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NEWS & EVENTS 

On Sunday 16th October, the congregation of St John's Bears Lagoon celebrated St Francis of Assisi, a man who loved all creation.                                                 


On Sunday 16th October, the congregation of St John's Bears Lagoon celebrated St Francis of Assisi, a man who loved all creation.

Accordingly we brought along our animals for a blessing.

Gwen Twigg was able to bring a box of recently hatched chicks, all nine of them in variegated colours.

The same family brought their kelpie sheep dog, a lovely animal who chases the chooks for sport but doesn't devour them.

Gemma, Ava and Kyen Maxted adored holding the fluffy chicks without squashing them.

Dogs were popular - two delightful little kelpie pups, Roger and Ruby, were brought along by Chloe Armstrong. Even the grownups vied for the opportunity to hold one of these pups.

George is a cockatoo that was rescued from the 2010 floods by Alex Mountjoy. George lives in a generous aviary in solitary splendour dressed in his mysteriously tattered plumage. He can speak but he did not deign to do so at his blessing.

Casper strained at his lead constantly, wanting to be free - his owner Nakeya asked for prayers because Casper needs to curb his desire to run away from home in search of adventure. A dog who wants to live dangerously.

Snowy, the budgerigar who doesn't talk, was presented by Amy for blessing for the third year in a row.

To set the scene for the animal blessings, Paula Maxted shared the story of "Sebastion who lives in a hat" about a rescued baby wombat.

Gwen shared Edward Lear's "The owl and the pussycat". Several people joined in this delightfully nonsensical recitation.

Rev Heather shared a silly story about a dog who was a family doctor: "Dr Dog" brought forth shrieks of laughter all round.

Of course we sang wonderfully appropriate hymns chosen for us by our organist Bill Cerrutty.

We went the whole hog with a poem from "Sister Madge's Book of Nuns" - Sister Isobel and the Zoo, where the class kind of disappeared one by one as they toured the zoo.

Finally, David Murray shared with us Kathy Hoopman's book about Aspergers: "All cats have Aspergers". This is a serious teaching book about the syndrome, presented in a sensitive and humorous manner.

Why such a smorgasbord? It might have something to do with Rev'd Heather's impending retirement and a shelf of ideas that called out to be included!

 

 

 

Casper

        

   George receives his blessing

Holding the fluffy chicks




Kelpie pups - Rodger & Ruby

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

St Thomas' & St Oswalds get together at Kyneton

Over the past several years the congregation of St Thomas Pyramid Hill have had a warm and supportive link with the congregation of St Oswalds Glen Iris. This link was established during the extended period of drought that ravaged the north central parts of Victoria.

Visits to the bush and the city have taken place, prayer and support have been a wonderful aspect of our friendship. The 'Ravin Ramblers' walking group, made up of St Oswalds' parishioners and others have travelled to Pyramid and visited 'The Hill', worshipped with us and learned firsthand about the farming community there.

Sharing in the annual Patronal Festival of St Oswald in the city has also been a joy. However the distance for a day trip to Melbourne is a challenge and so we came up with the idea of a meeting point partway - hence the day out in Kyneton. Our link liaison person Helen Bartels originated this idea and it turned out to be wonderful.

On Saturday October 8, a minibus driven by Nola McKinnon, headed for Kyneton with St Thomas parishioners on board. There we met a contingent of St Oswalds folk as they arrived by car. St Pauls Kyneton were our willing and generous hosts in that we were able to meet and share morning tea in their tearooms. Father Tony White welcomed us and kindly led a morning Mass for us in the magnificent church. He shared a short history of the building and we sang "The churches one  foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord" to an accompaniment on the stunning church organ.

We happened to have chosen the one Saturday in the month when the Farmers' market was in full flow, so after the worship we enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the market and into one or two of the shops nearby. Most of us had something in our bags to enhance our memory of the day.

Later we met at The Albion to share a gourmet lunch, where the food kept coming and the tables of guests, in our own private space, chatted and chatted.

Two presentations were made at the end of lunch - Helen was invited to receive from Barbara, the Caritas representative of St Oswalds, a special Christmas cake and gift for St Thomas folk.

Fr Ken Hewlett then took the floor to wish Rev'd Heather a very happy retirement in the new year, together with a special gift of Australian natives to plant on their retirement property to attract the birds.

Choices were made from there on. Some gathered to take on the 'River Walk', while others bussed around the streets of Kyneton, through the Botanic gardens and beyond.

Finally we all gathered for a cuppa before setting out on the journey home. We all agreed that the outing had been grand. The heartwarming and generous relationships formed will not be allowed to moulder.

 Heather Vander Reest

 

    

Fr Tony & Bec

Fr Ken presents a gift basket To Rev'd Heather
 

 

Barbara presents a gift from Caritas

Lunch at the Albion

Nola, Heather & Bev enjoy lunch

     

Some of St Oswald's folk enjoy lunch

Ian & Lily - ready to head home in our bus

Rev'd Heather & Nola admire the plant basket

The Ravin' Ramblers - St Oswald's Walking Group

                 

Kyneton Farmers Market

Smile for the camera!