FOUR sailors from Mornington Yacht Club will be heading for Germany later this year after having won the under-22 category and open class events in last month’s Asia Pacific finals in Newcastle. Fifteen clubs from around Australia and Vanuatu competed in the titles on 26 and 27 March. The competition in Germany will determine the World’s Best Sailing Club of the Year. The Mornington team hoping to continue its winning form in Germany comprises skipper James Jackson, 17, Jack Eickmeyer, also 17, and 19 year old twins Lily and Matilda Richardson. James Jackson was last year’s Australian Sailing’s youth sailor…
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MORE than $200 million worth of cars and modern art were on display last week when Pt Leo Estate hosted the Motorists Concours d’Elégance. The event saw car, art and food and wine enthusiasts view about 100 of concours and preservation-state cars. Pt Leo Estate, home to a $70 million art collection, was kept by the Gandel family as a winery and private retreat for many years but is now a sculpture park with 330 hectares of landscaping featuring works by Australian and overseas artists. Together with her husband John, Pauline Gandel has combined a knowledge of sculpture parks around…
MALCOLM Gordon’s new book ‘A Never Ending Journey’ was officially launched at Crittenden Estate Wine Centre on Friday 25 March. The Member for Flinders, Greg Hunt, launched the book, speaking on the importance of recording history for generations to come. The book is a history of the Mornington Peninsula and in fact a sequel to his earlier publication ‘Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula’ which first appeared in 1997. Readers of the new book will find pre-history, geology, natural systems, cultural landscapes, visitor attractions, conservation and expanding development, rural and coastal townships and their distinctive characters, alongside entertaining local anecdotes. Throughout there is…
A TOUCHING tribute to Mt Eliza’s Percy the peacock, who was hit by a car and died late last year, has been made by a local couple who the injured bird hiding in grass off Kunyung Road. The couple, Teresa and David Quinn, have mounted a beautiful and colourful peacock image on the front of their house to commemorate the importance of the bird’s presence to the community. Neighbour Dawn Whittaker, whose home was often visited by Percy, said the plaque was a beautiful celebration of Percy’s life and a reminder of how much he was loved by those who…
THE first piece of art in a ‘Billboards’ tour of Victoria by Indigenous artists is being presented by Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery and on show at 2061 Frankston-Flinders Road, Hastings, until 8 May. Mixed-cultural, First Peoples multidisciplinary artist Lisa Waup, along with artists Amrita Hepi, and Steven Rhall, have been commissioned to create new works for ‘Billboards’ in regional Victoria in partnership galleries. The tour, commissioned by NETS Victoria, an Australia Council for the Arts initiative to create a national network of visual arts touring, aims to ensure contemporary art continues to reach audiences. For the first billboard, Waup’s work…
MORNINGTON Park Primary School is celebrating its results, which shows concerted efforts to lift reading rates have achieved remarkable improvements compared to previous years. Principal Beverley Dadds said the school was “incredibly proud” to be recognised for the results achieved in Naplan, after ‘whole school community’ efforts during the difficult lockdown periods of the past two years. Ms Dadds said teachers had worked hard to improve literacy, with lots of one-on-one support, and the school moving away from levelled readers. She said classrooms were happy places of learning, now only filled with quality literature to engage students in reading. Feedback…
JOSIE Jones is one of those genuinely humble people who inspire by their actions, but never expect anything in return. Which is why the recent Order of Australia Medal recipient and environmental reformer wins hearts and minds wherever she goes, with her rare mix of intelligence and determination, underscored with a gentle focus on love, nature, and the environment. Our conversation begins with a discussion about her dogs, her now-deceased 15-year-old Jack Russell, Cocolait, that would accompany Ms Jones on beach rubbish pick-up walks, and the dog’s daughter Honey, who is now always by her side. It’s obvious Ms Jones’…
TO raise much-needed money to support mental health, Mornington Peninsula cyclists with the Ride for Relief team left for Mallacoota yesterday to enjoy some pampering before the ride. The group will be enjoying a pre-opening dining and bathing experience at the soon to be open Metung Hot Springs, where they will be able to relax in geothermal waters and take on breathtaking views across the Gippsland Lakes. The riders are preparing to ride across Victoria as part of a fundraising mission, and hope to build on the success of past Ride for Relief events. This year’s ride will be a…
By Lulu THE heroic life of Jeff Williams of Somerville has left an indelible footprint on Mornington Peninsula artists. The 57-year-old who died recently was one of the mainstays of the Mornington Peninsula Painting and Drawing Group Inc which is understood to have originally been an offshoot of the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. In spite of being in a wheelchair and attached to an oxygen bottle, Mr Williams held the roles of president and treasurer during his long association with the 50-year-old group. After Mr Williams was hospitalised with complications from life-long muscular dystrophy and heart/lung issues the group was…
OSBORNE Primary School students are being encouraged to embrace the joys of walking, cycling or skating to school, and are gearing up for the National Ride2School Day on 25 March. They will join 350,000 students across Australia taking part in the Bicycle Network campaign on Friday. Grade four teacher Nick Drysdale said the school encouraged student participation because the benefits of getting more exercise were clear. “Often classmates arrange to ride to and from school together, and there are the obvious exercise benefits that flow on to better concentration and better overall health,” he said. Mr Drysdale said walking or…
