WHEN a local Men’s Shed member collapsed suffering a heart attack last year he could have been dead within minutes had it not been for the quick action of one of his colleagues applying CPR while waiting for an ambulance with the necessary equipment. The member survived the attack but the incident lead to a discussion with the Hastings Community Bank (Bendigo Bank branch) around the need for an on-site defibrillator. Investigation revealed a statistically higher than normal risk of heart attack at Men’s Sheds because of the ages and health issues of some members, many of whom spend considerable…
Author: MP News Group
AMBULANCE Victoria had a busy Sunday (17 January), with multiple incidents and rescues reported on Mornington Peninsula beaches: At 10.30am a man in his 40s swimming at Portsea was knocked over by a wave, dislocating his shoulder. He was taken to Rosebud hospital in a stable condition. At 3.10pm a teenage girl was hit by a boogie board and then by another swimmer, also at Portsea, injuring her head and neck. She was taken to Rosebud hospital in a stable condition. At 3.39pm a woman in her 30s suffered a serious cut to her leg when she fell on a…
PENINSULA Strikers soccer club members are still in shock after thieves broke into their clubrooms on New Year’s Eve. President Mark Brandon discovered the break-in at the club’s Centenary Park headquarters on McClelland Drive. “Initially I thought that the attempted break-in had failed but, once police arrived, it became clear what had happened,” Brandon said. “Thieves got in through the roof damaging four separate ceilings, two toilets, the bar and our storeroom. They also removed a safe bolted to a wall and stole its entire contents, leaving us well short of funds for the coming season.” But the theft of…
FROGS become more obvious after summer rains. Often heard but not seen, some of the common species to look out for are the common froglet, striped marsh frog and growling grass frog. To encourage the frogs to stick around, the Backyard Buddies program of the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife has issued tips on making a pond. “Water is incredibly important for Australia’s wildlife, especially our huge variety of frogs,” foundation CEO Susanna Bradshaw said. “A pond can offer an easy, permanent water source for your local amphibian buddies and will also benefit lots of other native animals too.…
UP to 300 people are expected to participate in Alzheimer’s Australia’s memory walk and jog at Point Nepean National Park, Sunday 24 January. The fundraising event is part of Alzheimer’s Australia’s efforts to raise awareness about dementia across Victoria. They estimate that 3240 of the state’s 81,000 people with dementia live on the Mornington Peninsula. Without a medical breakthrough that figure is predicted to rise to 10,153 people by 2050. The memory walk and Jog starts at the Quarantine Station with a 7 kilometre run at 8am, and 3.5km walk and 3.5km run at 9.30am. The event finishes at 11am.…
ARCTO has become a regular attraction at Dromana, but the rules are: look but don’t touch. The adult bull seal first landed on the beach two summers ago and this year took up residence for four days early in January. On warm days beachgoers vying for their own bit of sand make it a bit hard to avoid the Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus), although Arcto seems happy enough to share. “This is Arcto’s third straight summer at Dromana and we want to make sure people stay at least 30 metres from him if he does come back,” Department…
A VOLUNTEER beach clean-up with a twist will be held at Rye front beach, 10.30am-3pm, Sunday 24 January. Organiser Sacha Guggenheimer said the Seaside Scavenge concept, Trash–Trade, was all about collecting and trading beach litter for secondhand clothes. “Come and trade the trash you collect on the beach for stylish secondhand threads donated by salty folk to raise awareness of marine debris and plastic pollution,” she said. Those attending should register before starting. They should also bring their own gloves. Prizes will be given throughout the day. Events will include a recycling-themed session of children’s yoga at noon; trashy craft…
SORRENTO Bowls Club is celebrating Australia Day on Tuesday 26 January with a barefoot bowls carnival. The same event last year attracted 700 enthusiasts to the 81-year-old club. This official Mornington Peninsula Shire event aims to provide a family activity to commemorate the national day. It will run 10am-5pm, with free entry, loan of bowls and a sausage sizzle. The Australian flag will be raised at 10.30am by Australia Day ambassador Paul Guerra, managing director and senior vice-president, Asia Pacific, of Optum International and chairman, Queen Victoria Market. The national anthem will be performed by the Southern Peninsula Singers choir…
