HelloPlus: Exploring Life & Philosophy.
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Conversations about life, death and dying
The monthly Good Grief Lounge returns to the Northern Arts Hotel in Castlemaine this Saturday. This month’s special guests are lawyer Vesna Pocuca of Robertson Hyetts and arts therapist Marita Jacobsson. Vesna will explain how to make a will and Marita of Thresholds Art Therapy will lead a poetry writing experience using pre-cut words, block…
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Celebrating music, dance and culture
Castlemaine is set to host a wonderful performance of music, dance and culture from the Indian Ocean region when Salama performs at the Phee Broadway Theatre tonight at 7.30pm. Salama is an award-winning group from Perth that specialises in Maloya and Sega music from Reunion Island and surrounds. Maloya is a 300-year-old performance tradition drawing…
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Feasting and daring to believe
For 12 years, Mohammad (not his real name) lived with uncertainty and dread. Now, he can at last dare to believe. In 2013, he fled Afghanistan in fear for his life. Targeted by the Taliban, he was forced to leave his wife and children behind. The distress he felt can barely be imagined – all…
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Sounds and stories of the creek
I am someone who is guilty of not spending enough time in nature. Of being the sort of person who rushes around, darting from picking kids up, and hurrying from an interview, to grocery shopping. When I do take the time to be out to be in nature I am often still fast in my…
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Off the market: Land of the dead
The local Anglican Parish has announced there are “currently” no plans to sell St John’s Anglican Church in Riddells Creek, contradicting a statement they made in May that suggested otherwise. Fr Scott Mudd sent a letter to parishioners on May 12 and advised “To realise the necessary funding for the redevelopment of Fisher Street [Gisborne],…
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Politics, competition and prone to extremes
Gillian Wills wrote Big Music, her debut novel, because she wanted people to know what goes on behind the concert curtain. Music is so readily available, it’s easy for people to overlook the dedication and hard work involved in becoming a performer. There’s a misconception that conservatoriums are peaceful, genteel places. Undeniably exhilarating, they are…
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Keeping warm in winter
With temperatures plummeting at the arrival of winter, tenants of rented homes can now access a video on how to make their home more comfortable and cost effective. The video was developed by the My Home Network Tenants Rights Working Group and the West End Resilience Energy Group following a well-received workshop on how simple…
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New chapter for book store
Lancefield residents are so fond of their local bookstore they have hatched a plan in a bid to keep it open. Red Door Books’ owners announced in May plans to close the much-loved store they introduced to the community 18 years ago. Yesterday marked their last day behind the counter, but in their final weeks,…
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Lancefield Neighbourhood House enters new era
Lancefield Neighbourhood House’s ‘townhouse’ has relocated and entered a new era. The community asset has provided the town with social connections, support and services for more than three decades, and will continue to do so from its new site at 5 The Crescent, Lancefield. Team members celebrated the move last month, to a townhouse better…
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Drought takes a toll
Michael O’Sullivan can’t remember a period of drought as challenging as the one we are now experiencing. Together with his sons, Martin, John and Anthony, the Baynton farmer breeds sheep and cattle on close to 3000 hectares of grazing land. Like many other farmers, they have had to shed stock to survive. “I’ve been through…
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A one hundred year lesson
What is the lesson a father, poet, farmer, black jack player and WWII veteran learnt in life? At Bupa Aged Care in Kyneton, Rachel Hewitt and Rob Shaw of the Woodend Warblers hold the attention of silent staff and the non-sleeping residents. They sing Danny Boy. Their sounds are interrupted by a resident who croons between…
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People power prevails
The Castlemaine Community Investment Co-operative has created history by smashing its $1.95 million target to purchase the town’s Hub building and bring it under community ownership. The Co-op’s debenture campaign surpassed its target at lunchtime on Thursday. The campaign officially closed on Sunday with the co-operative announcing it had raised $2 million of investments to…