The Local Issue 64 February 1, 2016

February 1, 2016 Issue 64 Australia Day awards

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

2 About Us

www.tlnews.com.au

The Local is a fortnightly community publication covering the Central Highlands. The next edition is out on Monday, February 15, 2016.

Advertising deadlines for the next edition of The Local: Space bookings: Wednesday, February 10 Copy provided by: Thursday, February 11 Editorial deadline: Thursday, February 11

Front cover: Tanya Bull was announced the Daylesford Rotary Club’s 2016 Employee of the Year at the Hepburn Shire Australia Day ceremony. Tanya has worked at the Springs Medical Centre for 24 years. For more Central Highlands winners see opposite and page 5.

Image: Kyle Barnes

February 1, 2016 Issue 64 Australia Day awards

Managing editor | Donna Kelly General manager | Kyle Barnes Sub-editors: Nick Bunning and Lindsay Smith The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

Writers: Kevin Childs, Dan Lonergan, Anthony Sawrey, Kate Taylor, Donna Kelly Photographers: Kyle Barnes, David White Graphic designers: Dianne Caithness, Robin Archer

The Local is a registered trademark of Kyle Barnes and Donna Kelly

Layout: Donna Kelly Columnists: Glen Heyne (gardens), Samantha Redlich (fitness), Roy Lever (ales) Great editorial and affordable sales - 5348 7883 | 0416 104 283 news@tlnews.com.au | ads@tlnews.com.au donna@tlnews.com.au | kyle@tlnews.com.au Free e-editions at www.tlnews.com.au

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Australia Day Honours 3

Australia Day celebrations in Hepburn Shire

T

WO Daylesford employees and a Clunes business have been recognised at the 2016 Rotary Club of Daylesford Award, announced at the Hepburn Shire Council’s Australia Day Eve ceremony.

Club president Greg Thompson said the awards were a very important means of recognising businesses and employees who give exemplary service and also are supportive of their community.

“The Business Award went to the Clunes Newsagency run by Ken and Margaret Gibson. They have been actively involved in the community for 21 years and support many local causes and groups. Their customer service and friendliness is well known and respected. Other finalists were the Old Glenlyon General Store, Daylesford Day Spa and Neil Newitt Photography in Clunes.

“The Employee Award went to Tanya Bull (see our front cover) from Musk who has worked at Springs Medical Centre on reception and administration for more than 24 years. Numerous visitors to the centre over the years have experienced her friendly manner, her helpfulness and her sensitivity towards their needs. She has been involved in numerous community aspects.

“The Young Employee Award went to Kristen Coleiro who works at Tonna’s Fruit and Vegetable Store in Daylesford. Kristen’s great customer service has been highlighted together with her knowledge of product and going out of her way to assist. James Bolton from Glenlyon who works at Coles in Daylesford was also a finalist.”

Mr Thompson said this year the club had introduced a $500 prize for each of the three awards, which the winner nominates to go to a local charity or community group.

“Our Rotary Club has been making these awards for many years as the main business and employee awards across Hepburn Shire,” Mr Thompson said.

“We ask nominees to address the key criteria of quality customer service, civic pride and community involvement and also ethical/sustainable practices.

“We thank Hepburn Shire Council for its support and allowing us to make these awards as part of the Australia Day Eve ceremonies. It is very important for us to continue to work with a range of others in the community. In 2015 our club was involved in more than 40 projects and causes, mainly local, and we raised in excess of $30,000 to support these.”

Above, Hepburn Shire residents became Australian citizens at the Australia Day ceremony on January 25. New citizens included Colleen Baker, Gurpreet Kaur, Kenneth Jenkins, Kim Jenkins, Mandeep Singh and Samuel Shanks - joined by family members for this photo by Maria Abate.

“Our Rotary Club has been making these awards for many years as the main business and employee awards across Hepburn Shire.”

- Greg Thompson

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4 Our musos

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Musical journey from Mt Isa to Melbourne to Gallipoli

A

NGELA Richmond grew up in Mount Isa in Queensland but by her teens she hated living there. She begged her parents to move town and they suggested she audition for the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. She did, was accepted and at 16 moved to Melbourne.

Angela chatted to Kyle Barnes.

Kyle: When did you get into music?

Angela: I got into music when I was about seven. I saw an orchestra play on ABC TV and decided I wanted to play an instrument. I liked the oboe but there weren’t any in town. My mum suggested the clarinet - so I started playing and soon after that I started piano lessons. I haven’t stopped since. I joined every musical group available in Mount Isa - the Mount Isa Concert Band and the Mount Isa Youth Orchestra, along with playing in every eisteddfod in every category I could think of. Music was my refuge.

Kyle: How did you end up in the Air Force Band?

Angela: I ended up in the Air Force Band because I was studying for my Master’s degree and the only music job I could get was teaching in Albury. Travelling for over three hours, teaching 32 students in two days was exhausting and the pay was terrible.

My uni lecturer suggested I apply for the band which had a position open for principal clarinet. I thought this was the worst idea ever. No way would I want to join the military. My dad was a Vietnam Vet and I was a peace-loving vegetarian. But then I saw the pay and conditions and thought I could possibly manage it for a couple of years. I ended up staying there for 14 years. The initial recruit training was horrible and involved three months of being yelled at, forced marches, being gassed, leopard crawling through mud with a large rifle over my shoulder and so, so, so much running.

I cried every night for the first week. However when I got to the band it was great.

Everyone was relaxed and friendly and I got paid to travel around and play music every day.

Kyle: Did you travel a lot?

Angela: Yes. I have played at the dawn service at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli twice - both of which were amazing experiences. It was the coldest and most tired I have ever been.

I have played for the King in Tonga - we did an exhausting three-hour parade there, as well as brief stops in New Zealand and Austria. I’ve travelled to every state in Australia many times over. Most of the travel however was not very exciting at all. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been to Wagga Wagga and East Sale, but it’s a lot.

Kyle: What do you do now?

Angela: I recently left the Air Force because all the travel made it too difficult to spend time with my daughters and the nature of the job changed quite a bit over the last few years. We used to do lots of concerts for children’s hospitals, schools, retirement homes and community concerts which were fun and it felt worthwhile but in the last couple of years it became all about marketing and PR and having our branding in the right places - the joy went out of it. So I kind of made a rash decision to just leave and trust that everything will work out. I have just been setting up my home-teaching studio, teaching clarinet, sax and piano. Soon I’m hoping to get together with some local musicians and do some new and exciting things and try some styles that I haven’t really done before.

Kyle: Finally, what’s your Central Highlands story?

Angela: I used to come and hang out in Hepburn in my twenties and wanted to live here then but I went to uni and then got my job and it seemed a bit too far away.

Then we decided we wanted to raise our daughters somewhere nicer. We found the Dharma School and a house we loved in Sailors Falls and decided this was the place we wanted to be. We love it here. The community is so active and welcoming. But I’m still getting used to the cold - which seems to not be confined to winter.

www.tlnews.com.au

Australia Day Honours 5

Australia Day celebrations at Macedon Ranges

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ACEDON Ranges Shire Council recognised the work of six people during its Australia Day Awards on January 26.

Young Citizen of the Year went to Sharina Mayman, a 15-year-old Sacred Heart College student who, after witnessing the impact that mental health issues have had on family and friends, decided to create Think About It - an awareness campaign targeted at young people in the Macedon Ranges that tackles issues around bullying and mental health. The campaign includes a series of posters that will be distributed to secondary schools across the shire, and video interviews with young people who have been directly affected by bullying, and as a consequence, have suffered mental health issues.

Community Event of the Year went to the Macedon Ranges Health Colour Run/Walk and Kelly Milne. Last year’s Run/Walk expanded on the idea of a typical fun run or walk and saw participants dusted with coloured powder as they walked and ran through checkpoints - arriving at the finish line as a vibrant technicolour mass. Cleverly disguised as a way to have fun and get fit in the process, the event addressed the issue of chronic disease in the region.

Arts Ambassador went to Alan Stone, pictured right, for whom there’s no business like show business. The Kyneton resident is a natural entertainer with a flair for musical theatre and his dedication and unwavering commitment to the promotion of arts in the local community is inspiring.

Devoted to the revitalisation of Kyneton’s Bluestone Theatre, Alan has raised funds for its rejuvenation through market stalls, fashion parades, trivia nights, his own eightieth birthday party and more.

