When I was in Year 10 at secondary school, my class went on a 2-week camp in the Victorian high country. The big event on this camp was a 3-Day Hike. We were allocated groups of 4 people, organized our own packs, tents and food, and given a map of the route were to take – with the campsite for each night marked on the map. Although it was winter, the day started out clear and sunny … a great day for a hike. By mid-afternoon, one of the groups had injured his ankle and we had

Marcia asked if we'd all sing Happy Birthday together. There was a pause. That moment when you're not sure if you're supposed to, if it's allowed, if you're the right person to start. Children looked at each other. But then someone began, and then another, and then all of us were singing. The hesitation became sound. Joy and Bob handed out red scarves at the door. If you didn't have red on, they offered you one. By the time we settled in the hall, red was on shoulders, in han

You probably know someone who still goes to class, brushing up on maths, joining a book club, or taking up a new hobby. And you've likely noticed they seem ... sharper. More energised. More themselves. Turns out, science agrees with what you've been observing. Learning keeps the brain strong A major study published in the journal Innovation in Aging (Oxford University Press, 2025) followed thousands of older adults across the United States. Researchers found that later-life l

Old records, new life. What started on our shelves now tells a different story. Elvis Presley The door opens before the previous one has fully closed. Someone heads straight to the books. Someone else is already at the racks. Volunteers step around each other with the practiced efficiency of people who have stopped apologising for being in the same small space at the same time. The Wednesday craft table is packed. The Friday crew has arrived. More people to sort, to welcome,

All weekend a deep, low-pressure system had been pressing inexorably across from the south-east, pushing what slim spring warmth there was upwards, into the chilly ether, until it exploded back to earth in sudden thunder and rain. The weather was not ideal for karaoke, but it did not stop the music at the inaugural Sing for your Dumpling event, held at the Buninyong Uniting Church Community Hall on Sunday, 26 October 2025. Forty determined souls, jittering with pre-performan