Author: Fran Henke

GOVERNMENT-imposed restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have had unforeseen effects on wildlife. The ban on fishing has obviously been a lifesaver for many fish, but it has also (temporarily) ended the symbiotic relationship between pelicans and anglers at Hastings. When the boats leave the pelicans usually sit patiently on pier pylons or light towers secure in the knowledge that a meal will be on the way when fish are cleaned back on shore. Joined by seagulls (who are also no slouch at scavenging) the pelicans are now reduced to actually doing some fishing themselves or receiving handouts from…

WITH daily media reports of the increasing number of people around the world diagnosed with COVID19, irrational hoarding and profiteering, I am cast back to my childhood and epidemics of a virus that closed schools, swimming pools and cinemas around the world. In 1946, my family was quarantined after I was diagnosed with infantile paralysis, or poliomyelitis. My parents never spoke about how they were treated in that small Gippsland market town (you don’t talk about the war) and I don’t remember, but many suffered greatly. Neighbours crossed the road to avoid the infected; people became prisoners in their own…

TEN years ago, following the fires of Black Saturday, a retired rabbit trapper from Mt Eliza sent in a poem to a newspaper, written in 1851 about fire. Lawrence Prout, the trapper, was 85 then. The poem resonated because 10 years earlier, as a member of the Central Highlands Forest Management Committee, and a decade before that again in 1989, I was looking into the proliferation of eucalypts and their role in the spread of fire. The lines resonate now in 2019, with the country in similar drought, experiencing similar fires. What are we to do? The verses had been…

LIFE as a bank teller was not Rondelle Douglas’s dream. She loved to draw as a child. When events took a challenging turn (divorce) the mother of three decided to return to Victoria and rediscover those drawing skills. “I was always intrigued by illustrations for stories and articles in magazines,” Ms Douglas, now living at Dromana, said. “So, in 2011, I enrolled at Chisholm Frankston for a Diploma of Visual Arts, Illustration”. This involved working in a variety of mediums, learning how to work to a brief. Rondelle began to appreciate how Illustration course staff helped students develop their own…

AFTER 31 years of tuition, demonstrations and exhibitions, McClelland Guild of Artists is being shown the door by its landlords – McClelland Gallery Trustees. Gallery director John Cunningham met representatives of the artists’ guilds on Studio Park, Langwarrin in February to advise their time was up. McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park has been home since the 1970s to guilds of artists, lapidarists, spinners, weavers and woodturners, bringing thousands of students and practitioners of each discipline through the gallery gates. The guilds are now looking at options to move or amalgamate with other societies. They occupy modest premises on Studio Park…

VISUAL arts students at Chisholm Frankston are taking their work to the walls of Monash Health this month to cheer and stimulate patients, visitors and staff. Their show, featuring paintings, sculptures, drawing and printmaking by art and illustration students, will open in the Monash Health Art Space, 3.30pm, Thursday 17 September. The opportunity came about after a meeting between art student Eleni Theodoridi, who also works as a medical interpreter at Monash, and senior manager and curator at Monash Health, Kim Minett. Their mutual vision and enthusiasm for the role that art plays in the public health setting created the…

ROGER Stanley has played many roles in life but always wanted to be a writer. In recent years he set about this dream methodically, undertaking a graduate diploma in professional writing and editing at Chisholm Frankston, entering short stories and plays in writing awards, several of which he won, also taking advantage of mentorship from established Mornington Peninsula authors. Then it was time for his novel. The first, published by Xlibris, is Spring Fever, a fast-paced detective thriller set on the peninsula. The story follows Vicki Walker, the youngest detective chief inspector in the state, who considers transfer to the…

FORMER Prime Minister and Merricks resident Malcolm Fraser died on Friday. He was revered as a radical in his retirement, perceived as a statesman. Leaving “toxic” party politics behind in 2010, having presided in 1975 over one of Australia’s most notorious political events, “The Dismissal”, he moved on to speak out against apartheid, in support of multiculturalism, strongly in defence of refugees, and on the rights of Indigenous Australians. “It’s time for Australia to grow up,” he stated. Entering parliament in 1955 at the age of 25, Mr Fraser, with his craggy good looks and gruff personality, was seen as…

Fran Henke spoke to Tamie and Malcolm Fraser in 2013 about their love of gardening.  When the President of Open Gardens Australia says this will be the last time of opening her garden, you have to wonder why. Age? Aggravation? Twenty five years ago Tamie and Malcolm Fraser opened their garden in Victoria’s western district to support the new scheme and to help keep staff going on their property, ‘Nareen’. “There was drought, stock prices were low, it was a difficult time,” said Mrs Fraser now president of Open Gardens Australia. A different story today: the Frasers have gardened at…

SORRENTO’S historic hotel the Continental is on the market for the first time in almost 20 years. The Di Pietro family, who bought the hotel on Ocean Beach Rd in 1996, is hoping for $15 million. The hotel, known far and wide as the Conti, was built in 1875 by the “Father of Sorrento” George Coppin, and is the only four-storey limestone structure in the southern hemisphere. It has had just eight owners in 140 years. The Conti is on 3580 square metres and is being offered by Sothebys International in conjunction with CBRE. It cost £14,000 to build and…