ESMERELDA the ewe has felt untold pain in her two years of life, but that hasn’t stopped her being the best mum she can be to her three-week-old lamb, Maisie. The heavily pregnant sheep was discarded from a farm two months ago because of severe and untreated injuries to her legs, with the weight of her unborn baby exacerbating the difficulties she faced walking. Thankfully for Esmerelda (also known as Essie), charity Til The Cows Come Home came to the rescue and placed her with Moorooduc foster carer Sarah Rollinson, who three weeks ago helped the gentle sheep give birth.…
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ROSEBUD’S Sarah Wallace has achieved Girl Guides Australia’s highest achievement award for a youth member, the Queen’s Guide Award. Since becoming a girl scout cub in 2011 as a seven-year-old, Wallace has fully embraced the movement as a way to build confidence and skills, and gone on to achieve the Junior BP Award, the BP badge, and now the Queens Guide Award. She is now the first person in her Rosebud unit to have ever achieved the top award in each section of guiding. On Saturday, 3 September, Wallace was presented with her certificate at a ceremony at the Rosebud…
By Mike Searles* AMIE Simpson is baking cookies in her kitchen to help raise awareness of suicide prevention. Twenty-nine year-old pastry chef Simpson, pictured, owns Amie Jane’s Sweets & Treats and is baking special cookies and treats to help raise money for R U OK? Day, Thursday 8 September. “I’m hoping to sell 500 or so cookies for the charity event. One school has already ordered 200 cookies, so we are off to an encouraging start”, Simpson said. She has 12 years’ experience as a pastry chef, including studying pastry cooking in Italy and has a certified commercial kitchen at…
TWO Mornington Peninsula centenarians celebrated their 100th birthdays in style with family and friends last week. Elaine Wills, who lives at the Mornington Bay Care Community, Mount Martha, enjoyed the occasion over lunch at Steeples restaurant with about 30 family members from all over Australia and friends. Willis moved to Mount Martha at 97, but before that lived in the Caulfield/Balaclava area with her husband and four children. Now with six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, the former home economics teacher said the secret to her youthful looks and longevity was eating “good healthy food”. “I have had a fortunate…
WHEN you pick up Mornington Peninsula author Andrea Rowe’s new book Jetty Jumping, it’s instantly apparent why it has won the early childhood category of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year. The book uses imaginative and lyrical language and timeless themes of friendship, bravery, and the importance of place, with illustrations by Hannah Sommerville that capture the essence of youthful seaside summers. Set in a coastal town that could be anywhere on the peninsula, the jetty plays a starring role in the book, alongside young girl Milla, who is afraid of jumping into the water. Rowe…
TEN-year-old Mornington Primary School student Hanna Glynn was born with cerebral palsy, but that has been no obstacle to her grit and determination as she gears up for the STEPtember walk for charity. Hannah, who wears splints on her legs, did the walk last year, and this year has signed up as an organisation so family and friends can join her in raising money and getting active. Already she has raised more than $1600, despite the walk yet to start. Hannah said she was excited that so many people, including classmates, had decided to join her efforts, with 15 signed…
THE Red Hill and Flinders area is one of Victoria’s 20 official “heart safe communities”, thanks to a program that has taught community members to save the life of someone having a cardiac arrest. Ambulance Victoria (AV) community engagement coordinator Emily Jackson said that over the last two years, the heart safe program in Red Hill/Flinders had been vital in building community resilience and improving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates for people living and working in the area. “The expansion of the heart safe community state-wide program, a joint initiative between AV and the Heart Foundation, built the confidence and…
THE two-minute film Dreamweaver Jacquie Beddows won the My Local Film Category at this year’s Peninsula Film Festival. The documentary about Jacquie Beddows shows how someone who has had a life changing event can turn around their own life and the lives of others through a love of music and painting, determination, and hard work. The film made by Heather Forbes-McKeon and Yanni Dellaportas has been entered it into the Australian based international short film Focus on Ability Film Festival. The Australian open finalists can be viewed and voted for at www.focusonability.com.au until midnight Tuesday 30 August. “We aren’t interested in prizes, but…
Crib Point JFC players were more harmed than helped when their mascot decided to join them at their recent game against Balnarring JFC. Despite the “support”, the Magpies didn’t manage a win, but the game will remain a memorable one for the players. First published in the Mornington News – 23 August 2022
THERE was a collective sigh of relief in households throughout Mount Martha when news broke that “Paddy has been found”. Paddy, a golden retriever, had gone missing the same afternoon that his owner became disoriented while out for one of their regular walks. Geoff Spinks, 86, was “lost” for about five hours and reunited with family and friends about 10pm on that cold and wintry Sunday night in early August. As soon as Geoff was made comfortable at home the searchers’ focus swung around to the missing Paddy, a dog that rarely leaves his master’s side. Staying connected through the…
