Axe Creek – Eppalock Newsletter

Incorporating news from the Eppalock Primary School, Axe Creek Fire Brigade & the Axe Creek Landcare Group.

Welcome to the Winter Issue Edition 63. Winter 2019

Once again the year is flying past at an increasing rate. The cold- • Welcome
er weather is upon us and the shortest day of the year is only a
• Community Notice Board
few weeks away.
• CFA News
This issue, as with all issues includes updates from our local com-
munity groups—it goes without saying without volunteers the • Eppalock PS Update
community would struggle to support each other. • Axe Creek Playgroup

Whatever your religious beliefs, please take the time to read the • Landcare’s Latest
Church news—it is an important and timely reminder for all mem- • Church News
bers of the community.
• CWA News
As always, please share your news with us, so we can share it with
• Community News
your community - axecreeknews@gmail.com.
• Kids Corner
Sam Spence

Advertise your Business AND help the Community Thank you to this issues
Contributors

If you would like some great local exposure for a reasonable price, then
advertise in the next issue of the Axe Creek – Eppalock Newsletter.
John Wells - Axe Creek Fire
Brigade
Full Page $100

Half Page $50

Marie Mannes - Eppalock
PS
Quarter Page $25 Fees charged help cover printing costs.
Kristie Smith - Axe Creek
Advertising deadline for future issues: Landcare
Winter 2019 June 1st Steve Weickhardt - Angli-
Spring 2019 September 1st can Parish
Summer 2020 December 1st
Bev Sutherland— CWA
Autumn 2020 March 1st
News
Contact us via axecreeknews@gmail.com

axecreeknews@gmail.com Issue 63 1
 Community Notice Board
Emergency Contact Numbers
Fire, Police & Ambulance 000
(life threatening or time critical emergencies only)

Vic Emergency Hotline 1800 226 226

Information about all emergencies, including bushfires, storms and floods

Burn Off Notifications 1800 668 511

Poisons Information 13 11 26
Wildlife Rescue Service 0419 356 433

Useful Websites
CFA www.cfa.vic.gov.au
Local Churches
DSE www.dse.vic.gov.au
Vic Roads www.vicroads.vic.gov.au

Strathfieldsaye Community Church

School Terms 920 Wellington St, Strathfieldsaye

2019 Combined Service - Sunday Mornings – 9.30am

St Joseph’s Catholic Church

Term 1 Cnr Axe Creek & Strathfieldsaye/Eppalock Rds.
Sunday Mornings – 9am
29 Jan – 5 Apr

Term 2 All Welcome

23 Apr – 28 Jun

Term 3
Axe Creek CFA
15 Jul – 20 Sept

Term 4 Captain Neil Irving-Dusting

7 Oct – 20 Dec 5439 6388

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 CFA News From Axe Creek Brigade
WINTER TRAINING KEEPS FIREFIGHTERS UP-TO-DATE
Finally the long summer bushfire season came to an end at the beginning of May, and brigade mem-
bers could relax a little—no longer on call every second week for strike team duty, as well as being con-
tinually on the alert for local fires. Of course
the brigade is ready 24/7, all year round, to
respond to fires, but members are especially
vigilant during the hot, dry bushfire season.
The cooler months are a time for training. In
autumn Axe Creek and Mosquito Creek bri-
gades combined for an exercise on com-
bating house fires, using a toilet block at
Lake Eppalock to represent a house in a re-
mote location. Crews arriving on scene had
to look for people who may be inside, be
alert for hazards such as fallen power lines,
gas bottles, containers of fuel and so on,
determine the what was on fire, set up a
plan of attack and then manage the fire
fight as other crews arrived. Exercises like this
keep members ready for real fires.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE JUNIORS

