Aria’s brave battle

The North Central Review

-

December 21, 2020

0

By Colin MacGillivray

CHRISTMAS is a time of celebration for most, but for one Wallan family the holiday will be about finding moments of joy amid an ocean of heartache.

Aria Pryde is only 14 months old, but might not live to see Christmas Day after being diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic disorder known as vanishing white matter disease, VWMD.

The disease, which affects fewer than 10 people Australia-wide, is fatal form of leukodystrophy caused by a defective protein affecting the cells that produce myelin – a white, fatty substance that insulates and protects nerve fibres.

The disease can cause seizures, comas and loss of speech and motor skills. It claimed the life of 12-year-old Woonona girl Chloe Saxby earlier this year.

Aria’s aunt Rebecca Santalucia said the family had experienced a waking nightmare since her diagnosis.

“It started off with Aria reaching all her normal milestones as a baby would, and then just noticing one day that she couldn’t hold her head up anymore and she wasn’t able to sit. She just wasn’t able to do all the normal things that a baby should be doing,” she said.

“This was all in the midst of the lockdown, so it was very hard to go to the hospital or doctors with telehealth.

“They did an MRI and my sister had to find out [Aria] had a terminal illness by herself, because nobody else was allowed in the hospital.

“Once we found out she had VWM disease and that her life expectancy wasn’t long, she was already in a comatose state. They first gave her 24 hours, and then they gave her only an hour. We’re going on four months later and she’s still here.

“She’s not in a good way, and we take every day as a blessing with Aria at the moment.”

Heartbreakingly, the situation could become even more tragic for parents Louise and Raymond.

Aria’s twin brother Axel has not been diagnosed with leukodystrophy but has shown developmental delays in crawling and walking.

Their older sister Charlie, six, has shown no signs of the condition.

Aria and Axel — Aria and her twin brother Axel.

Ms Santalucia said the diagnosis had rocked the tight-knit family.

“We’re just sticking together and helping out where we can with whatever we can,” she said.

“They’re holding strong, but because we haven’t been given much time to even take in what’s happening and there’s not much that can be done other than pain relief, they feel like they’re living a nightmare and wondering when they’re going to wake up.

“We’ve done everything we can. We’ve had an early Christmas just in case, and they’ve chosen palliative care from home so family can be close and helping out.

“I know the pain I feel as an aunt, and I can’t even imagine it as a parent.

“I feel like their kids are my kids, and my kids are their kids – we’re a very close family.”

With so few cases of VWMD diagnosed each year, Ms Santalucia said there was relatively little research on the disease.

Aria’s family are now appealing for the Wallan community and wider region to come together at Christmas and support them by donating money towards VWMD research.

“With it being so rare, we’d never hear of it,” she said.

“Then we started looking into places that might be doing trials and treatments. There are very few because it is so rare, and when things are that rare, governments don’t really fund research into those diseases.

“We decided to start raising money ourselves in the hope that we can make a change for the next child that gets it.

“We’re attempting to raise as much as we can in a short time span, and we want to continue for as long as we can.

“Aria lives in Wallan, so they’re a local family, and when you’re in a country town like that, if you manage to get the community behind you, you can achieve much bigger goals.”

Aria’s family started a donation page on fundraising website mycause, with all proceeds going towards associate professor Lezanne Ooi’s lab at Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute – the only lab in Australia currently researching VWMD.

Ms Santalucia said people could support the family by making a donation in lieu of a Christmas gift.

“With lockdown, we’ve been quite limited in what we can do and how we can share it other than on Facebook,” she said.

“We’ve managed to do quite well. We’re almost at $6000 now, but it’s hard when you’re working solely on Facebook.

“We had a Christmas raffle where we had a few people donate items, and we raised about $2800 from that.

“These are the little things you can do to make something bad into something that’s even a little bit positive, by feeling like you’re helping somewhere.

“Wallan is a great town, and we’re hoping they come together once they hear about what’s going on.

