27 BCoC emag Nov Dec - Bellingen€¦ · Issue No. 27 November/December 2014 Buy Local, Support Local Businesses Sponsored by . 2 THE BELLINGEN NEWS CHAMBER MISSION Our mission is

Issue No. 27 November/December 2014

Buy Local, Support Local Businesses

Sponsored by

2 THE BELLINGEN NEWS

CHAMBER MISSION

Our mission is to assist the Bellingen business community

to achieve sustainable financial success.

The vision of the Bellingen Chamber of Commerce is to be a market leader

in promoting sustainable business excellence and to provide a supportive

environment for the Bellingen business community to grow and prosper.

The Chamber actively promotes sustainable business practice to all mem-

bers and has a strong desire to support the youth of Bellingen in terms of

facilities and employment opportunities.

The Chamber aims to be recognised by other Chambers of Commerce and

business organisations as a market leader in promoting business excellence

and sustainability.

w w w . b e l l i n g e n c h a m b e r . c o m . a u

P.O. Box 394 BELLINGEN NSW 2454 Committee President: Bruce Levy Vice President: Richard Jennings Secretary: Sarah Churchyard Treasurer: Committee members: Tricia Helyar Laura Duck Cassandra Earnshaw Sue Lennox Alan Newman Geoff Tosio Jason Brown Co-ordinator Richard Smith

E d i t o r a n d Ad v e r t i s i n g : E l i s a b e t h B a r r e t t … … … . 6 6 5 5 9 1 9 2

CONTENTS this issue

The Malware p.4 Community Gardens P.6 As you think, you travel… p.8 Dr. Hewitt, Tree Doctor of Bellingen p.9 Herb– Gotu kola. P.11 History—The Postal Service p.15

Whilst every effort is made to publish accurate information, The Association Accepts no responsibility for statements made or opinions expressed.

Front cover photo:

Courtesy Bellingen Historical Mu-

seum


From the Editor:

Hello Bellingen Spring is really here, with trees and flowers putting

out new foliage and blossoms; just a shame that there has been so little rain to help things along. This is the worst time of the year for ticks, but it might not be as bad as usual with the dry weather. My health slowly improves—a bit like watching grass grow— am not really aware of the improvement until I compare it with how it was a few months ago. As usual there will be no magazine in January, but from February onwards I will return to producing one a month, and hopefully start including an inter-view once more. I have included a article on gotu kola which is a wonderful herb. A lot of people see it in the garden, think it is a weed, and remove or kill it, which is a mistake as it is so valuable to our health. I could have added more para-graphs of its attributes had there been more space.. Elisabeth Barrett

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So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when

they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the

wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to de-vote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your com-

munity around you, and devote yourself to creating something

that gives you purpose and meaning.

From Tuesdays with Morrie

By Mitch Albom

Learn the nature of self,

accept all aspects of self, then

the mastery of self can

begin.

Denial of self is denial of all.

Raymond Feist

Dogs have owners,

Cats have servants


The Malware

wounds. They are a kind of malware that steers the host toward behavior that no longer serves the original sponsoring mo-tives of compassion and service. The malware motivates ineffective strategies: ineffective at creating real change, but effective in serving the agenda of the malware. One of these strategies is to arouse as much loathing as possible to-ward the people running the corporations and their collaborators in politics. I am familiar with this malware only because I have so often witnessed it run-ning in myself. Sometimes when I am attacked, I notice a nearly unconscious, reflexive program to dominate the at-tacker, to beat him into submission, to humiliate him. Because I am well-versed in my logic and enjoy a lot of support, I could probably win such battles most of the time, come out smelling like a rose, leaving a trail of defeated enemies behind me until the day of my own humiliation. I might win each battle, but I would lose the war. Knowing this, when I get the occasional piece of hate mail around a certain sensitive topic that starts with, "Shame on you Charles for..." I do my best to suspend the domination program, responding instead along the lines of, "Thank you for your forthright expres-sion of your feelings," or something like that. (There isn't a formula; it comes from a moment of understanding what it is like to be the other person.) Now I cannot say that the results are always good, but sometimes an adversary is converted into an ally, or at least a modicum of under-standing When it doesn't work, I sometimes realize to my chagrin that dominance-behavior still snuck into the interaction