Meanwhile Community Achievement Awards went to Deb Mitrevics, Dr Frank Donovan and Rosemary Wilkinson.

Deb Mitrevics is a woman juggling it all. The Riddells Creek resident and mother of two operates her own small business, Debstars Cleaning, works as a teacher’s aide at Riddells Creek Kindergarten, and loves nothing more than spending a Saturday morning bent over a barbeque, tongs in hand and sauce at the ready, fundraising for one of the many community groups in her patch. Deb’s enduring passion is the Riddells Creek Junior Mixed Basketball Association where she has served on the committee, coached and thought up many of their family-friendly fundraising events.

Dr Frank Donovan is a Vietnam War veteran and his own experience of war has ignited within him a fierce commitment to remember and preserve the history of the Anzacs, growing the Mt Macedon Anzac Day Dawn Service from a small gathering of few dozen people 13 years ago, to become one of the largest services in Victoria today.

Frank’s contribution to the development of the service was acknowledged in 2014, as the recipient of the Victorian RSL President’s Award for Outstanding Service. Frank is also heavily involved in the Woodend RSL and Vietnam Veterans Association - Central Highlands Division.

Rosemary Wilkinson has held the position of treasurer with the Woodend & District Heritage Society since 1993, balancing the books as the society blossomed from a relatively small group to one now boasting more than 250 members. Rosemary also took on the role of coordinator of the popular Heritage Walk, is a regular volunteer at the Woodend Visitor Information Centre and is an active supporter of wildlife rescue, the Very Special Kids Glen Osmond Farm, Landcare, and St John’s Ambulance.

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6 Crossword

Challenge yourself with our crossword! All the answers are in the pages of The Local. Last week’s solution is on page 16.

UPCYCLING HOME STUDIO

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News 7

What goes up must come down - sometimes Words: Anthony Sawrey | Image: David White

W

HAT secrets lurk in the laneways and back roads of the Macedon Ranges? What mysteries lie in wait for the curious traveller who is prepared to keep an open mind to the presence of strange phenomena?

One such riddle for anyone so inclined lies at a readily accessible site a mere nine kilometres from Woodend in the shadow of Hanging Rock. Straws Lane is the location, a non-descript line on the map that borders the reserve. It’s pleasant enough in a bucolic sort of way, bracketed by trees and rolling hills, but not much different from any other country lane in the district.

That is, until you stop your vehicle at the base of the steady incline along the route, flick the motor off and shift into neutral. The results can be found all over YouTube, with twittering passengers marvelling at the effect taking place before their eyes. Gradually your car creeps forward, gaining pace and inexorably climbs up the rise, impelled by some unknown power.

Is it magic? Witchcraft? The powerful conversion of ley lines? Indigenous sorcery?

Unidentified Flying Objects? Ghosts? “Magnets seemed to be attracted to the ground,” noted one blogger when explaining the phenomena.

“The weather there was just bizarre. High winds would often spring up, but just moving a few feet away there would be no wind. Also, at times, the clouds above the area would form a perfect circle with the sky showing through the gap. Cars tend to sometimes fail and my car certainly started to shake and act oddly when we reached the hill.”

Sadly, for owners of badly maintained cars and lovers of all things supernatural, the explanation for the enigma of Straws Lane is quite easy to discover. But, like many natural marvels around the globe, it is no less interesting for having a rational source at the bottom of it all.

What is taking place is a topographical optical illusion known as a gravity hill.

There are over a hundred listed sites around the world, with the most famous being Spook Hill at Lake Wales in Florida, USA. Here in Australia there are at least four besides Straws Lane including Bowen Mountain Road in NSW and Magnetic Hill near Orroroo, South Australia.

For the effect to work you need an obstructed horizon, and/or gently undulating country that make reliable orientation hard to establish. It also helps if the surrounding vegetation is either leaning or irregular, further hindering a viewer’s points of reference.

The illusion is similar to the effect of the Ames Room invented by American eye specialist Adelbert Ames, Jr. in 1934. This is a distorted room installation which, when viewed from a certain point, causes balls to appear to roll against gravity.

So, sorry to pour cold water on the speculations of those who say that the phenomena is something more than just an optical illusion. But I’m not expecting every visitor to take my word for it.

With the volcanic plug of Hanging Rock brooding nearby it’s easy to attribute the strangeness of Straws Lane to something endemic to the whole region. What’s to say there aren’t more mysteries to be found in the surrounding forests?

Be they instances of erratic lights in the sky or unknown subterranean creatures in long abandoned tunnels.

Do any of our readers have a tale to pass on about phantom hitchhikers, ancient legends or unsettling energies? Please let us know if you, or a friend of friend, have a startling tale. They always make for a cracker of a read.

“Cars tend to sometimes fail and my car certainly started to shake and act oddly when we reached the hill.”

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8 Opinion

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Just sayin’...

Pick me, pick me...

By Donna Kelly

I

FOUND myself a visitor at Frankston Hospital last week.

Now there’s not much fun to be had at Frankston Hospital. Which is fair enough as it’s about health, not entertainment. But there is a really good cafe. And you do need to eat when you are settling in for the long haul.

Pinkies Cafe is run by the Pink Ladies. I don’t know if every hospital has them but they used to be the women, never men, who would go around and arrange your flowers if they were a little droopy, or push a cart around selling a few magazines and lollies.

But does anyone give flowers to people in hospital anymore? There used to be a room on each level dedicated to floral gifts. It had scissors, string and loads of vases to choose from, ready to be filled with flowers and water and popped on shelves in the patient’s room. I didn’t see any flowers at the hospital although there were a few balloons - not latex though - they are banned in case anyone has a latex allergy.

I don’t remember anyone having allergies when I was growing up. We had balloons for birthday parties, shared mixed lollies and nut slices were popular when we had to bring a treat to school. Maybe we were made of stronger stuff. Despite mounting evidence, and my asthma, mum continued to smoke in the house and car until I left home at 22. And there’s nothing wrong with me that a puff of Ventolin can’t fix.

But I digress.

Back to Pinkies Cafe. Where the food is still hand-made with love and where I spied a ready-made egg and cucumber sandwich, generously wrapped in cling film.

So I lined up at the till and waited patiently until one of the two women working about two feet away asked if she could help.

I asked for the egg and cucumber sandwich. She replied “oh, you’ll have to ask Maude for that”. So I moved two feet over and stood in front of the other woman who continued making sandwiches. After a bit I quietly asked the first woman if I was in the right spot and she looked at me like I was an idiot and replied “well, that’s Maude”.

Again, I waited patiently - I am nothing if not polite. And then Maude finally looked up and asked what I wanted. Again, I asked for the egg and cucumber sandwich and she said “there is no cucumber”. But I was ready this time - “it’s already made up”.

Maude looked down at the offending sandwich, and then up with disdain, and then looked at me like I was an idiot, which seemed to be trending, and said without a hint of irony “Mabel can help you with that”. So I went two feet back to the till and Mabel retrieved my sandwich.

Demarcation at its finest. And it was a bloody good sandwich. Just sayin’... (*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.)

Hi, my name is Astrid and I am a staffy cross with Jack Russell terrier. I am five years old and an excitable, people-loving girl - as you may imagine by my breed mix alone. But I must have company most of the time at my new house, or I won’t be a happy dog. Secure fences to contain me are a must, too. But if you pick me I will give you loads of love - just in time for Valentine’s Day! MC# 900012000917072 Castlemaine RSPCA is at 24 Langslow Street, Castlemaine.

Phone: 5472 5277. Open: Monday to Thursday 10am to 5pm. Friday to Sunday 10am to 2pm.

(Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie and Curly. We picked them.)

The Local - Connecting the Community

THE Local believes in giving back. So we created a “Connecting the Community” project. Each edition The Local has two free advert spaces (or one big one like Lyonville Woodchop) to give away to not-for-profit organisations. Just because we can. So if your group needs a helping hand just email donna@tlnews.com.au If we receive more than two we will use the tried and true “put them in a hat” system but also work a little bit on timing.

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A Day in the Life 9

A Day in the Life - Tammi Jonas

Words: Kate Taylor | Image: David White

T

AMMI Jonas is a bit ham-fisted…but that’s a good thing.

Running an ethical, sustainable pork and beef family farm at Eganstown, just outside Daylesford, is a busy job – especially when you’re the resident mistress of meat-smithery.

