Anne McCue

Collard Greens and Gravy

Anne McCue has received rave reviews and toured with renowned artists such as Lucinda Wiiliams.  She and other talented musicians will perform next Saturday at the inaugural Ocean Grove Summer Festival.  This is a free community event held on The Terrace, the main shopping street in Ocean Grove.

The music stage features many promising local bands such as Off the Hook, Sambrose Automobile, Stephen McEwan and the Yes Men plus Nigel Wearne.  A highlight of the festival is the Aria Award winning blues band, Collard Greens and Gravy.

The Ocean Grove Summer Festival will also have a Kidzone (see below for operating times) where kids can participate in all kinds of craft workshops, guided by local art and music teacher Kerrie Bedson.  Other childrens' entertainment includes a jumping castle, a balloon clown and face painting.  All for free!

Local community groups and clubs will show their activities in various community stalls while local traders will have market stalls or their shops on the Terrace.  The street will be closed to traffic so visitors can easily can enjoy the food, drinks, merchandise and special offers the Ocean Grove traders will offer.

The festival is free thanks to the kind donations of local traders, the Ocean Grove Business Association, Sargeants Geelong and Ocean Grove Voice's media sponsorship.  The City of Greater Geelong supports the festival through their community grants program.

This festival started out as the wild idea of newcomers to Australia Huib and Katja de Bruijn, who worked at a great number of festivals in Europe, mostly in the Netherlands.  They moved to Ocean Grove in October 2006 and found it was missing a free festival for the residents to showcase Ocean Grove to visitors, and for everybody to enjoy the music, the food and the merchandise.

Local traders John Bowman from the Piping Hot Chicken Shop and Julie Murphy from Murfs Surf shop were very interested in the idea and so the festival committee was born!  Colleen McEwan volunteered to be involved in booking the bands.

Volunteers are being sought plus there are a limited number of stalls available for local businesses or community groups (see contact details below).

* Ocean Grove Summer Festival is a Community Festivals Grants program-funded event.

*NEW*
Lysistrata 
This is a woman's translation by Drue Robinson Hagan and produced by Bruce Murray.  Greece has been at war for years.  Lysistrata -  like most of her sex -  is sick of it.  Unlike any other woman in Greece, however, she has a solution:  barricade the bank and co-ordinate a sex strike amongst the woman of Greece.  In this ribald comedy by Aristophanes, we see the pressure on both men and women grow to the point of explosion, creating hilarious and uninhibited peace 'negotiations'.   Written in 411 BCE, the play addresses the place of women in society and politics, challenging the sexist basis of Athenian democracy.  Lysistrata is unashamedly political, satirical and feminist.

*NEW*
Central Geelong Arts Market and Arts in the Park 2008 
Expressions of Interest Deadline Extended to 5pm Friday 1st February 2008
Expressions of Interest are sought from artists and community arts groups wishing to participate in the Central Geelong Arts Market as part of the Arts in the Park event scheduled for Sunday 9th March 2008 in Johnstone Park.  Now in its second year, Arts in the Park will incorporate an Arts Market to celebrate the diversity of the region's professional arts practitioners and community arts groups, while providing a vehicle for the promotion and sale of locally produced artwork.  The event will also showcase the Central Geelong Arts and Culture Walking Trail and promote Central Geelong as a city rich in culture.  A copy of the Arts Market Guidelines and Application Form can be downloaded from the website.  Interested parties must submit a completed Application Form to Central Geelong Marketing (see contact details below).

 
Historic Belcher Fountain Returns
The Belcher Fountain will be installed at the new intersection of Mercer, Malop and Gheringhap Streets in late January.  It is currently undergoing full restoration in accordance with a Heritage Victoria permit.  The Belcher Fountain was first installed at the intersection in 1884 but was moved into Johnstone Park in 1927, to make way for Geelong's tramways service.  When the trams stopped in the early 1950s the fountain went back onto the plantation in the middle of the intersection, but eventually it fell into disrepair.  The restored Belcher Fountain will be an impressive feature of this iconic Geelong intersection.
 
City of Greater Geelong/Gordon TAFE Small Business Training Grants program
The Gordon Institute of TAFE, in partnership with the City of Greater Geelong, will allocate Small Business Training Grants, each valued at $500, to 50 local small businesses which meet specific criteria.  The grants are an extremely effective way of helping small business operators to further develop their business skills.  The training program will begin on 27 February 2008.  To be eligible for a grant a business must:

• be registered in the municipal boundary of the City of Greater Geelong
• have been trading for a minimum of 12 months
• employ fewer than 20 employees
• have a registered ABN number
• pay the sum of $85 on enrolment
• attend all three training programs
• not have previously received a $500 City of Greater Geelong Small Business Training Grant within the past two years, and
• not be an employee either of the Gordon Institute of TAFE or the City of Greater Geelong, or an immediate family member.

Anyone interested in taking part in the training program should ring the Gordon TAFE on (03) 5225 0701 and ask for an enrolment form to be sent to them.
 

Employment Opportunity - Ford Discovery Centre
Education Officer (part-time)
An opportunity exists to join one of Geelong's leading tourist/education attractions to deliver and develop innovative education programs.  With an ability to teach and conduct workshops for groups or students, a self-motivated person with excellent people and teaching skills will enjoy our friendly, flexible work environment.  Above-award wages are on offer and Position Descriptions are available upon request.  If this sounds like you, please forward your written application to:  The Director, Ford Discovery Centre, 12 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, 3220 or email fdcdirector@deakin.edu.au  Applications must be received no later than 25 January 2008.
 
ARTreach - Free Art Program for Young Women
YWCA Victoria Geelong are running ARTreach to provide a safe space for young women to express what is relevant in their lives through creativity.  All women aged 15 to 35 are welcome.  Art materials and lunch are provided.

BROUGHAM SCHOOL OF ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY
'Taster' workshops - January Program
Workshop topics include art history, printmaking, mosaics, painting and charcoal portraiture.  Please contact Brougham School of Art and Photography for further details.