JAMES McCallum and Russell Murphy from the Hamilton Men’s Shed have supplied games and activities such as beanbag toss, noughts and crosses, and Connect Four to entertain all ability people at the Better Together Festival at the Hamilton Botanic Gardens on Saturday, December 2.

EVERY year for the past 30 years David Upton has played Santa for the people of Portland. He doesn’t arrive in town in the traditional way, wearing a jolly red suit or sitting in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, but rather, riding a Honda ST1300.

FOLLOWING the recent release of the Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) draft Small Towns Strategy (STS) and the invitation for community feedback on the document, residents of one of the towns covered in it have taken issue with multiple parts of it, one going so far as to call it “appallingly sloppy”, and another claiming parts were directly taken off Wikipedia.

AN ENTHUSIASTIC crowd turned up for the four-day Glenthompson Art Show to see some of the best creative work in the region.

HAMILTON has been named Victoria’s 10th highest hotspot for storm damage in the past financial year and with storm season upon us, the Bureau of Meteorology is warning Australians they’re in for severe weather this summer.

LAST week Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) Coleraine branch celebrated 60 years of operation.

SOUTHERN Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) and the Hamilton Regional Business Association (HRBA) are celebrating the start of the festive season by urging businesses and traders to get creative and take part in the Christmas Window competition, which is now open.

WITH the Southern Grampians Shire now into its Fire Danger Period, residents have been asked to make sure they are ready for summer and the fire risks associated.

LOCALS Linda and Ross Sanders hosted Cookie’s Charity Run on Saturday and it was well attended, with 67 motorcycles and 22 cars taking part in the journey from Hamilton to Heywood.

SATURDAY’S Dunkeld Cup Fashions on the Field judges, Rose Funk from Dunkeld, Amy Wallace from Wodonga, and Bridget Hyland from Dunkeld, in front of a packed and excited crowd watching the contestants strut their stuff on stage.