After becoming Australia’s first farm to construct infrastructure through crowdfunding - $27,000 for a converted 40-foot refrigerated container that is now Tammi’s butcher shop – and following a six-month apprenticeship learning how to butcher her animals, Jonai Farm started growing into a rather successful venture.

For a woman who wakes up each morning not knowing whether to save or savour the world, it’s a good thing that she believes that patience tastes delicious – along with husband Stuart and their three children, the farm is also inhabited by a herd of heritage breed large pigs including 12 sows, two boars and 100 to 120 growers at any given time, which take up to eight months to reach maturity and end up under Tammi’s knife.

“We’re committed to the free-range raising of rare-breed pigs and taking over control of the supply chain from soil to people.

It’s pretty full-on, a very physical job - I love it, I love the art of it but I also really like the knowledge that it allows me to impart to the people that eat our food.”

A Day in the Life 8am: It’s butchering time; to butcher a whole pig takes Tammi about an hour to an hour and a quarter, and eight pigs are usually butchered each fortnight. It’s a lot quicker than the steers – they still take about three quarters of a day… it would take two hours for a 20-year veteran butcher but Tammi has the patience to get quicker at the beef carcasses and she’s currently getting about 65 per cent yield from the Belted Galloways.

10am: Nothing goes to waste in this nose-to-tail business – ham, bacon and other smallgoods are made at the farm and the herbs that are put in them are picked from a rangy herb garden as Tammi walks from the back door to the curing room which, combined with the commercial kitchen, was the result of another $33,000 crowdfunding campaign. The range of additive-free salumi and charcuterie includes coppa, lonza, pancetta, as well as pork and beef bone broths, and pate de tete.

2pm: Deliveries and paperwork: they are, of course, an essential part of the business and take up about two days per month – one regional delivery to a hub from which people pick up, and one Melbourne delivery. The Community Supported Agriculture model that Jonai Farm runs on means that people subscribe for a membership of six months or more and receive a certain weight of meat at their deliveries – it means less wastage and assists the sustainability of the farm as it can compensate for low pork supplies with higher beef products and vice-versa. Tammi has about 500 kilos of meat in the back on delivery day.

5pm: Time for a trip to the airport – Jonai Farm runs a volunteer residency program which sees people live and work on the farm for three months. They learn the system from butchery to farming methods, and also the business side of the farm. The family has just said goodbye to a volunteer from Denmark and have welcomed one from Alaska.

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Money for men’s sheds

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HE Victorian government has $1 million up for grants for men’s sheds.

Western Victoria MP Jaala Pulford said the sheds provided a safe and friendly place where men can meet and work on projects that benefit the community.

“Men’s Sheds promote social inclusion and enhance the physical and mental health and well-being of men in local communities. Men’s Sheds are especially important in communities that experience hardship including those in drought or fire-affected areas.

They provide a vital community space where people can reconnect, assist each other, work on projects and help their community.”

Community groups and councils can apply for a grant of up to $60,000 to build a new men’s shed or for a grant of up to $30,000 to refurbish an existing one.

Ms Pulford said priority would be given to projects from vulnerable communities, especially those affected by fire or drought. Applications close on May 27.

Link: www.dhs.vic.gov.au/for-business-and-community/communityinvolvement/men-in-the-community/mens-sheds

Help for young parents

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AMILIES in the Macedon Ranges Shire are set to benefit from a $44,500 grant that will support the establishment of a new program that focuses on improving engagement between young parents and maternal and child health services across the shire.

Macedon Ranges Shire Council mayor Cr Graham Hackett said data showed that some young parents in the shire were not accessing services and other mainstream support such as new parent groups and playgroups as much as other age groups.

Council will use the funding to explore ways to improve partnerships between young parents, service providers and the broader community, including options for a peer-led young parent social media support network, coordinated events and transport assistance. The funding will also boost resources and activities to increase community connectedness and improve referral pathways for Maternal and Child Health nurses to support young parents. The Young Parent Connection project will begin in March.

Learning to Thrive Engaged in the World

2016 Scholarship Program (entry 2017) Scholarship registrations are now open for Boarders and Day Students for entry to Year 5-11: Academic, Art, Music, Performing Arts.

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Pugsley at MITCH

P

UGSLEY Buzzard will play at the Music in the Central Highlands summer twilight concert.

MITCH, a registered not-for-profit organization, was formed to support and promote fine musical performance and to develop local talent, particularly in the young, in the Central Highlands.

The summer concert will be held at David Bromley’s iconic art gallery in East Street, Daylesford on Saturday, February 20 from 6.30pm.

Pugsley Buzzard is a piano player and singer with a distinctive sound whose shows excite and captivate with his huge, mesmerizing voice and dazzling piano playing all delivered with a vaudevillian nuance and humour.

Pugsley’s playing features barrelhouse, boogie and stride piano stylings dripping with New Orleans funk and oozing with tantalising improvisation which ranges from delicate and moody to wild and ecstatic. He has been delighting audiences, far and wide, from the jazz cellars of Berlin to the New Orleans French Quarter, playing up to 200 shows per year at bars, clubs and festivals around the globe.

Link: http://www.mitch.org.au/events/

Music 11

12 Amazing careers

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Snake fascination leads to catchy career Words: Anthony Sawrey | Images: Contributed

T

HE snake holds a position of dread in the human psyche and symbolises all manner of fears. For most of the population though, safely ensconced in towns and suburbs, the snake remains an abstract symbol that only threatens us in dreams.

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Not so if you live in close proximity to the bush. Here, the prospect of encountering a snake is a very real and alarming possibility. Like fire, spiders, weeds and northerly winds, snakes are especially worrisome in summer and their habits of moving about regardless of what stands in their way is thus a danger to anyone or anything that surprises them unexpectedly. It’s a shame that snakes are so maligned because they actually play an important role in the ecology of the forest and anyway, they were here first.

The problem of snakes around this area has emerged with the popularity of settling in close proximity to their natural habitats.

With every new home built in the scrub comes a greater chance of encounters with them. It is for this very reason that resident snake catcher Simon Frazer of Shepherds Flat has so much work to do during the warm weather. “As soon as you put a water sprinkler on out in all that dry bush, the smell just permeates everywhere, the reptile will smell that and if they can get to it they will, the same goes for rats and rodents. They go hand-in-hand.”

Simon, like all those who enter his line of expertise around Australia, has been fascinated with snakes since he was a kid and currently keeps a three-metre carpet python as a pet. But what started as a personal interest has recently became a career. “I knew that everyone had a snake problem around here,” he says, “but I discovered that there was no licensed snake catcher anywhere nearby so I decided to give it a crack.”

Our local native snakes are tigers, brown snakes, copper heads and the odd red belly black and they are all protected. Before you go out and catch snakes for a living you need to get permission.

“The license is pretty basic, just like having a license to keep a snake. The additional categories you need study to get a license are mostly concerned with identification, safety and guidelines for catching and release. Even if you are licensed, you can’t keep them.

I always let the ones I catch out in the bush where they are less likely to come in contact with humans.”

Snakes are shy things and would prefer above everything else to be left alone. They will not venture out into paddocks or anywhere else exposed, but properties offer up so many places to hide. They will move along fence lines and walls and seek cover on anything lying on the ground. Forget Snake Thumpers, those electronic pulse units on sale at hardware stores, according to Simon they do not work. “Moving about in your house makes just as much noise as a thumper does. If snakes know there is a water or food source nearby they will just keep going to that source and a thumper is not going to stop that.” Thus, if you have water, hay or grain storage (attracts mice) and plenty of stuff lying around, you will soon have snakes.

When a client invites Simon around to rid them of a troublesome serpent they will find his tool-kit is little more than a pole with a catching noose on the end. The work mostly consists of searching for and cornering the beast. “You work out where the snake is hidden and try and uncover them. If they are in a woodpile or something you sort of wait for their head to come out or you have to take the woodpile gently apart and find them.

When they appear I hold them down with a rake or something, put the noose around their head, tighten it and put them straight into a bucket.”

Sounds easy. Though I’m not sure how many people would be interested in snake wrangling as a career. It begs the question though. “What advice do you give for any aspiring snake catchers out there?” Simon’s answer is concise. “Don’t get bitten. But if you keep your wits about you, you should be all right.”