WORDS, narrative and music will take precedence in April next year at Sorrento when more than 45 authors, playwrights, journalists, academics and musicians attend the inaugural Sorrento Writers’ Festival. The four-day festival is planned by journalist, podcaster, former bookshop owner Corrie Perkin “to celebrate literature in Australia, inspire big ideas and encourage bold thinking”. The not-for-profit event is predicted to “encourage deep thinking and compelling conversations” through meet the author events, speeches, panel discussions, a business seminar, readings, musical performances, children’s programs, and a book club. “The Sorrento Writers Festival will be a time for open minds and open hearts.…
PUBLIC donations have helped Western Port Biosphere Reserve Foundation pay for a greenhouse on French Island and support research into protecting bryozoan reefs. Like corals, bryozoans are invertebrate animals, and have established reefs unique to Western Port. Biosphere foundation CEO Mel Barker said the money being used for the two projects resulted from the recent $50,000 in 50 days fundraising campaign. Barker said the donated money would pay for a greenhouse to be used by French Island Landcare to establish a nursery and community garden. While in the marine environment the money would go towards a research project into protecting…
AN artist has been commissioned to create a new sculpture to replace the Love Flower. The Love Flower currently sits by the Cranbourne Road exit ramp of the Peninsula Link freeway. The site is the former home of Reflective Lullaby, the ginormous chrome gnome. Natasha Johns-Messenger, an installation artist, has been handed a $300,000 commission for a “dynamic sculpture” project. The new artwork, titled Compass 23, will feature 12-metre high powder coated and stainless steel geometric structures. It will be installed in October next year. Johns-Messenger said that her work “responds to site – its scale, topography, light and spatial…
CESARE Bonacini turns 100 on Wednesday this week (17 August) and sees Main Ridge Bowls and Petanque Club as his “spiritual bowls home, his palace”. “This diminutive, always affable Italian migrant, affectionately known by all in the Mornington Peninsula bowls community as ‘Caesar’, is indeed hailed by all who have been fortunate to know him on the greens or off,” club member Sue Brown said. On 17 August club members will “salute a unique and beautiful human being”. “He remains a vital component of the bowls team and in 2009-10 secured the club’s pair’s title, a feat he achieved again…
BOXING legend Johnny Famechon has died aged 77. A Frankston resident for five decades, Famechon was born Jean-Pierre in France, moving to Australia as a young child with his family and quickly taking to boxing, making his pro debut at Festival Hall aged just 16. In the ring, Famechon was a plucky and skilled fighter who fought with heart. He skipped amateur boxing and rose through the ranks quickly after debuting, with his strong defensive style setting him apart from the rest. Famechon’s crowning glory came in 1969. In front of a huge crowd in the main event at Royal…
MOUNT Eliza resident Jodi Richardson has lived with anxiety all her life but faced the constant hurdle of nobody else really understanding what she was going through. The businesswoman, author and speaker says it took 20 years for her anxiety to be diagnosed and to access help, which has since put her on the path of helping others in a similar situation. Richardson, who has just been announced as a finalist in the AusMumpreneur Awards, said she is now dedicated to ensuring that others understand anxiety and get the help they need early. “When I was young it was quite…
THE Mornington Peninsula Toastmasters have been toasting new members but are still keen to welcome more. For nearly 100 years the organisation has encouraged and supported people from diverse backgrounds in becoming more confident speakers, communicators and leaders. Member Jacky Howgate said public speaking could be nerve wracking, but the support of Toastmasters made it a much less daunting activity that had boosted her confidence. Club president Sue Macdonald said being part of Toastmasters was also good for meeting new people from all walks of life. “It’s a great way to learn how to speak confidently in public, in a…
DROMANA resident Ceberio “Cebby” Johnson has won this year’s Frankston Arts Centre’s open exhibition competition with his self-portrait photograph, Ceb and Early. Johnson’s photograph was recognised for its depiction of optimism and happiness. Guest judge Suzette Wearne said the self-portrait stood out for the joy and spontaneity of its subjects—a young blind man and his dog. “It captures Ceberio Johnson’s remarkable fortitude and optimism,” she said. Johnson took the picture in his garden using a remote with a cord and a tripod. He said it had been difficult because his dog, Early, kept chewing the cord and knocked over the…
IT was his love of all things Tesla that inspired Sorrento resident Ryan Cowan to begin making Tesla content for social media. Over the past year he has created videos about his own Tesla, and all aspects of owning the famed electric vehicles. His following has increased exponentially, and he has now more than 20,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. But it was a simple 18-second video that boosted his efforts into the stratosphere. The video shows Cowan, hands on his head, walking towards a Tesla Model X and the car’s doors automatically opening. The door to the car then…
CHRISTINE Gorman, trading as Calmer Farmer, established her business after seeing a need to provide expert advice to tree changers who want to get the maximum benefit from their new lifestyles but are not sure where to start, or how to go about it. Christine offers farm coaching and tutelage over six or twelve months, focussing on providing individualised and comprehensive assistance in all areas of farming – from the ground up. With school-age children herself, she takes a family-friendly approach that incorporates all family member needs when helping clients to develop the skills they need, understand their resources, and…
