Warm greetings to all friends of BAG. It is with great pleasure that we are sending you our final Newsletter for the year – and what another challenging year it has been! Who would have thought that after 2020 our lives could be changed – virtually forever. It’s a whole new ball game (as the Melbourne “Dees” certainly showed us!). We hope you still managed to get out and about albeit being restricted to what South Australia has to offer than travelling interstate, or to far away overseas destinations.
I am preparing our Christmas Newsletter having just heard the quite unexpected news of four- year-old Cloe Smith’s rescue in Carnarvon. What an emotional climax – but a story which surely has brought a smile to so many faces, Australia-wide.
And what a beautiful Spring we have been blessed with in Adelaide. It surely doesn’t get much better. Everyone, who has any interest in gardens, must be delighted with the lush growth that is in evidence everywhere. And what a year it has been for roses!
The following pages will serve to illustrate how dedicated BAG Members have been actively involved in many areas of interest around this beautiful part of the World. We hope you enjoy reading about some of our achievements - and future plans for improvements to benefit our great Community.
As detailed below our final Public Meeting for 2021 is scheduled for Wednesday 24th November commencing at 7.00pm and will be held in the Blackwood Memorial Hall 21 Coromandel Parade, (front Studio Room).
A warm welcome is always extended to all residents and Local Traders to attend our Public Meetings and to participate in any of the events and activities organised.
Further details can be found on the BAG Website or Facebook page.
You are also encouraged to look up Mitcham Council’s web page which provides a comprehensive overview of all that is happening around the Mitcham Hills and Plains. Their address is: www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au
On behalf of the BAG President, Brian Ferris, and all Committee Members, I would like to pass on our best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and most rewarding year ahead.
Best wishes
Geoff Bartlett BAG Secretary and Newsletter Editor
Website: www.blackwoodactiongroup.org.au Facebook: @blackwoodactiongroup
NEXT BAG MEETING
Wednesday 24 NOVEMBER from
7.00pm @ Blackwood Memorial Hall - 21 Coromandel Parade Blackwood
GUEST SPEAKER: Mr. Matthew Pears, CEO, City of Mitcham
Mr. Pears has been CEO of City of Mitcham since 2011. His enthusiasm is infectious and his love for the job is obvious as he explains the joy triggered from improving the quality of residents’ lives in the Council area. He possesses a friendly personable approach and his knowledge of LGA matters is without question. He is always happy to talk with residents about matters of concern.
Mr. Pears spoke at the 17th BAG Meeting on 21 March 2011, shortly after receiving his posting, when he was still learning the ropes.
You are all cordially invited to this special Public meeting to hear his Council reflections over the past decade.
Also it will be our ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING featuring:
OUR PRESIDENT’S 2021 ANNUAL REPORT (Click to read)
TREASURER’S FINANCIAL REPORT (Click to read)
ELECTION OF BAG OFFICE BEARERS for 2022 (Click for nomination form)
We encourage anyone who is community-minded, and feels they have something to contribute, to nominate for a Position on our General Committee.
BAG’S CHRISTMAS DINNER – END OF YEAR BREAK-UP
When: Wednesday December 15th at 7PM
Where: Blackwood Memorial Hall Studio Room 21 Coromandel Parade Blackwood
Cost: Only $15.00 p.p. covers a variety of sumptuous foods, including a yummy Christmas Cake and ALL drinks
You are cordially invited to join us for a great social night of chit-chat and reflections on another very successful year for BAG and the Community (under somewhat trying times!)
PLEASE NOTE: NUMBERS WILL BE STRICTLY LIMITED! To avoid disappointment, we request that you RSVP MONDAY 6th DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS RED BOWS
This is the 20th year that the streets of Blackwood have been decorated with these festive Bows. With the cancellation of the traditional Lions Blackwood Christmas Parade and the Coromandel Rotary Christmas Fair in the Waite Street Reserve, for the second year running, BAG sees the displaying of the Red Bows as a chance to instill some Christmas Spirit and vibrancy into our shopping precincts and residential streets. Can you help?
The good news is that the price remains the same – just $5.00 per pack. Each pack has enough material to make two large bows to tie on your letterbox, veranda posts, car ports, small trees, shop veranda posts etc.
