May 11 - 17, 2022
Resilience on the menu at breakfast
◆ STORY OF RESILIENCE: Bungeet sheep farmer Doug James will talk about his experiences in battling the 2014 fires that burnt through his property.
By STEVE KELLY DOUG James, a Bungeet sheep farmer whose family survived the 2014 grass and bushfire that swept through his property, will be a guest speaker at an upcoming Cancer Council Victoria Men’s Breakfast in Wangaratta. Unfortunately the planned event had to be cancelled last September due to COVID-19 restrictions and organisers are pleased to be able to stage the fundraiser on June 17. Mr James will speak about how his family managed to work through the night to protect their properties and the amazing assistance of BlazeAid after the flames were doused, whose volunteers repaired farm infrastructure. It was a warm and windy day just before Christmas that year when the James’ got the shock of their lives after hearing about a grass fire at Thoona. Wind gusts up to 60kph fanned the fire towards their home and within the hour it was upon them. Doug and his family fought through the night alone to protect property assets and they survived, however, the impact was devastating. “The shock and trauma was there, one minute you’re sitting there thinking it’s just another day and two hours later your whole farm is burnt out,” Doug said. “You see what you’ve devoted your whole life to actually go up in smoke.”
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YOUR GARDEN
ANIMAL CARE
WINE TALK
YOUR HEALTH
with HELEN
with VINCENT
with ANITA
with SOPHIE & BELINDA
Continued page 6
BOOK NOOK with SIMONE
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