House AGM an important occasion for Rushworth

Rushworth Community House and Rural Transaction Centre is a natural hub for local activities as diverse as the Easter Festival, Community Fire Planning Group and Rushworth’s Broadband for Seniors kiosk.

The House’s staff and volunteers also provide a wide range of services and support to local residents, businesses and other community organisations.

Among the many roles and responsibilities of our Management Committee is to ensure that everyone is treated with both courtesy and professionalism, and that the House always operates within the confines of Federal and State legislation.

Our Annual General Meeting provides an ideal opportunity for the House to apprise the community about its achievements over the past year, and to signal critical issues that must be addressed over the ensuing twelve months.

Our experiences as an organisation often mirror situations facing other local clubs and service providers, so it is to everyone’s advantage to share these common challenges.

We therefore invite representatives from other clubs and organisations to join us at our AGM on 24 March, and share your experiences and plans during the meeting or over refreshments afterwards.

Community House Members and local residents are also invited to participate.

Rushworth Community House Annual General Meeting

Wednesday, 24 March, 2010
9.30am at the House
Agenda items include:
•  Presentation of Annual Reports
•  Election of Office Bearers
•  Election of Committee Members
•  Election of Public Officer
•  Address by Guest Speaker
•  Refreshments after the meeting
Nomination forms for both the elections
and membership of the House are
available at the reception desk
House members and other local residents
are invited, and community groups are
invited to send a representative.

Bushwalking resumes

Now that the heat of summer is (hopefully) behind us, RCH is resuming its monthly bushwalks, led by experienced guide Louise Costa.

Our bushwalks are scheduled for the fourth Saturday of each month, with walkers meeting at the House at 7.45am for an 8am departure.

Trips are usually completed around lunch  time. Some excursions are conducted locally, visiting destinations within walking distance of the Community House. Other trips are more extensive, requiring car transport to the remote site before setting off on the bushwalk.

Each trip explores a wide range of features associated with its destination, including terrain, water sources and flows, plant species, local animals and their habitats.

People of all ages have enjoyed our bush walks over the past few years, and as a free activity provided by Louise and the Community House, it’s easy to see why.

All About Eve screening

Winner of six Academy Awards, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s cinematic masterpiece All About Eve will screen at the Whroo Film Society on 25 March.

This powerful film explores the poisonous relationship between an ageing film star and a young fan, and stars Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and George Sanders.

Observatory sessions wow viewers

March and April are great months for southern hemisphere astronomy, with many of the night skies most spectacular sights awaiting anyone with a telescope.

Once again this year, Rushworth Community House conducted several Term One evenings at the Rushworth Observatory, and a total of twenty intrepid souls have braved two hours of darkness under the dome to experience the awesome delights of our Autumn skies.

Each session began with a quick overview of the sky before exploring coloured stars in and around the constellation of Orion. Next, the nearby Great Nebula was revealed to gasps of surprise and delight.

Several Globular Clusters (satellites of our Milky Way galaxy containing millions of stars) also entranced the observatory’s visitors, especially when it was revealed that light from the clusters has taken thousands of years to reach the earth.

Many objects later, the evenings finished with two stunning views. Visitors were shown twin galaxies more that 60 million light years away in the constellation of Leo, followed by a riveting view of glorious Saturn – complete with its rings and moons – rising in the eastern sky.

Note: to view the sky over Rushworth or your local town, visit Bing Maps at www.bing.com/maps/explore (you may need to set your country to United States in top right of screen) and choose the WorldWide Telescope application.

Historic Rushworth photo identification proceeding

Following the recent publication of a mid-twentieth century photograph depicting Rushworth townsfolk, a number of locals have submitted lists identifying people whom they recognise.

Several local readers observed that the photograph would certainly have been taken at one of the “Back to Rushworth” get-togethers held in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The venue was identified as being the Fitzroy Gardens, and the year is believed to have been 1953.

Indeed, a couple of the band members depicted at the back of the group remember the specific occasion, Prominent among families identified by responses received to date are the names of Collard, Hawking, Raglus, Schumann, Lloyd, Coyle and Wall.

More than sixty people in the photograph have been positively identified, but some of those shown may have had Rushworth family connections only, and thus may not be known.

Nevertheless, while sincerely thanking people who have responded so far, we would urge readers to have another look at the feature and help us if they can. The final results will be published and printed late in May.

Faux Finishes delayed

The House’s Faux Finishes course that was scheduled for 13 March has been deferred by two weeks until March 27.

A couple of vacancies remain for this fascinating, practical workshop, so call the House to reserve a place.

You’ll love it!