[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] W [/dropcap]hile there are infinite joys about becoming a mother, the loss of stimulating conversation or intellectual discussion can prove challenging for women who enjoyed such things before becoming a parent.

Brigid Foard, who lives in Port Fairy and teaches English at Emannuel College, Warrnambool, remembers when growing up that her mother, Sylvia Jones, was part of a local book club for about 20 years and how it became a “staple of her life”.

When Brigid had the first of her two daughters, she tried to find a similar club to meet other women who enjoyed reading and talking about books, but without success.

“I remember feeling quite envious of what Mum had, because I was unable to find anything similar,” she said.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap]hat changed around September last year when two local women, Lucy Abbott and Meg Higgins, started The Last Thursday Book Club in Port Fairy. The group is aimed at women with or without children who are looking for a place to indulge their love of books.

The group now has about seven members who all meet monthly at a local cafe or restaurant and, over coffee, dessert or a glass of wine, spend a couple of hours dissecting the book that has been chosen for that month.

“I had been reading all these fantastic books, but I didn’t really have anyone to communicate my thoughts or frustrations to about what I was reading, now I have met this great group of like-minded women and we share all of our ideas,” said one member, Kelly Wynne, who has two young children and works part-time as a heritage consultant.

“It has also really broadened the types of books and authors that I  now read,” Kelly added.

Catherine Ryan, who has an infant son and also teaches English at Emmanuel College, agreed and said the group gave her an important social outlet that was not work-related, yet stimulating.

“Teaching English is working, whereas this is relaxing…it’s something I do for myself,” she said.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] A [/dropcap]s to how it works, well each member of the club gets to choose a book, which is then either bought, borrowed or shared among the members who have a month to read it.

The books chosen so far have ranged from Tim Winton’s new release, Eyrie, to the somewhat more hefty tome by Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall. Tolstoy’s classic Anna Karenina and the Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book, The Signature of all Things, are also on the list.

“We trust each other’s tastes: there hasn’t been a bad choice so far,” laughed Brigid.

And all three women laughed as they described how their monthly Thursday night meetings had become “sacrosanct” and their respective partners – and children – had learned to accommodate the club.

“The regularity of it is really important to me,” said Brigid, “because once you become a mother, it is very easy to be defined only as a mother and to be trapped into talking about teething when, really, you might want to be talking about literature.”

“We are just really fortunate to have something like this in a rural area.”

[box type=”bio”] Bluestone Magazine will check in each month with The Last Thursday Book Club to see what they have been reading…and what they thought of it! [/box]

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[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] E [/dropcap]ach member of the “board” is only 13 years old, but don’t for a moment think that the team behind a new, home-made surfing wax is not absolutely serious about making their product a winner.

Emmanuel College school buddies and surfing mates Jade McCreddan, from Yambuk, Isaak Jagoe, from Warrnambool and Mick Slockwitch, also from Warrnambool, spent most of last Saturday down at the Made by Me Market, at The Pavilion, in Warrnambool, where they put their surf wax – Stuck Wax – on sale for the first time.

While most boys their age would be heads-down playing with smartphones, Jade, Isaak and later Mick (who had to first compete in a surf lifesaving competition) chatted enthusiastically with customers about why their surf wax was better than the others. They also demonstrated its sticky superiority by leaving a lump attached to one of two surfboards they had brought in for display.

“We wanted to come up with our own recipe for a surf wax, so we started by looking around on the internet,” says Isaak.

Jade’s mother had some experience with wax through making beeswax candles, so the boys also sought her advice as they continued to experiment with various ingredients.

“I reckon we had about 12 different attempts until we worked out how we could make it really sticky,” Isaak says, “because that’s what you are looking for: something you can trust when you stand up on your board”.

“It is also eco-friendly and all natural ingredients,” Jade adds.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T [/dropcap]he product was put to the test in the surf off Warrnambool and Port Fairy, where the boys have spent countless hours through last summer and winter since becoming “hooked” on the sport about a year ago.

Having nailed the winning formula, which, of course, they are keeping a closely guarded secret, the boys turned to marketing and package design.

“I must admit we spent a lot of time in our maths class at school drawing different designs and sharing ideas,” Jade says.

Somehow, we can’t imagine the teacher would mind.

Isaak’s father prints their package design on A4 paper that they then use to wrap each of the 70g wax cakes that are made in bulk in muffin trays in Isaak’s family kitchen.

“We put foil down everywhere,” he says, reassuringly.

About 60 bars were on sale for $4 a pop at the weekend and all were sold out by 4pm, but the boys are not counting their profits just yet.

“Well, first I owe Mum and Dad some money and then we have to buy more ingredients, and then, if we have anything left over, we will split it three ways,” Isaac explains.

With this sort of business acumen, Stuck Wax sounds like it will be sticking around.

[box type=”bio”] Depending on the surf over summer, the boys may be at other local markets, but in the meantime, you can buy Stuck Wax by emailing them at Stuck_Wax_Enterprises@hotmail.com[/box]

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