V8 Supercar rolls into town

On Thursday, V8 Supercar driver Alex Davison and the Irwin Industrial Tools came to town to mix with locals at the Flowerdale Hotel. In addition Irwin Industrial Tools also donated $5000 of tools for the Tools Library at the hub.

Davison is an avid trail bike rider and had often ridden around the Flowerdale area, stopping off at the pub for a Parma at lunchtime.

"The visit is a simple way to say to the people of Flowerdale that we are still thinking of them some eight months after the Black Saturday disaster. It is always fantastic to see people who support our sport, but I got the strong indication that we might have grown our fan base thanks to the IRWIN Racing team’s visit to Flowerdale. I do know this area very well and have always enjoyed one of the Flowerdale Hotel’s famous parmigianas when I dropped-in for lunch during our trail bike rides. So for me it does have a special significance to make a visit with the IRWIN Racing car. I’m pleased to announce a $5000 donation of products from IRWIN Industrial Tools. IRWIN has an extensive range which I have no doubt will be of great assistance in the continued re-building process. I’d like to call on more businesses to support this great scheme here in Flowerdale. Also we have donated some ex-race panels which I’m sure will prove popular in ongoing fundraising auctions and the like. Plus one for the pub wall which looks great! The big message is for people to continue to support not only Flowerdale but all the communities that were affected in the bushfires. Donations or simply coming to these regions and energising business is going to go a long way to getting things back to where they were."

A big thanks to Alex and Irwin Industrial Tools for their time and donation, it is very much appreciated.

Communications - Your input is needed

The Communications work engine is continuing to work on a wide range of Communications issues with a strong focus on safety. Fiona Henson is leading the charge on this area.

The work engine is looking for individuals to let them know what communications problems you experience. This includes things like mobile phone, radio, TV and internet access.

VBRRA has commissioned a report by a Communications expert which should come through soon but we would like some more granular information direct from residents to provide input into the solution.

You can either leave comments on the blog or email fhenson@netspace.net.au at petfwill@gmail.com we would like to know where you are located and any specific issues you face.

Flowerdale wins international award for use of Technology

On 28th October, the Flowerdale Community was awarded a Groundswell award by Forrester Research for "Best use of Social Media for Social Impact"

The Groundswell awards focus on how organisations or Communities are using things like blogs, wikis, YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Twitter etc to make a difference.

They covered how this blog has been a key tool for dissemination of news and information, raising funds and goods from donors and philanthropists, the use of the wiki in coordinating the building of the village and the www.builditback.org website.

Flowerdale waa represented by a Deloitte colleague of mine in Chicago, Valli Perera. Valli said firstly he was honoured to represent Flowerdale and that the award to Flowerdale received the most applause on the night.

A lot of people have contributed to the award through the contribution of photos, stories, videos and pulling the information together to be published. A special mention should also go to Julie Bateman of the FRC who has worked tirelessly on the communications front.

To see the background to the award see it at the Groundswell awards site.

Circus Oz tickets

Circus Oz is performing in the Big Top at the Flowerdale Recreation Reserve on 7th November, 2009. The performance is for Flowerdale residents and tickets are free.

To get your tickets, families with kids at the Kindergarten and the School can get them through the Kinder or School. There are also tickets at the hub available to residents via Leanne Pleash the Hub Captain, basically those people in the 3658 or 3717 postcodes are eligible for the tickets. You can call Leanne on 57801264.

It is a great show for all ages, to see more check out www.circusoz.com.

Community Hall gets renovated in a day

The hall itself is an old building that holds a lot of community activities and functions such as Youth Groups, Arts and Crafts, Markets, Primary School Activities, Christmas dinners and lots more.

The works that were carried out were organised by Bovis Lend Lease, Flowerdale Hall and the Community House which included the demolition of existing Verandas, Construction of new Veranda, Planting of shrubs, Crushed rock path and hardstand under the veranda, Replacing barge boards and Installation of Joinery cupboards.

The Planning for the day started back in early August with the Community House Group. We started works at the Flowerdale Hall on Wednesday afternoon with digging and pouring the footings for the veranda.

It was an early start on site on Thursday Morning which Kicked off at about 6.45am. For most of our Volunteers it meant that they left home around 5.30 - 6.00am.

Morning Tea was provided by the Community House which were some warm party pies and sausage rolls and some fresh homemade muffins.

One of the biggest Challenges for the day was the installation of 2 x M20 Tru bolts into the post Stirrups that was to hold up the structure. I think there was an allowance plus some for the wind conditions they we have been experiencing of late.
Lorron had been shopping the day before to ensure our fluids were kept up and the hunger pains stayed away.

The Lunch time BBQ came around very quickly and it would be fair to say we were travelling a couple of hours behind program. The structure was erected after lunch and the weather had turned a little nasty. The rain didn't slow us down too much. The roof sheets arrived at 4.30pm and at this point there was talk of firing the BBQ up again as we knew we were going to be installing the sheets through to dinner.
As dusk set in the team had completed the laying of the roof sheets and only had a couple of trims to finish. We enjoyed dinner at the hall with some of the locals, before we all departed for the Journey home. Friday morning was a cleanup and the finishing off of a couple of items.



It was great for our volunteers to be able to chat to some of the local people from the Community House and Hall Committee’s who had come along to assist us with our community day. It gave us all more of an idea of what the Community had to face on the day of the Bushfires and the devastation that it had left behind.


Gardner Group - Building Surveyor - Building permit which was required for the Veranda
Webber Design - Structural Engineer - Looked over and signed off the Structural Design
Akron Roads - Crushed rock under veranda and pathway
Barden Steeldeck - Roofing material for Veranda
Exar - Timber frame (Also Exars supplier has donated materials. Hazelwood and Hill)
Higgins - Paint
Warrandale - Plants
KLM - Lights and installation
Coates Hire - All terrain Scissor Lift
Meridian - Concrete for footings

Rickie Nuske
Billy Price
Wayne and Laine MacDonald
Alex and Tanya Jones
Jaime Helmot and Ric Stubbings
Bob Hearne
Paula Turner
Alison McDonald
Kristen Hanson
Chris Stutchbury
Gordon Davie
John and Ted Burgess
Annie Robertson
Julie Bateman
Deb
Odette and family
& everyone else who we may have forgotten

Melbourne Cup Events - Flowerdale Tennis Club

Cup Flyer

Fire Ready for the Community Meeting

Fire Ready Flyer

Fire Ready Schook Kindergarten & Child Care Closures

Fire Ready School Kindergarten & Child Care Closures

Fluros Vs Flowerdale Cricket & Family Day

A Cricket and Family Day

Circus Oz Coming to Flowerdale

Circus Oz Coming to Flowerdale

Flowerdale Kinder

Hoof Over Hills Photos

After a battle with my Flickr account I have been able to upload photos from Hoof Over Hills.

I have started a group on Flickr which allows you to post your photos or videos to the group. You need a Flickr account and you can sign up at www.flickr.com, its free and I find it a good place to store and share photos. The address for the group is www.flickr.com/groups/hoofoverhills/ and it has the ones I took.

There were so many photos and videos taken it would be great to check them all out after such a great weekend.