Charles Eisenstein

I want to add to my reflections on my Green Party visit and my relationship to social and environmental activists in gen-eral, because I have been told that I seem to be much more critical of them than I am of the CEOs, politicians, etc. who are driv-ing the world-destroying machine. Toward them, I counsel love and understanding - well don't the people who have dedicated their lives to protecting the earth deserve it even more? Usually, I feel more at home among social and environmental activists than I do among people with mainstream views, be-cause I know we feel a lot of the same pain. A big issue in the air in Minnesota was the vast expansion of mining happen-ing in pristine wilderness areas in the northern part of the state. I was happy to be among people who didn't need convincing that this is a terrible calamity. I felt at home knowing that each person there feels it as intensely as I do; that no one justifies it for all the GDP and jobs it will suppos-edly produce, that no one covers it up with one or another glib story in which normal is normal. These are people who know, to varying degrees, that the story we call civi-lization bears a deep sickness. When I identify habits of hatred and domination within activists, along with hidden motives of seeing oneself as good and right and better-than-thou, I don't mean to impugn the fundamental wellspring of these lives of service, which can only be reverence for our planet and grief for what is happening here. We are, however, all born into a society of separation and we all carry its wounds. The hidden motives and habits I describe go along with these

5THE BELLINGEN NEWS

despite my attempt to avoid it. A part of me hurts when I get attacked, and that hurting seeks expression sometimes by hurting back. This is the habit we call "fighting." I don't think that any of us, even if we have devoted our lives to serving what is beautiful, are exempt from habits like this, woven as they are into the fabric of our society. That is not to say there is never a time in the world for a fight. It is the uncon-scious, reflexive habit of fighting that is most dangerous. How to translate the approach I de-scribed in personal interactions to impor-tant goals on a larger level, such as stop-ping the sulfide mining projects in north-ern Minnesota? I wish I knew. I am cer-tainly not advocating that we shy away from exposing uncomfortable truths in order to avoid offending the mining CEOs. This is not about being nice. It is about staying focused on our real goals and not letting ourselves be hijacked by other motives. Again, there is no formula for how to do this, but I think that striv-ing to accurately understand the world of the CEO - what it is like to be them, their humanness, and not a caricature of them as a monster - can only enhance our ef-fectiveness. If we operate from a delu-sion we perpetuate the image of that de-lusion. How to effectively resist the mining companies? I do not know. I don't think there is a short-cut answer, a trivial solu-

tion; if I were to offer one I would be insulting the intelligence of the dedicated activists who are intimately familiar with the situation. I think that all of the tools used today, from legal challenges to peti-tions to direct action on-site, are valid and needn't be run by the "malware." Here is an example of how the mal-ware operates by contaminating truth with hatred. Initially, one might describe in graphic terms the damage that sulfide mining can cause: the dead fish and birds, poisoned lakes devoid of life, dev-astated forests, heavy metal contamina-tion. This description evokes horror and grief. Then the malware takes over and says, "And the mining companies are well aware of the damage and they are doing it anyway! In service to their greed!" Aren't they awful, appalling, in-excusable. I see this kind of argument all the time, as if the main point were to convince you to hate along with me. Un-fortunately, such tactics repel the unde-cided, who are likely to discount the graphic descriptions of the effects of mining by thinking, "Those are just fighting words. They are exaggerating so that they can defeat these people they hate." That's what people do in a fight - they exaggerate the bad behavior of their opponents. That is one reason why I think the truth will be more receivable if it doesn't accompany the invitation to hate. The same is true for many kinds of resistance action.

