[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] S [/dropcap]hirley Handley and Brownyn Greene are two Warrnambool friends who are rarely seen apart when it comes to spreading a little joy in people’s lives.

The pair, who met through their local church, volunteer to visit people who may be sick, lonely or just in need of some company for an afternoon, be they in hospital, in an aged care home, or in their own home.

Their cheerful, smiling personalities are infectious and it is rare day when Shirley, in particular, is not armed with a quick joke or a funny one liner.

Between them, they bring light to the lives of those who are often forgotten, isolated or finding it hard to cope with daily life, including people struggling with addictions, and they never judge, or try to change anyone: they are just there to listen.

Philosopher Alain de Botton, on his recent tour of Australia, talked about how the mainstream news media has an obsession with the wrong sort of celebrities and that ordinary people who do good, simple deeds should instead be celebrated.

So, using Alain’s approach, we celebrate Shirley and Bronwyn as our Quiet Heroes: in our eyes, they are the “Laverne and Shirley” of Warrnambool who bring much-needed good humour and fun to every day lives.

[box] Shirley and Bronwyn will receive a coffee and cake vouchers from Lozzars Lounge Cafe, in Warrnambool. Thankyou Lozzar’s for supporting our quiet heroes.[/box]

 Meet more of our Quiet Heroes…

Giving voice to the Portland community: Hilary Endacott

Helping mend broken family ties: Jenny Fawcett

Lost history finds loyal following: Lost Warrnambool

Australia Day awards – did we forget someone? Vicki Jellie

Oh Possum, you’re a hero in the heat: Nalini Scarfe

There is a fair chance that among all of the thousands of cafe reviews ever written, very few have featured a cafe inside a nursing home.

“A what?” we hear you say.

Yes – a nursing home. And the particular nursing home in question is the largest and oldest in Warrnambool – Lyndoch – where Cafe Connect has just celebrated its first birthday.

Whether we like it or not, most of us will have some connection to a nursing home at some point in our lives, either as a resident, a visitor, or even as a staff member, and Cafe Connect manages to connect with all three groups.

The key to its raging success – and it is incredibly successful – is that it operates as a regular cafe where anybody is welcome to drop in for a coffee and a cake, or something savoury, and the quality is outstanding.

People who remember Conn’s Cakes in Timor St, Warrnambool, will think that Rex Conn himself has returned to make sensational cream sponges (with real cream), jelly cakes, hedgehog, caramel slice, peppermint slice, apple charlottes, fruit cake, chocolate cake (are you drooling yet?), cupcakes, Anzac biscuits and passionfruit slice…and that is only some of the ever-changing selection available at very reasonable prices.

The cooking is all done on the premises by three talented and cheerful women who share the role  – Jill Ellis, Gina Walker and Madeline Boyle – but Gina and Madeline happily nominate Jill as the driving force.

“Her cooking is just amazing,” says Gina.

Even more amazing is that Jill, who worked many years ago at the now defunct Echo’s cafe in Liebig St, never uses a recipe. Instead, she has a feel for what works and remembers the combinations in her head.

The choice of treats is also a deliberate throw-back to the past.

“I think one of the reasons that the cakes are so popular is that they remind people of the cakes and slices they enjoyed when they were younger,” Jill says.

The nostalgia doesn’t stop there. People also enjoy the sights, smells and sounds of cooking in the kitchen.

“One day I had the mixmaster going and I apologised to a customer about the noise and she said, ‘no, keep it going, because it reminds me of my Mum when she was in the kitchen and she always had the mixmaster going,”’ Jill laughs.

Cafe Connect, which was funded by Lyndoch’s annual community raffle and other community events, has become a vibrant, colourful hub to Lyndoch and, because it is located right in the main entrance, the general public are also able to wander in – and they do. (At least one member of Bluestone Magazine is known to drop in regularly, just to see what slices might be fresh out of the oven.)

In recognition of their success, Jill, Gina and Madeline recently received one of only two Excellence and Innovation Awards awarded annually by Lyndoch. Jill has also been inspired to become a chef and is studying for her qualification…but we secretly hope she still doesn’t stick to any recipe.

Cafe Connect, Lyndoch, Hopkins Rd, Warrnambool, is open seven days a week.

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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