By Shirley Dickson Thank you so much to The News for the very generous donation. At the moment we are finalising details for our 125 th anniversary, so the money will help us celebrate this momentous occasion. We plan to hold a dinner, complete with haggis, and be entertained by the Naracoorte Pipe Bandand dancers. The society was formed on 30 November 1897 by a group of Scots who had settled in the area and has continued to encourage and support Scottish culture, including music and dancing. It was originally known as the Albert District Caledonian Society, as Naracoorte was in the electorate of Albert. We hold several functions throughout the year, including a ceilidh, a celebration of the Day of the Tartan on 1 July [on 1 July 1782, Scots were once again allowed to wear tartan] and a dinner in November commemorating St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, […]

By Eugene Dunstan The Naracoorte Croquet Club is a small but enthusiastic sporting club, part of the Naracoorte Bowls Club. We play socially on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, play pennant matches against other South East clubs and compete in tournaments in other parts of the country. This grant will be of great benefit to us in helping to maintain and improve our lawns and facilities. We are also trying to attract new members with “Come and Try“ events. We would love it if any interested people in the community would contact us to learn to play the various types of croquet available. If interested, please contact Eugene Dunstan on 0427623703. All welcome. Editor’s Note: With this Give Back donation of $500 we have reached $75,592 donated to local service, arts and sports groups. Please register anytime by emailing news@naracoortenews.com.

By Louise Hicks Neuarpurr CFA brigade is on the Vic/SA border east of the Frances township. The brigade is made up of volunteers who attend emergencies such as wildfires, motor vehicle accidents and flood events in Victoria, and assist our neighbouring SA CFS brigades whenever needed. We thank The News for the grant money received through “The News Gives Back program” it is greatly appreciated by our brigade. The money will be put towards a new lighting generator needed by our “quick fill pump trailer”. This enables CFA and CFS tankers to be filled quickly and directly from a body of water such as a dam or lake. If anyone is interested in joining the brigade as a volunteer, either as a firefighter or as support/non operational volunteer please “Express an Interest” in joining the Neuarpurr Brigade on the CFA website. www.cfa.vic.gov.au/volunteers-careers/volunteer-with-cfa or call our Secretary Louise Hicks on 0429 […]

By Rebecca Lohmeyer Friends of Naracoorte Caves (FoNC) is a volunteer group who give their time to support the activities at the World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves National Park. This includes maintaining and developing the gardens and helping control feral weed species. We also support the running of various events that take place at the caves and various current research projects that aim to protect and enhance the natural environs of the Caves. Some members work tirelessly to tend the gardens immediately surrounding the main buildings, regularly replacing old or decaying plants, watering, and weeding. Other members enjoy getting out and tackling invasive weeds that grow throughout the whole park and restoring vegetation. Currently we have been busy making bird and bat boxes to place strategically throughout the park. The Friends are very appreciative of the News Gives Back program and will use the donation to go towards safety gear […]