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by Bernadette Brady of Diggers Garden Club Food!—a unifying language. Growing food—a small positive action. Growing food as a community—a green revolution! With changing and uncertain times people are "going back to basics" seek-ing to regain some control over their food, its origins and its nutritional and dollar value. This combined with con-cerns over environmental factors has seen the expansion of a network of Community Gardens in most munici-palities and cities throughout the world. As suburbia sprawls and arable land is turned over to housing, houses whose footprints are becoming larger, we are building areas that are at times socially alienating as well as being unsuitable for growing food. Inner city living with all its conveniences also has limiting factors for food production but with initiative and innovative thinking, anonymous spaces are being turned into urban edible landscapes. Landscape architects and town plan-ners are now realising the intrinsic value of shared horticultural spaces, the social, emotional and physical benefits translating favourably in cost/benefit


Community gardening

and the language of food.

analyses. So much so in fact that gov-ernments at all levels are making available funding and legislation to allow and encourage such projects. Community gardens are not any-thing new. Allotments have been in many European cultures for centu-ries, particularly the Scandinavian countries. Wartime saw the "Victory Gardens" being used to supply food in the UK, US and Australia. The emergence of Community Gardens as we know them today began in the US in the early sixties, in amongst other social upheavals of that time. The late 1970s was when Australia started to see our very first Community Gar-dens, here in Victoria it was at Nun-awading in 1977. Other states soon followed, with the real movement beginning in the mid nineties and into the twenty-first century. Now Community Gardens are dot-ted around public housing develop-ments, kindergartens and schools, community centres, prisons, hospi-tals, aged care facilities parks and many open spaces. Urban edible gardens received world wide media attention when Michelle Obama famously planted a

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vegetable garden on the southern lawn of the White House in March 2009. This simple act, followed by her book Ameri-can Grown, tells the story of the White House kitchen garden and gardens across America and has validated the simple act of growing your own food. The garden has become a community focused one where children and others come to learn the basics of kitchen gardening. Community Gardens have many dif-ferent profiles, some are initiated and run by residents of an area or institution, some are auspiced by Service Clubs such as Lions, some are funded and managed by Health bodies, local councils or gov-ernment sectors. An example—In Melbourne, the Pub-lic Housing Community Gardens in the inner suburbs of Collingwood and Rich-mond were initially started by Basil Na-toli as part of Coll-LINK under the di-rection of a local inter-church council in the late 1980s. By l 998 Cultivating Community was born and by 2000 Basil was employed by the Department of Human Services - Office of Public Housing as the first Community Garden Project Manager. These gardens provide for its residents the opportunity to maintain cultural prac-tices and traditions as well as growing foods that may not be available in their new homeland. It also gives them the chance to mingle with other people from all ethnic backgrounds, religions and

cultures with the help of the universal lan-guage of food. Other gardens have been started by seeding grants provided by health authori-ties and government agencies that are now recognising the "flow-on" benefits of investing in such projects. Sometimes it is the enthusiastic resi-dents of an area that call public meetings, lobbying and garnering support and funds independently, starting from the real grass roots level. Whatever and however these gardens start they give all participants the chance to dip their digits into the earth and take control over some of their food. Community gardens give credence to the positive power of small actions. In establishing these groups we decrease food miles, reduce environmental costs and improve food security and promote healthy lifestyles. When properly man-aged they are inclusive of all ages, abili-ties and cultures, creating common bonds and resilience which can effectively build community. The concept of growing, sharing and celebrating together as a community is part way to a solution for these uncertain times. For further information, contact the Aus-tralian city Farms and Community Gar-dens Network. www.comrnunitygarden.org.au

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As you think, you travel, as you love you attract.

You are today where your thoughts brought you,

you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.

You cannot escape the result of your thoughts but you can

endure and learn, can accept and be glad.

You will realise the vision (not the idle wish) of your

heart,

be it base or beautiful, or a mixture both,

for you will always gravitate towards that

which you secretly most love.

Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your

thoughts,

you will receive that which you earn,

no more and no less.

Whatever your present environment may be,

you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts,

your vision, your ideal.

You will become as small as your controlling desire,

as great as your dominant inspiration


These two trees look alien and out of place. The bright green intricately veined leaves would make respectable covers for small round cafe tables. The fruits are green globes with interwoven, ever reced-ing hearts. Hunter, one of the mainte-nance staff at Bellingen Primary School, identifies them as Ficus damaropsis, na-tive to Papua New Guinea, two of only four specimens of this plant in Australia. They are spectacular, gorgeous trees. The School Principal, Graeme Ross, says they’re a nuisance. Those big leaves blocked the eaves in the spring rains, damaging the ceiling of a whole class-room block. He’d sometimes like to chop them down, he says, but then a beatific expression crosses his face as he recalls “but they were planted by Dr Hewitt”.

