, his trunk of clothes; the box of pots and pans and other household things put together for him by Mrs Egan, Stu’s mum, back in Condobolin, where he was from – an age ago. Condobolin was not so different from Bourke five miles down the road: a wool town like many others, on a river. But Condobolin was two hundred and fifty miles down the road, and it needed to be; it wasn’t home for Snow anymore.

Neither was this place, or maybe any place on earth. He stepped out onto the back verandah, to feel the creak of the timbers under boot as some evidence of his existence. The morning sun was suddenly warm against his chest; familiar and unfamiliar, as though he hadn’t ridden up from Bourke just now with this same sun. He took off his hat and crouched to the boards, and as he hung his head his over-long fringe fell across the lashes of his left eye, reminding him that he hadn’t had that haircut in town he’d meant to yesterday, reminding him of his name: Snow, for his hair, the colour of pale straw, almost white against his tanned-brown skin. His name was really Joseph, but no one had ever called him that, not even his mother.

Joey.

Snowy.

‘Snow, what’s got into you?’ The fear in his mother’s eyes followed him here.

‘Snow?’ He’d walked away, from her, from the family farm, from the quarrel he’d had with his brother, Bill, if it could be called a quarrel: ‘Jesus, Snow, I’m not telling you what to do, I’m just making a suggestion …’ About when to get the shearers in. It was Bill’s business, Bill’s farm, since passing to him as the eldest after their father’s death three and a half years ago while Snow was hanging about in the ceaseless rain of Dorset, waiting for the wound in his side to close, then waiting for the war to end, then waiting, waiting, waiting for his ship home. Bill had only tried to be kind, tried to make him feel at home – make him feel his home. Snow hadn’t lasted three and a half months there. ‘I’ll be off, then,’ he’d said, boiling his guts with rage, with not being able to say or to think about why he felt this way. He packed up and went to the Egans, whose farm lay over the other side of town; he camped in the old shepherd’s hut out there, sometimes with Stu for company, mostly alone with a rum, until Stu brought him the news of the government’s request for

applications for this Soldiers Settlement land up north: land where he could make his aloneness a financially viable and more or less permanent arrangement.

half a second, wiping the sweat from his forehead, but when he looked back again, the bloke was gone, if he was ever there at all.

‘Snow.’ Stu crouched with him now. ‘I’m only going to say this once. You’ll never bring him back by grieving on and on.’

Still, when Snow made his way up the bank and over to Stu, who was on the ladder above the tank stand, checking the pump was doing its job in filling up the reservoir, he asked him: ‘You seen anyone around, fishing? Along the river?’

Him. There were a few thousand of them: so many that his own father’s ending by heart disease, asleep in his bed, aged fifty-seven, seemed a pleasant fact by comparison. But there was only one him Snow really mourned. It was a mourning that had grazed the inside of every vein, and stoked the fire of his anger only more this minute, brought it shouting from every splinter at his feet.

‘Yeah, I know,’ Stu said beside him, at and into the silence, and it was true that he knew most of it.

Stu and Snow and — Moz. Mozzie.

Morris.

Ray Morris.

Ray. Raymond.

The three of them, they’d been mates since they were little tackers, mates since primary school days. More than mates, they were three sides of the one character: Snow, always the sensible, organised one; Stu, ever smiling, ever cheerful, ever a little bit thick; and Moz, the one with the bright ideas, the darer who got things done. It’d been his idea that they join up, and they did, riding into Sydney together, almost exactly seven years ago to the day, in that spring of 1914. They were all nineteen; Stu turned twenty on the way. Delivering their letters of permission from their fathers to the infantry, and their horses with them. For Australia. For adventure. Girls, said Moz, as he’d looked out at the Pacific Ocean from Bondi Beach, with no idea their travels would take them first to the ragged cliffs of Turkey, where the only girls they’d meet were the nurses on the hospital ships, too busy to chat unless you were bleeding, and bleeding to some significant degree.

‘There’s not a day goes by that I don’t miss him, too,’ said Stu. ‘But, mate, you can’t go on like this.’