A RUPTURED water main forced emergency workers to close Point Nepean Rd, Tootgarook, Wednesday morning. The torrent of water from the main gouged a three metre by two-and-a-half-metre hole in the bitumen. The highway was closed both ways between Keith and Kevin streets and traffic diverted while works were completed. Point Nepean Rd resident David Stanton said he had “been ringing South East Water to discuss the emergency all morning, and every time I ring they advance the time it will take be fixed by an hour”. “It’s like a crater in the road; there’s a lot of damage and…
SCRIBBLES Supported Playgroup at Seawinds Community Hub has won the Playgroup Victoria Supported Playgroup of the Year award. Children, parents and playgroup facilitators celebrated the achievement last week. Supported playgroups aim to assist parents develop the skills and confidence to support their children’s learning and development. Mornington Peninsula Shire has received an annual grant to assist local supported playgroups since 2009, and is in partnership with community agencies, including Community Health, Anglicare, Good Shepherd and Family Life. Families are invited to join through referral. Scribbles is co-facilitated by the shire and Family Life, a service organisation working to transform lives…
THIRTY young dancers are performing cameo roles in the Rye-based theatre show, The Humanimals. The show is on at Jason Coleman’s Cabaret Cathedral, a purpose built urban theatre on Rye foreshore. The teenagers appear in 10 shows alongside international dancers and performers. Coleman, a dancer, choreographer and director who grew up in Rosebud, says he is determined to ensure he “pays it forward’ when it comes to nurturing the passions and skills of other young dancers”. “I grew up here, [and know] you can’t just jump on a tram to see the latest show or wander by a performance. It’s…
By BILLIE DIXON When you career begins in the furthest corners of a sleepy seaside village, nearly two hours from the centre of Melbourne, you’re going to have to put in some serious legwork if the rest of the world’s going to recognise you. Seth Morton lived on the Mornington Peninsula for nearly 20 years before a career in music beckoned him elsewhere. A small market that seemed to cater exclusively to cover bands and a general lack of industry saw the Peninsula of the mid-2000s unable to cater for an emerging artist of his calibre. Seth dropped his last…
IT’S summertime: a time to experience the beach, the sea and the bush on the Mornington Peninsula. And, this summer, Lamppost Gallery, Mt Eliza, offers another way to connect with the Australian landscape. It’s Still Life is an exhibition of sculptures by artist, writer, TV producer and actor Nathan King, whose art explores states of being in the natural world. A leaf becomes a skeleton and a sea anemone becomes a shell-casing … Following these shifts and changes in natural forms, King’s work explores nature, its diversity and transience. Discarded, fallen and forgotten remnants of nature are salvaged and assembled…
JUNIOR sailors from Mornington Yacht Club weathered the worst of the storms in NSW during the recent Laser, 420 and Optimist class championships. The club had 15 Optimist sailors competing, eight 420 sailors and two Laser sailors, with around 30 parents and six siblings accompanying them and offering support. Coaches were Mel Hitchen-Haw, Johnny Rodgers and Bunny Warren. Laser sailors Rhett and Tyrone Gowans competed in the Gold fleet at the Belmont 16ft Sailing Club, Newcastle, with Rhett, sailing Rhett’s Rig, coming sixth and Tyrone, sailing Tubby, coming 29th out of 92 competitors. Mornington sailors Stan Austin and Kristian Tipvsky…
Ready, set, swim! With sunshine and favourable winds forecast for the weekend, Portsea Surf Life Saving Club’s (PSLSC) signature special event, The Portsea Swim Classic (PSC), is shaping up to be another fantastic day for swimmers, this Saturday 16 January. The 1.5km open water swim sets off from Fisherman’s Beach, and concludes with competitors making a dash for the finish line in the picturesque surrounds of Point Nepean National Park. 2016 marks an exciting milestone for the Portsea Swim Classic, with the event achieving its 30th Anniversary. In celebration of the Anniversary, there is an additional event on offer this…