We congratulate our juniors on an outstanding performance in the annual State Championships, held
this year in Bendigo across a weekend in early April.
These championships are the final fixture in the competitions season, which starts in January with local
contests and builds up over the months. Brigades field teams of 4-5 people to compete in a range of
events that incorporate firefighter skills such as hose bowling and handing, coupling hoses, pump prim-
ing and setting ladders. Events are completed in anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds, depending on the
level of complexity and skills required.
Our 11-13 year olds (Reilly Mannes, Lachie Kelly, Evan Cole and Jack Lacey) capped off an excellent
year with very competitive runs in all events, and won the Tanker Priming Pump and Ladder. In this event
the team members bowl hoses out, couple them and connect them to the tanker, prime the pump to
draw water from a tank, and deliver it through the hose. A team member then has to climb a ladder
and hit a target with the water jet.
To be the fastest in the state at this event is an outstanding achievement and a great reward for their
high level of commitment shown throughout the season. The brigade now gets to keep the perpetual
trophy for the next 12 months—we are sure it will take pride of place in each family’s living space for a
while and be the topic of lots of conversation and explanation from the team members!
Axe Creek brigade also fielded a Seniors team in the Championships. Just three years after re-forming
the brigade running teams it was a great achievement to have two teams competing at State level.
The brigade thanks the organising committee, headed by volunteers from local brigades, who brought
together such a large event that went off very smoothly. We also congratulate all local teams, who did
a fantastic job winning several events across different age groups, and all placing very respectably in in
the aggregates.
Work will be ongoing across the winter to make some big improvements to the brigade’s second-hand
training trailer, which needs some TLC due to its age and the poor condition of the equipment. A grant
from Strathfieldsaye Community Enterprise enabled us to replace the ageing pump, and extra money
from brigade fundraising will see great improvements, which will allow training go to the next level.
Finally we would like to thank all brigade members who assisted throughout the year in many ways be-
hind the scenes or competing, the families of the competitors for giving up their time to support runners
and the competitors themselves. At all stages throughout the season they represented the brigade and
the community excellently as fierce but gracious competitors. The teamwork and camaraderie seemed
to spill into broader brigade activities and operational effectiveness which can only help the Brigade
serve the local community even better.
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axecreeknews@gmail.com Issue 63 4
 Eppalock Primary School

What a fantastic week we had for Education Week during May.

We had a great start to the week with some special visitors to our Monday morning assembly. Kerrie
Barker was able to bring along some information about Eppalock’s early school history and was able to
read personal memories from her late relative Viv Bowles who attended Eppalock PS around the
1920’s.
Back in those days the Eppalock PS land of 1.5 acres was purchased for an equivalent of $40. Wow!
It was also great to have others at the school on the day to add some of their own memories of primary
school. A huge thanks to Kerrie for making this all possible and being willing to share some of their per-
sonal family memories.
Wednesday we had our open school morning followed by morning tea. We were fortunate enough to
have many special people visit during this time, observe the classrooms in action and join us for refresh-
ments.
We would like to thank the whole school community for being part of it and for volunteering some time
during the week to assist with activities. Our Walk to School event demonstrated the wonderful com-
munity support we have. It was great to see so many students and families involved in the day. A huge
thanks to Vic Roads, Paul Scott and his support team who helped manage the traffic for us.
Our Pancake breakfast was well received at school by the students and we would like to thank Nikki
and her support crew in the kitchen who helped make it possible. Feeding our whole school in such a
short time was fantastic. It was a great way to finish our walk and much appreciated.
An activity that snuck through quietly was our Music performances on the Wednesday and Thursday
morning. We had 6 students perform. Hamish and Pippa played keyboard on Wednesday with Sarinah
and Liselle playing keyboard on Thursday and Jacob and Violet singing solo. They all did an amazing
job and showed great confidence and resilience to get up in front of a large audience.
We had our first Hobbies and Clubs ses-
sion during Education Week.. We have a
range of activities on offer to the students
who were able to choose an area of in-
terest for the 4 weeks. Soccer, basketball,
board games, computer, art, craft, sew-
ing and environmental art are on offer
this time around. Children will stay in
these groups for the four weeks to learn
and build on their interest. We will run
more Hobbies and Clubs in term 3. It was
a great way to finish the Friday afternoon
of Education Week.