What can cause a level-headed School Principal to overlook a threat to his school buildings? Who is this Dr Hewitt?

It turns out that Dr Hewitt was the Johnny Appleseed of the Bellinger River Valley.

When he first arrived in 1927 as a young GP the area had been denuded of

trees by years of intense logging. The rolling hills and green meadows were open and bare. As well as his doctor’s bag (on display in the local Museum), George Hewitt brought with him a love of plants, and in 1929 he established the Bellinger River Horticultural and Agricultural Soci-ety and began planting trees.

At first, the town that earned its living from forestry resisted George Hewitt’s efforts. You didn’t plant trees, you

Dr. George Hewitt

The Tree Doctor of Bellingen

Contd overleaf

10THE BELLINGEN NEWS

chopped them down and sold them. But Dr Hewitt got around the objections of the locals with commemorative tree plantings to honour those who had gone to war. Once started, they couldn’t stop him, and now, many years later, the townscape of Bellingen, and the valley that it nestles in, are defined by the generous shade, colour and textural integrity of the trees. They say there’s something in the air of Bel-lingen that makes it a magical place, per-haps its the oxygen from all those trees. Bellingen is still a place where it is groovy to be a tree-hugger.

The Hospital was Dr Hewitt’s work-place, and he beautified it and planted out the adjoining Arboretum as a special place, a locus amoenus where he and his patients and colleagues could take a soothing, restorative walk. In the local Museum, these trees are listed with their provenance. There is tamarind, sassafras, South Queensland kauri, hoop pine, lilly pilly, tallowwood, leopard tree, floss silk tree, brown silky oak, black bean and pe-can, amongst hundreds of others.

As well as planting an abundance of native trees, Dr Hewitt corresponded with other horticulturalists and imported seed from all over the world. Rumour has it that some of the seeds were concealed securely beneath postage stamps. Dr

Hewitt was the ‘go to’ man for exotic trees, and property owners eagerly sought him out. Museum Manager Jim Sweeney says “nobody knows exactly how many trees Dr Hewitt planted, or where he planted them.” Council set up a study a few years ago, but had to abandon it when they realised the huge scope of the project. Dr Hewitt had a motto of planting “100 trees a year”. Mul-tiply that by just under sixty years, and you can see why it would be a challenge to find every one of those trees.

Every street in the older parts of Bel-lingen town is richer and greener because of Dr Hewitt. Oak Street is lined with Fire-wheel trees, William Street has jacarandas. At the heart of the town is the river, and the river end of Church Street is a hub; crusted with cafes and restaurants, lined with generous public seating. As I sip cof-fee and nibble on wildberry damper, the manager of the Bellingen Markets sits op-posite, gnawing her pen as she works on a newsletter. A bunch of people are playing chess nearby. There are couples and sin-gles, families eat pies, teenagers saunter with ice cream, bohemian women pause from their shopping. All of us are beneath the protective boughs of Dr Hewitt’s trees. His living legacy is a shade thrown from the past over us here and now.

http://debspeare.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/the-tree-doctor-of-bellingen/

From previous page

Metal house frames

The energy cost of a steel house frame is high, so environmental damage is much greater than for plantation pine or for secondhand timber. Steel conducts temperature very well, so the house will be hotter in summer and harder to heat in winter than with a timber frame. If you live near forest, a se-vere bushfire could heat the frame enough to warp it, thereby letting smoke and fire into the house. A steel frame only protects one part of your house from termites which will happily eat the skirting boards, furniture, carpet and even the plumbing and electric conduits

tached to the centre of the leaf with broad, scalloped margins. . Alehoof (Glecoma hederacea) a hardy, creeping, ground cover, with dainty, kidney-shaped leaves and cre-nate margins: these can be used as salad greens, medicinally for colds and as a liver tonic . Other plants that have a visual re-semblance to gotu kola are several Ranuncu-lus species, which have similar leaf forma-tion; and other Hydrocotyle species. Before using gotu kola, it is important to make sure that it is the correct plant. I re-member, several years ago, when a lady told me she had been using the native violet for some time, thinking it was gotu kola. She

11

from Isabel Shippard's “How Can I Use

Herbs in my Daily Life”.

