Bendigo’s newsletter about positive and active ageing Issue 3, Spring 2012 This issue ASPREE study Artist Noela Stratford Forever young Creative opportunities Welcome to our third Edition of Zoom! This issue is all about creativity and the flourishing arts community round Bendigo. It was Albert Einstein who said, “Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” This is what we’re hoping to do: give you a snapshot of some of the many arts groups and artistic practitioners who live and work near us. As these frosty mornings are replaced with sunshine and daffodils, perhaps we can turn off the heater, venture out and discover a creative activity that could bring new enjoyment to our lives. Action for happiness Find three good things each day P eople who are grateful tend to be happier, healthier and more fulfilled. Being grateful can help people cope with stress and can even have a beneficial effect on heart rate. This action is easy to do yet its benefits have been scientifically proven. In tests, people who tried it each night for just one week were happier and less depressed one month, three months and six months later. Source: www.actionforhappiness.org Printed on 100% Recycled Paper using Vegetable Based Ink. Research nurse and avid knitter T here was a time when local research nurse Lynn O’Neill’s dream was to work in a wool shop and knit all day long. For 20 years her passion for wool craft took a creative hiatus while she focused on her career. Today, inspired by a local knitting group, the Bendigo Woollen Mills and craft events, such as the recent ‘Women of Wool’ show, she considers herself to have the best of both worlds. “When you live in central Victoria, crafts naturally play a big part of life for people of all ages,” says the avid knitter and ASPREE Senior Clinical Trial nurse. Lynn is a familiar face to some of the 380 local participants enrolled in the ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) study, a worldfirst trial to determine if aspirin can keep older people, aged 70 plus, healthier for longer. The Monash University led study sees her travel up to 400km per week undertaking health assessments in ASPREE participants who have been randomly assigned to take 100mg of aspirin or a placebo tablet daily. “The majority of people enrol in the study as a way to give back to the community and because it’s easy,” says the former intensive care and cardiac rehab nurse. “Most participants don’t understand why more people are not involved.” Lynn is based at the Bendigo Clinical Trial Centre, which is one of seven ASPREE regional posts in Victoria. She loves meeting older people in the study, who share their experience and life stories. “I am inspired by what so many older people have done in their lives and what they are still doing.” It is during study visits that Lynn often picks up tips and tricks of the craft and has been known to send her compliments home to the wife/daughter of ASPREE participants wearing especially good hand knitted jumpers or MARFS (male scarf)s. Lynn has recently mastered 4ply circular knitted socks, hats and fingerless gloves, which she customises to individual finger lengths. These are in demand from family and friends – something all crafters can relate to. “My 20 year old nephews are always requesting hand knitted beanies,” she laughs. “When they were 10, they wouldn’t have dreamed of wearing one.” ASPREE is the largest GP-based study ever undertaken in Australia. It aims to enrol over 15,000 participants nationally, with 700 from central Victoria. Anyone aged 70 and over, who has not had a heart attack, or stroke should speak to their GP about being involved ASPREE or ring 1800 728 745 (toll free from a landline), or visit www.aspree.org for more information. Page 1 Noela Stratford Out and about - Profile of an artist Shuttle, Spin, Ravel and Roll shuttle spin ravel and roll Exhibition showcasing fleece with flair, living Arts Space, Bendigo Visitor Centre. Photos: Andrew Perryman Noela Stratford lectured at Deakin University for a period of ten years and was awarded her PhD in 1998. She now concentrates on her painting and drawing whilst assessing postgraduate students for several universities. Noela has held 26 solo exhibitions and was awarded residencies in Thailand, Spain and Australia. In 2000 she won the Bendigo Art Gallery Work on Paper Prize and has works in public and private collections throughout Australia and overseas. Her work focuses on the interpretation of landscape. Noela’s exhibition, Cataract: A Gorge Revisited, is presented at Woodbine Gallery in Malmsbury from the 9th - 30th September (phone 54232065). Her website is www.noelastratford.com The Living Arts Space was established in 2010 to showcase the talents of local arts practitioners