“Hopefully we achieve something and we can make a change in such a terrible situation.”

Federal support for Seymour Show

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

After being forced to cancel the Seymour Show as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, Seymour Agricultural and Pastoral Society has received a $15,000 Federal Government grant to hit the ground running for the 2021 edition.

Almost $230,000 of the $34 million Supporting Agricultural Shows and Field Days program was given to agricultural societies in the Nicholls electorate to help them bounce back from a difficult year.

Seymour Agricultural and Pastoral Society president Jason Ronald said the money would be used to reimburse the society for expenses already paid in preparation for the 2020 show before its cancellation.

“There are a number of things that are paid every year such as insurance, fees, memberships and other things like that and we were able to claim for that, so that money will put us in a reasonable financial position to do next year’s show,” he said.

“It’s fantastically important to all the agricultural societies … because it means we’re in a position to start the year off the same way we would have if we had a successful show.

“It’s certainly encouraging and allows us to plan to have a big a show as we normally do and come back strong from the pandemic that’s been such a disaster around the globe.”

Mr Ronald said with COVID-19 restrictions slowly being eased, the society hoped to have a significant number of patrons through the gates by October 2021.

“We’ve got examples of 25,000 people being allowed at the MCG for the Boxing Day Test so hopefully things will improve, and we’ll be able to have the number we normally get to our show through our gates,” he said.

“I think the Royal Easter Show in Sydney is looking at 60,000 people through their gates each day so if that’s the case, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem by October next year.”

Member for Nicholls Damian Drum said shows were uniquely Australian and provided huge economic benefits to local communities, as well as opportunities for the businesses and services that exhibit.

“They also help to maintain our farmers’ competitive edge by providing an outlet for new ideas, new technologies and new ways of working to be shared,” he said.

“I am very pleased so many important organisations in Nicholls are able to access this funding to help get them through this tough period and out the other side in a sound position to host again in 2021.”

Faces uncovered at fundraiser

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

By Colin MacGillivray

THE fundraising efforts of Wallan Secondary College year 11 student James Mileski and four teachers have resulted in nearly $3000 being donated towards men’s health causes.

James, who has been elected a college captain for 2021, decided to raise money for the Movember charity with a unique idea; rather than seek donations for growing a moustache during November as most who support the Movember charity do, he decided to shave his facial hair off – and enlisted some of his teachers to do the same.

James convinced teachers Jarrod Patterson, Brad Campbell, Luke Ellis and Chris Farnay to shear off their facial hair in support of the charity, raising donations from the college community throughout November.

By the end of the month the group had raised $2854 to support awareness and research for men’s mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

College executive assistant Lauren Mozina said it had been a fantastic initiative from James.

“He wanted to do something for the community, and he proceeded to get the teachers involved and have them join him,” she said.

“James put in for college captain for 2021 and he wanted to get involved with Movember.

“He’s been involved in our leadership group over numerous years, attending ANZAC Day services and similar things. He’s pretty community minded, and he just decided he wanted to give back.

“When Movember arrived he came and saw me and asked if I could help him put it together.

“He set up his own team, then went around to the teachers and worked out which ones would have the most hair to lose, then approached them and asked if they would be willing to join. Luckily they were all rapt to do it with him.”

DSC 0009 — From left, teachers Chris Farnay, Jarrod Patterson, Brad Campbell, Luke Ellis with student James Mileski, middle, after undergoing a shave in support of the Movember charity.

Ms Mozina said the college community embraced the idea of a Movember shave.

“Our kids did a non-uniform day to help raise money to put towards it,” she said.

“We raffled a Monopoly board with the Movember version of the game, and the principal ended up winning it, so he donated it back and then we had a silent auction for it.

“We have a team donation page and every year level has a communicator, so they get to see it, they get to speak about it and offer encouragement throughout the whole process.

“We got the message out to our community as well. We put it on our Facebook site and our website, and they got to talk about the reasons they had chosen to do it. We had really good feedback from our staff as well.”

