Dereel Spokes Newsletter

1.How long have you lived in the area, and what brought you here?
17 years. We had friends who had a place up here and we came to visit, fell in love with the area, saw the block in Tantaus Road. About 6 months later we bought it. We built a shed, lived in that and built the house all by ourselves. Three street frontages and a spring fed dam – what’s not to love

2. What’s great about living here?
The bush, the people – the network of friends I have in this town.

3. What do you feel passionate about?
First and foremost my kids, my grandchildren and my great grand children – 4 of them – and my lovely border collie.

4. What do you find joy in doing?
Knitting, sewing, gardening – there’s not much room for anything else is there?

5. What is your current pet project?
Dressing dolls and doing up teddy bears (repairing and clothing) for reselling later. Can’t afford to fall in love with them however. I used to make porcelain dolls. I modeled them from scratch.

6. What community groups are you involved in and why?
CFA, CERT, and the Red Cross. I was the CFA communication officer for 15 years but now I’m just a regular member. In CERT, I am an active member and also the Treasurer. In the Red Cross I am Convenor of Telecross – ringing elderly and at risk people to see that they are ok. Mainly they live in Ballarat and surrounding districts. Also, I am committed to the kid’s disco’s committee. The disco runs 5 times a year (end of each term and Halloween).

7. Tell us about your best community experience.
After 17 years there are so many. Being able to assist people after the big fires was an important one.

8. How could you see more of this happening in Dereel?
Dereel could work really well if everyone came together for the good of the area.

9. Describe a future vision of Dereel that you would like to see.
More community involvement with everyone working together. Have things that combine the whole community together. A market in this area would be brilliant. We used to have film nights which were packed.

10. What would we do as a first step to realise that dream?
Let’s all work together as a community.