WE DON’T NEED TO TELL you that Paul Jennings has come a long way since lecturing primary school teaching students in the 1980s at what was then the Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education.

(Actually, I can remember Paul reading us bleary eyed third years the draft of his very first book and asking us for feedback. ‘Not bad,’ we said. Hell, what did we know? – Carol).

We have invited Michaelie Clark from Warrnambool Books to each week choose a reading highlight for people who love books and, where possible, to pick a work by a local author. Michaelie has this week chosen Paul’s new series for young adults:

“The imagination of award-winning Warrnambool author Paul Jennings has soared to new heights with his latest series, Don’t Look Now. The four book series, illustrated by Melbourne cartoonist Andrew Weldon, tells the story of Ricky, a boy who desperately wants to be famous – and has the means to be.

You see, Ricky can fly.

The only problem is, Ricky can’t stay airborne if there’s anybody around to witness it. If anyone were to see him flying, he would promptly fall out of the sky and surely plummet to his death, leading Ricky to quite a conundrum…”

(Does anybody see an analogy here between Ricky’s problem and the fears that hold all of us back if we know somebody is watching us? I like it already – Carol).

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[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”]B[/dropcap]eing sick in hospital is usually terrible and rarely does the outside world look more inviting, or more glorious, than when viewed behind the glass of a medical ward window.

It is a bit the same with nursing homes and even though we are fortunate in South-West Victoria to have some great aged care homes, they are not places we are rushing to get into.

This is where musician Garry Price comes in. Garry, and those like him, are the wandering minstrels of our modern age. He brings music into the lives of those who need it most: the sick, the aged, the young school kids who are still finding their way.

I had reason to be visiting South West Healthcare recently and walked past a room where Garry was playing guitar and singing to a young woman who looked very ill indeed. Yet she was, for a moment, transported from that illness as she leaned forward in her chair, smiling and mesmerised by Garry’s voice.

A week later, Garry wandered in to the hospital room of my older brother, Glenn, who has Down’s syndrome, and sang a song about chicken which had Glenn laughing and smiling for the first time that day.

And when I visit my mother at Lyndoch, Garry is often there: cracking jokes and playing his electric piano as he rolls back the years for his audience.

Music lifts hearts and it is for this reason that Gary Price, who makes a lot of music, is our second quiet hero.

Bluestone Magazine is donating a voucher for coffee and cake to each of our quiet heroes. This week it will be at Pavilion Cafe and Bar, Warrnambool.

[box type=”bio”] Do you know somebody in South-West Victoria who is worthy of recognition as a quiet hero? If so, let us know via email – in 150 words or less, plus a photo – and we will consider them for our weekly column. Email us at editor@bluestonemagazine.com.au[/box]

Who are our other quiet heroes?…

The artist

The face behind Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Embracing diversity

At its height, legendary shoe store Rauert’s, in Warrnambool, employed seven shoe repairers. Now they have just one. Bluestone went to meet her:

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T [/dropcap]here are so many witty one-liners that can be used about a shoe repairer, so let’s start with one: Heather McVickers saves soles.

In fact, she has saved so many in the past 12 months that a priest is known to have quipped that she was doing far better than he was.

Heather has also helped the down at heel, worked on several annoying wagging tongues and proven to be a deft hand at nose jobs.

“There is always a different challenge that needs to be solved, and that’s one of the things I really love about my job,” Heather, 46, said while cutting a piece of rubber with what looked like a very sharp paring knife.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] H [/dropcap]eather began as a shoe repairer for Rauert’s a little more than a year ago after seeing the position advertised. She had no shoe repairing experience, but she could sew.

“I was a sewer from the age of seven, when Mum bought me a hand-driven Singer sewing machine.

[quote]I would ask Mum to make me something on it, but she would say ‘no, you make it,’ so I would work out how to do it. Sewing taught me how angles work, how to draft patterns and how you need to cut to make things fit together,’ she said.[/quote]

Despite a flair for sewing, Heather spent most of her adult life working as a dairy farmer and calf rearer and only revived her sewing skills for a living after she moved to Portland about 12 years ago.

There, she started an alterations business, but it was so successful that the number of people needing help with their hems, buttonholes and seams became overwhelming.

“I was working on my own and, I know it sounds a bit funny, but I got burnt out. I would have piles of jeans next to the sewing machine and the pile never seemed to get any smaller,” she said with a laugh.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] H [/dropcap]eather left the business and, after another stint back in farming, spotted the vacancy for a shoe repairer. Skilled shoe repairers are hard to find, with few young people taking on the trade.

“I thought I might enjoy it, so I applied and I got the job. Ken (Brown) was retiring (from Rauert’s) and he spent seven weeks training me up, which was wonderful,” she said.

The workshop at Rauert’s is full of character with some of the equipment used to repair shoes little changed from that used by cobblers a century ago: metal shoe lasts, pots of glue and industrial strength sewing machines.

It is heaven for someone with the skills of Heather.

“I can honestly say that I haven’t had a bad day at work since I started,” she said.

“I am one of those lucky people who can say that they love their job.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DC943C;”] B [/dropcap]efore starting Bluestone Magazine, we tested out a few ideas on good old Facebook, just to see what people liked to read. One the most popular was a regular posting of odd, unusual or just plain different ads on Gumtree (the online buy/sell/swap site) from around South-West Victoria, or close by.

So it is only fitting Gumtree gems has found a place in our new venture.

(All adverts are reproduced direct from Gumtree, but some wording may be changed to protect privacy or for editorial smoothness. If you would like to follow up an ad, please do so through Gumtree: although it may not still be listed.)

Here is this week’s offering:

Twelve Items for Twelve Dollars – Combination 2 – new/used (as per descriptions): –

1 pack (1kg) of OMO washing powder, 2x concentrate, suitable for top loaders, rrp $16.31 (Coles) (new, unopened);

– 1x 600ml bottle of Pepsi Max soft drink (new, unopened);

– 1x Breast Cancer Crusade pen, new, black ink, replaceable ink cartridge, ideal gift;

– 1x Philips globe, new/never used, good condition, bayonet type fitting, clear, 100 Watt, 240 volt and 1x Mirabella, halogen energy saver globe, screw-in type, 53 Watt, 240 volt (not shown), unused;

– 1x magnifying glass, used, fair condition, 100mm diameter;

– 1x calculator, good condition, solar powered, handy;

– 1x pack of 10 fold-back clips, 50mm, black, good condition;

– 10x clothes pegs, new, unused, excellent condition;

– 11 metres of handy twine, orange, good condition, unused;

– gift bags, ideal for Xmas, etc, good condition; – handy wipe, ideal for computers/tablets/phones/etc, cleans screens with out scratching (no photo);

and – 1x Coles Fuel Offer voucher, 4 cents per litre discount (no photo).

(Carol: I think the last item is my favourite. You really can try and sell anything…)

My mother kept everything…and I mean everything. This used to be a source of great embarrassment, but now I am grateful.

Each week, I will upload something from Mum’s drawer – bits and pieces from Warrnambool’s past.

This week is a receipt from George Swinton and Sons Furnishings, which still forms part of the Swinton’s complex in Timor St, Warrnambool.

I am not sure, however, if they still sell tray cloths.

Does anyone remember what a tray cloth was used for?