from Bendigo and region. It is located inside the Bendigo Visitor Centre in the historic Post Office Building, Pall Mall. Shuttle, Spin Ravel and Roll presents a delightful and colourful array of works made from wool by four local artists and designers. Bonnie Mitchell, Michelle Lawler, Helena Richardson-Collins and Glenis Beaumont have each created distinctive and sensuous items using different techniques such as hand-loom weaving, machine and hand knitting, dying and felting. The pieces have sometimes involved combining wool in its various forms with other materials in unique and creative ways. Also on display is furniture made from Australian timber by local craftsman, Simon Wilson. These modern, welldefined and beautifully crafted timber pieces complement the textiles on show. Exhibition continues until 14 October 2012. Opening hours 9am to 5pm daily, except Christmas Day. or 5441 4288. Strathdale Senior Citizens Club Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Seniors’ People and Places Project The Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Seniors (LCMS) is currently running a Program for Seniors, sponsored by the Department of Health. There are monthly activities available, visiting nearby towns to discover attractive places and enjoy the time out. Bookings essential as bus seats are limited. To find out more and for bookings, please call LCMS on 5441 6644 The Strathdale Senior Citizens Club, located at 155A Crook Street Strathdale, provides a variety of activities throughout the week craft, cards, indoor bowls, walking groups, concerts and many more. New members are always welcome. For more information please phone 5441 1665. Bendigo Neighbourhood House Yoga: Thursday 10.00am and 11.15am - $10.00 per session Community Meal: 4th Tuesday of each month, gold coin donation Reiki: Tuesday 10am – 2pm (minimum $5.00 donation, by appointment) Body Talk: Thursday from 10.30am ($5.00 donation, by appointment) 21 Neale Street, Kennington. Phone 5441 2515. Email info@bnh.net.au People & Places Project launch Page 2 ? in the spotlight Does This Person Live In Your Street? by Robyn Warren T Forever young E by Ro Marriott very Thursday morning the joy of living combines with the love of singing as a group of choristers gather to rehearse. Another thing they have in common is their age – they are all older people. The formation of the choir, aptly named Forever Young, was something Laura Dusseljee, Head of Junior School Music at Girton Grammar, had been planning for a long time. “I’d been thinking about the project for a decade,” she said “and I put the idea to Girton’s Headmaster, Matthew Maruff, who liked it. I then visited various retirement villages and had friends speak on my behalf at U3A choir to recruit choir members. We made plans and, in February 2011, Forever Young got under way.” No auditions were held, the only requirement for membership was a desire to sing. Laura remembers they were all a bit nervous at the beginning but, before long, the two hours of strenuous training every Thursday morning showed results and everyone began to relax. The dream became reality and she can be justly proud of her group of 65 Forever Young singers. Many choral groups concentrate on the classics, but Laura believes rock songs deal with love and loss and longing – strong emotions important to all age groups and certainly demonstrated by members adding their own brand of magic. The Forever Young Singers stage a concert annually at the Capital Theatre. This year it will be held on Wednesday night the 3rd October. The choir has had wonderful support from the community and has been invited to perform at other functions in the district. This year choir the choir in full voice of the group as they belt out a range of rock songs of all genres including ‘It’s a long way to the top (if you wanna rock’n’roll’). The singers are lucky to have the talents of the Girton Grammar School music students available to accompany them. This year the String Orchestra and the band The Pistol Grips will be on stage members are being photographed and painted by artists from the community. An Art Show will be held at Dudley House in View Street between the 2nd and 7th October. For further information regarding the choir please contact Laura Dusseljee at Girton Grammar School on 5441 3114. his woman has made significant contributions to her community over many years. During the sixties, near Rabaul, she taught in one of the few High Schools that existed for boarders at that time in New Guinea. She recounts the story of one of her students whose father wanted to marry her off to a much older man – a common practice then. After working through various legal processes, the girl became her legal daughter, was able to continue her studies, and