‘I don’t know any other way,’ Snow told the redgums out along the river, loud white birds crowding their boughs, hundreds of them.

‘Got you talking.’ Stu smiled, reaching into his shirt pocket for a cigarette.

And Snow smiled back him, if you could call it a smile, as he wondered if those birds would eat his orchard clean of fruit.

A week on and he was at the river’s edge testing the water pressure of the new irrigation pump when he thought he saw a bloke watching him from a few yards off under the dappled shadows of those redgums: khaki strides rolled, a fishing pole in one hand and a good-sized fish in the other. Snow only glanced away for

‘Fishing?’ said Stu, jumping down from the tank. ‘No. But that sounds like a good idea, yeah?’

‘Yeah,’ said Snow, but the pair of them stood there a while yet, with the pump thumping and spluttering diesel, and as they did, Snow thought he saw three leaks in the brand-spanking shiny iron of that tank before he was satisfied they weren’t real, either. He put his imaginings down to being off the rum for so long a time, and made a more certain decision never to get on it again.

It was also hot: only mid-September and mid-morning, but it must have been well over eighty degrees. He turned on the tap and let the water run over the back of his neck. The river smelled of mud and metal and his own salt, and he startled as a far more real imagining flashed: of the black Belgian sky pounding red; of being trapped, breathless, in the devil’s black heart. He shook it off and walked on to the house, for his rod and tackle box.

He walked past his rifle by the kitchen door: rabbits; that’s what it was there for. That’s what they all were, though; that’s all they were: vermin. A plague. A murderous curse. Ploughed back into the earth. He wondered where Moz was, really: his bones were in Ypres, somewhere in that field of bricks and blood that had once been the village of Messines, but where was the rest of him? Where did flesh go? If we are all just worm fodder in the end, then where is Moz now? In a poppy leaf? A blade of grass? Seed scattered on the wind?

Where? Snow could have picked up that rifle, bit the barrel, pulled the trigger: Ask Moz himself then – really. But he picked up his rod and tackle box instead.

Outside, looking east off the verandah, back towards the tank and the river, he saw Stu, slouching on his left hip, lighting another cigarette, probably smiling at their job well done. Snow wouldn’t kill himself while Stu was here. He wouldn’t kill himself at all: they’d survived too much, not always together, but together enough. He looked out at the work they’d done just now in Sunshine, in only a week, getting the channels dug for the rows, and clearing this whole first section of gidgee stumps left by the previous owners – bastard stumps, they had best be called, those stubborn dead ends of the tall, stringy wattle scrub that grew on the clay-loam flats all across this country.

Work: that was Snow McGlynn’s rescuer.

Work: that’s why he was here. To work so hard he would forget. Eventually.

The debt helped – the two-hundredpound development advance from the government sitting across his shoulders like a heavy pack. The deal couldn’t

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE

have been fairer, with repayments all set out over forty years, but he wanted to have it paid off in half that time, or less. To achieve something. Something measurable. Something decent. To rescue himself. A few months ago, he knew nothing of citrus fruit, except that oranges were orange and lemons were yellow, and the intensity of all the learning he’d had to do gave his mind its firmest branch to cling to. He had a plan laid out, and regardless of the crop, he was a farmer, a third-generation son of a farming family – he knew how to make these kinds of plans. In this first season he would put in three acres of Washington navel oranges, and three of Eureka lemons – he had them arriving at the end of the month. Three hundred trees that had cost him just over sixty pounds, including their transport, but not including the help with the planting; and with the eighty-five pounds invested in the irrigation, that was pretty much all his savings gone. He’d be using a sliver of his advance to have a ton each of superphosphate and bone dust drilled into the rows the day after tomorrow, in preparation. Sulphate of potash, quick lime and cow manure to follow. Next year, he’d do it all again, with Valencia oranges and Lisbon lemons, and depending on his bank balance, an acre of grapefruit.