Red Bow packs will be available from Monday 15th November at the following locations: HABITAT Blackwood (Drakes Supermarket S/C); FAIRLEYS SHOEX (Woollies S/C) and Sam Duluk, MP’s Office (Young Street). Each roll comes with bow-tying instructions.
We encourage you to brighten up Blackwood’s streets this Christmas and buy one or two packs. All proceeds will go towards Community projects. Thank you in anticipation.
CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL
Thanks to the amazing efforts of the Christmas Tree Festival team, 2021 will see the 4th bi-annual Festival held in Blackwood in recent times. However, due to the upcoming works for the commencement of the new Blackwood Library/Community Centre in Young Street, this year’s event will be held in the Blackwood Uniting Church (roundabout corner) on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th December from 10.00am to 4.00pm, both days.
EXPERIENCE a Wonderland of Christmas Trees and Creations
VISIT SANTA in his Blackwood “Magic Cave”
CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS CRAFT ACTIVITIES
“GIVING TREE” – Please donate a Gift (unwrapped) for children or adults
CHRISTMAS TREES for sale – pine, native and grapevine trees
SHOP AT “SANTA’S STORE”
ENJOY A CUPPA in our tea-rooms
ENTRY- GOLD COIN DONATION
PROCEEDS from the event go to local charities, BEACON and TREASURE BOXES
WESTFIELD LOCAL HEROES
By now most of you will have heard that our long-time Member, PAULINE DODD, was selected as one of three winners in the recent Westfield Local Hero awards. Congratulations Pauline.
There were six finalists and the voting was conducted on-line. Thanks to an enormous level of support from the “extended BAG family” and the wider Community, Pauline was rewarded.
All successful heroes were presented with a cheque for $10,000 which, in Pauline’s case, will be used to support local BAG projects in the Blackwood area.
Pauline’s energy is amazing – a real driving force in BAG and she is constantly looking at ways to engage with people and aiming to make our community a better place in which to live.
In addition to being the Coordinator of the Christmas Tree Festival (see above) Pauline is also Co-Convenor of BAG’s History Sub-Committee which is constantly looking at ways to encourage residents to become more aware of the heritage value of our “country town”. She has also been involved in many other projects over the years including the composition of a Shopping Centre Survey distributed to over 10,000 homes in the Mitcham, Hills in 2011. Responses received from this Survey drove many improvements in the local shopping centre precincts in particular, over the past 10 years.
To find out more about BAG or get involved in any activities that appeal to you, please visit our website for more information: https://www.blackwoodactiongroup.org.au/
BAG always welcomes new participants – and has no Membership fees.
WINDY POINT UPGRADES - OFFICIAL LAUNCH
In May last year, our Federal Member for Boothby, Nicolle Flint, MP., agreed that a $10,000 Grant awarded to BAG prior to the 2019 Federal Election, and originally designated for the Blackwood Telstra Exchange front garden upgrade, (but rejected by Telstra), could be used for some Windy Point upgrades.
As a result, a few dedicated BAG volunteers, inspired by local resident Irene Carrig, have spent many hours in the past 18 months working on improvements which they believe will add considerable appeal for visitors to this popular iconic Lookout. Special mention must be made to the contributions of BAG Members Pauline Dodd and Lis Bartlett who, with Irene and Geoff, managed to overcome many obstacles along the way.
The final allocation of the $10k. Grant culminated in three large display signs - two panoramic photo boards and a Local History board being installed at the top lookout (similar to those on display at the Mt Lofty Summit lookout), plus an aluminium table and seats picnic setting on the lower level.
The Official launch of these upgrade projects was carried out on Wednesday 10th November - after 18 months of time-consuming negotiations between BAG volunteers, Ross Hurley and representatives from the 3 levels of Government.
Over 70 people attended the Launch which was deemed an overwhelming success. Cr. Lindy Taeuber did an excellent job as MC for the Event and the 3 display boards were officially unveiled by our local Member for Waite, Sam Duluk, MP., and Her Worship, The Mayor of Mitcham, Dr. Heather Holmes-Ross.
The creation of the Boards contents was largely the work of local Photographer, Karen Powell (Chilli Studios) and Graphic Artist, Tamara Jakoviev (Design Girl), and the construction and installation of the display boards was done by Signs by Knight (Aaron McAvaney and Andrew Knight). Thanks to you all.
