The end of this month marks the 20th anniversary of this publication – two hundred and forty editions, countless local issues, a chronicle of a town in evolution. Evolution matters: change is inevitable, adaptation crucial, but how a town changes and adapts to the altering mores, practices, needs, and expectations of its townsfolk—permanent or transient—matters most. […]
COMMUNITY UPDATES
Adopt a worker in Lorne
Our hospitality and accommodation businesses continue to experience significant labour shortages due to the void created by a very limited number of international students, backpackers and itinerant workers unable to travel and move freely between states. A recent survey highlighted the fact that businesses in Lorne require an additional 130 seasonal workers starting from Melbourne […]
What does ‘the flag’ mean?
It is quite a small flagpole. Once, it stood proudly and alone along the surf-facing side of Mountjoy Parade, small but quite unchallenged by other catchers-of-the-eye. Now, it is harder to see. It stands as the odd flag out among the many curvilinear banners that announce the next cycling or arts ‘event’ or, between events, […]
Stribling Reserve Community Pavilion – an update
If you’ve driven along William St or Otway St lately, you will have seen that the new Community Pavilion at Stribling Reserve has really taken shape. The two-storey structure sits in front of the indoor basketball stadium and from Otway Street, you can see the steel structures which will provide access and linkage between the […]
The Lost Art (but Pray not the Death) of Conversation
It seems that, almost imperceptibly, we humans have inched into isolated islands only capable of communication and conversation through text messaging, SMS, email, and emoji. When this is all over — and it will end — will we have forgotten how to converse? How to relate? How to be warm to each other? … I […]
Living in COVID Days
Covid-days have appropriately raised the spectre of mental health. When I was a boy, the word ‘mental’ had very different connotations. Those who society viewed as ‘different’ were held in institutions while kids without parents [these were post-WWII days, and many had lost one or both parents] were held at ‘Glastonbury’, St. Augustine’s, and St. […]
Lorne Community Connect welcomes artist-in-residence Meaghan Shelton
A hub for creative and cultural endeavours, Lorne Community Connect, at 2 Otway Street, is a place for the community to connect, learn and create together. The Centre is already home to a lively assortment of creative activities and groups – patchwork quilting, life drawing, knitting and drop-in art sessions. It also offers an opportunity […]
Amy’s Gran Fondo cancelled for 2021
The organisers of Amy’s Gran Fondo have cancelled the event for 2021. This event is one of Australia’s most popular mass participation cycling events, with the unique opportunity to ride along a fully closed Great Ocean Road. The event attracts thousands of participants, together with their friends and families. For 10 years, the event has […]
Father’s Day – 2021
A Father’s Day Pleasure… Children’s Cards If we cannot share our annual Father’s Days in person, the next best thing is to share in the love of our children… both for a father and a grandfather… through the magic of the ‘instant device’, ‘instant photo’, and ‘instant sharing’. In my family, the enforced separation of […]
Two tales from ‘Lockdown #Lost-Count’
Pagan Worship at Vera Lynn A few days ago, I was walking my dogs to the beat of a strong south-easterly sea. Unexpectedly, I found myself transfixed by competing emotions – an intense and immediate pleasure and a twang of distant wistfulness – as I watched two 18-somethings ‘communing with Huey’, arms outstretched into the […]