Then, the season after that, he’d begin extending whatever was thriving. It would take three or four years to achieve a bankable crop of any significance, but his plan banked on five or six – to account for any failings, or any contrary plan of the weather, or the plan of those noisy birds that seemed to watch him even as they swarmed as one to roost above the river at dusk. His first good crop would wipe off at least a quarter of his debt, he reckoned, and he’d keep up with his repayments every other year with what he knew backwards and sidewards in his sleep: sheep. He was careful. He was deliberate.

He did things properly. He would succeed.

And if he didn’t?

He looked over his shoulder, back at the house.

He should store that rifle in his trunk, and put the lock on it.

The trees came on two heavy motortrucks, off the train, pallets of them stacked three shelves high. Well-grown, strong and free of pests, he was promised, and so they were: their green leaves gleamed against the pale, warm sky.

And a little boy climbed out of the cabin of the truck nearest to see them all unloaded up the rows; a very little boy, about two or three years old.

‘Don’t mind the kid,’ said one of the blokes who’d be helping him and Stu plant out the orchard that day, one of three, and the one that had come up with the trees by rail.

‘Shouldn’t someone be minding him?’

Snow found enough words to say.

‘He won’t cause any trouble,’ the bloke snapped back, barely meeting his eye.

‘He’s a good kid.’

Sure, thought Snow, but he was still a kid, and he didn’t like the idea of one running around under their feet, while they were busy.

The boy didn’t do any such thing, though.

As the men set to it, easy work in the turned earth and the plots all marked out down string lines, the boy did as he was told: first, making a remarkable effort at collecting the hessian sacks the trees had travelled in, and then, when he’d tired, he contented himself digging his own patch of dirt in the slice of shade between the trucks, with a little blue-handled spade.

‘Daddy, is it big enough?’ he asked his father of the hole he’d made when they all stopped halfway for a smoko.

‘Yes, boy, that’s a good one,’ his father replied, smiling broadly and somehow awkward about it, too, the smile of a man who did not care to smile at all for anyone else.

And a slight crack was rent in the dark that Snow carried about his head like the lead casing of a shell, a silent helmet shell.

He asked the man of the boy, ‘What’s his name?’

‘Gordie,’ the man nodded, ‘Gordon,’ but still he didn’t meet his eye, repeating: ‘He’s a good kid.’

Obviously, but Snow didn’t ask why.

The pain of it was written in the lines of the man’s face; deep, grey lines, and yet he couldn’t have been much older than Snow was himself, that was, at last count, twenty-six. They were lines Snow recognised, although he didn’t know the man.

When he and the boy and the others were gone in their trucks, Stu said at their dust: ‘That feller with the kid, his name’s Ross Brock. He’s had a hard time.’

‘Yeah?’ said Snow, as if that wasn’t obvious, too.

‘Yeah,’ said Stu. ‘He got home all right, took a good bullet at Gallipoli, went and got married, got his farm all right, down Nyngan way, then the wife died not long after the baby was born. She’d been a nurse, over there, poor girl.’

‘Right.’ Snow stared after those trucks, their streaks of red dust thinning, and he asked his friend, ‘How do you know all that?’

‘He’s a shearer by trade, is Ross Brock,’ said Stu. ‘He come down the long paddock to our place last summer with a team.

Needed the work – goes anywhere for any work, that bloke. Turns out his land is a sack of sun-dried dog sh--.’

There was all kinds of hard luck, but still Snow replied: ‘Doesn’t seem right to be carting that kid around.’

Stu raised an eyebrow at the judgement: ‘He usually leaves the kid at home – the good women of Nyngan fight for the privilege of looking after him, so I heard – but he’d been away for a few weeks straight and didn’t want to leave him again so soon. That’s why he brought him here, just for this short job, up and back

on the train, give the kid a bit of joy. Didn’t put you out, did it?’

Snow looked at Stu, as he often did, wondering: what would it be like to be the type of bloke that could get that kind of chat on others? To get others chatting like that over a smoke and a brew, be it a bottle of beer or a cup of tea. Snow had never been much of a talker, regardless of beverage; nothing to do with the war, more the way he was made. He wondered of himself: Maybe I don’t care about the troubles of other men; maybe there’s always been something wrong with me.