Pennywort, Indian Pennywort, Indian Ginseng, Horse-hoof Grass, Gotu Cola, Gota Kola, Centelia asiatic syA. Hydro-cotyle asiatica F. Apiaceae. Description Perennial, creeping, ground cover, which roots at the nodes, as it spreads over the ground. Leaves, from 2-4cm wide, and kidney-shaped, with a v-shaped slot, where the leaf joins the stem: often with serrated margins, which gives them the appearance of miniature fans. Sometimes, gotu kola is mistaken for Swamp Pennywort (Centelia cordifo-lia)., as its name suggests, it does like to grow in damp places. There are numerous other 'look alike' plants, that people have often brought to the herb farm to have identified, such as Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens), a herb with creeping roots, petiolled kid-ney-shaped leaves with scalloped mar-gins. Native Violet (Viola hederacea) (see p 342) similar size and shaped leaf, to gotu kola, with scallops, but both ends of the leaf tend to overlap, near the stem, and it bears lavender and white non-fragrant violets. Coast Pennywort

(Hydrocotyle bonariensis) which has a creeping root; the leaf-stem is at-

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Herb—Gotu Kola

Contd page 13

BELLINGEN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP (PLEASE USE BLOCK LETTERS)

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Membership fees: $ 10 per month, pro rata, or $ 120 p.a., renew 1st January Payment method: Cheque: Cash Transfer Cheques payable to Bellingen Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 394 Bellingen NSW 2454

Electronic transfer: Account name: Bellingen Chamber of Commerce Inc.

BSB 704 328 149 884 (Add $ 11.1 if transferring from another BCU account)

The Bellingen Chamber of Commerce can assist you by provide networking opportu-nities, business and customer referrals and access to our promotional events.:

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13THE BELLINGEN NEWS

said "No wonder I was not getting rid of my arthritic pain". Constituents: volatile oil containing vallerin, camphor, cineole, n-dodecane, terpene acetate, tran-B farnesene, ger-macrene-D, B-caryophyliene, p-cymol, a-pinene, methanol, allyl mustard oil., fla-vonoids, kaempferol, resin, alkaloid hy-drocotyline; asiatic, betulic, brahmic, cen-tellinic, isobrahmic, and madecassic acid; quercetin, tannin, sugar, asiaticoside, oxyasiaticoside, brahmoside, braminoside, centelloside, madecassoside, thunkuniside, bitters, sterols, pectin, B-sitosterol Vitamins: A, B, C, D Minerals: calcium, chromium, co-balt, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, socfwm, potassium, selenium, silica, zinc Actions: antipyretic, diuretic, anti-bacterial, antifungal, antiinflammatory, sedative, antispasmodic, antioxidant, adaptogenic, tonic, digestive, vulnerary, alterative, antiviral, antibiotic, nervine, rejuvenative, blood purifier, adrenal strengthener. Minerals: calcium, chromium, co-balt, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, socfwm, potassium, selenium, silica, zinc Actions: antipyretic, diuretic, anti-bacterial, antifungal, antiinflammatory, sedative, antispasmodic, antioxidant, adaptogenic, tonic, digestive, vulnerary, alterative, antiviral, antibiotic, nervine, rejuvenative, biqpd puhfier, adrenal., strengthener. Medicinal Uses