A SOCIAL experiment started in the United Kingdom to connect people though a coffee and a chat has arrived on the Mornington Peninsula. The Chatty Cafe scheme, which is now operating throughout Australia, aims to get people talking to build to social skills and connections within the community, and help to reduce social isolation and loneliness. Volunteer Mornington Peninsula coordinator Jacky Howgate said the concept was just starting on the peninsula, but already a variety of venues had signed on to participate, and the team of volunteer “chatters” who host a table and help conversation along was growing. British founder…
THEY come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have the same goals of fitness, friendship and fun. Mornington Mermaids is a swimming group that started early last year, meeting at Fishermans Beach every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7am for an invigorating, cold water swim and after swim, cafe catch-up. Organiser Jacky Howgate says the daily dip is not about being fast or even a good swimmer, it’s about the benefits of aqua exercise, cold water and supporting each other. “Not everyone swims, some just float and enjoy the serenity,” she said. “I love each and every one…
WESTERN Port Men’s Shed is back in business in Bittern. After a long break due to COVID restrictions, president Colin Prowd said there was a need for a friendly, social outlet for men, where they could get involved in meaningful projects. Mr Prowd said some men were reluctant to get back out into the community after COVID, as were many in the community, and numbers were down at men’s sheds across the country. “We lost about eight members who have not come back after COVID restrictions ended, so we’d love to let men know that they are welcome to join…
MOST children love to draw, but few eight-year-olds ever get enough recognition of their talents to draw an audience or begin a potential career from it. But an art exhibition with a difference is now being held at the Artisan’s Alley in Main Street, Mornington until the end of March, featuring the works of eight-year-old Stella Mars (pictured). Stella, according to mum Steph Mars, has been dedicated to fine tuning her craft ever since she was two. But it’s not just family who have recognised her aptitude and ability to create eye-catching canvases. With Stella having sold several of her…
SKYLA Lauch wants to use her platform as finalist in the Miss Galaxy Australia pageant to lift the profile of Indigenous women and inspire others to reach for the stars. The 22-year-old from Rosebud, who is representing the Mornington Peninsula in next month’s national finals, has been modelling since she was 12 and is focussing on becoming Miss Galaxy because it would offer her a chance to be a bigger voice for Indigenous people. “As an Indigenous woman my main goal is to inspire and encourage other Indigenous women to be proud and be who they want to be,” Ms…
BROTHER and sister filmmakers Stephany and Julian Avila want to pitch their Mornington Peninsula-based mockumentary/comedy web series to film industry heavyweights and further develop the series. The Avilas, actors from Mount Eliza and Frankston South, have worked on many films and pilots together and have just finished a pilot episode for a national screen competition being run by Screen Forever and Tik Tok. Stephany Avila, who has been acting since she was four, and has featured in Australian television programs, said her and her brother Julian’s series Aussie Spirit revolved around Australian ghosts and the households they haunt. The siblings…
OPPORTUNITY shops on the Mornington Peninsula need shoppers to rediscover the benefits of bargain hunting, and volunteers to come back on board to help out. Both Fusion’s Thrift op shop and the RSPCA op shop in Mornington have experienced a dramatic downturn in trade and volunteers in recent times, affecting the amount of money raised for the services they provide to the community. Fusion is a Mount Martha-based youth and community organisation that provides a housing service and runs several programs to assist socially-at-risk young people in Australia. Its op shop in Progress Street has struggled to maintain volunteer numbers…
GARDENS for Wildlife is finally up and running on the Mornington Peninsula. The program, which was impacted by COVID restrictions, is a network of community groups and councils working together to care for native plants and animals on the peninsula. It is designed to encourage and support residents in creating a haven for local wildlife using indigenous plants in their gardens and is a partnership between Mornington Peninsula Shire and community members and groups that share the common goal of protecting and promoting native flora and fauna. Much of the peninsula’s flora and fauna is rare or endangered and gardens…
THE first Mornington Peninsula Art Competition “work in progress” by students at St Joseph’s Primary School, Sorrento is under way. The competition has been designed to raise awareness among students and the community on how to care for the peninsula’s marine environment and shoreline precincts. The school’s entry has been inspired by environmental advocate and past Mornington Peninsula Shire Citizen of the Year Josie Jones, known for diving for rubbish under Flinders Pier. Ms Jones was also a recipient of the local Hero Award in the Australian of the Year Awards in 2020. Sustainability leader at St Joseph’s Primary School,…
ORGANISERS of the weekend’s March4Justice event against gendered and family violence shone a light on the shocking rate of this type of violence on the Mornington Peninsula. In the first six months of 2021, 817 women reported incidents of family violence to police across the peninsula, almost double the Victorian local government area average. March4Justice is a national movement pushing for equality, justice, respect, and an end to gendered violence. On Sunday, participants marched from Rosebud pier, and along the Bay trail to the Village Green, where people with slogans called out for an end to family violence and speakers…
