STAY CONNECTED – UPPER PLENTY
Supported by Mitchell Shire Council
Email: shack AT upperplenty.com
Ph. 5783-1661 – Rose King
Snail Mail: 175 Clarkes Rd., Upper Plenty 3756
DECEMBER, 2009
Hi Everyone,
Are you able to receive this newsletter by email? If so, please let me know as it is a much more cost efficient way of getting the newsletter out to you.
The Upper Plenty Community Christmas party on December 11th was a very enjoyable night for residents. A total of 85 adults & 35 children were catered for, plus quite a number of late drop-ins. Thanks to Gill Buckland’s brother who did the catering – great job & great food! Thanks should also go to Kris, Alison, Hayley, Gill, & Deidre who put a lot of thought into making this night a very memorable one for the community. Thanks, also, to Santa who was able to take time out from his very busy schedule to come to Upper Plenty to deliver presents to the all the children. He was a great hit and did a wonderful job. I hope he had time to slip in a drink or two before he had to leave to get on with his many other Christmas duties. The second highlight of the evening was Alison’s unveiling of VBRRA’s “Christmas present” to Upper Plenty – $120,000 of works & services. There were audible “OOOHH’s” from the crowd. That’s a lot of dollars going into our community!
Our Community Advisory Group (sorry, I have been mistakenly referring to it as the Community Action Group) representatives, Alison, Haley, & Kris, met with people from VBRRA (Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority) on December 3rd to discuss the draft Community Recovery Plan which I wrote about in the last newsletter. We do have on good authority that it will be $120,000 plus. This could go a long way toward improving community facilities in our small community of Upper Plenty. VBRRA appear to have accepted the draft Recovery Plan in principle and have asked for some preliminary costings. We are all working as hard as we can to get the Recovery Plan finalised, accepted, and most importantly, funded and we hope to be able to display some tangible result of VBRRA’s funding by the 1st anniversary of Black Saturday on February 7th. As there are a number of building projects as part of our recovery plan, Hayley (5783-1141) & Alison (5783-1950) would like to hear from any Upper Plenty residents with building experience who would be interested in quoting for building works.
NB: The Bushfire Memorial project is quite separate from any funding directed toward recovery & reconstruction in bushfire affected communities. Mitchell Shire Council has received specific funding from VBRRA for the purpose of creating community memorials. At the moment, general opinion seems to favour one large memorial, with smaller memorials being placed in all bushfire-affected communities. However, there is still scope for us to have input into the memorial project, as well as the possibility of having our own very personalised community memorial. If you have views on this subject you need to talk to Hayley, Kris, or Alison. If you don’t make your voice heard your views cannot be represented!!!
Rose.
WHO IS WHERE & WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
Stoke’s Fruit & Vegetables reopened on December 5, much to the delight of locals. Their produce is great & the prices are even better.
Terri & Jason Dickinson (ex- Lords Rd & ex- Clonbinane) would like to say HI to Glenice Stokes & Gill & Travis Buckland. Terri & Jason are currently living in Seymour after losing their Clonbinane home on February 7. Contact me if you would like Terri’s current phone number. All three homes they have most recently lived in were lost in the fires of February 7!
Happy Birthday to Laurie Day for 11 December. Hope you had a good day, Laurie! The new shop looks great & Laurie & Karen are terrific to do business with.
Margaret Boquest (Clarkes Rd) is looking for a boarder, preferably female, who can help out in the garden & around the property. P.O. Box 404, Wallan 3756.
Mahadys Road – proposed timber mill – no further developments although a number of residents have received letters from Council advising them that a Briefing Session will be held on Thursday 17thDecember, prior to the matter going to Council. This is where you get the chance to present your views directly to Councillors and have a BIG impact on Council decisions. It’s really important for as many people as possible to do this to demonstrate the strength of community feeling.
The Simmons Family (Munts Rd) will be leaving our area soon. Mal has got a new job in Queensland. Their home is on the market but has yet to be sold. Good luck on both scores, guys.
Some scamming going on locally – I recently heard an interesting story about a young lady on the Whittlesea-Wallan Rd. who claimed to have broken down on her way to Shepparton (she was facing the wrong direction). The local resident
who stopped, thinking he could give a helping hand to a broken-down motorist noticed some serious inconsistencies in her story and decided move on. Later in the day, he saw her stopped further down the road with another concerned passer-by (facing the other direction this time). This person seems to be trying to extract money from people with her hard luck story. Beware!
Melinda Hobson, Henry Snowden & family (South Mountain Rd.) are hoping they will be in their new house by Christmas. Won’t that feel like a great Christmas present (forget the stress involved, guys)!
Mavis Patton (Clarkes Rd) was recently hospitalised due to some health problems. She is now back home and resting up. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Mavis.
Margaret Walsh (Clarkes Rd) is seriously ill and not expected to recover. The Walsh family have a long connection with Upper Plenty. Chris’s (Margaret’s husband) father once owned Maxine & Don Watson’s property & the Liversays, as well as their current block which is used as a weekender.
Rose King & Francis Payne (Clarkes Rd) would like to thank Rob Thompson & Stephen Patton for putting in the posts for some new fences. A sterling job, guys, under rather difficult conditions! We hope to have at least one fully fenced paddock by the time this newsletter is distributed.
Thumbs up to the Salvation Army in Whittlesea who not only paid for whitegoods for a bushfire affected couple, but also alerted them to some grants they were eligible for AND wrote out the cheques on the spot.
Bonny & Graeme Francis (Lords Rd) now have their slab down & a crane on site to assemble their Rapidwall home.
Nicole & Eric Kanderovskis (Mahadys Rd) will be starting building in January and hope to be completed by November.
EVENTS AT THE SHACK:
An Australia Day Breakfast will be held on January 26th, starting at 9.00am. This is the first time we have had an Australia Day Breakfast in Upper Plenty and we would like to make it a regular event. We hope to see lots of people there. It would be helpful for catering purposes to know how many people will be attending. Funding for the breakfast has been provided by Mitchell Shire Council. RSVP Rose – 5783-1661.
JOKES:
Why are cooks mean?
Because they beat the eggs & whip the cream. (Thanks, Claudia)
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A Christmas story for people having a bad day:
When four of Santa’s elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth, and two others were out – heaven knows where!
Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked. The toy bag fell to the ground & all the toys were scattered.
Frustrated, Santa went to the house for a cup of apple cider & a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard he discovered that the elves had drunk all the cider & hidden the rum. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug. It broke into hundreds of pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went off to get the broom only to find that the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of it.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Irritated, Santa marched to the door and yanked it open. A little angel stood there with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said cheerfully, “Merry Christmas Santa. Isn’t this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?
And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
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An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him, “How do you expect to get into Heaven?”
The boy thought it over and said, “Well, I’ll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, “For Heaven’s sake, Dylan, come in or stay out!”
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Contact details are on the front page.
Hope you enjoy the jokes – I didn’t get a lot of news this month.
Wishing you all a very happy Christmas in the company of family, friends, and neighbours.