THE two vessels integral to the success of Victorian Maritime Centre being built at Hastings are in trouble. The Otama, an Oberon class submarine, is anchored off Crib Point and needs new mooring cables by May if it is to survive winter storms. Cost of the cables is put at $50,000. The other vessel owned by the Western Port Oberon Association, the Wyuna, was built in 1953 and donated to the association in 2013. Although extensively refitted and undergoing sea trials she remains in Tasmania because there is no berth available in Melbourne. Association president Max Bryant said the Wyuna…
BALNARRING Freemasons have given $5000 to the Hastings Police Senior Citizens Register. Lodge master Barry Hodder handed the donation to register coordinator Denise Palmer. The register has been run by volunteers for 15 years and has 1000 clients. It operates out of Hastings police station. The money will go towards a new car for follow-up action when concerns are held for a registered person, especially when daily phone contact fails. Volunteers check on each client’s wellbeing. If, for any reason, there’s no answer within a certain time, a nominated emergency contact is notified. If this fails police or a staff…
THE car park near Western Port Marina will be filled on Sunday 17 January with 300 eye-catching cars of all makes and models setting off on one of Victoria’s largest veteran, vintage and classic car rallies. Hastings is one of three designated starting points – and perhaps the biggest – for the RACV’s Great Australian Rally which runs from Melbourne to Mornington and attracts almost 1000 entries. The 15-year-old rally aims to promote the pleasures of classical motoring and raise funds for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Last year the rally raised more than $72,000. Organiser, the All British Classics…
FAST food was the common denominator in the charging of two Western Port drink-drivers last week. A Baxter woman will be charged after being found in Somerville with a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit. Hastings police spotted the woman in a fast food drive through on Eramosa Rd, 1am, Monday 4 January. The 33-year-old was breath tested and returned a reading of 0.202 per cent. She will be charged on summons. Senior Sergeant Michael Lamb said the intercept was potentially a lucky escape for both the woman and the community. “With a blood alcohol level this high,…
CRIB Point and Hastings CFA crews yesterday battled a grass and scrub fire off The Esplanade between Disney and Lorimer streets. Police were called to investigate the cause of the blaze. Duty officer Andrew Turner said 15 appliances and up to 50 firefighters on the scene were awaiting the arrival of a water-bombing aircraft at about 3.30pm. However, with a cooler wind change and light rain the fire was classed as “safe” at 4pm. Firefighters said it was lucky the wind did not pick up at the start of the blaze. First published in the Western Port News – 12…
THE Baxter woman pinned against a wall by her car at the Grant Rd storage facility early last week was in “a stable condition” yesterday, Monday. The 59-year-old staff member was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with serious injuries after being stuck for five hours outside the Somerville business. Police and emergency services crews stabilised the woman on Monday 4 January before the car could be moved. The officers then had difficulty evacuating the woman to hospital as locked bollards blocked their way onto Fruitgrowers’ Reserve where the air ambulance was waiting. A Mornington Peninsula Shire officer arrived with the…
ARTISTS have again been behind their easels creating works for the Sorrento Rotary Club’s annual art show. Now in its 30th year, the show last year raised more than $65,000 for community projects on the peninsula. Walter Magilton, pictured, will be judging the more than 800 entries in the show, including oils, watercolours, acrylics and ink on paper. The show includes works by Ron Farnill, Jayne Henderson, Craig Davy, John Whitelaw and Fiona Bilborough. Magilton’s childhood was spent on a dairy farm in Victoria surrounded by forest and its wild creatures. He says his desire to commune with nature in…
PRESS reports, Friday, have confirmed that the Portsea hotel freehold has sold for $17.1 million. The proposed sale was tipped in The News (“Overseas investor eyes on us”, 25/8/15) with owner Colonia Leisure Group national operations manager Grady Patching saying the hotel building and land was for sale – but not the business. Computershare founder and multi-millionaire Chris Morris reportedly paid $9.3 million for the 140-year-old hotel in 1999 and his Colonial Leisure Group took full control in 2012. It will continue to run the hotel with Mr Patching stating the venue “has just had its most profitable year since…
