community

  • Parlez-vous Francais?

    Parlez-vous Francais?

    The hot, dry bushland of Walmer is a very long way from Canada’s French Quebec famed for its icy winter carnival. But you don’t have to chat to local French language tutor, Emma Dubuc, for long to see she loves the Aussie bushland she now calls home. Originally from Quebec City where French was her…

  • Push for defib

    Push for defib

    Momentum is building to get a defibrillator installed for after-hours public access in central Castlemaine. Bronwyn Grieve, community health nurse at Castlemaine District Community Health, is among those busy gathering signatures for a petition for a chance to win a defibrillator for after-hours public access. Bronwyn says Australian Hearts has a competition running and those…

  • Close calls on the Calder

    Close calls on the Calder

    Truck drivers, tow-truck drivers and auto electricians are calling for measures to keep them safe when they are pulled over on the side of the freeway attending to breakdowns. Kyneton auto electrician Jim Matheson and towies Doug Holden and Daniel Vereker have all found themselves perilously close to fast-moving traffic in the limited shoulder space…

  • Gisborne SES wants you

    Gisborne SES wants you

    Gisborne SES is calling for daytime responders to keep up with demand across the region. Gisborne SES deputy controller of operations Di Dale said the unit was seeking to grow its member base to improve responses and would host a recruitment evening next week. “We are targeting people from all walks of life in around…

  • A life-changing donation

    A life-changing donation

    Just over a year ago Clare Beatson would not have thought about competitive sport let alone getting into a pool, but a life-changing surgery has realigned her goals. The former Kyneton resident has just celebrated one year since her successful double-lung transplant and now has her sights set on swim training for a future Australian…

  • Cats by just one point!

    Cats by just one point!

    The 2018 Riddell League football season kicked off on Saturday with a frenetic, pulsating encounter as reigning premier Macedon survived a desperate late charge by Riddell to win by a solitary point. The see-saw match before a massive opening round crowd at Riddell certainly lived up to expectations, with both sides showing they have the…

  • Tale of an unsung hero

    Tale of an unsung hero

    As Anzac Day nears, historian Ian Braybrook has been busy striving to ensure one of Castlemaine’s unsung war heroes does not become lost to the fogs of time. The keen local researcher said it was by chance that he learnt about the incredible wartime contributions of Castlemaine’s William Robert Wadsworth, also known as Bill. Bill…

  • Callum a real champion

    Callum a real champion

    For the last three Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday appeals, young Callum Judd has been watching progress from his hospital bed. This year the brave seven-year-old joined his family to actually be involved in the collection with the volunteers from the Woodend CFA. Callum suffers from neuroblastoma, which is the most common solid tumour of…

  • Unique partnership – Students launch youth mental health initiative

    Unique partnership – Students launch youth mental health initiative

    Chain Reaction – Your Choices Matter is the theme chosen for the award-winning Live4Life program in the Macedon Ranges for the next 12 months. The unique youth mental health promotion strategy, a partnership between the shire council, local secondary schools and key community agencies, has been operating locally since 2010. In that time more than…