Casual Cuts at Wallan’s Wellington Square Shopping Centre threw its support behind James’ campaign, providing shaves for the team free of charge.

James and three of the teachers went under the razor at the barber on December 1, while Mr Ellis stayed at home and let his daughter shave him.

It was a particularly poignant occasion for Mr Ellis, who lost his brother-in-law to cancer 10 years ago.

Ms Mozina said some of the students had never seen their teachers without a beard before.

“Some of them have had their beards for numerous years and never shaved them off, so it was quite entertaining to see what they look like now,” she said.

“I had never seen any of these teachers without their beards.

“A couple of them didn’t tell their families that they were doing it, and our assistant principal Luke Ellis got his little girl to shave it off because she’s never seen him without it and he didn’t want her to freak out.

“She’s only three and she was quite hysterical thinking it was hilarious as she did it.

“You can definitely see a big difference in all of them – they look a lot younger. Let’s hope they keep it that way.”

Kilmore makes top tree-change list

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

By Jackson Russell

Kilmore has ranked among the top 20 regional towns across Australia for first homebuyers, according to research commissioned by ME Bank.

Kilmore ranked 11th and was the fourth-highest Victorian town behind Woodend (sixth), Beechworth (seventh), and Tatura (ninth).
Nairne, South Australia, took out the number one spot, followed by Bungendore, New South Wales, and Margaret River, Western Australia.

The research, undertaken by Ethos Urban, ranked towns by evaluating criteria including housing affordability, healthcare and education facilities, employment rate, internet access, town character, the natural beauty of the area and population growth.

The study was exclusive to towns with populations between 3000 and 20,000 people – enough to have a town centre but not quite a regional city – and within 200 kilometres of a capital city or 50 kilometres of a major regional centre.

Ethos Urban director Chris McNeill said the study was taken from the perspective of someone currently living in a capital city and their key areas of interest if they were to move to a regional town and needed access to a capital city or regional centre.

“Kilmore is very accessible back to greater Melbourne. You’ve got well-established road links of a fairly high quality and you can also catch a train,” he said.

“It’s located in an attractive setting with rolling hills, the median house price is competitive, population growth has been pretty strong, it’s got a good range of retail offerings, and what’s not available is fairly accessible without having to undertake a two or three-hour drive.”

Mr McNeill said Kilmore’s community facilities also contributed to its high ranking.

“Kilmore, of course, has a hospital and some highly-regarded schools which definitely drove it up a bit,” he said.

“It’s a quirky one in that it doesn’t have a state high school, but Wallan and Broadford do so you’re not having to go too far for high school.

“Victoria featured pretty well, and part of the reason was the compact nature of Victoria.

“There are a lot of towns within that broader two-hour drive of Melbourne and a lot have really good town character, there’s a bit of history about them and a well-established feel.

“Over time, that sense of character is becoming increasingly popular with homebuyers.”

Kilmore resident Ali Coombe moved to Kilmore 10 years ago to buy her first family home and was initially attracted to the affordable land but fell in love with its character.

“We looked all around in Wallan, Clonbinane, all around this area, and I got to Kilmore and thought this place has a heart, it’s got a soul, it’s got history, it’s got roots,” she said.

“There’s this substance to it. You’ve got locals that were born in the town and their parents were born in the town, I just love that living history.”

Ms Coombe said the country feel and community connection was what convinced the family to put down roots in Kilmore, with her children and parents also building homes in the town.

“We have a mob of 15 kangaroos that come up from the creek in the morning and go back down at night, we wake up to bird song, the trees beside us are full of lorikeets and crimson rosellas,” she said.

“I want to be here forever. We’ve put down roots here and one day we would like to think that our family would be one of those long-term locals.”

Repair works to improve Wandong church

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

By Jackson Russell

Wandong History Group is now able to undertake crucial repair work to the old St Michael’s Catholic Church, thanks to a $200,000 grant from the State Government’s Living Heritage grants program.