He had no time to think more on it; he had to get the trees watered in. Over at the tank, the valve shrieked under his grasp with newness, and the pipes rang with filling across the top of each of the fields, oranges one side and lemons the other, spilling out then into the channels all down the rows. He and Stu stood and watched the water run. The system worked just as it should, just as Snow hoped it would, worth every penny and pound. The trees seemed to grow half an inch before his eyes; he seemed to feel their roots moving through the ground, finding their place.

This is good, he told himself; convincing himself this was his place, too.

‘You coming home for Christmas?’

Stu asked him, because it was time for him to be heading home to Condobolin himself; he’d been almost three weeks in Sunshine, and he had to get back to his own work, his own farm, his father’s farm that would be his one day; he had to get back to a girl he’d lately got sweet on, too.

‘Nah,’ said Snow. ‘Can’t leave the trees so soon for that.’

Stu gave him a look that said, You’ve got to stop this, but he only touched his fist to the blunt bony edge of Snow’s shoulder: ‘You have any need, send word, send a telegraph if you have to, I’ll get here quick as I can.’

‘Thanks, mate,’ said Snow, and at first light the next morning, his mate was gone, his oldest friend, maybe his only friend, slouching over to his left even on a horse.

Snow didn’t watch him too long after the wave; he went down to the pump, at the river, not for any reason other than to check it over once more. He wouldn’t fill the tank again yet for another two days, such as the clock of this crop was set.

All was good. He gazed out along the sandy bank as it bent round into the sun; the river was such a green and still-seeming and smooth, it looked like a polished stone he couldn’t remember the name of – his sister, Pattie, had a small statue of a cat made out of the stuff. Japanese or something. She was a kid last time he saw her, plaits swinging as she ran to kiss him farewell; she was married now, to a bloke called Sanderson, at Eugowra. Snow hadn’t seen her since that day he left, his ship pulling out from Circular Quay, his mother and his sister lost in the crowd. And at that thought, he saw he hadn’t got home himself, yet.

Where was he, then? Where did the spirit go? Was there any such thing? Was it

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possible to know?

The rising sun blast gold across the water, a sudden burst, picking out the ripples that were a second ago unseen.

And it was then he saw the fisherman again, looking straight back at him. Snow blinked, thinking it might have been the sun in his eyes, but this time, the man stayed where he was, under the redgum boughs, watching, making his presence felt, not twenty yards off. And in this brightening light Snow also saw the man was a blackfeller, his bare feet brown against the ash-coloured mud of the bank.

Great, that’s all I need, Snow thought, a mob of blacks camping along the river.

He didn’t have anything against blacks, not really, but they always made a mess and had their hand out, the government always looking after them, giving them rations for nothing, putting them up on reserves, all expenses paid. They made him uncomfortable, the way any and all outcasts can tend to do – like it’s your fault they are the way they are. Besides, the last thing he wanted was company, of any kind.

Snow raised his hand and gestured for the blackfeller to clear off. He didn’t want an argument; he didn’t want a conversation. Weren’t the blacks of this district meant to have been rounded up anyway? That’s what he’d been told when he signed for the land. He hoped the bloke would get the message, disappear, and that would be the end of it.

But this blackfeller only stood there, giving back a little salute at the wellbashed brim of his hat, before turning away – slowly.

Smart a---, thought Snow. He’d show him the rifle next time.

Stave II NEXT WEEK IN ORANGE CITY LIFE Sunshine was first published 2019 by Jazz Monkey Publications, copyrigh t © Kim Kelly 2019. The moral right of the author has been asserted.

This edition for Orange City Life is published with permission of the author. Some phrases and words have been altered from the original, for a general audience.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwis e without the prior permission of the author.

The characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 35

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A HUGE THUMBS UP to Staff at Petbarn, Mulberry Lane Vet Clinic and Pets at Peace for looking after Hulk and being so very kind to myself and my daughter Cathleen during our time of distress. Hulk was unique and we will miss him. Thank you all again so very much.