Geelong Businessman, Mark Ward has ownership of the Mill Markets group and brings years of expertise to this amazing concept. The Mill Markets operate three massive venues located in Ballarat, Daylesford and Geelong. With a total of over 12,000 square metres of undercover floor space, (3 acres), treasure hunters have the opportunity to spend many hours browsing and meandering through the eclectic mix of products. There is a fantastic variety of home decor, furniture, records, vintage clothing, books, fine china, glassware, industrial items, jewellery, antiques as well as Australian pottery, homewares, memorabilia, retro fashions and collectables. We also have many stalls selling new products and have gift vouchers for those people who have everything!

All goods are from the 1850’s right through to present day. Mill Markets lease space to hundreds of dealers, which allows small business operators and collectors who otherwise could not afford the overheads of their own shops, to showcase their goods. This equates to a wide and diverse range of products, available and open to the public, seven days a week. Enjoy a wonderful trip down memory lane through hundreds and thousands of items available for purchase at all three locations. With over 500 stall holders over three venues, there is always something for everyone. Travel The Amazing Mill Markets ‘Golden Triangle’ and enjoy quality food and coffee at each. All venues open 7 days 10.00am-6.00pm (excluding Christmas Day).

14 Happy & Healthy

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www.healthwith jaqi.com

THE COTTAGE HERBALIST Caroline Parker BHSc Western Herbal Medicine

• Herbal Medicine • Bush Flower Essences • Diet & Lifestyle Advice • Wellness Programs • Hand Blended Organic Teas and Tisanes

Shamanic Healing Healing is within Us Intuitive Counselling Illuminations Soul Retrieval Extractions Readings

0402 366 242 thecottageherbalist.com.au thecottageherbalist@gmail.com

Jaqi Mudge 0423 499 901

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Welcoming Katie Hartwell The Lounge Hair and Beauty would like to welcome Katie Emily Hartwell to the team.

Katie has 9 years of beauty therapy experience having worked in Echuca, Bendigo, Melbourne and Daylesford.

Katie welcomes new and existing clients and is available from 9am-8pm Thursday, Fridays and some Saturdays offering all beauty services. For any appointments with Katie please call the salon on 0429 792 078

Happy & Healthy 15

16 News

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CT scanner cuts travel

L

AKE Imaging recently installed a CT scanner at Kyneton District Health, and the first local patient was scanned on New Year’s Eve.

Here’s the solution for last week’s crossword for Issue 63. How did you go?

TERM 1, 2016 Food Handlers Certificate Food Safety Supervisor Certificate Responsible Serving of Alcohol First Aid Level 2 & CPR Only

Currents Affairs Discussion Make Pasta & Pesto Make Original High Tea Boxing/Circuit for Adults Boxing for Girls YR 9-12 House of Tarot Archery

Feb 21 Feb 29 Mar 2 Mar 18

Feb 3 & 24 Feb 13 Feb 14 Feb 15 Feb 16 Feb 20+27 Feb 24

Need help with: mobile/tablet/computer software? Call to book for One on One session with Sally.

Mondays from Feb 08

Phone: 03 5348 3569 Email: daylesford@ourneighbourhood.org.au Website: www.ourneighbourhood.org.au

Since then a number of local residents have been spared the trip out of town to access services.

Grant Mutch is Lake Imaging’s on-site radiographer. He has been taking x-rays at Kyneton Hospital for about nine years.

His organisation’s commitment to support regional areas means he can now use specialist technology to provide access to more high quality medical services, close to home.

The Siemens 16-Slice system is capable of performing CT examinations of the brain, sinuses, spine, extremity, chest, abdomen and pelvis areas.

A routine scan of the brain takes less than 10 seconds, and produces almost 1000 fine-detail images of the area.

The images can be available on the same day for the referring doctor to review, which makes it a valuable service for local GPs and their patients.

KDH CEO Maree Cuddihy welcomes the expanded services for people across the Macedon Ranges.

“It was important for KDH to collaborate with Lake Imaging to create space on-site for this local service to local people.”

Lake Imaging’s Western Region clinical director Dr Tony French said the new CT scan machine at Kyneton Hospital removed the need and expense associated with unwell people having to travel outside their community for medical imaging.

Appointments for examinations not requiring a special injection of x-ray dye are performed daily between 9.30am and 5.30pm. Contrast exams using dye in the blood are performed Tuesday and Thursday between 9.30am and noon.

www.tlnews.com.au

The Local’s crew 17

Who’s who in The Local’s crew

A

S A young mother, Julie Hanson who works with accounts for The Local, drove her vehicle to the local tyre service when she had a flat in the boot. While the tyre was being mended she and her three children sat in the waiting room.

“As I knew the woman and husband who ran the business, we sat talking to her. I told her that all three children were now at school. She asked me if I had thought of working part time at all, as she needed some help in the office. As they say, the rest is history. I worked with this lovely lady until she retired. I then proceeded to run the office for many years.

I loved the customer service side of the business, I enjoyed meeting the many people that came through the door to buy tyres, as a result of this I have established some lasting friendships.

This also goes without saying with my work mates, they are a great group of people, we have had some fun times together. One year we did a pub crawl around the area for our Christmas breakup. The bus driver, a work mate, drove the bus but had no idea where he was going so my husband Phillip sat up the front with him giving him directions. Was a very funny night.

I have lived all my life in the Trentham area, I grew up in Little Hampton, my parents had a dairy farm. My two brothers, sister and myself milked cows morning and night. I married Phillip, also a local and moved to East Trentham to his family property. I jokingly say that I didn’t move very far, some people move interstate or overseas, I moved down the road.

We carry beef cattle and sheep on our property. Work for the day doesn’t finish at 5 o’clock for us - on the farm there is always something that needs doing. Feeding out hay to our beef cattle, rounding up calves and putting property tags in their ears and sorting out the little bulls from the heifers.

Drenching and shearing sheep - once our ewes lamb and the lambs are about six to eight weeks old; it’s a family affair, we get together with our three children and their children and the kids catch the lambs; rings are put on the lamb’s tails, and the little rams are sorted out from the little ewes. The kids love this time as they get to cuddle the lambs.

I now run my own business, Christjules Services. I decided to form my own business when I completed an online diploma in business, admin and finance. I found that I now had a feeling of a sense of worth. I had achieved something. I decided to step out of my safe zone, working for someone else and give it a try on my own. I am enjoying the bookkeeping/accounts receivable work I am doing, as I enjoy talking to people; this is where my customer service and office management background comes in. I don’t find it hard work and I love the challenge of balancing the accounts.

I am also helping a lovely lady write her book, at times I get a bit overwhelmed with this, as I have no background in writing, but I realise that I am helping her get her story out there and coming to terms with her life.

My hobbies are reading, walking our two dogs and playing golf. My golf game is a bit hit and miss, but I enjoy the physical exercise and the company. I play at Trentham Golf Course, a great course that has good, friendly people.”

Standing up for the Hepburn Community

P: (03) 5338 8123 F: (03) 5333 7710

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limited places Join us for our next introductory social media workshop. This is perfect for business owners and managers who want to develop an overall knowledge of social media for their business.

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FEBRUARY 2016 Tuesday 2 February 10am Suffragette (M) 6pm Suffragette (M) Friday 5 February 5:30pm Joy (M) 8pm He Named me Malala (PG) Saturday 6 February 3pm Joy (M) 5:30pm Suffragette (M) 8pm He Named me Malala (PG) Sunday 7 February 1:30pm He Named me Malala (PG) 3:30pm Joy (M) 6pm Suffragette (M) Monday 8 February 6pm Joy (M) Tuesday 9 February 10am He Named me Malala (PG) 6pm Joy (PG) all movies & screening times are subject to change

Friday 12 February 6pm He Named me Malala (PG) 8pm The 5th Wave (M) Saturday 13 February 3:30pm Joy (PG) 6pm He Named me Malala (PG) 8pm The 5th Wave (M) Sunday 14 February 1:30pm The 5th Wave (M) 4pm He Named me Malala (PG) 6pm Joy (PG) Tuesday 16 February 10am Joy (PG) 6pm He Named me Malala (PG) Friday 19 February 5:30pm The 5th Wave (M) 8pm The Hateful Eight (R)

www.daylesfordcinema.org.au

Open Caption Selected Sessions

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Out & About 19

To market, to market...but which one?

Y

OU can find everything you need at weekend markets, from fresh fruit and veg to handmade jewellery and wares, throughout the Central Highlands and surrounds. Here are just a few.