The group has called the church home for the past six years, but urgent works are required to keep the building inhabitable.

The third time was the charm for Wandong History Group, finally receiving funding through the program after three previous attempts.

Additional funding will also be provided by St Patrick’s Parish as St Michael’s was one of seven churches in the Kilmore Parish when it was established in 1849.

Restoration works will include a new roof, improving accessibility, filling cracks and repainting.

The old vestiary will also be underpinned as large cracks have formed around the windows and where the add-on connects to the main building.

Architectural barge boards will be added across the gable, both front and back, to match the original 1892 design.

The group also hopes the grant will allow the floorboards to be polished for the first time.

Wandong History Group president Karen Christensen said the repairs had been needed since the group moved into the building in 2014.

“The condition is just getting worse and the longer it’s not fixed, obviously, the worse it’s getting,” she said.

“Just looking now, we can see changes in the last little while with cracking and things moving so it’ll be good to have it all done.

“Between the grant and the church contribution, hopefully that will be enough to get done everything we want to get done.”

Ms Christensen said the upgrades would allow the group to open to the public more often.

“We’ll obviously use it as our base still, but we’ll be able to have some displays and things set up more permanently here in this building because we’ve got nowhere else to do that,” she said.

“We’ll have an area that can have displays set up and people can come and have a look and do research, so we’ll actually operate as a bit more of a group that can offer something else to the community.

“Hopefully, with the primary school just next door, we can encourage them to come through and look at some of our artefacts and exhibitions.”

Works are expected to begin in January and be completed within four months.

Young presenters fill the airwaves

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

BUDDING radio presenters from across Mitchell Shire are hitting the airwaves this week as Mitchell Community Radio’s Young Presenters Quest draws to a close.

The station, which broadcasts as OKR FM 98.3 across most of Mitchell Shire and 97.1 in Wallan, has run the talent quest for the past eight years as a way of giving young people in the region exposure to the broadcasting industry.

School students have spent several weeks training for the competition, hosting their own radio segments each week.

This year’s participants are presenting their final shows this week and will be judged by the winners of last year’s competition.

OKR FM president Mark Perrot said the quest was a great way for young people to learn new skills and build confidence.

“They learn a lot from the competition,” he said.

“Once you’ve learned the technical side, it’s more a case of assembling the show. That’s where you choose your music and you try to work out your conversation topics.

“They’re working on their final shows [this week] and that’ll be for the judging.

“Last year’s winners of the quest judge this year’s participants on their overall presentation, their conversation and their technical ability, so that there’s not too much silence and things like that.

“In the first session with some of the boys, one of them turned on the wrong mic, so we couldn’t hear him. That would probably go against him a little bit if it was in the final.

“I think they’re going to talk about Christmas, so they’ll have to carry the conversation for that period.”

Broadford Secondary College year seven students Emmeline Mastevski and Natalie Hannemann said they had loved being part of the Young Presenters Quest.

“I like playing songs that I like and have chosen, and having people hear them,” Natalie said.

“I think we get to choose a few songs that we might not get to hear on the radio otherwise.”

Emmeline said she had found radio presenting easier than she first thought.

“I thought it was going to be really technical and involve using the computer a lot,” she said.

“If anyone was thinking about doing it, I think they should go for it because it’s not as hard as it looks. It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of everything.

“My favourite part has been getting to play some of my favourite songs and getting a chance to build my confidence up talking on the radio.”

Mr Perrot said the young presenters often brought a fresh perspective to both the music and conversation topics discussed on the radio.

“We had a really good conversation about how they were coping with online learning,” he said.

“We’re trying to pin them down to the local area where possible, like the boys who were keen cyclists were talking about riding and how that sort of thing works in the local area.

“The boys are talking about continuing, maybe not every week, but every now and again, because it’s something they enjoy and they’ve got the skill to be able to keep it up.

“Hearing new music has been one of the good aspects. They come in with their own choices, whether it’s entirely their own or has a bit of input from mums, dads, brothers and sisters.”