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 To interested parties in the wider community
Eppalock PS is seeking expressions of interest to join our voluntary School Council group, under the cat-
egory of a ‘Co-opted Community member’ on a 2 year term (2019 & 2020).

We are a small school of 56 students based in the rural community of Axe Creek, just 7 kms east of
Strathfieldsaye. The area caters for families who look upon the unique features of a rural school as
adding value to their children’s education and to the community.

The school has a strong environmental focus through our involvement in water saving initiatives, Na-
tional Tree Planting Day and sustainable energy projects. Our school has recently won an award from
the Bendigo Sustainability Group in the Early Education/Primary category for showing commitment to
sustainable learning through our Living Green Program. The involvement in these activities provides
many opportunities for authentic learning to take place.

Our school is used by the local Axe Creek Playgroup as well as the CFA and Landcare groups as a
meeting place throughout the year. We work hard to make our school a community hub where local
residents can catch up at our community nights or whole school events.

The Co-opted community member is co-opted by the council because of their special skills, interests
or experience. School council members are elected (or co-opted in the case of community members)
for approximately a two year term. The term of office and rights and responsibilities of community or
co-opted members are the same as those of elected councilors.

Our school is looking for someone who will bring a new set of ideas and way of thinking to our group to
further enhance our school community and student learning experiences. The successful applicant
will be required to attend School Council meetings once a month and contribute to the general
school community. We hope that applicants would be able to bring a sense of fun and willingness to
build relationships with our School Community during their term. The successful applicant will also be
required to submit Working with Children documentation to the school.

Written expression of interests of no more than 300 words can be submitted to Eppalock Primary
School in person during office hours, or addressed to ‘The Principal’, 149 Patons Road, Axe Creek,
3551, before Wednesday July 16 th 2019. We would like to have someone in place for our August
School Council meeting.

Inquiries can be made through Jason O’Neill (Principal) on 54396366 or through the school email ad-
dress of eppalock.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

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 TOOKO WILDLIFE
Tooko Wildlife came and visited our school as part of our investigation into Australian and local en-
dangered species.

We learned about the importance of habitat and even got to hold some endangered and not so en-
dangered animals!

Thanks to Landcare Australia for their generous Biodiversity grant which made this day possible.

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Canoe Trip

Seven of our very brave and bold 5/6’s embarked on a three night canoe journey down the mighty Mur-
ray River. The group spent 3 days travelling with all their belongings learning about the natural environ-
ment, developing their canoe paddling skills and built teamwork and resilience through their endeav-
ours.
The trip allowed the students to expand on their classroom learning, linking into our Living Green subject
as well as into our classroom literacy sessions. The experience included the students setting up their own
shelters and camp site each night, preparing and cooking their own dinner all whilst ensuring they
were travelling and camping in the most minimal and environmentally friendly way they could. All in all
they travelled around 35km!! Both Amelia Burgess and Mr McCartney couldn’t be prouder of how all the
students conducted themselves and jumped in with a very enthusiastic can do attitude!!
A special thanks to La Trobe University OEE department for the partnership that made this trip the success
it was.

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EARTH ED
On Thursday 6th June Maths-Science Centre Earth Ed visited Eppalock Primary School to share some of
their intelligence with the grades 4-6 students.
The program, called, Third Rock from the Sun is a STEM inquiry program to support students in develop-
ing questions and understanding about the concept that the Earth is always changing.
Students learned about the earth using Augmented Reality where they scanned a model of the earth
and were able to apply filters using ipads.
Some of the areas students explored included locations, life, geology, Australia and humanity. Students
worked together to identify areas of interest and were challenged to find information to share on a digi-
tal poster. Once the students found their facts they were challenged to think deeper using a question
matrix to develop new questions to support deeper learning about their topic.
Our students enjoyed learning
about cities, earthquakes, tsuna-
mis, landmarks and animals.
Some of their work is presented
below.