later became a doctor. A teaching career in Accounting and Taxation followed at Swinburne. Throughout her adult life she has volunteered in many capacities. Highly valued for her accounting expertise she’s been a natural choice as Treasurer in many organizations, including being the first Treasurer of the Bendigo Community Bank when it was established in Elmore. “This,” she said, “livened up Elmore and fed much-needed money into the community.” As well as being a dedicated carer for her husband, this tireless woman still finds time for painting, quilting, spinning, machine-knitting, and being an active member of the Red Hat Society, an international support group for older women. Happily living in Bendigo for the past four years, she declares, “Bendigo has all the benefits of a big city – but fewer people.” Her name is Lesley and she lives in Kangaroo Flat. We hope that this community member profile encourages you to get to know the people in your street and celebrate the contribution of older people in our community! Page 3 Creative opportunities F or those keen to get their creative hands dirty there’s no end of possibilities. Here’s a selection: Treat yourself: drawing workshops with Anne Tweed “Where you start isn’t always where you finish….” Three day intensive drawing workshop. No artistic experience required, just a willingness to trust the process and yourself. The workshop is challenging but accessible to all levels from experienced artists to people with a desire to draw. At the end of the workshop you will not only take home a beautiful drawing created by you, you will also take home the knowledge of how to problem solve through acknowledging the space around objects and creating pathways. Located 15 mins from Bendigo, soak up the beautiful vistas of the region. With no more than 6 people per workshop you will be assisted through the drawing process step by step, gaining confidence along the way from the extensive guidance and critique. Lunch (using premium regional produce) and refreshments are provided, and at the end of the day enjoy individual critique and group discussion over a glass of local wine. Red Shed Gallery, Sutton Grange Road, Sedgwick. Bookings essential as limited spaces are available. The cost is $300. Workshops run monthly, email or phone for expressions of interest: 5439 6060 or amt@gcom.net.au Page 4 Bendigo Neighbourhood house Water Colour Painting and Drawing Mon & Fri mornings ($10.00 per session). 21 Neale Street, Kennington. Phone 5441 2515. Email info@bnh.net.au Arthouse Direct Arthouse Direct are offering a range of classes from October through to December: Tuesdays Painting with Pastels and Pencil Drawing with Lee Anne Trewartha; Wednesdays Oil Painting with Patrick Verdon; Thursdays Watercolour with Hilary Loftus; and Saturdays Traditional Charcoal Drawing or Still Life Oil Painting with Aime Sacrez. All classes start in the third week of October, run for ten weeks and include materials. Times and fees vary. To find out more contact: 5443 9700 or Bendigo@arthousedirect. com.au. Twelve Shed Arts “One tree isn’t a forest, one person isn’t a community. Here at Twelve Shed Arts we have a forest made by the community, for the community” Linda Newton (Art Tutor), 2012. Exhibition space accessible to artists in the community, and art classes and workshops for everyone, including mosaic workshops and adult art workshops. Contact Mark Polsen on 5446 8813 or 0401 510 470, or drop in to 14 Sailors Gully Road Eaglehawk. twelve shed arts where to start? Why not join the Bendigo Art Society (BAS)? Members of the BAS range from beginners to more professional artists who meet monthly to exchange ideas and information. Meetings usually start off with a guest speaker and may include a workshop, planning future activities and opportunity for members to show off their latest paintings or enlist help with problems they may be having with unfinished artwork. Other activities include outdoor painting at a quiet picturesque location, gallery visits, weekend workshops, an annual four day “Paint Away” to a beach area or the mountains, an annual exhibition held in Dudley House, View Street Bendigo in October, and another display running for two months during September and October at the Bendigo Pottery. We meet at the Kangaroo Flat Gateway Park Centre, High Street Kangaroo Flat on the 2nd Tuesday of Bendigo Art Society Do you have a desire to take up painting but don’t know arthouse direct each month. Morning and afternoon tea are provided. Membership is $30.00 per single and $50.00 per couple which includes a monthly newsletter. Call in and see us in action, or for more information contact: Judy McGrath 5439 7179 or Bruce Ramage 5443 2550. Bendigo Pottery: There’s lots going on! Recent additions