Castlemaine
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Local finalist
Castlemaine artist Mark Dober has been announced as a finalist in the prestigious Black Swan Prize for Portraiture in Western Australia, the third richest prize in Australia after the Archibald and Doug Moran. Dober’s work is a self-portrait and was selected from more than 500 entries to feature in an exhibition of 40 finalists at…
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Help blow the trumpet
Castlemaine’s Thompson Foundry Band is blowing its own trumpet by making a movie following its sellout concerts at last year’s Castlemaine State Festival. Local filmmaker Leonie Van Eyk has a film in production and the band is crowdfunding to raise the money to complete it in time for an early evening gala premiere in the…
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The splash on our pool contracts
A new $1,056,455 council contract will see Bendigo Regional YMCA Youth Services manage outdoor pools in Castlemaine, Harcourt and Maldon over the next three years. Mount Alexander Shire councillors unanimously voted in favour of awarding the pool management contract to Bendigo Regional YMCA Youth Services at the ordinary meeting of council last Tuesday night. But…
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Chicken art hatches enterprise
There’s something about chicken art. People seem to go just a bit clucking mad about it. “It’s just egg-cellent really,” said artist Linda Newton, almost deadpan, as she showed the Express around some of the inclusions in Manu Feto Chicken Art Show that opened at Castlemaine’s Drying Shed Art Space on the weekend. Linda is…
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Parma charmer
When Castlemaine youngsters Kate Hemphill and Ainsley Nash heard about the impacts of the drought in NSW they decided they’d do something to help. The two junior students at Castlemaine Primary School went direct to their principal Peter McConnell with a letter they’d penned outlining their proposal to help the drought-ravaged farmers. “We wrote a…
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Strong second half downs Magpies
Kyneton produced a strong second half to defeat a plucky Castlemaine by 58 points on Saturday. The match started in some of the toughest conditions seen all season, with heavy rain and hail thumping down for the first five minutes of play and then steady rain persisting for much of the first half, enough to…
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An ale tale fit for fans
What better way to spend International Beer Day than brewing up 600 litres – or thereabouts – of chocolaty ale made with Fantales. That’s exactly what the local brewers at Castlemaine’s Shedshaker Brewing were doing when the Midland Express dropped in to investigate on Friday. They were busy unwrapping 10 kilograms of the chocolaty lolly…
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Homegrown jazz debut
Castlemaine’s own Goldfields Jazz Orchestra is a testament to people power – and to the zest of the region’s homegrown music talent. Inspired after catching some of the big sounds at last year’s Castlemaine Jazz Festival, Castlemaine Secondary College music coordinator Kirsten Boerema and instrumental teacher Michael Timcke thought – why can’t we do that?…
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Marvellous mushrooms
After just a few months of operation, Windarring’s urban mushroom farm in Castlemaine is flourishing, and with multiple local eateries signing on to purchase the organic mushrooms the venture is growing in recycled coffee grounds. It’s a win-win for the Windarring workers who were otherwise facing redundancy after The Copy Centre closed – and for…