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 EPPALOCK PRIMARY SCHOOL
TRIVIA NIGHT & SILENT AUCTION

Saturday 10th August 2019

6.00 pm – 11.30 pm

Tables 6-8 people

Tickets - $20.00 each
Book a table or as a single on 5439 6366

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When Mondays 9:30am—11:00am
Fridays 9:00—10:30am
Where Eppalock PS – Old School Building.149 Patons Road Axe Creek
(just a few minutes from Strathfieldsaye)
Come along and join other families for a cuppa and chat whilst your pre-school children enjoy lots of fun
activities. Fresh fruit is provided.

Morning Tea & activities provided.

Gold Coin Donation per child.

For further information please

phone (03) 5439 6366
email: eppalock.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
http://www.eppalockps.vic.edu.au
All Welcome

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 Axe Creek Landcare
The Axe Creek Landcare Committee meets at Eppalock Primary School
in the Community Room on the THIRD Monday of each month

at 8.00 pm during daylight saving months

or at 7.30 pm when we are on EST.

Meetings and activities of interest to the general public are advertised on the notice board in the
Strathfieldsaye Shopping Centre.

If you would like to be on the email list, please contact the President or Secretary.

Members of the community are always welcome to attend any meeting!

President: Jan Mellor 5439 3144 0490 445 359

Secretary: Gillian Wells 5439 6240 gill@wellsoz.net

Landcare Clean-Up Axe Creek Road

Thank you to all those Axe Creek Landcare Members and friends who helped clean-up Axe Creek Road.
Two short hours and a small army led by Axe Creek Landcare President, Jan Mellor, resulted in a substan-
tial load of rubbish removal from the roadside. The team also sorted and separated the junk into recy-
clable materials, saving it from going straight to landfill. The worst offending items included water bottles,
coffee cups, alcohol items and energy drink cans.

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Stage 2 Grassy Woodland Restoration
Volunteerism has been the backbone to the restoration of the Australian landscape and is now more
important than ever before. Recently twenty family and friends lent a hand to plant Banksia margina-
ta and Allocasurina verticillata as part of our Stage 2 grassy woodland restoration at Redbox Drive.
And while we were planting we unearthed a Pobblebonk frog and ‘hug measured’ an old Grey Box
which we estimated to be 350 years old.

Axe Creek Landcare AGM

Axe Creek Landcare will hold its 2019 AGM at 7.30pm on Monday the 15th of July, at Eppalock Primary
School.

Key Speaker:
Brady Childs, DELWP, is speaking on “Farm Wildlife management, Species Overabundance and Legisla-
tion”.

Positions Vacant:
We would like to invite current members, past members and general public to nominate for 2019-2020
Axe Creek Landcare committee positions. There will be a number of positions on offer including the Sec-
retary and Vice President positions. Our friendly committee meets in the evening on the third Monday of
each month, excluding December and January.

Further details will be provided on the Axe Creek Landcare Group Facebook page or you are welcome
to contact Secretary Gillian Wells for further information - jandg@wellsoz.net

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axecreeknews@gmail.com Issue 63 14
 Church News
Across the media landscape there are two issues relating to men. The first is violence towards women,
and the second is the suicide rate of men.

Both are life and death matters, yet some people try to downplay or dismiss them. Perhaps they are too
close to home, or they just don’t want to think about them. But these issues must be addressed, and the
first step is acknowledging that both are happening, and in all likelihood, closer than we know.

Violence towards women is not just domestic violence, and not just physical violence. Violence to-
wards a woman includes unwanted sexual commentary, emotional abuse, financial abuse, internet
abuse, following/stalking, and demands in return for drinks or meal. Domestic violence can be all of
these things in close quarters. It is wrong.

For women experiencing such issues, assistance can be found at the Centre for Non-Violence
(www.cnv.org.au and 1800 884 292).

For men who recognise that they are perpetrators, assistance to break the cycle can be found at
“Changing for Good” (www.mensline.org.au/changingforgood and 1300 015 120).

Secondly, male suicide rates are rising and devastating families and communities. The obvious question
here is ‘what’s going on?’. I will not try to address that question here as so many have across the me-
dia, with some helpful, and some unhelpful, ideas on the matter.

If this is a struggle for you, start by knowing that there are many who care deeply for you, and help can
be found with LifeLine (13 11 14) or Beyond Blue (www.beyondblue.org.au and 1300 22 4636).

