Life

The lawn mower racers will return, along with the pie eating competition, camp oven cook up and billy boiling comp.

Australia’s leading NDIS online therapy provider, Therapy Connect, is virtually stepping into the classroom, providing early intervention and diagnosis to children in remote communities and slashing years off patient waitlists. It is estimated that around 180,000 children in rural NSW are in desperate need of childhood development services that are not available in their region.

NSW’s first Aboriginal Violence, Abuse and Neglect (VAN) Services trainee has graduated in the Far West Local Health District. Proud Barkandji woman Kyeesha Jones said it had always been her dream to work in health and help her people access services.

Nadine Hoffman of Lancelin is one of the people participating in the annual Jump for Jane event to raise money for Breast Cancer Care WA. Jump for Jane is named after Breast Cancer Care WA board member Jane Loring – who died from breast cancer in 2013.

Alyssa Walker. Alister Lamour is a Charlton man who, according to some mates of his who wished to remain anonymous, "is impossible to dislike" He is also an incredibly humble man and doesn’t like talking about himself. This is unfortunate for him, because there are a lot of people who would love to hear about how he’s representing Australia in the F-Class Open World Championships in South Africa.

There is a Shetland-sized hole in the hearts of the Scott family of Emu Creek this week after they said goodbye to Mickey, just shy of his 50th birthday ... It is believed Mickey was used for pony rides at the Melbourne Zoo and at metropolitan race meetings in his younger days but ended up in Bendigo at age 36 when his owners moved into aged care.

The Warumungu community is in mourning after a community leader sadly passed away ... Mr R. Plummer was a Warumungu Traditional Owner, a Cultural Advisor to the Legislative Assembly and a member of many organisational boards ... The senior songman was just 62 years old and he definitely left a lasting legacy in the community of Tennant Creek.

Local Narelle Bremner toiled for hundreds of hours to create this stunning mosaic table she generously donated to the Tennant Creek Women’s Refuge. Unveiled at the International Women’s Day celebration at the Refuge’s Peace Garden Wednesday evening, the massive round table is a stunning piece of art.

Lee Mead. Lap swimmers, aerobic mermaids and happy families alike are all extremely grateful to two local legends, Sally and Kerryn, who answered the call out to train as lifeguards. Both undertook a lifeguard training course last year to help overcome the shortage of staff suffered by all swimming pools last season, and which resulted in our Maldon pool having to close some days each week.

Titilua Ikenasio. A new child-friendly eating place ‘The Yard’ Cafe has officially opened on East Street Narrandera, bringing with it new flavours and a new look ... Owners Cass and Oz Fikri are no strangers to the world of hospitality ...

Serena Kirby. About 30 people volunteered to have their heads shaved before 200 supporters at a recent ovarian cancer fundraiser at the Denmark Boating and Angling Club. The ‘Shaving Noggins for Suzie’ event was held as a way to show support for lifelong local Sue Sinagra who is fighting Stage 4 ovarian cancer.

Concerned with the amount of litter adorning roadsides, a couple of locals have taken it upon themselves to help clear the rubbish and take pride in their surroundings ... Using drone footage, Esther Hume and Geoff Eldridge created a short video of their escapades which was uploaded to social media.

The founder of a new regional-based architectural firm has been recognised for her innovative work in the field with a coveted national award ... Sarah Lebner returned to the area last year and started Cooee Architecture, a new regional practice based near Bringenbrong focusing on energy-efficient and low-carbon homes.

HM Woodhouse-Herrick. The first day of Autumn was a beautiful cool day for our day out for the Volunteers who man the Visitors Information Centre Nhill one day a month. With thanks to the Hindmarsh Shire, we filled the bus with those who were able to come along and familiarised ourselves with places such as the grand old Church at Pella out of Rainbow, the painted Silo at Albacutya ...

There’s an outbreak of a famous book in Woodburn. Samuel Allis who opened Hemlocks Books and Coffee three weeks ago has been recommending one of his favourites to customers.

Kaniva born and bred, Beryl Meyer is the ultimate reminder of the sheer simplicity and joy of life. From humble beginnings, Beryl still maintains that ‘a home full of love is all you need to enjoy life for what it is’.

West Wimmera Health Service recently released new Community Health and Wellbeing Profiles, providing the first detailed snapshots of the health, wellbeing and liveability of nine towns across the Wimmera and southern Mallee ... "The exciting thing about this project is that we now, for the first time, have access to solid benchmarking data, which means from this year forward, we will be able to track the health and wellbeing of these small communities over time": Health Promotion Manager, Dorothy McLaren.

Three years after being established, a thriving native garden at SA Water’s Kadina Depot is demonstrating the success of growing water efficient, locally-sourced plants, with the idea easily able to be replicated in Yorke Peninsula backyards ... SA Water’s Vegetation Services Specialist Shaun Kennedy said he’s thrilled to see the garden continuing to flourish and attract an interesting array of birds and insects, including native bees, which are taking advantage of newly-installed ‘bee hotels’.

After years of careful planning, interrupted by bushfire, floods and a global pandemic, the Bago State Forest Nature-Based Tourism Enhancement program was launched with reveal of its long-awaited Masterplan ... the Masterplan aims to deliver growth in the local and regional tourism economy through improved forest-based visitor experiences incorporating art, health and wellness, and environmental projects.