THUMBS UP to the lady who shouted our coffee at Byng Street Café. They weren’t taking cash due to current virus circumstances and that is all we had on us whilst going for a walk. It was really appreciated and we will be sure to pass it on one day.

THUMBS DOWN to the business that is selfishly taking advantage of the current situation by charging $25 for an essential item which is normally $4-5 maximum.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

THUMBS UP to the team at Service NSW. Professional, helpful and not a scrap of worry or panic evident.

THUMBS UP to Simon and staff at Orange Central Fitness for the ride on the 14th March to help Orange City Rugby raise money for the club house after the fire. Well done Simon I hope you are appreciated for what you have done.

THUMBS UP to Sarah at Peisley Street IGA. Always smiling, always happy and nothing is ever too much trouble. We all appreciate what you do for the customers.

THUMBS UP to Melissa at Coles on Saturday for having a great attitude dealing with an impatient customer.

THUMBS DOWN to OCL for no crosswords in this week’s magazine.

EDITOR: Thanks for being so understanding.

THUMBS UP to the beautifully natured staff at PPR Imaging: Dr Deepak Presad, Holly, Craig and Luke who went above and beyond during and after a terribly painful procedure.

Thank you.

THUMBS UP to Q office Furniture for their amazing service.

THUMBS UP to Kylie and her staff at Live Better at Glenroi Heights School, they do the best job ever.

HUGE THUMBS UP to the OESC management and board for going above and beyond looking out for your staff and the safety of your patrons during this COVID-19 outbreak. This employee appreciates your efforts. Special Thumbs up to KB for everything you do for us, we know you don’t have an easy job at the best of times so I can only imagine the stress you are dealing with now.

We will come out the other side stronger due to our employer’s efforts.

THUMBS UP to Wholechild Specialist, a professional and caring approach.

BIG THUMBS UP to Bruce from Bundaberg who changed my tyre on the Woolworths carpark on Sunday 15th. Thank you so much for your kindness.

THUMBS DOWN to a high-end motel that could not supply toilet paper for guests, as for tissues only 1 tissue in the box.

THUMBS UP to Calare Aged Care staff in every area for their kindness shown to the residents as well as family who come every day.

THUMBS UP to Jo at Woolworths today for ringing to say she had picked up some card I dropped the night before.

THUMBS UP to the woman who lent me her trolley on Sunday afternoon to put my beer in my car, you are a champion.

THUMBS UP to a recently opened doggie daycare and for picking them up and dropping them home.

A GIANT THUMBS UP to Bob Holland, his wife and ALL his wonderful team who are still producing this wonderful weekly publication, “OC Life Magazine”, through these very “testing and unprecedented” times and giving us all, the very fortunate residents of Orange, a very informative and pleasureable magazine to read whilst “lifting our spirits!” “YOU” are all “Champions” and we appreciate you ALL each and every week! EDITOR: Can take as much of that as people are willing to give.

Many thanks!

THUMBS UP to the staff in the Woolworths bakery. In this time they have been producing a huge amount of bakery products for the hoarders.

When I asked for a fruit

loaf to be sliced it was done with a smile and friendly chat. Hats off to you all!

THUMBS UP to the staff at Officeworks Orange, especially Hana in the photo department.

Such a huge help.

THUMBS UP to the amazing Nashdale Public School Principal Mrs Toberty and her inspiring teaching team, the support staff and all the school students. They wrote a wonderful set of thank you letters to the healthcare workers at Orange Hospital to support them in the current health crisis.

Thank you.

THUMBS UP to all the wonderful staff at Centrelink who have been absolutely amazing this week showing genuine care and concern to be able to help 100’s of locals impacted by the flow-on effects of Coronavirus.

THE THUMBS REPRESENT THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS OF READERS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF ORANGE CITY LIFE STAFF. EVERY CARE IS TAKEN NOT TO PUBLISH THUMBS THAT ARE CONSIDERED DEROGATORY OR DEFAMATORY IN NATURE 2 — 8 APRIL , 2020 39