at Bendigo Pottery include five individual artist’s studios housing sculptors, artists, a lampwork glass bead & jewellery maker and a printmaker. And that’s not all: Four gallery areas; tours; wheel throwing, hand painting on plates or hand building with clay; and a huge new antiques and collectables centre with over 30 individual dealers. With changing exhibitions in the Paynter Gallery & local potters’ work in the Potiche Gallery, the cafe provides the opportunity to take time out and enjoy all the pottery has to offer. To get there: Huntly Bus Route No. 8 will transport you from Bendigo Railway Station to the front gate of Bendigo Pottery. To find out more: 5448 4404. Email: bpottery@bendigo. net.au Website www.bendigopottery. com.au/ Come in and find out... La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre Y ou may have noticed the modern glass fronted building opposite the Capital Theatre in View Street and wondered what was behind the glass facade. It’s the La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre (VAC) and you’re very welcome to come in and explore. The VAC is a free public gallery which presents 23 contemporary exhibitions a year in its various gallery spaces. A recent addition to the exhibition program is the Facade Project. In partnership with the City of Greater Bendigo, the VAC launched a national competition in 2011 inviting artists to submit a proposal for an artwork to cover the 14 by 4 metre facade. An artist’s fee of $3000 is awarded to the winning artist, and the work is exhibited for 12 months. A new image appeared on the facade just recently. The VAC also features a 90 seat auditorium where public seminars are hosted, as well as a meeting room which seats 12. Both these facilities are regularly used for University programs and hired out for a variety of community and corporate functions. You are invited to join the VAC’s mailing list to receive information on new exhibitions and exhibition launches. If you register your email address, you will also receive a monthly newsletter providing information on Connecting with the visual arts at Bendigo Gallery by Leanne Fitzgibbon Rusty Divas R C onnecting with the visual arts is a great way to engage with your creative side and delight in fresh ideas and possibilities. Bendigo Art Gallery offers a range of experiences, encouraging interaction and ongoing learning, which are designed to complement its diverse exhibitions. Interested in volunteering? Volunteers are a vital part of the Gallery and there are various opportunities for people to become involved. Perhaps you’d like to be a Gallery Guide or join Friends of the Gallery, a dedicated group public events which you are welcome to attend. Most of these are free. The Bendigo Art Gallery regularly hosts their free ‘Art and Tea’ presentations in the VAC auditorium, and many of their volunteer guide information sessions are also held there. You can find information on current exhibitions at www.latrobe.edu.au/vac who provide valuable support to the staff, as well as organising fundraising events. The Post Office Gallery also welcomes volunteers to greet the public and share information about its current displays. So whether you’d like to come along and check out the latest exhibition, hear an artist chat about their work or get involved through volunteering, we hope to see you soon at the Gallery. For a full list of current exhibitions and programs please pick up a copy of What’s On from reception or go to www. bendigoartgallery. com.au by Jan MacDonald usty Divas formed in 2006 when a request was made by Chum House Hospice for someone to come and sing for their clients. At that time, Helen, Jenny, Maree, Kate and Jan were all members of a Bendigo choir, good friends who really enjoy singing and having fun, and the request seemed like a great idea. Little did they realise how popular they would become! Joy and Jenny have since joined them, lightening the load a little and having fun too. The Rusties have sung at weddings, funerals, memorial services and corporate gigs. They’ve travelled out to Serpentine, Inglewood, Tarnagulla and, in 2010, to the Festival of Voices in Tassie. Mainly though, you will find them singing at one of the many retirement or aged care homes around Bendigo, or you may even catch them in the Atrium at St John of God Hospital, a venue they love. What do they sing? Country, pop, old time, folk, musical comedy – you name it and they probably sing it. This year 2012, they are hoping to cut the longawaited CD - fingers crossed! Page 5 Support and information Dementia A-Z: Free seminar Wednesday 19th September 2012 10.00am to 4.00pm, Bendigo Club, 22 Park Street, Bendigo. Morning and afternoon tea provided. Respite available for carers to attend (bookings