Personalise the stories: Example:
Recently, our community has rallied together to prevent the sale of large properties in the East. We are all proud of Mr Glenn Ford, living on the outskirts of East Hilton, bordering the green wedges of Plumpton. In a confrontation with neighbours in Plumpton the other week, he described himself as the “last man standing”. He is very critical of the way our green spaces have been sold to developers and will be eaten by the ever encroaching demands of city suburbia. He knows that someone must take a stance against the faceless land owners who are never seen.
Mr Ford expresses all our fears when he says, “they’re your neighbours, but they’re like ghosts. They’re overseas investors who are just land-banking to cash in when the subdivision laws allow it”. Mr Ford wants our Council to be more assertive and ensure that people stop dumping their rubbish illegally in our backyards.
Gearing up for summer, we at S h all remember the terrible Ash Wed fires and it’s this time of year that we have to ask ourselves if we have the right type of protection… Our community still feels the loss of cherished members such as … How could we forget Bobby Brown… who did this … And poor Sarah still places flowers each week on the grave.
S H has a special memorial section in the cemetery to remember those who passed away during Ash Wed… Remember, little… personal stories.. .
We need to think about how we co-habit with our landscape and community.
As a youth leader at the Meredith Cultural Roots and Shoots program, I recently thought it would be useful to do some of my own family research. I was inspired by a talk at the Meredith library by Dr Crompton who has just completed her own family story of life on the gold- rush.
Incidentally, the theme of landscapes: both internal and external featured at East Hilton Council’s “Book Week”. The local library, East Hilton Library, invited notable guests who participated in a range of discussions with a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience. it was heartening to see in the audience many school students from the local high schools.
The speakers all shared different stories; but many of our local community gathered to hear Dr Crompton’s speech about family …………………….. histories and research which seems to be such a popular trend these days.
One of the speakers was Mr Steve Creighton, who won Swamp Hill Shire’s short story / poetry prize last year. He read out one of his poems that he wrote after the Black Saturday fires. / wheat country…
His own prize-winning story was included in an anthology of stories about Ash Wed. “Running against time” details his own family’s fight during and after the fire. He describes how his own son, Matthew who was 8 at the time, went through a period during which he literally hid in his shell. He would burrow under the bed, under the desk at school and, often until late at night, in the cubby house in the backyard. Basically, he was suffering from post-traumatic stress after the fire which killed his friends next door, and what made it worse was that Matthew had had a quarrel with his best mate, and believed that he was somehow responsible for his death.
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