Daylesford Railway Market – every Sunday Wesley Hill Market - every Saturday Daylesford Farmers’ Market – first Saturday Golden Plains Farmers’ Market – first Saturday Trentham Neighbourhood Centre Makers’ Market - first Saturday Castlemaine Artists’ Market – first Sunday Kyneton Farmers’ Market - second Saturday Kyneton Rotary Community Market – second Saturday Ballan Farmers’ Market - second Saturday Maldon Market – second Sunday Clunes Farmers’ Market - second Sunday Trentham Farmers’ Market and Makers’ Market – third Saturday Glenlyon Farmers’ Market – third Saturday Creswick Market – third Saturday Leonards Hill Market - third Saturday Talbot Farmers’ Market – third Sunday Woodend Lions Market - third Sunday

The Trentham Farmers Market has joined with Trentham Makers Market

Third Saturday, 9am - 1pm

Buninyong Village Market – fourth Sunday Trentham Station Sunday Market - fourth Sunday

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14TH Fresh local produce including a wonderful range of meat, fruit and vegetables, cheese, wine, honey, preserves, pastries, coffee, plants, chickens and more.

Free music and entertainment, and gorgeous alpacas.

SECOND SUNDAY O F E V E RY M O N T H

TRENTHAM PETROL & STUFF

1 Market St PH 5424 1611 Mon - Sat 8am - 6pm Sun 9am - 6pm

Petrol, oils, swap & go gas, firewood permits, farm produce / produce store, ice, milk, soft drinks, take-away pies, coffee, confectionery, local honey etc. rusty junk, secondhand books, old wares

Collins Place, Fraser Street, Clunes.

Enquiries: 0439 717 006 Visit us at www.clunesfarmersmarket.com.au Connect with us on facebook

TRENTHAM STATION SUNDAY MARKET Victoria Street, Trentham On the fourth Sunday of each month 8.30am - 2.30pm Enquiries/Bookings – Kaye / Leigh 54241466 or Ross 54241509 A great variety of stalls in and around the beautiful Trentham Station **Permanent carriage stalls open every weekend** Including - Craft in the Carriage, Kaye’s Soaps and Candles, Leigh’s Homemade Preserves, Snax on the Trax & Trentham Olde Worlde Lolly Shoppe Trentham - Always relaxed and refreshing!

TRENTHAM MECHANICS INSTITUTE

Calling all artists!

The Trentham Easter Art & Craft Show will be on from March 25 to March 28 over Easter 2016 - so start thinking about your works for entry as it will come quickly now the rush and excitement of Christmas is over.

Entry forms will be sent out to all artists on our mailing list during January.

Entries closing date is Friday, March 11.

Enquiries – Jill McCallum on 5424 1483 jillmccallum@live.com Or Bette McLaren on 5424 1127 mclarenjr@bigpond.com

org ani c me omm sing mb er n itte eed ed

Happy Valentine’s Day, Sunday February 14 Valentine History

How to show your love!

T

HETHER you think Valentine’s Day is just another American tradition creeping into Australian culture, or a day to show your love, it’s always nice to say “I love you” to family and friends - or just special people in your life.

HE history of Valentine’s Day is obscure and further clouded by various fanciful legends.

The holiday’s roots are in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15. Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day circa 496, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine’s Day. Which St Valentine this early pope intended to honour remains a mystery: according to the Catholic encyclopedia, there were at least three early Christian saints by that name.

One was a priest in Rome, another a bishop in Terni, and of a third St Valentine almost nothing is known except that he met his end in Africa. Rather astonishingly, all three Valentines were said to have been martyred on February 14. Most scholars believe that the St Valentine of the holiday was a priest who attracted the disfavour of Roman emperor Claudius II around 270. At this stage, the factual ends and the mythic begins.

According to one legend, Claudius II had prohibited marriage for young men, claiming that bachelors made better soldiers. Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and put to death. Another legend has it that Valentine, imprisoned by Claudius, fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter signed “from your Valentine”.

Probably the most plausible story surrounding St Valentine is one not focused on Eros (passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion.

W

This year February 14 falls on a Sunday so it’s a perfect time to head for a day out in our beautiful region.

It’s going to get busy, so get in early and make a booking for a special Valentine’s Day breakfast, lunch or dinner - Grange Bellinzona at Hepburn Springs has a wonderful dinner on offer as does The Plough in Trentham and the Belvedere Social in Daylesford.

If you are after a fantastic gift, leave choosing the lingerie to the girls at Boutique Black in Daylesford. Or what about a professional photography sitting at Alise Black Photographic Studios? Gift vouchers take the hassle out of any decisions there.

Maybe you prefer a relaxing treatment or massage at Daylesford Massage Healing Centre. Plenty of great gifts there too!

Finally, nothing says “I love you” like a beautiful bouquet of flowers. If you are in Daylesford pop into Wootton & Nicholls Florist and Green Grocer - who are already taking bookings to make sure you don’t miss out. You’ll also find great gifts there.

Also taking bookings now is Kyneton Florist with all bookings before February 7 going into a draw to win a fantastic dinner for two. They also have a great selection of the all-important Valentine’s Day greeting cards.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Sunday February 14 I T’S not quite about Valentine’s Day but it does happen in February and it’s all about lurve! If you didn’t realise, 2016 is a leap year which means on February 29 women can ask men to marry them. How lucky...

It is said the tradition started in Ireland in the 5th century when St Brigid of Kildare bitterly complained to St Patrick that women had to wait far too long for men to propose. The legend says that St Patrick decreed the women could propose on this one day in February during the leap year. The tradition was then taken to Scotland by Irish monks.

Back in 1288, the Scots passed a law that allowed a woman to propose marriage to the man of their dreams in a Leap Year with the law also stating that any man who declined the proposal on this day would have to pay a fine. The law was allegedly passed by an unmarried Queen Margaret and she put in place a rule that all those women proposing must wear a red petticoat while doing so. The fine for declining could be as little as a kiss, to a silk dress or gloves to cover up not having a ring in place.

In some places, February 29 has been renamed Bachelors’ Day because of the tradition. In England February 29 was ignored and had no legal status. Therefore it was possible to have women propose, altering an unfair custom that allowed only men to propose marriage. In the US some people refer to February 29 as Sadie Hawkins’ Day. Sadie Hawkins was a female character in the Al Capp comic strip “Li’l Abner” who inspired Sadie Hawkins Dances where girls would ask boys to attend. Poor St Oswald was also cast with the women as his feast day was placed on February 29.

But if you are planning to ask the big question, and have a flash mob ready to spring into Bruno Mars’ “I think I want to marry you”, be prepared for a no. It can go just as wrong for women as men.

That’s equality. Watch this...www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jpMBS81X0c

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nosreP $75 reP 5 Per 7$ Person

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Spoil a loved one for Valentine’s Day with our special Valentine’s Day Bliss offer!

3 hours of pure indulgence!

(save $50.00 per person or $100.00 per couple!) our Valentine’s Day Bliss is 3 hours of pure bliss and includes a full body relaxation massage, a body polish/scrub, a body wrap and a facial for only $285.00 single (normally $335) or $555.00 double (normally $655).

This offer is valid for bookings made by 14 February 2016 and paid in full at the time of booking. The treatment can be enjoyed anytime in February, March or April 2016.

If you cancel prior to 48 hours of your treatment a 25% cancellation fee will be applied, cancellations within 48 hours of treatment will incur 100% cancellation fee.

shop 5, 11 howe street, daylesford 03 5348 1099 massage@massagehealing.com.au www.massagehealing.com.au

THE PLOUGH @ TRENTHAM

restore balance naturally ...

KYNETON FLORIST Show you care

ORDERS RECEIVED BEFORE 7TH FEB GO INTO OUR E A R LY PRIZE DRAW

Sunday 14 February 6pm-10pm 3-course Set Menu – dinner only

Select from 4 entrées, 4 main courses and 4 desserts (Lunch service as per usual – à la carte & beer garden)

$50 per person Bookings essential – phone 5424 1144

Don’t leave till last days as flowers will be gone ... plus all Orders received before 7th February, go into our yearly prize draw for Dinner for Two at the Albion, drawn 12th February. 2nd Prize a bottle of Bubbly and chocolates, 3rd prize – Ecoya candle.

We will create BOUQUETS, ARRANGEMENTS, PAMPER HAMPERS, especially for your beloved.... we have a huge range of VALENTINE CARDS and GIFTWARE....