Gotu kola has been known for centuries, valued for treating leprosy and tuberculo-sis; relieving the pain of rheumatism and

arthritis; to increase brain capacity, and

for longevity, often being called, the

elixir of life. A legendary saying, in refer-ence to gotu kola was: '2 leaves a day, keeps old age away'. In Sinhalese culture,

they valued the herb to strengthen and revitalize worn out bodies and brains; eating 2-3 leaves a day to bring about a gradual return to health and strength, provided that the body is exposed to the sun, for a time, each day. In Ancient China, the herb was a principal ingredi-ent in an elixir called 'fo ti tieng', a mix-ture that was called the fountain of

youth. Many herbalists have called gotu kola the finest of all herb tonics. It appears, they say, to have no equal in the treat-ment of general debility and decline. Digestion is strengthened (no doubt aided by the bitter properties) and food better utilized, with the process of over-all metabolism, increased. Gotu kola has been called 'a pharmacy in one herb', offering impressive benefits. In India, gotu kola is a traditional remedy for skin conditions, wounds and bruises. With controlled tests, in which an extract of gotu kola was applied, to 20 people, suffering with slow healing wounds. 64% of the wounds healed com-pletely and 16% improved considerably. At Sydney University, research on wound healing is being carried out, fol-lowing invitro studies on the herb. It is one of the most important, reju-venating herbs in Ayurvedic medicine, particularly valued for: revitalising nerve and brain cells, promoting calmness and clarity, helping poor memory and lack of concentration, increasing meditation ability and to help balance the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Valued as a brain food, for improving intelli-gence and reflexes, it has been a herb students have used for renewing mental

alertness, clarity, and energy levels, without the 'jitteriness' some people may experience with coffee. It can be used throughout life. Gotu kola contains nei-ther caffeine, nor theobromine.

From page 11 Gotu kola


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In India scietific documentation of clinical tests by Dr, M.V.R. Appa Ras showed in-creased mental activity of children in the trials. Fifteen mentally retarded children were given a 500mg tablet of powdered gotu kola daily. After trials of three months, the children showed increased powers of attention and concentration, con-siderably above that of the fifteen children in the placebo group. Results also showed significant increase in IQ (4.6%), general ability, with improved behavioural patterns and expression, communication and co-operation. Biochemical studies revealed, gotu kola benefited the replacement rate of biogenic amines: the chemicals in our

brains which act as neuro-transmitters,

involved in learning and memory process. Research also shows the herb can re-

lieve attention deficit disorder (ADD) and hyperactive conditions. This is one of the fascinating riddles of the herb.. that it can relax, yet also energise the body, that it can act as a laxative, yet also act as a 'bowel binder'. Research findings, in an-other Indian study with healthy adults, be-tween 45-50 years of age, who were given gotu kola extracts over 42 months, showed increased haemoglobin, decreased mean levels of blood urea and serum acid, and a steady increase in blood sugar levels. An association between hypoglycaemia (or low blood sugar levels) and fatigue, de-pression, confusion, schizophrenia, mood swings, and mental illness is well vali-dated. As gotu kola is a very rich source of B complex vitamins, this, too, would have

a direct benefit on the brain. Gotu kola has always been known as a

remarkable herb with a multitude of uses, and of special benefit for chronic, degen-erative diseases. As one of it's common names implies, 'Indian Ginseng', it is simi-lar to ginseng in its actions. In fact, some herbalists regard gotu kola as highly as ginseng, and more affordable: besides, it is easy to grow. Note, gotu kola is not Withania somnifera, which also has the common name of Indian ginseng. I always find it most interesting, when I dig a plant, that may be 3 to 5 years or more of age, that the root has a resemblance to ginseng root, and to the torso of the human body. This indicates a doctrine of signatures sig-nificance, of 'like cures like', a herb which benefits so many ailments of the body.

