Day: March 6, 2017

A BOY attending a Rosebud foreshore camp got a painful surprise when stung by a stingray, then a worse one when he discovered his prize Pilgrim BMX bike had been stolen while he was receiving treatment. Mornington boy James Gardner, 12, was enjoying the camp’s activities and standing knee-deep in the bay when he was stung. “He got such a fright and it really hurt him,” his mother Fifi Gardner said. “He started yelling to the other kids to watch out because he didn’t know what it was and, by the time he got back to shore, he was beside…

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…

MEMORIES good and bad came flooding back when a former child patient of a now-dilapidated and disused Mt Eliza children’s hospital visited the Jacksons Rd site last week. Don Lawson, 83, but only “three or four” at the time, spent many weeks at the 100-bed Royal Children’s Orthopaedic Hospital in 1939 when it cared for children with tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, club foot, curvature of the spine, and infantile paralysis. He was there to have his feet “straightened”, as was the way in those days, which meant fracturing the bones and resetting them in plaster. Visiting from Toora last week with his…

A FRANKSTON woman has been duped into handing over several hundred thousand dollars to a man she never met in an online dating scam. The lonely woman, 63, was contacted in December by a potential “friend” who said he was in Australia but was soon returning to Turkey. The man said he was a civil engineer who was working on a project in that country and “needed funding to finalise the project” which he wasn’t able to provide himself.  “They continued with online conversations which were quite affectionate and made it sound like they were a couple and had been…

FOR Mt Martha resident, father of three and Melbourne firefighter Rob Newton, the path to becoming an author was anything but conventional. It started innocently a few years ago with a series of funny, lively and “embellished” letters about his life to his brother Chris, in Sweden. It soon spiralled into a whole lot more, as Chris and his friends became intrigued with the crazy made-up tales Rob was spinning and egged him on to send monthly “instalments”. “I was never very good at writing letters, so I just started making things up and the stories just grew and grew,”…

FOR Mt Martha residents Tony and Leeanne O’Connor, the Mornington Peninsula’s natural environment and abundance of wildlife are the jewels in its crown. The O’Connors have rejected the lure of the development dollar and the temptation to keep up with the Jones’s to create a sustainable lifestyle and wildlife haven on their five-acre property. Since buying their bare block 17 years ago, the O’Connors have transformed it into a sustainable habitat, complete with a wetland, vegetable and fruit gardens, and nature corridors. With limited funds and a passion for sustainability and recycling, Tony built his own mud-brick, solar-passive house using…

EARLY risers got a glimpse of Hart Marine’s newest high performance pilot boat as it was transported by low-loader to Mornington boat harbour, 5am, Tuesday 28 February. The $2.5 million self-righting composite design will work out of the port of Burnie in Tasmania. Its wide hull, wave-piercing “beak” bow, oversized rudders, and spacious side decks combine to allow easy pilot transfer while steaming alongside slowly moving ships. The wheelhouse is suspended from the hull to reduce noise and vibration, easing crew fatigue. “Hellyer” – named after a region in north-west Tasmania – took 70 Hart boat-builders 10 months to complete.…

STATE Planning Minister Richard Wynne is now the deciding factor in whether or not a skateboard park is built close to Mt Martha Tennis club’s courts. Mr Wynne has been asked to approve changes to the Mornington Peninsula planning scheme enabling the shire to compulsory recover land it has leased to the tennis club until December 2023. The shire’s property and strategy manager Yasmin Woods expects to get the all clear to advertise the proposed planning scheme change “in the next two to three months”. The shire’s grand plan for a $825,000 skatepark on the former parade ground came to…

RESIDENTS of a historically-significant “garden” suburb in Mt Eliza have launched a legal challenge to protect the character of the estate amid fears protection overlays are being watered down. The Ranelagh Residents Association has lodged an appeal with the Victorian Civil and Administrative and Tribunal over a planning application for a multi-storey house in Rendlesham Av. Houses in the tightly-held bayside Ranelagh Estate, a 1920s, 800-lot residential subdivision designed as a “seaside garden estate” by American landscape architect Walter Burley Griffin, are subject to covenants that allow one dwelling on each allotment to retain the neighbourhood character and prevent over-development.…

By Ben Triandafillou ROSEBUD Country Club member, Andrew Schonewille, has recently joined the professional ranks after a very impressive amateur career on the Australian circuit. Schonewille’s amateur career was far from ordinary leading a Victorian Open after the second round in 2014 and receiving a full scholarship for the 2016 Victorian Elite Squad. Schonewille is currently in New Zealand for a couple of weeks competing in the ISPS Handa New Zealand Open with fellow Rosebud professional golfer, James Marchesani. Marchesani has noticed considerable improvement in Schonewille’s game over the years and is impressed with his transition to a professional golfer.…

SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie A BROKEN leg, a 9-0 thrashing, send-offs and melees involving players, both benches, coaches and spectators – the 2017 FFA Cup had it all last weekend. Rosebud Heart veteran Simon O’Donnell suffered a broken fibia and tibia of his right leg during Saturday’s 3-1 win over Dandenong Warriors at Knox Regional Centre. “That’s my career over. I don’t want my son ever seeing that again and will just focus on my weekends with him,” said O’Donnell on Sunday awaiting surgery at Knox Private Hospital. Heart was 2-0 up after 11 minutes thanks to a sizzling strike…