Happy Valentine’s Day Quirky Valentine’s Day facts

O

K, so these are some strange American facts about Valentine’s Day – but they are still quite fun.

• • • • • • • • • •

Men spend almost twice as much on Valentine’s Day as women do.

More than one-third of men would prefer not receiving a gift. Less than 20 per cent of women feel the same way.

More than nine million pet owners buy gifts for their pets for Valentine’s Day. 15 per cent of US women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day. According to the condom company Durex, condom sales are highest around Valentine’s Day, which are 20–30 per cent higher than usual.

More at-home pregnancy tests are sold in March than in any other month.

Penicillin, a popular treatment for venereal diseases such as syphilis, was introduced to the world on February 14, 1929.

Teachers receive the most valentines, followed by kids, mothers, wives and sweethearts.

Over 50 per cent of all Valentine’s Day cards are purchased in the six days prior to the holiday.

One billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making it the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. Women purchase approximately 85 per cent of all valentines.

Five Course Valentines’ Dinner Lovers’ Cocktail

FRI 12 - SUN 14

$85pp (regular a la carte also available)

From 10pm in the Bar B&W Silent Movies Cocktails, Desserts, Cheese

Bookings: 5348 2088 or www.belvederesocial.com.au 82b Vincent St Daylesford

MD 4 SC

Beautiful food, fantastic wine list, and your company!

The Farmers is the place to be for happy Valentines.

1 East Street, Daylesford Tel: (03) 5348 2091 Email: belocal@farmersarmsdaylesford.com.au

24 Out & About

www.tlnews.com.au

10AM - 1.30PM Jubilee Lake PARKING LOT Advert sponsored by

MINIMUM

Coffee & breakfast available from the Jubilee Lake Kiosk

A GUIDE TO

PERMANENT WATER SAVING RULES Permanent Water Saving Rules are a set of common sense rules that are applied every day of the year to ensure we use water efficiently. They are designed to allow flexibility and choice regarding your water usage, especially through the warmer months.

The key permanent water saving rules are:

USE

FURTHER INFORMATION For further information on Permanent Water Saving Rules call 1800 061 514 or visit chw.net.au

RULE Vehicles

Can be cleaned at any time with: • a hand held hose that is leak free and fitted with a trigger nozzle; or • a bucket

Gardens and lawns

You can water a residential garden or lawn using: • a hand held hose, bucket or watering can at any time; or • a watering system between the hours of 6pm-10am on any day

Hand held hose

Water using a hand held hose anytime if it: • is fitted with a trigger nozzle; and • is leak free

Fountains and water features

Water can be used in a fountain or a water feature when the fountain or water feature recirculates the water

Hard surfaces

Water can be used to clean driveways, paths, concrete, tiles and timber decking if: • cleaning is required as a result of an accident, fire, health hazard, safety hazard or other emergency; or • staining to the surface has developed and then only once a season; or • due to construction or renovation, and then only using: • a high pressure water cleaning device; • or a hand held hose or bucket 01-14-SD04

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Nom nom nom 25

Authentic flavours on offer at Farmers Arms

D

AYLESFORD Farmers Arms executive chef Gavan Anders has gone through two major food careers.

The first 15 years of his 32 year-career with food was all about Italian while the past 10 have been heavily influenced by travel throughout Asia.

“I love experiencing new flavours, you know that feeling when you first taste something and it’s an epiphany, and using my own knowledge of food I remember those flavours and copy them. I really like the idea of keeping food as authentic as possible, that’s important.”

Many of those flavours are finding their way into new “light mains” and entrees at the Farmers Arms – such as the Korean Bibimbap with Kim Chi ($24) or the Thai Chicken and Watermelon Salad with Coconut, Asian Herbs and Red Curry Dressing ($22).

“The dishes are still substantial but you can come in and spend around $25 for lunch and experience some really big flavours, a real flavour fix.

“And I hope that also means that people in this area, many who have travelled extensively, don’t need to go to Melbourne to get those flavours.

“I also believe that food should instil a memory. And if a dish we do here brings back a memory from travels past, puts a smile on your face, then that is a really good thing.”

Gavan, who has been at the Farmers Arms for the past five years, said it had been “a really great journey”.

“I was brought up on a dairy farm and always surrounded by fresh produce. We used to kill our own animals and we always had a spud paddock, orchards and a veggie patch. Everything was done from scratch and I really like that.

“Like any trade it’s a medium, you manipulate different flavours, it’s about creating, it’s being artistic. It’s a wonderful thing we do every day. And it means I can share my travels, share my life and passion, through my food.”

Dining on a recent Friday lunch, Kyle and I had the opportunity to try some of Gavan’s most recent offerings. For entrees Kyle chose the Bibimbap while I opted for the Salt and Pepper Fried Calamari Salad with Peanuts, Coriander and Tahini ($22).

My calamari was delicious. Perfectly cooked and tender to the bite with the amazing flavours of the herbs and dressing. I love it when calamari is done just right.

Kyle loved the Bibimbap – a signature Korean dish which literally means mixed rice. It’s served in a ceramic dish, the same one it was cooked in, with rice at the base topped with meat, vegetables and a raw egg. Once the egg is stirred through it cooks immediately. And don’t forget to dig deep for the rice – scrap up the delicious crunchy pieces from the base…(Yes, I did try some.)

Now while this would be enough for lunch, we were settling in for the afternoon so I chose the Sizzling Chilli & Garlic Prawns ($16) while Kyle went for Smokey BBQ Pork Spare Ribs ($32).

Once again, the prawns were just perfect. Sizzling in their dish as they arrived, once they are gone there is also some seriously good oil with chilli and garlic pieces to mop up with accompanying bread.

Kyle has an appetite but was stumped by the ribs. They are huge, three big layers which would easily satisfy a couple of blokes. So bring a friend along. But they are also incredibly delicious – sticky, smokey, falling off the bone. And don’t forget the thickcut chips!

Finally, as if we needed anything else, we chose the Cassatta ($16) – thick amazing layers of meringue, sorbet and mascarpone - to finish off our meal. Perfection.

Oh, drinks. As you would expect the Farmers Arms has an extensive drinks menu with everything you could ask for. There’s Crown on tap for something a bit special if you like beer, like Kyle, and I opted for the Summerfield shiraz.

“I really like the idea of keeping food as authentic as possible, that’s important.”

Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barnes

Welcome to The Farmers Arms Open 7 days a week for lunch & dinner As the oldest pub in Daylesford, ‘The Farmers’ is brimming with real character.

An iconic corner pub that boasts the perfect blend of country charm, with sophisticated menu, wine list and professional service.

Find all the details and information about the pub and our current menu at: thefarmersarms.com.au You’re Welcome to Eat, Drink & Be Local at ‘The Farmers’.

1 East Street Daylesford, ph: 03 5348 2091

Duck Downpickers Saturday 13th February 12:30 - 4pm

www.daylesfordbowlingclub.com.au

Valentine's weekend special: 10% off total food bill* *to redeem, make a reservation with code 'VAL16'

table reservations; 03 5348 2275 enquiries@daylesfordcider.com.au @DAYLESFORDCIDER

HAVE A TASTE OF HISTORY

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Enjoy the relaxed local atmosphere, Music & Entertainment or just a quiet cool one anytime.

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Meal deals 27

Meal deals for locals...and tourists too!

EVERYONE loves a good meal deal. So here are the dining establishments offering great food and great prices!

Monday Mercato, Daylesford – main dish & a glass of local wine - $30 The Grande Hotel, Hepburn Springs – two courses and a glass of house wine, beer or bubbles - $38 Blue Bean Love Cafe, Hepburn - Curry Night with vegan options available - $18

Tuesday Perfect Drop - five courses with a glass of bubbles or beer - $55 Blackwood Hotel, Blackwood - Parma Night - $15 + glass of house wine or pot

Wednesday Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford – Pot and Parma - $20 Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn – Roast - $17.50 Belvedere Social, Daylesford - four shared courses with glass of wine - $50

Thursday

Friday Grange Bellinzona, Hepburn - two courses and glass of wine - $35 Blackwood Hotel, Blackwood - Fab 5 meals specials from $18 Blue Bean Love Cafe, Hepburn - Burger Night with vegan options - $16

Happy Hours Daylesford Bowling Club has Happy Hour ‘n’ a half, from Monday to Thursday, from 4.30pm to 6pm.

Perfect Drop, Daylesford, also has a Happy Hour, every day, from 4pm to 6pm with $12 cocktails and $2 oysters.