ALTHOUGH it may be redundant as a source of domestic drinking water, Bittern Reservoir and surrounding bushland is home and a source of sustenance to many native birds and animals. Bittern is the smaller of two water storages within the 1000 hectare Devilbend Natural Features Reserve and on Sunday 24 July was circumnavigated by a group of 18 members of Birdlife Mornington Peninsula. Armed with binoculars, cameras and spotting scopes, the group recorded sightings of 43 bird species. Birdlife Mornington Peninsula holds two walks a month, which usually end with lunch and a discussion about birds seen and, maybe, heard.…
A TOOTGAROOK child care centre is officially the best on the Mornington Peninsula after receiving the highest rating, “exceeding” in all seven areas of the national quality standards. Capel Sounds Educational Child Care Centre and Kindergarten is the only centre on the peninsula to have attained that level. Part owner Wendy Stoffels said the small centre had worked hard to meet the standards, including maintaining a strong “connection to country” through its out and about program, and embedding daily reconciliation acknowledgments in the curriculum. “At Capel Sounds we have established an inclusive, positive and safe service where all children are…
AVA Holland is making waves in the world of competitive surfing and left some of Australia’s best surfers in her wake at the recent Skullcandy Oz Grom Open Event at Lennox Head. The goofy-footer (a surfer who stands with their right foot facing the front of the board) from Dromana – who turns 14 this month – showed her style during the six-day event to win the under-16 division with a 13.80 two-wave heat total. Holland, who took up surfing three years ago, said the Skullcandy was one of the most prestigious surfing events in the world. It includes a…
A MOUNT Martha man has hailed his dog a hero after she helped him when he collapsed from a stroke two years ago. Glenn Browne was getting ready to go out to dinner with friends when he collapsed while putting on a pair of jeans. Lying on the floor, confused, he was unaware his phone was ringing until Miley the Jack Russell stepped in. “She licked my face until I became more aware of my surroundings and that the phone was ringing,” Browne said. Browne dragged himself down the hallway to the phone. “He [Browne’s neighbour] was calling to see…
A FEW years ago, when Mount Martha resident Jarrod Massuger was barely into his 30s, an innocent-looking ulcer on his tongue set his life on a dramatically different course. Now he has an important message for others who ignore persistent health concerns. While the ulcer healed and Jarrod thought no more of it, two months later it returned, in the same spot, only bigger and causing a radiating pain to his left ear. “My wife made me see a GP, who referred me to an oral surgeon who concluded that it was “50/50” whether it was something sinister. “I was…
MOUNT Martha teenager Harry Geary has been selected to represent Australia as part of the world skate inline speed skating team at this year’s world skate games in Argentina. Geary, 17, is one of three inline speed skaters in Australia selected for the games. Being held in Buenos Aires later this year, the skate games will run events in rink hockey, skateboarding, roller derby, inline downhill, artistic skating and inline speed skating. Geary’s place at the games was cemented two weeks ago in Brisbane, when he won two gold medals and two silver medals at the 2022 National Inline Speed…
NICK Martin, of Portsea, is no stranger to open water swimming and will take it to the next level when he attempts the gruelling English Channel crossing on 1 August. Martin, a life member of Portsea Surf life Saving Club, a regular swimmer at Portsea front beach, is increasing his training regime in the weeks leading up to the swim to around 50 kilometres a week with a mix of open water and pool swimming. The Dover (England) to Calais (France) channel swim is 34 kilometres, but Martin knows that the tides and the weather can extend both the distance…
ASPIRING tennis pro and Mornington Tennis Centre player Lola Grigor had the experience of a lifetime earlier this month competing in the Rafa Nadal Tour with other 12 to 14 year olds from around the country. The tour is a junior tennis circuit launched in Spain in 2014, combining the tournament aspect with dynamic and fun educational activities (classroom and physical). Tennis centre spokeswoman Lynne Finch said the club was excited to have been chosen to host the tour, which had a strong focus on being a good person, not just a good player. The eight winning players from each…
DROMANA Primary School celebrated NAIDOC week last Monday against a backdrop of music, culture, sport and harmony. Students wore Indigenous-inspired clothing and celebrated NAIDOC week at various locations around the school. Author Coral Vass spoke to students and read from her book, Sorry Day. The students experienced traditional ways of life and tried using a spear thrower, didgeridoo and wearing possum skins, as well as learning about the origins of AFL football – Marngrook. They participated in a smoking ceremony performed by Lionel Lauch and his team from Living Culture and heard the school choir singing two songs inspired by…
MARK Daw, of the State Emergency Services Sorrento unit, and Rosebud-Rye Rotary Club member Pat Sansonetti, have been presented with Paul Harris Fellowship awards. The awards were made at a Rotary dinner on Wednesday 29 June. Daw has been a member of Sorrento SES since May 2012, undertaking such roles as incident controller responding to and managing storm and flood events, road crash rescues and leading teams to assist fire agencies. He was incident agency commander for the Victorian SES during the 2019/20 East Gippsland fires in charge of groups of volunteers and making decisions on response and safety in…