SUB-DISTRICT TOOTGAROOK will play Hastings for the second week in succession after comfortably booking its place in the MPCA Sub District finals on Saturday. The Frogs needed to win its final match of the season against the ladder leaders to assure themselves a place in the finals. The teams will meet again in the semi-final this Saturday and Sunday, while in the other semi-final, Ballam Park and Frankston YCW will go head-to-head. Whilst Hastings would have liked to have won its last home and away game, the prize for a win was much, much bigger for the home side. Tootgarook…

DISTRICT FLINDERS has snatched the final place in the MPCA District top four after knocking over Heatherhill in the final home and away game of the season. Mt Martha held onto fourth place going into the final round, while both Heatherhill and Flinders sat outside waiting to pounce. The Reds couldn’t get the job done against Delacombe Park, giving the Hills and the Sharks the opportunity to grab the final spot. It went down to the wire but the Sharks got there in the end with nine balls to spare. Heatherhill batted first at BA Cairns Reserve and didn’t get…

PROVINCIAL LONG Island has avoided relegation to District grade after pulling off a memorable victory over Pines on Saturday in MPCA Provincial cricket. The Islanders came into the final match of the season a game clear of the Ducs and its percentage was just a smidge better. Whilst it was unlikely that Moorooduc would beat Mornington at Alexandra Park, the Islanders still needed to win to guarantee them of preventing relegation. As it turned out, the Ducs thumped the Doggies, which made the Islanders’ win crucial. At the other end of the table, Mt Eliza belted Somerville and stamped its…

WE regret to have to record the death of Mr H B. Hanton, of “Ashburnham” Frankston. He has been in failing health for some 18 months past, and about 6 months ago went under an operation for an internal complaint, from which he never seemed to properly rally, but gradually sank and died peacefully on Monday morning last. He wa engaged for many years in the fish mongering business, carrying on the business of two shops in Melbourne. After retiring he resided for some time at Tooradin, and about 8 years ago purchased “Ashburnham” where he resided up to the…

Welcome to the wonderful musical illusion that is BABBA! For 21 years, BABBA have been thrilling audiences with their superb re-creation of 70’s super group ABBA and the legacy of hits they gave us. With glitz and glamour served up with Swedish accents and enough musical memories to fill 2 hours to overflowing, BABBA will take you on a journey through time to when satin was King and Dancing Queens ruled. For two hours, Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Frida can be yours once again and all you have to do is believe. This enticing mix of sights and sounds allows…

There’s a revolution happening in the world of Adam Brand. It’s a creative revolution that sees Brand redefining boundaries and returning with the most ambitious record of his career, GET ON YOUR FEET. The album pushes the envelope in a way that few country artists of the modern era have ever attempted. This is Adam Brand in 2017, and he’s bringing a full deck of fine songs to the party that will establish a new high-water mark for him in a career that is already rich with them. With a new genre pushing record that’s set to send critics and…

In Between you and me TextaQueen explores gender, race and identity through the medium of fibre-tipped pens. Bringing together work created over a 15 year period, this survey exhibition reflects on how visual and popular culture inform personal identity via re-interpretations of the salon nude, re-creations of cultural and historical identities undressed in the Australian landscape and critiques of colonial histories in apocalyptic movie poster portraits. TextaQueen was an artist in residence at the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Police Point Artist in Residence Cottage in 2016. A new body of photographic works created during the residency is on display in the…

THIEVES have stolen the takings from Mornington Peninsula camping ground laundries over the past week. Senior Constable Ian Huxtable, of Rosebud police, said 18 camp laundries, from Sorrento to McCrae, were targeted in the raids, 19-22 February. He said coin slots were forced open “causing a considerable amount of damage”. The shire runs 26 separate laundries for the use of campers at the camping grounds. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers, 1800 333 000. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 7 March 2017

AN 84-year-old man found underneath his upturned paddle board 200 metres off the Rye sailing club, Wednesday 1 March, could not be revived. The man, a father of three from Rye, was brought to shore by two jet skiers who unsuccessfully tried CPR, at about 11am. Sergeant Paul Dickson, of Rosebud police, said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the man’s death, which had earlier been reported as a “medical incident”. The Water Police will prepare a report for the coroner. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 7 March 2017

DROMANA College will take on a carnival atmosphere in March when it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Former teachers and students who make up the bands Missing Links, Munster Terrace and a Bruce Springsteen Tribute Band will share the stage along with our performing arts students promoting the college’s upcoming production of the Wizard of Oz. There will also be market and food stalls, memorabilia, an abseiling wall, a petting zoo, face painting and $10 wristbands allowing unlimited carnival rides as well as tours of the college. The College had its genesis in October 1966, when former Flinders Shire Councillor and…

BEAUTY is in the eye of the beholder, and the bright blue colour scheme of Morgan’s fish and chippery in Sorrento is no exception. Owner Julian Gerner, who says he received the go ahead for his chosen colour scheme from Mornington Peninsula Shire council last year, thinks it is attractive. “The colour is part of the branding of the fish-and-chip shop,” he said. “I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the trading space yet people choose to focus on my painting it a certain colour. Taste is subjective.” Mr Gerner said he had a permit to paint the “whole…

RED Hill artist Michael Leeworthy can’t find the time to volunteer at his local op shop so, instead, he’s donating proceeds from his next exhibition. Leeworthy will give 25 per cent of the takings from an exhibition on 18 and 19 March to the Red Hill op shop, which distributes the money to several Mornington Peninsula charities, including the Peninsula Home Hospice and CFAs. A member of the Art Red Hill committee for 20 years, Leeworthy is well known for his passion for contributing to the community. The multi-talented artist wears many hats, having started the successful all-male Men’s Book…