The Young Presenters Quest is run in conjunction with Victorian Youth Week each year.

A boys’ team of Matt and Ben presented their final show yesterday from 4pm to 5pm, with Emmeline and Natalie presenting their final show immediately afterwards from 5pm to 6pm.

Roman will be the last of this year’s participants to present his final show today from 4pm to 5pm.

For more information on the competition, people can call OKR FM on 5781 0919.

People can listen live on the radio or stream the broadcast online at okrfm.com.au/listen_live.php.

Grass fire requires air support

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

By Jackson Russell

Three fires late last week had Mitchell Shire fire brigades busy, with a grass fire near Broadford more than 15 acres large requiring air support and a house in Seymour burning down.

A helicopter and 10 tankers were required to bring a grass fire under control at McKenzies Lane in Sugarloaf Creek on Thursday afternoon.

Initial calls for the fire, estimated to be between 15 and 20 acres in size by the time units arrived, were received at about 2.15pm, with the fire brought under control close to an hour after it was attended.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

A house in Kitchener Crescent, Seymour burned down after a fire late Sunday night, with the home fully engulfed by the time crews arrived.

Four appliances attended the fire at about 10.50pm. Crews brought it under control 40 minutes later.

Fire investigators were at the scene on Monday to conduct initial investigations.

Seymour Police said injuries were highly unlikely as the resident was believed to have left prior to the fire.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious and the Mitchell Crime Investigation Unit’s investigation is ongoing.

There was a small grass fire at Old Mill Road, Bylands between Arkells Lane and Union Lane just before 5pm on Sunday.

Six tankers from Wallan, Wandong and Kilmore were able to get the fire under control within 15 minutes.

CFA District 12 commander Charlie Cleary said the fires served as a warning for Mitchell Shire residents at the start of the annual fire danger period.

“The grass is growing out and I think, particularly in Mitchell Shire, people really have to be careful when they’re out operating machinery in the grass or cropped areas,” he said.

“With the wind conditions and warmer area, it doesn’t take much for a fire to start. Especially if there’s any overheating or failure in the machinery.

“I heard about a whipper snipper starting a grass fire when it hit a rock recently, so it doesn’t take much for it to spark something and get going.

“Now is an ideal time for people to make sure they’re meeting their fire danger period obligations and that advice is available on the CFA website.”

Corellas attack golf course

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

Corellas have returned to Kilmore Golf Club, wreaking havoc to the course’s greens and fairways which are in the best condition they have been in years.

The club has obtained authority from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to use scare tactics to move the birds away from the golf course and is investigating the use of drones to deter the corellas from landing on greens and fairways.

President Bea Lay said about 30 corellas were currently calling the course home, damaging the first fairway and eighth green.

The club is in the process of applying for a public place permit to fire non-lethal salt pellets to scare the birds away.

“Following what the community meeting suggested, we’re letting the public know what we’re doing so there aren’t any false rumours and people will understand we’re doing our best to move the corellas on,” she said.

Last year, the club was loaned four ‘eagle eyes’ from DELWP, but is currently unable to access them, meaning it has resorted to placing reflective streamers around the edge of greens.

The club has also tried using artificial snakes, owls and cats, all of which failed to deter the intelligent birds.

“It’s just something we have to live with, and I hope other people hope to live with them too,” Ms Lay said.

“We don’t want to kill any, but we want to maintain the golf course because the volunteers have worked so hard.”

The club is asking for anyone who owns and flies a drone and would like to volunteer their services to contact the club on 5782 1123 or at info@kilmoregolfclub.com.au.

Improvements to Broadford cemetery

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

By Jackson Russell

Broadford Cemetery Trust has welcomed the addition of a new shelter, paid for with a grant from the Wallan, Kilmore and Broadford Community Bank.

The $9000 grant allowed the trust to construct the shelter using Broadford builder JG Quality Homes and supplier SSS Bargain Building Supplies.

