YONGERGNOW NEWSLETTER No6

August has been a quiet month at Yongergnow, I think everyone is in hibernation waiting for the spring. July and August were both reasonably wet so our local farmers can afford to relax for awhile and watch their crops grow. The beautiful yellow canola is blindingly iridescent against the green grass with the blue sky above and the equally blue Stirling Ranges creating the perfect backdrop. It feels like spring has already sprung!

Yongergnow held two very successful functions in August and both were generously sponsored by Healthway, a Cancer Council health initiative to encourage healthy eating habits called Go for 2fruit&5veg.  Yongergnow Mallee Arts Day invited students from schools in the surrounding district to participate in a cultural education day. Forty seven children and their teachers came from as far away as Bremer Bay, Nyabing, Borden and Ongerup Primary schools.

Our other function was organised to coincide with the Tail End Charlie Tractor Rally that has been travelling around Australia raising money for Cancer research. Along with the Ongerup Community Development Committee and the Malleefowl Preservation Group, Yongergnow volunteers helped cook up a storm to cater for everyone who turned up to hear the Tail End Charlie story and listen to various speakers on men's health issues. Oranje Tractor wines from Albany also participated and their wines were offered up for auction to help raise money for the charity.

Mallee Arts Day was wonderful! We offered four educational programs for the children to participate in throughout the day.
Harley Hayward was the facilitator for the Aboriginal Cultural Music group, he had the children playing didgeridoo, throwing boomerangs and starting fires with sticks! Every Childs dream!
Judy O'Neill from the Malleefowl Preservation Group took the kids out into the mallee along our walking trails to teach them to look with their eyes and hear with their ears the sounds and sights of the bush. Judy also taught the children about the malleefowl by taking them out to the Yongergnow aviary and through the indoor interpretive display. Finally if anyone answered her quiz questions correctly they got a Healthway prize of vegetable seeds for the garden or a bright green water bottle.
Folk singer Carmel Charlton took the children for singing lessons. She got everyone loosened up by having them play with tambourines and castanet's and soon had them singing silly songs with numbats and bird hats on their heads. There was lots of laughter and the kids went home knowing some cool new songs.
Athol Farmer, a well known local and internationally recognised aboriginal artist, along with Shane Woods help, had the children painting aboriginal motifs on boomerangs. He also donated a piece of his own artwork, a stylised malleefowl mound in acrylic, upon which he invited every participant to dip their hands in paint and leave their indelible print on its surface as a reminder of the days experience.
Mallee Arts Day was a great success and was lots of fun for everyone involved.

Spring is almost upon us and the wildflowers are already starting to show their pretty faces along the roadside. Remember that Ongerup has its annual Wildflower Display from the 17th September through to the 7th October and it is well worth the visit.
We look forward to seeing you then.