A special word of appreciation must go to The Terrain Group (Jayne Selby) for offering attendees a free Sausage Sizzle (with BBQ supplies provided by local traders, Blackwood Butchers and Bakers Delight), Bracegirdles (Garry and Sue) who offered free coffees from their BIG bus; Graham and Susan Dicker who provided the P/A system and Justin Miles (General Manager/Executive Chef of Windy Point Restaurants) for his generous offer of support for various facets of the Event.
We would also like to express our thanks to the City of Mitcham who constantly provided BAG with encouragement for this project through the Mitcham Heritage Research Centre (Mark Winders) and who were responsible for upgrading many amenities in the Reserve at BAG’s request.
Thanks also to the South Australian Tourism Commission (Mark Gill) for attending to various road sign upgrades and providing input into the descriptive texts for the photo boards.
Finally, we must again thank our local Federal Member for Boothby, Nicolle Flint, MP. for her backing of BAG in this worthwhile Community project.
We hope there will be more positive improvements at both the Lookouts happening soon. If you haven’t been down to Windy Point recently, we can certainly recommend a visit.
BLACKWOOD CHRISTMAS PAGEANT PLANS
As predicted in our August Newsletter, the very popular Lions’ Christmas Parade has unfortunately had to be cancelled again this year. With the uncertainty of the various Covid-19 restrictions which were in place at the time the event was being planned it was considered too great a risk to proceed.
As previously mentioned, the Coromandel Rotary Fair in Waite Street Reserve, which normally follows the Pageant event, has also been cancelled.
We hope for better outcomes in 2022.
STOBIE POLES MURALS PROJECT
The Murals on Stobie poles along Shepherds Hill Road have been well received by many locals – and visitors to Blackwood. Whether it is when we are preparing the steel channel side sections with anti-rust and an acrylic topcoat or installing the finished murals with Liquid Nails on the poles, we invariably get complimentary comments. It has been a most heartening experience and most people are very conscious of the transformation of the boring streetscape.
There are now over 70 local artists involved in the project and you may have noticed that new murals have recently been popping up on poles along Coromandel Parade. Once this approach road is completed, we will be directing our attention to the Main Road (from Edward Street to the Belair Hotel).
SHEPHERDS HILL ROAD UPGRADE
Some local residents will be well aware of the inconvenience caused by the recent road resurfacing works on Shepherds Hill Road (from the Woolworths Shopping Centre to Northcote Road). Travelling west at nighttime must be a nightmare for anyone who has to take the alternative route home (via Black Road or Springbank Road!)
Hopefully this job will be completed in a couple of weeks and we will be able to appreciate the vast improvement. The work was certainly long overdue.
On the subject of Shepherds Hill Road, the State Government has set aside $20m for the Mitcham Hills Road corridor. The Waite Street, Shepherds Hill Road, Brighton Parade intersection is fraught with danger for motorists wishing to make turns into SHR and as a result, many drivers (“rat-runners”) elect to use the narrow side streets in the vicinity.
Two public information sessions are being held:
Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Time slots available:
Saturday, 20 November 2021
Time slots available:
Location: Blackwood Bowling Club, 10 Simla Parade, Blackwood SA 5051.
If you reside on any of the streets affected or have occasion to use the intersection, you are encouraged to take advantage of one of these Information Session opportunities.
TELSTRA EXCHANGE FRONT GARDEN
These photos were both taken last week (before and after the grass slashing was carried out)
Not sure what it says about Telstra’s attitude towards the local Community, but it certainly does not create a very good impression – right in the centre of Blackwood!
So much for community pride.
STATION GARDENS WORKING BEES
Our bi-monthly Working Bee at Coromandel Station last Saturday had to be called off (for the second time in a row) due to the bad weather prediction. As it turned out the BoM got it wrong, and we could have managed quite comfortably. We may need to re-arrange a date in the coming weeks now - to do a general tidy-up.
The last scheduled Working Bee for 2021 at Blackwood Station is Sunday 5th December commencing 9.00am. We will be putting down our tools at 11.00am and retiring to the Stationmaster’s back yard for a well-earned brunch! If you are free on that day we would love to catch up with you for our Christmas break-up. More details nearer the date.