AT just nine Mount Eliza’s Josh Berry knew he wanted to do something for people in need, so he did something a little different – he started collecting socks. Fast forward seven years and the industrious year 10 student has collected 38,000 pairs of new socks and is still counting. Berry says he came up with the idea when he was thinking about ways to help homeless people, and realised warm socks were something everyone needed. “I did some research and warm socks was apparently the second biggest needed clothing item,” he said. His initial aim was to collect 50,000…
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MOUNT Martha resident Richard Hunt likes to push his limits, and a 300 kilometre bike ride around the bay is just the thing to do it. On Sunday 9 October, under the banner of Around the Bay 2022, Hunt will ride 300 kilometres to raise money for The Smith Family to kelp young people in need. Although riders can choose shorter sections of the ride, Hunt will attempt the whole 300 kilometres and says he feels confident he can make the distance. Every year, the 300km loop challenges hundreds of the most seasoned riders while giving the full experience of…
STAN Fear, of Somerville, has been inducted into the Equestrian Victoria Hall of Fame. Now 88 and retired, Fear was one of a pioneering class of riders who was part of the introduction of jumping as a sport in Australia. Having been involved in international competitions, Fear has rubbed shoulders with the best horse people in the world, including Princess Anne who he counts as a friend, the Roycroft family, and even Queen Elizabeth 11. “I feel lucky to have been given recognition, it means a lot to be considered in the same ranks as some of the best horse…
HO, ho, ho, it’s not quite Christmas that but doesn’t matter to the every-jubilant Mr C, also known as Nicholas Clause. The motorbike-driving Santa fan has for the past few years been spreading yuletide joy all year on the Mornington Peninsula, albeit in different colours and in suits he makes himself. “At Christmas I stick to my red suit, but I like to spread joy at other times of the year so I have a range of colours,” he said. “There’s Yuletide in June, when I wear blue, Christmas in July is white, Spring is a green suit, the feast…
PETER Scott says he was “kissed by an angel” one day eight years ago when he was in the middle of a routine work test he never got to finish. That was in 2014, the day the “reasonably fit” 65-year-old suffered a stroke, completely unaware that his blood pressure was “through the roof” and work-related pressures had taken their toll on his health. “Wednesday the 4th of June 2014, in the midst of a routine skills test for work, I started to show physical signs of being unwell,” Scott said. “Thankfully, my colleague insisted I stop immediately, and we go…
THE Queen’s 1986 visit to the Mornington Peninsula started on Friday 7 March after being ferried from the Royal Yacht Britannia to Stony Point pier. The Britannia had arrived in Western Port from Port Phillip the previous night. First stop once ashore (after being welcomed ashore by local dignitaries and officials) was a visit to Ballam Park Technical School, Frankston. The royal couple was then driven back to Stony Point for lunch aboard the Britannia before returning to shore and heading off to HMAS Cerberus, at Crib Point. Flag-waving schoolchildren lined the road as the Queen and Prince Phillip headed…
EASTBOURNE Primary School students dressed in yellow on R U OK? Day and were involved in activities that provide strategies to help students in dealing with mental health issues. “The day has been an excellent one that also provided many fun activities at recess and lunch,” wellbeing coordinator Skye Miller said. Last Thursday (8 September) students danced in the hall to recorded music while handicraft activities took place in the library, cooking in the school’s kitchen and bubbles floated through the playground. The afternoon session included Jeannette Hausley from Jimmies, speaking to the upper school students about mental health and…
FLAGS across the Mornington Peninsula have been flying at half mast ever since of the death of Queen Elizabeth II became known last Friday. Possibly the first to be lowered were those flying outside the municipal offices at Mornington which were adjusted downwards by Louise Stewart, the first to arrive at the offices in the appropriately named Queen Street. Because they are illuminated at night, the flags are permitted to fly at all times and were probably the first to be lowered on the peninsula. The Queen’s death on Thursday 8 September also set in motion the time-honoured protocols for…
THREE Mornington fire fighters will participate in the ninth annual Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb. The stair climbing challenge, held at the Crown Metropol, raises money to fight depression, PTSI and suicide. The Mornington fire station is currently the second highest fundraising brigade for the event and team members are hoping to take it further. Chris Davey, 33, is the only one of the trio who has completed the stair climb before but is confident all three will make it to the top. Hoping to better his own previous time of around 4.5 minutes, Davey says he has been putting some…
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.…
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.…