Blue Bean Love Cafe, Hepburn has Happy Hours from Friday to Monday from 4pm to 6pm with $5 beer, wine or bubbles.

Raffles Fundraising raffles for local organisations are held on Friday evenings at The Farmers Arms Hotel, Daylesford, Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham and the Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn.

Want to share a locals’ deal? Email news@tlnews.com.au

Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford – Steak Night - $20 The Plough, Trentham – two courses - $25, three courses - $30 Source Dining, Kyneton - main course and glass of wine - $35 Belvedere Social, Daylesford - four shared courses with glass of wine - $30

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Conditions apply - see staff for details Offer ends 14/02/16 Cellarbrations @ foxxy’s our region’s largest local and boutique wine specialists Open every day until late 55 Vincent Street Daylesford Tel: 03 5348 3577 *Not available on already discounted wines and special items

28 Gigs

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Gig Guide Perfect Drop, Daylesford Service Industry Night with DJ Panch Combo – Monday, February 1 Jazzdeuce – Friday, February 5 Family Farm Band – Saturday, February 6 SIN Service Industry Night – Monday, February 8 The Cartwheels – Friday, February 12 Capo Brothers – Saturday, February 13

Blackwood Hotel, Blackwood Ghost Tour and Investigation - Twisted Tales - February 9, 7pm

Bluebean Love Cafe, Hepburn Buck Jr and The Reputation – every Sunday, 5pm-7pm

The Grande Hotel, Hepburn Maureen Andrew in Rhinestone Cowgirl - Friday, February 5, 8pm Songs of Play and Seduction - Friday, February 12, 8pm

Want to publicise a gig? Email donna@tlnews.com.au

The Perfect Drop Restaurant & Wine Bar Monday to Thursday - 4pm until late Friday to Sunday - 12pm until late Live Music in the bar on weekends. www.theperfectdrop.com 5 Howe Street, Daylesford 5348 1100

Locals Night - Tuesdays $55 - 5 courses inc bubbles Happy Hours 4pm - 6pm Daily $12 Cocktails & $2 Oysters

Sunday (Funday) $3.50 Pots all day

26 - 28 Albert Street Daylesford 5348 3711

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Sport 29

Daylesford I Lawn Tennis Club report

T HAS been great to see numerous players enjoying free January tennis at the Daylesford Lawn Tennis Club courts. Those who want to keep playing tennis can do so by using the honesty box at the entrance.

The last two Saturdays senior tennis provided some intriguing results, with committee members dominating.

Must be some message there.

On Saturday, January 16, Pete Risstrom had a long-awaited Section 1 win, his 22/15 edging out Brian Nolan with 22/18. While in Section 2 Gabe Kirby won with 21/13 over Rachel McAndrew’s 19/14. Lynn Dwyer was third with 18/15, and Annette Rodda fourth with 16/16.

On Saturday, January 23 in delightful conditions on slow courts after Friday’s rain, Gabe Kirby’s consistency was in evidence as her 21/12 dead-heated with Lynn Dwyer to share the Section 2 glassware. In a close Section 1, Brian Nolan 22/14 beat Sebastian Douglas-Dowling 20/14, with Greg Malcher third on 20/15. Barry Dimond came in fourth with 21/16 and Geoff Parentich 17/17 was fifth, with Trish Kevin a game behind on 16/17.

Junior tennis resumed on Saturday, January 30. Thursday twilight tennis continues on February 4 and Saturday afternoon tennis is always on - arrive by 1.15pm for a 1.30pm start. Social tennis continues on Tuesday nights from 6pm and Sunday mornings from 10am to 11am, or 9am to 10am if it’s going to be hot.

The club championships approach with the senior championships scheduled for February 13 and 14 – with a fallback to February 20 and 21 if we have bad weather - and the juniors yet to be advised.

by Greg Malcher

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Inspiring 31

Like the Tigers of old, Teldorado is big and it’s bold Words: Kevin Childs | David Smith “The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigour and moral courage it contained. [T]hat so few people now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of our time.” John Stuart Mill, 1859.

M

ILL’s warning is still relevant, especially when anything out of the ordinary may draw derision from the hordes of anonymous self-styled commentators lurking on social media. All the more reason, then, to celebrate Terry Moore’s riotously outlandish Teldorado at Drummond North.

This is much more than one man’s raising of a steady finger to the more ordered world, it is a place where he says he has garnered an amount approaching $10,000 for mental health and where he keeps the black dog of depression at bay by his mental vigour and moral courage.

It takes an extraordinary person to take a bush block, its neighbouring properties marked by the occasional sense of order that would not be out of place in a city suburb, and turn it into a wild romp, a folly almost.

Arriving at Teldorado on the unmade Taradale Road one of the first sights is a sign proclaiming a general store, open seven days, pick your own herbs, free! Terry keeps cigarette papers and suchlike by the gate so locals may avoid a trip to far-off shops. Eight years ago he came up from St Kilda to sit on the verandah and ponder. “I was here on a very hot day and when I was walking back to the car a big grey kangaroo appeared with four others, who left. It stood within touching distance and I thought, I’m going to die here. I just froze and it just kept looking at me for two or three minutes. I thought, that’s a sign. I should buy this place. Next day I bought it.”

There was a house and shed on about two hectares. Having given his events company to his partner he moved in to level and fence the $180,000 property, naming it by combining his nickname with Eldorado, the legendary South American city of gold. Here people’s dross becomes gold, for as much as possible everything is recycled. This includes the dozens of stubby holders on the branches of a dead tree, suspended chairs and other gloriously mismatched furniture, countless lampshades (and a surfboard) overhead, an outdoor shower, letterboxes across the block, but not the signs, which are original, like “No bullshit Teldorado”.

“Remember, you only have one chance at life. Don’t regret anything,” says another. “Love everything,” is chalked on a blackboard. “Cry when you need.” A “Forgotten Information Centre,” is there. Sand covers the ground in an echo of St Kilda.

The predominant colours are the yellow and black of Richmond footy club, and Aboriginal colours. To say Terry is a Tigers tragic is a wild understatement. He flies the club flag upside down and will not right it until his team wins a finals game.

Rows of seats from Kyneton’s Bluestone Theatre and saved from the tip even carry the colours. “I reckon I’ve spent $3000 at Haymes Paints in Kyneton.” That, and haunting Kyneton’s four op shops, helped with the décor. Friends in the demolition game drop off all sorts of stuff, and so do strangers. Up to 50 mates come and camp on Boxing Day, New Year, Easter and on Grand Final day, relishing the outdoor cooking area, with its barbie and pizza oven.

There is one rule: “Leave your excess baggage, chill out and don’t bring your problems.” Not that he won’t lend a sympathetic ear to someone who wants to talk something over. “Even though it’s my place,” says this thin, intense figure, “it’s more my friends’ place,” adding, however, that it’s private and people shouldn’t just turn up as some did recently.

A Richmond-yellow sideboard holds Terry’s outdoor TV, showing soccer during our visit. “When it’s freezing cold I think the TV’s going to die, but it fires up again.”

He has an Open Garden Day, although the garden is not apparent until he points out some stunted azaleas near the corrugated iron fence. He switched to the much easier succulents. Pizzas, nachos and Sunday roast are served in the Open Garden, with the proceeds going to Beyond Blue and Live4life.

Zillions of beer coasters and posters from long-ago shows in St Kilda line the indoor bar. Soon he’ll be brewing beer here. “There’s always beer in the back fridge,” for a thirsty local. And on the roof the guttering is going in to supply to his open tank (“No bombs”). It’s useful for firefighting, too. A week or two before the firestorm of Black Saturday a blaze swept from across Taradale Road all the way to Malmsbury. The following Easter Terry and a friend marked this inferno by planting some crosses in the State Forest and used Facebook to invite friends to join them there. Some were sceptical.

This changed when they drove three utes into the reserve, where Terry addressed the curious group, inviting them to carry a cross that meant something to them. Each of the dozen or so crosses carry a word, such as mateship, friendship, humble, respectful, valued, loving and missed. He found the choices fascinating. Like a mediaeval procession the crosses were carried to Teldorado where they were to be burnt.

Instead, they form a moving avenue up his block to where an Australian flag is supported on a star picket above four circles of stones. It’s called the Walking of the Cross Project.

