Family

Chris Oldfield. A desire by parents to get children out of the house, away from screens and in touch with nature is turning the Naracoorte district into a school holiday destination ... “The idea of being able to get out, get the children out of the house and do all the things that we have in the local area that has a nature base, feet on the ground experience, is exceedingly popular.”: Naracoorte Holiday Park Edwards Group regional manager Alison Baker

For farmers across Australia the boundary between the home and the workplace is blurred. This is further complicated for those raising children when trying to balance the freedom that comes with living on lots of space with enforcing lifesaving safety precautions ... This Farm Safety Week, Farmsafe Australia is highlighting the importance of mitigating the risks that arise when home and workplace are intertwined.

The online dance project harnesses the creativity of children across regional WA, to celebrate familial relationships. Children aged 4-7 have worked together with adults they love, to create their own dance performance through a series of games masterminded by inspirational choreographer Sandi Woo.

Joan de Bondt. Percy Grainger was a composer and pianist born in 1882 whose legacy is generally associated with his piano arrangement of the folk dance tune ‘Country Gardens’ ... Percy Grainger was a cousin to Bruce’s great grandfather. A wedding photo of Bruce’s grandfather, Stewart Hamilton Grainger, is attached to a photo of Percy at about the same age and the resemblance is unmistakable.

A Charles Sturt University early childhood education expert asks where in the 2022 election campaign is the commitment to big investment and to big policy ideas that ensure free and accessible early childhood education for the long-term? Dr Leanne Gibbs tells ARR.News how the challenges in workforce supply and retention in the ECE sector are even greater in rural, regional and remote areas within Australia.

One year after losing her son, Coen grandmother Jackie Perry opens up on why she helped start a movement called Talk About It Tuesday. So far it has drawn support from a cross-section of Cape York, including big organisations.

A mother-of-two from Parkes has made the move to Orange to pursue a career in medicine to help address the doctor shortage in rural Australia. Ms Hannah Hawker tells of how she balances study and home life with two children as the University celebrates all its mothers ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday 8 May.

Lynne Mowbray. The last couple of years have proved to be a trying time for anyone attempting to hold an event and organisers of the 117th Maclean Highland Gathering, were keen to make this year’s event, a great one. Maclean Highland Gathering Chief Peter Smith said that they were expecting a particularly good gathering this year and it did not disappoint.

After sold-out previews at the Croatian Film Festival in Sydney, a locally filmed documentary – Countryman – will make its cinema release with screenings that bring the film back home to where the Australian story began. Tennant Creek’s Joseph Williams is the co-producer and artist of the doco and he is excited to screen it in town next Wednesday at Nyinkka Nyunyu  from 5.30pm.

Over 30 years ago Lockhart resident Jean Urquhart competed in the final of the State Rich Fruit Cake Competition held at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show and now this year her great granddaughter Grace Cox is following in her great grandmother’s footsteps.

Joan de Bondt. When the Legacy Bowls Tournament was initiated in Barham 55 years ago in 1967, it attracted four greens of bowlers, drawn from surrounding areas as far away as Bendigo. The event was established as a fundraiser to assist war widows and their families.

Alesha Millard. Nicole and Laurie Ryan and their two teenage daughters, Elly and Molly, are now enjoying freedom on the road in a fully restored bus ... Maybe the Ryans will inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and make some new adventures this year ... As someone recently said, “It’s like a whole community of travelling families out there!”

The Jenkins family celebrated their 74th family reunion at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens last Sunday. The family scroll created by Ray Maxfield in the 1960s measures 25 metres and is proudly displayed on the grass as new babies are added to the historical document.

Geoff Helisma. ‘Not out’ septuagenarian Bob Walker came to comedy relatively late. “It saved my life. I was deeply depressed when I took it up – it’s changed how I think about myself and my outlook on life.” ... the Tucabia man is back with a stellar line-up of comedians at the Maclean Bowling Club – and all of the money from ticket sales will be used to potentially save lives.

The Wiradjuri Sisters exhibition is an exciting collection of works in acrylics, collage and printmaking by Indigenous artists Naomi Grant and Krishna Heffernan. The show is a combination of the creative passion of sisters who live on opposite sides of the country.

Emma Pritchard. Cohen Daly has a dream. It’s a dream which he is determined to see come true. And nothing, not even a battle against aggressive bone cancer, will prevent the strong-willed teenager with the beautiful smile from fulfilling his ambition.

Labor is calling for a common sense approach to current COVID-19 birthing restrictions in hospitals so the father, partner or a designated support person who tests negative on a RAT can be present for the entire labour and for the mother and baby’s stay in hospital.