AN artificial reef being installed off Point Nepean next month will give anglers a spot away from busy shipping lanes to catch yellowtail kingfish. The reef will have 16 large concrete structures set in clusters of four about 50 metres apart. “Identical concrete modules have been deployed off the New South Wales coast at Shoalhaven and have proven to be outstanding in attracting Yellowtail Kingfish,” Futurefish Foundation director David Kramer said. “They quickly obtain weed growth and provide a perfect reef in strong tidal waters.” Once in place, the Nepean reef will be the largest artificial reef in Victoria. Mr…
VOLUNTEERS are standing by ready to help evacuate more than 500 kangaroos trapped on private property near Cape Schanck. The kangaroos, once under threat of being culled, are fenced in and cannot access their usual habitat of Greens Bush National Park. Members of the Save the Mornington Peninsula Kangaroos group say the animals have been there since last September “with limited feed and shelter”. Mary Waterman says the group has a “kangaroo movement plan” and has offered to provide one-way gates “for their safe removal from the property”. She accuses the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning of not…
AN original image is now covering the walls next to 100 Main Street, Mornington, following the hasty removal last month of mural that too closely resembled a work of art in Europe. This time, a different artist, Tyson Savanah, has rendered a piece called Deep Blue Devils for the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s arts and culture program’s anti-graffiti mural project. The brief sought an anamorphic artwork that used the three-walled nook near the ANZ Bank in Main Street. Savanah said the idea for his underwater image came to him when he saw the trunk of the existing palm and the wooden…
STUDENTS from St Macartans Primary School, Mornington, have again given the boat at Schnapper Point Park a facelift and a fresh new look. The school’s grade 5/6 art students were involved in an upgrade of the boat in 2014, so the school jumped at the chance to refresh its look. Art teacher Kristy Hayes took on the project, liaising with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and then working with the students at the end of last year to brighten up the marine animals on the boat. “We wanted to be involved in the spruce-up of the park again, so the council…
THE medium has been chosen and all that is needed is a message. The Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula branch has launched a competition for designer t-shirts celebrating the organisation’s tenth anniversary. T-shirts with the winning design will be sold at the DSAMP’s 10-year event on 19 March, with proceeds going towards the running of future events and buying equipment. The event planned for 22 January was cancelled due to COVID-19. DSAMP committee member Gary Miller said the t-shirt designs for front and back must be line illustrations (no photos) in one or two colours and include a line such…
LIKE most people who have experienced the evils of war and returned home, the horrors of starvation, family separation, and physical and emotional abuse often travel with them and continue to silently haunt their memories. Film producer Thomas Watson knew the emotional and physical torture his Dutch-Indonesian grandmother Yvonne Watson (nee Holman) suffered at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII was deep and painful, but he, nor anyone else in the family, dared speak of them. Now, with the passing of his beloved grandmother in 2013 at the age of 91, and a few years of digital…
YOUNG dancers from a non-profit Mornington Peninsula-based company have been entertaining audiences far and wide. Dancer choreographer Alexandra Dellaportas, who was 18 when she started Spark Productions seven years ago, is helping young people build on their passions for dance and the arts. The company, which has spent the past few weeks taking its latest production Snow and Rose around regional Victoria, is performing in Frankston on Thursday (17 February). Dellaportas said the show had been cancelled five times due to COVID and the company was excited to be able to perform it closer to home. “We took the show…
THE businessman behind the reincarnation of an old golf course in Somerville to a memorial botanic gardens says it is time to rethink what goes in the ground and look at more eco-friendly ways of honouring the dead. Warren Roberts, pictured, is behind a company that combines science and nature to grow memorial gardens under a conservation agreement using detoxified cremated ashes that guarantee a “green” future for the deceased. In what is promoted as a “world first”, the company opened a Living Legacy memorial park 10 years ago in Western Australia, converting land into a conservation park that protects…
ONE of the Mornington Peninsula’s bushland jewels and an important biolink for local flora and fauna needs a helping hand to ensure it remains an environmental and recreational resource well into the future. The Devilbend Foundation – a group of volunteers dedicated to maintaining the 422-hectare Devilbend Reserve, in conjunction with Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Parks Victoria and Devilbend Landcare – is asking for more volunteers. Spokesperson Marnie Fitzsimmons said the focus of caring for the reserve was keeping it weed and rubbish free, and maintaining it as a wildlife corridor, which was challenging in an era…
FIFTY-four-year-old Bobby Bajram has set his sights higher than most since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 13, so it’s not surprising to people who know him that nothing will stop him climbing Mount Everest. Against the advice of his doctors, and knowing of the deadly risks, Mr Bajram is pushing ahead with his plan to climb 8840 metres to the summit and will head to Nepal in March next year. “Look, have a crack I say, I believe you have to push yourself and ever since I was told I had MS I have wanted to get to the…