In the mornings Terry, an arts and culture officer for the Macedon Range Shire, walks up there with his six-year-old Jack Russell, Digher, to kick a footy. At 45 he has engaged with depression for 10 years. “As opposed to others, I make a positive out of it, not a negative. Giving the money makes me feel I’m giving back rather than being one of those people who say, `Woe is me, life sucks’.”

Time for Terry to climb back on the roof of the bar and work on the guttering. Teldorado, you feel, is a monument to individuality without end.

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News 33

How Dani went through the mill and found her bliss

Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Kyle Barnes

T

HE sounds could scarcely be more different. The sound of the looms Another former mill worker serves in the café, where nostalgia is also reflected in in the woollen mills forced workers to wear earplugs. Today the looms an LP player. Would-be purchasers of LPs in the markets can check them here.

After four years in the mill Dani followed her ambition by moving to Sweet are gone, their noise replaced by the chatter of families.

Here, in the Peppermill Café of Daylesford’s Mill Markets, new café owner Dani Dwyer remembers when she followed the path of so many from school to the mill, joining her sister, aunt and mother.

In those days, says Dani, unless you went away to uni, work for women meant the mill and, for most men, timber mills. For Dani now, returning to the mill after so many years is the culmination of a lifelong ambition to run an eatery.

Having fibbed about her age, she started work at 15 joining the all-female mending room, an enclosed area beyond the masses of looms where her mother did the nightshift when Dani was a baby. Giant reels of material would be wheeled in for the women to check and, if necessary, repair.

They sat at about a dozen big light boxes, their heads crowned with great magnifying glasses, almost as if they were wearing huge Coke bottles. From nine to five the women checked 80 metres of material which was 1.5 metres wide. A break in the material meant hand stitching it for the whole 80 metres, a job that took at least two days. Needles with a ball on the end were used to repeat a pattern.

Products of the mill were sent to Creswick to be made into electric blankets, turned into police uniforms or sent to tailors.

The owners, Daytex, were in Albert Street from 1938, running a mill that operated on three shifts around the clock. Everyone, remembers Dani, smoked in those days.

The mill started in Central Springs Road in 1978 and closed in 2003.

The eight-hour day was broken by lunch, served in a canteen. Two green laminated tables survive, enjoying a retro renaissance in the 100-seat café, once the loading dock.

Dani also could not resist paying $100 for what her dad calls an Esky on wheels, an ingenious metal mobile bar, fittingly called Barmobile by Ruby, presumable its inventor. Fill it with ice and your drinks are chilled. Regrettably, a search for more information on the Barmobile only produces Batmobile.

Decadence. Becoming a qualified chef, she cooked at the Old Hepburn Hotel for 10 years and also worked at the Red Star Café, now the Blue Bean Love Cafe.

“I always wanted to have my own place and when this became available it felt right.”

She remembers the sombre mood when the mill closed, throwing a couple of hundred people out of work in a town with little else available. Sawmills also shut, including her father’s one at Sailors Falls.

The atmosphere lifts as she shows the giant figure of a gorilla ruminating over the markets. One of many eccentricities of the place, it is much photographed and was borrowed by Melbourne Zoo for a special primates’ event.

Back in the café the popular scones are being prepared, as the crowds turn up for all-day breakfast, smoothies and vegan tucker. The little mill girl has found her place.

“I always wanted to have my own place and when this became available it felt right.”

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Gardens 35

D

ON’T let the current cool, rainy spell of weather fool you - there’s plenty of hot dry sting left in this summer - especially now the kids are back in school.

Keep the water up to your trees and shrubs and make sure that every precious drop counts until the real rains of autumn or winter arrive.

Light and frequent watering is almost wasted as it really only dampens the topsoil and is open to evaporation.

Make good use of the recent rains to get some real moisture down to the thirsty roots. If you don’t have a drip system set up for your plants, now is the time to do so.

Alternatively use a fine-holed sieve or a steamer pan to allow a hose to slowly trickle at the base of your fruit or ornamental trees and shrubs until the soil appears saturated. Or create a small moat around their base and fill that. A length of plastic garden edging pushed in to the ground would work even better, especially if it’s recycled water from the laundry or bathroom.

Don’t be stingy with the water - make sure the water has soaked right down around the roots before moving it on. You’ll have healthier plants and use less water with infrequent soakings than you would with regular light splashes.

Don’t forget to mulch! Pea straw is marvellous, inexpensive and eventually breaks down into compost within a few months. By the way, keep the young pea plants sprouting from the bed. I too, used to weed them out until I discovered some rather splendid recipes for field peas on you know where.

And don’t let your friendly avian friends suffer on hot days - be sure to keep up a supply of cool, clean water for them. Most visiting birds, like the red waxbill pictured below right, return the favour by keeping your garden free of grubs, aphis and other pests in return.

Another helpful visitor is the intriguing little syrphid or hover fly, pictured above right. These can be seen hovering over your flowers in a holding pattern, punctuated by sudden sideway darts.

Often mistaken for European wasps they are totally harmless and help in pollination. Better still, they lay their eggs in aphid and other bug nests to feed their own young.

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Trades 37

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News 39

Lake Daylesford swim

T

he Lake Daylesford Swim, a fundraiser for Lafaek Diak Clinic in Baucau, East Timor, is on again on Sunday, February 28.

There is a 10am registration and the race kicks off at 11am. Entry is free.

Local medical student Kathleen Malcher is volunteering at the Lafaek Diak Clinic at present, having taken medical supplies with the money raised last year.

For entry details contact Greg Stewart at stewg@vic.chariot.net.au or Alan Kaye at alanjkaye@bigpond.com”

To vape or not to vape, that is the question

A

VAPE meet will be held at the Perfect Drop in Daylesford on Saturday, February 6 from 1pm.

One of the organisers is Ballarat-based medical doctor and New Nicotine Alliance of Australia president, Attila Danko, who smoked for 24 years before swapping smoking for vaping three years ago.

Vaping involves e-cigarettes or personal vaporisers which are a battery device with an attachment containing an atomiser filled with liquid commonly known as juice.

The battery powers a coil in the attachment vapourising the liquid allowing the user to inhale it. Vaping in Australia is legal as long as nicotine is not used in the liquid.

Dr Danko said he was one of many people who were ex-smokers and had only been able to give up because of electronic cigarettes.

“I am really excited about the potential to drop smoking rates. And we are getting together, hopefully with smokers, who might be interested in trying vaping. It’s also a fundraiser for our advocacy group, which is trying to get laws changed in Australia (to allow vapers to use nicotine if they want).

“It’s a sister group to one in the UK where vaping with nicotine has been freely available for several years – you can just buy them over the counter. And in the UK 2.6 million people are vapers and many of them have given up smoking entirely.”

Dr Danko said he believed vaping with nicotine was illegal in Australia because of a long history of tobacco control and authorities struggling to keep up with the rapidly increasing consumer-led movement.

“They don’t know how to respond to it and are acting in a negative way. They see it like toy cigarettes but it’s more similar to methadone for heroin users or other ways of harm reduction. Evidence shows that vaping does not hook children or normalise smoking.”

Angela Gordon, a registered nurse who runs an online vaping forum, said consumer regulations were needed to ensure the safety of vapers.

“Consumer regulation that governs the contents (juice) is needed so we know that basic food, health and safety standards are being applied. The ban on nicotine forces people to look for it overseas.

“But there are thousands of juices available, many organic, and a lot of juicemaking companies are coming out with organic juices that have been lab-tested. There are a lot more options than even six months ago. It’s rapidly expanding.”

And both agree that eventually regulations will evolve.

“I do think that change will come – it’s just how long it will take,” Dr Danko said.

Above, Dr Attila Danko, left, has a vape while chatting with Hepburn Community Radio’s Trevor Shard Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes

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Timberrrrr!!!!!

THE Lyonville Woodchop will be held on Saturday, February 6.

The annual event is a fundraiser for the Lyonville Hall which has undergone big renovations over the past couple of years. Treasurer Anne Bremner said benefactors had ensured the event attracted some of the best woodchoppers with plenty of prize money. Ms Bremner said the woodchop had been on the calendar for more than 40 years and was “a great community event”. “And there is something for everyone. There’s a bar and barbeque, morning and afternoon tea and for the kids we have face painting, a jumping castle and a water jam. There’s also music and entertainment in the hall.” The Lyonville Woodchop starts at 10.30am. Adults are $5 and children under 12 are free. Image: Kyle Barnes