essential). For further information, bookings and to arrange respite: Freecall 1800 200 422 or carelink@bendigohealth.org.au . RSVP: 12th September 2012. Seniors ‘hub’: Oct 8th to 10th In conjunction with the Victorian Seniors Festival, the City of Greater Bendigo is running a 3 day ‘Seniors Hub’ to be held in the Town Hall and Civic Gardens in Lyttleton Terrace Bendigo. It will take place from Monday 8th to Wednesday 10th October 2012. This event will offer a range of activities, and entertainment for seniors, their families and the community and will be interactive and engaging. Am I finally a local? by Helen Gobbe R etiring to Bendigo in 2004 was a big decision. We were leaving our friends behind, and coming to a city where we really only knew one person. But it was our tree change and we became swept up in the excitement of a new house, new scenery, and of People will be able to participate in activities, including dancing, singing, Tai Chi and craft, as well as gain information about the large range of groups, clubs and services on offer. Peter Russell Clarke will be guest presenter on Monday evening and Tuesday morning and we expect lots of fun and entertainment from him. His presentation will include a cooking demonstration. Light refreshments will also be offered throughout the program. Celebration of being a senior and involvement in community activities are key to this event so we hope people will come along and enjoy. This is a free event and all seniors and their family are invited to participate. For more information contact Di Parker at City of Greater Bendigo by phone 5434 6410 or email d.parker@Bendigo.vic.gov. au. course lots of new restaurants to try. However it soon became evident that we would need ‘more’ so we looked around to join things. Firstly it was Bendigo Newcomers, where we were able to mix with people just like us who had only been in town for a short time. We went to members’ homes enjoying barbeques and quiet Central Vic Stroke Support Group The Central Victorian Stroke Support Group (CVSSG) is a group of stroke survivors and carers who come together to support each other and share their experiences. After a stroke people often feel challenged beyond their ability to cope. Family members find it hard to understand, friendships can be broken and often the survivor and carer feel alone and isolated. The advice and encouragement given by other stroke survivors is of enormous benefit. They have already lived the journey. The CVSSG offers regular get-togethers, a support network, opportunities to learn from each others’ experiences and ways of coping, information about services and about stroke awareness and prevention. For more information, contact members David and Nola Dolman on 5443 9241 or Kevin and Heather Willey on 5491 1830. dinners. In turn, we invited some to bring a dish and join us for cards. Then along came an offer to join U3A. U3A had lots to interest us, from lectures on how mathematics got started, to planting natives in our garden, cryptic crosswords, walking groups and a wonderful library. The monthly gathering usually draws about Zooming ahead Thanks to our newly energised Zoom Editorial Group - Robyn, Ro, Judy, Heather, Ruth and Bill - for all their work on this bumper Spring issue. Spring banner photo: Judy McGrath Want to come on board? You could write, do interviews, take photos, illustrate, join the editorial group… Want to become a sponsor? Zoom has a wide distribution (25,000 copies) throughout the Bendigo area and a diverse readership. To help make our publication sustainable, we invite local businesses to consider sponsoring Zoom, in partnership with the Bendigo Weekly and the City of Greater Bendigo. Want to contribute? Our Summer edition will focus on “The Techno Age”. Copy deadline is 5 pm November 1st. For guidelines for contributors, a schedule of future deadlines and themes, or to discuss what you’d like to put in, please contact Kir Larwill on 5434 6416 or k.larwill@ Bendigo.vic.gov.au (Mon & Wed). Zoom is proudly supported by: fifty people, so there is always someone interesting to chat with, and the guest speaker provides views on subjects we just hadn’t thought about. Good for the little grey cells too, was attending Association of Independent Retirees (AIR) meetings and sharing coffee for just $2.00. A new town can be very lonely at first, but just the other week, while out shopping, I found I had stopped to chat to not just one, but eight different people as I made my way from store to store. It suddenly dawned on me that I must finally be almost a local. So take an interest in things, join a group and soon you, too, will be enjoying all that Bendigo has to offer. Don’t miss our Summer Issue out 1st week of December (deadline Nov 1st)! Page 6