People using gotu kola have also ob-served shrinkage of varicose veins and lessening of other leg circulation problems, as gotu kola acts to improve the integrity of the connective tissue in vein walls, which brings increased blood flow. Im-provements can be seen in venous ulcers, numbness, leg swelling, cold feet, night-time cramps, bedsores, phlebitis, varicose veins, osteoarthritis and cellulitis. With improvement of vein function, which acts as a muscular pump, returning blood flow to the heart, .studies have found that use of gotu kola showed marked benefits, and conclusively, lowered venous blood pres-sure.

~~~~~

History—The Postal Service

On the 29th May 1869, on behalf of the residents of Boat Harbour (later called Bel-lingen,) wrote to the Postmaster-General requesting that a Post Office be established and recommending John Coghlan for the postmaster. It was not until 24th June 1870 that a petition was forwarded which pointed out the in-convenience suffered by inhabitants who were forced to travel some 13 miles over bad roads to Dovedale, the nearest Post office. Mention was made that a court house, public school and store already existed at Boat Harbour. The postmaster at Dovedale, Thomas Pulsford, reported that the distance from Dove-dale to the Township reserve at Boat Harbour was only 4 miles and the 2 bridges (on the Government Road) now nearly completed, would reduce the distance to 3 miles. Follow-ing representations from H. Dean MP the Dept decided to open a Post Office at Boat Har-bour and appoint Hains Lovell, teacher at the public school, as postmaster from 1st Febru-ary 1871. The salary was £12 per annum. Mr. Lovell subsequently declined the position and James Redstone was appointed postmaster from 15th May 1871. George Henderson, mail contractor was paid an additional £10 pa to convey the mails via boat Harbour, once a week. The mail was scheduled to leave Frederickton on Weds at 6am, Nambucca 5pm, Dovedale at 2pm on Thursday, and arrive at Boat Harbour at 3pm. It was to leave the latter place at 5am on Saturday, Dovedale 6am, Nambucca 5 pm and arrive at Frederickton at 6pm on Sunday. Apparently the Boat Harbour reisdents were dissatisfied with the timetable which had been altered, and in September 1871 they pointed out in a petition that the mails arrived on Sunday evening and left on Monday morning, this not giving them enough time to reply to correspondence. As a result Boat Harbour was granted a twice-weekly mail service from January 1872. James Redstone, who was a painter resigned and recommended his daughter Emily for the position of postmistress. Miss Emily Redstone, aged 19, was appointed to succeed him on the 1st october 1882. Money order facilities were extended to Boat Harbour on 1st March 1883. A telegraph office was opened on 1st April 1883.. An alphabetical instrument was provided so that an unskilled person could give the service. Miss Redstone was therefore appointed post and telegraph mistress on 2nd April 1883. Her salary was £12 pa for postal and £40 pa for telegraph duties. Miss Redstone resigned in June 1888 and her brother Mr. James Redstone was appointed in her place.


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November 1st—Bellingen River Festival, 10.30 1st PAA concert Regional Art Gallery Coffs, 2 pm 9th PAA concert, 2 pm Nambucca Entertainment Centre 15th Charcoal making 9-3 Northbank Comm. Gdns. 0400 665 810 20-21st Sustainability Elders, 6pm Bello Youth Hub [email protected] or 0400 665 810 22nd/23rd — Dorrigo Dhow 29th — TEDx Memorial Hall, 0417 026 206

Carpool mid north coast,… www.carpoolmnc.org 2nd & 4th Saturdays, Growers’ Market 8am-2pm Showground 3rd Saturday, Community Market 8am-4pm First Sunday Free Market 3-4 pm Showground Sunday afternoons, Chess at The Lodge 241, all levels, newcomers welcome Fourth Monday: Bellingen Writers’ Group, 1.30-4pm at Bellingen Golf Club. Enquiries 6655 9246 Wednesdays Free Counselling Service Neighbourhood Centre, 6655 1239 Fourth Wednesday night Jazz at Federal Hotel Third Thursdays Warrina Women’s Resource and Info Centre 6655 1239 1st, 3rd 5th Fridays Bellopy organic market 8-1pm Anglican Church Last Friday. Poetry Corner 7-9pm Alternatives Book Shop, (105 Hyde St) Saturday, from noon Jazz at The Bean, Church St. Last Sunday Healing garden open day 1-4 pm Info: 6655 0949 Last Sunday, afternoon, at No.5 Transition Forum [email protected]

Local radio: Mid North Coast 91.3 FM Bellingen 2bbb your local community radio station 93.3 FM or 107.3 FM

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27 BCoC emag Nov Dec - Bellingen€¦ · Issue No. 27 November/December 2014 Buy Local, Support Local Businesses Sponsored by . 2 THE BELLINGEN NEWS CHAMBER MISSION Our mission is