Broadford Cemetery Trust secretary Brian O’Dwyer said the community was more excited than the trust.

“Most of the community has made a comment about it because you can see it from Murchison Street,” he said.

“We’re really rapt with the colour of it as it blends in with the trees in the background, so it’s not something just stands out but it’s there and it really fits into the surroundings.”

The shelter is one of a series of improvements the trust is hoping to make at the cemetery, including the construction of new plots towards the back of the property, new cremation areas and a funeral space.

“We’re getting a lot more cremations now, which has saved us because we’ve only got approximately 25 years left in this cemetery for lawn burials,” Mr O’Dwyer said.

“Most of the memorial area is full and that’s all we’ve got, so we’ve got to be very frugal in the way that we utilise the space.

“We’ve built the children’s lawn area and then, in the future, we need to develop along the fence right along Piper Street.

“We do get grants from the DHHS that are very, very good and from Bendigo Bank and other providers, but we can’t be using public funding for a lot of these little things.”

To continue to make the improvements, Broadford Cemetery Trust has started a project to sell engraved pavers, which will be laid under the shelter and in the area surrounding it.

Mr O’Dwyer said the pavers would provide extra decoration for the shelter and could be used to memorialise family members or people who had made contributions to the Broadford community that were not buried in the cemetery.

“We’d like the community to get on board with those, that way that’ll pay for extra decoration on the pavilion, plus the pavers, seating inside it and we want to put some information boards around it, which will also help protect from the southerly breeze that comes through here,” he said.

“Hopefully people buying the pavers will subsidise that and we’ll have quite a good little centre.”

The price of the pavers starts at $60 for a single paver, moving up to $160 for three pavers. For more information or to download an order form, people can visit www.bfct.com.au.

Seymour aged care redevelopment moves forward

The North Central Review

-

December 15, 2020

0

Seymour aged care redevelopment moves forward

Seymour’s Barrabill House aged care facility is one step closer to a major upgrade with the tender process now open for the $3.17 million redevelopment.

The project will increase the number of beds at Barrabill House to 40 thanks to a new 10-bed dementia-capable wing.

Seymour Health chief executive Ward Steet said Australia was experiencing increased incidences of dementia across the country.

“The funding that Seymour Health has received positions Seymour Health to better care for this cohort of residents into the future,” he said.

“The demand for residential aged care in the Seymour area is significant. The local community has an aged population demographic in excess of the state average and, with forecast growth, demand for residential aged care services into the future is only expected to grow.”

New dining and lounge areas will also make residents feel at home, with a new sensory garden and outdoor pavilion to provide additional space for residents to socials and meet family and friends.

A unique virtual reality experience allowed Barrabill House staff and community members to provide feedback on the facility’s design to ensure it meets the needs of residents and staff alike.

Technical drawings of the redevelopment were transformed into virtual reality, allowing staff and community members to walk through the aged care facility wearing a VR headset.

Mr Steet said Seymour Health drove the design process for the new wing based on state-of-the-art evidence-based dementia design principles.

“Being able to show a three-dimensional depiction of the new wing made it far easier for the staff and residents to appreciate what was being proposed,” he said.

“This made the consultations with the various groups far more meaningful and the feedback received around proposed design significantly more useful in informing design changes to ensure the design was both practical for staff and resident friendly.”

A builder is expected to be announced by the end of the year, with constriction to begin in early 2021 and scheduled to be completed by mid-2022.

Funding for the redevelopment came from the State Government’s $350 million Regional Health Infrastructure Fund.

Mr Steet said the project became more real once it went out to tender.

“The staff especially have appreciated the opportunity for input into the project and are really looking forward to seeing their input come to life,” he said.

“Once the new wing is completed the next phase is to seek further funding to refurbish the existing facility bringing up to the specifications being adopted for the new wing.”

Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes said Victorians in rural and regional areas deserved to have modern and efficient health care services close to home.

“This upgrade means Seymour Health can care for more residents in a home-like environment with more privacy and comfort,” she said.