So why is this in the “Church News”? What’s this got to do with religion? ‘Religion’ does not have much
to offer in these areas, and in some cases, much to answer for.

On the other hand, ‘faith’ has much to offer. The biblical trifecta of “faith, hope and love” (1 Corinthi-
ans 13:13) is just an indicator of the depth of faithfulness, anticipation and purpose of the God who cre-
ates and sustains through the darkest of seasons. Through faith in Jesus is a person reconciled to our
Creator God to know who they were created to be (identity) and why they are here (purpose). The
temporal is reconciled to the eternal – there is a reason to live.

Through faith we understand that God not only created every soul, but also that Jesus died on the
cross for each. Every person, every woman and child, is known and loved by this God. Anyone who
does not accord each person the dignity and respect given uniquely by God will face consequences –
especially when the abuse is also an abuse of power, within a domestic relationship, or toward a wom-
an innocently going about life.

Faith in Jesus should be transformative from an old way of life to a new way: “Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And love your neighbour as you love yourself” was the com-
mand from Jesus. This leads to identity and purpose – anticipation and hope. It demands dignity and
respect – genuine love that builds up others.

In such ways is the world transformed, beginning with me.

Your local Rev,

Steve.

The Strathfieldsaye Community Church has a hall available for hire for
small to medium size groups with heating, kitchen facilities and toilets
all under the same roof, and plenty of parking.
Contact details are on the sign on the front of our Church at
920 Wellington Street, Strathfieldsaye.
Please note that no alcohol is permitted.

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 CWA Bendigo Northern Group
We are looking for more local women to join for fun, friendship and community service.

All Meetings are open to anyone to come and have a chat and a cuppa with us to see what we are
doing in the community.

We were represented at the 'Be Well Be Connected Expo' at the Bendigo Exhibition Centre. Thankyou
to Gwenda Athans, Secretary Kangaroo Flat and Joyce Clarkson, Bendigo Branch member who chat-
ted to the visitors to our table.
Our Group were invited to help on the Merchandise Stall at the SPAN Day at the beginning of May,

Craft days are held at 10am on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 150 Neale Street, Flora Hill. If you’re
interested in craft you’re most welcome to come along. No need to be a CWA member. Bring along
whatever you’re working on or join in whatever is happening at Craft on the day. For information ring
Sue on 0414 877 888.

BRANCH MEETINGS IN THE BENDIGO NORTHERN GROUP

Axedale - 7pm, 3rd Monday of the month, Uniting Church Hall, Axedale. 0438035643
Bendigo –1st Friday, 1pm, 150 Neale Street, Flora Hill 54444292
Campbell’s Forest – 1st Thursday night, 7.30pm, Campbell’s Forest Community Hall 54361233
Dingee & District – 4th Wednesday night, 7pm, Dingee Bush Nursing Centre Community Room.
0428368208
Golden Night –2nd Tuesday night, 7pm YWCA, Townsend Street, Flora Hill.0400113440
Kangaroo Flat – 3rd Thursday, 1.30pm, Uniting Church, Church Street, Kangaroo Flat.54497781
Times may change for functions. For more information see CWAbendigonortherngroup on Facebook
for updates about Meetings and Functions or contact Marilyn on 0404 334 855.

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 Community News

email us at axecreeknews@gmail.com

Poo Pile!
Need manure for your garden? Bags available from out the front of 125 Axe
Creek Rd at $2.00 each or phone
54393144 for a trailer load at $10-$15.00 per load.

All proceeds to Riding for the Disabled Association.

Community Gamelan group

Mugi Rahayu is your local gamelan (Javanese music and dance) group. We are from
Eppalock and we practice weekly and perform at various cultural events and fund-
raisers around the district. No experience required and it’s free.
New members Welcome
Practice every Saturday 2:00 pm at 101 Carneys Rd, Eppalock.
Contact Nita or Aaron phone: 54392678
email: aaronita94@gmail.com

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 Kids Corner

Source | www.crayola.com

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