AT 100, Reg Craig is still a force to be reckoned with. While celebrating his 100th birthday friends recalled his advocacy work within the community and saw proof of his power when Flinders MP Greg Hunt sang along to the Collingwood Football Club’s theme song. Mr Hunt had popped in to the lunch on 27 December at Rosebud Country Club to congratulate Mr Craig and present him with his certificate. Mr Craig also received a letter from the Queen and the Prime Minister. At the lunch Mr Hunt thanked Mr Craig for his service to the Rosebud community over…
YOU can’t keep a good man down – as Matthew Papadimitriou, 19, of Rowville, above, proved when he won the race for the wooden cross for the second year in a row at Wednesday’s (6 January) Blessing of the Waters off Rye pier. According to Greek Orthodox beliefs he will receive 12 months’ good luck and prosperity as a reward. The traditional event followed a Eucharistic blessing at the Orthodox Church in Red Hill, with a priest leading a procession along the pier for the day’s action. A festival of music and dancing enlivened the foreshore afterwards. The ceremony celebrates…
THE Mornington Peninsula branch of the Disabled Surfers’ Association is holding the first of this year’s two surfing events at Point Leo on Saturday (16 January). Volunteers should be at the Point Leo lifesaving club well before the 11am start. The event runs until 3pm and includes a barbecue and awards ceremony. Helpers and participants can call the Mornington Peninsula association’s president, Ash Gardner on 0417 362 983 or Stewart Lockie 0418 101 645. Details disabledsurfers.org/vic/morning-peninsula-branch The branch is working towards building a wheelchair accessible boardwalk overlooking Point Leo beach and trying to organise public access to its sand-friendly wheelchairs…
By Barry Irving RYE Sports & Social Club hosted the 42nd running of Rye’s premier sporting event, the Rye Gift, on Saturday. In perfect weather for an athletics carnival, the Victorian Athletic League conducted this multi-event program that draws Victoria’s top athletes to Rye each January. Now billed as a day out for families, there was a host of children’s activities that included face painting, a jumping castle and a visit from Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer and Peter Rabbit. For the adults, an on-course bookmaker, beverage tent and food stalls added to the full program of sprint and distance…
PENINSULA Community Legal Centre is celebrating the contributions of its volunteers who enable it to offer free legal advice four nights a week. The not-for-profit organisation has been providing ongoing assistance to clients on low incomes since 1977. Its volunteers were celebrated around the world on 5 December: International Volunteer Day, by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985. “Last year our volunteer lawyers provided more than 2000 free legal advices,” Volunteers and Education general manager Andrea Staunton said. “Seventy-six per cent of clients assisted by volunteers had no or low incomes (less than $500 gross per week).” Lawyer volunteers…
BOATERS are again able to use credit cards instead of cash when parking at boat ramps across the Mornington Peninsula. Mornington Peninsula mayor Cr Graham Pittock said the ParkMobile introduced last summer was being used by a “significant number of boat ramp users”. The old coin-operated machines will be phased out this month. Those using the system can set up an account at parkmobile.com.au or call 1300 564 564. They can download the free smart device application at iTunes, Google Play or Windows markets. The voice asks for a car registration number and credit card details. An introductory rate for…
Silvers Circus Family pass giveaway Tickets valid for Saturday January 9th, 2016 – 11am show at Bata Show Grounds, 1158 Nepean Highway, Mornington Terms and Conditions These terms and conditions (“Terms and Conditions”) govern the relationship between you, the entrant (“you”, “yours”) and the promoter, Mornington Peninsula News Group (“Mornington Peninsula News Group”, “Promoter”, “we”, “our”, “us”) 2/1 Tyabb Road, Mornington Eligibility The Competition is open to Australian residents aged 18 years or over. 2. The following are not eligible to enter the Competition: (i) employees and independent contractors of the Promoter and/or its related party entities (i.e. parent companies and subsidiaries); (ii)…