After many long years of drought, we have had above average rain this winter.  It is wonderful to see the creeks around the district and the Loddon River flowing strongly.

Come and visit Newstead Preschool during our open week.  The preschool will be open on Monday 6 and Wednesday 8 September 2010 between 2.30 and 4pm.

Newstead Preschool proudly offers a caring and creative environment, with a low child to staff ratio.

Children are individually nurtured as they explore and learn more about themselves, others and their world through play.

The preschool is taking 2011 enrolments now.

Contact Jo, Centre Director on 5476 2688 for more information.

A beautiful hand knitted blanket (1.9 m by 2.1 m approx) made from pieces from the world's longest scarf is being auctioned at the RTC.

Money from the silent auction will be donated to Beth Higgins for postage of her shawls to Ethiopia.

Please put your name, address and phone number plus your bid (not your money please) in an envelope and put it in the box on the desk by 30 September.

If there is more than one highest bidder, the winner will be drawn from a hat.  There is a reserve price on the blanket and the winner will be notified.

If I were asked what has changed in the district over the last forty or fifty years, I would have to say everything has changed.  First there is the method of farming.  Where there were sixty or seventy draught horses in the field working, now there is not one.  The work is done by tractors.  Where it was hay growing and dairying, now it is only grazing.  Until about the 1940's there were approximately 15 farmers in the district who gained their full income from their farms alone, now there are five, the other farms being cut into smaller blocks for building house

The launch of "The Thomas Martin Letter" was a great success.  The chairs that had been placed in position were soon occupied and more trips to the storeroom were required to accommodate those arriving.  Thoughts of "will there be enough food?" started to be voiced.  The official party arrived and proceedings got under way.  President Derek Reid welcomed everyone and editor Liz Coady spoke of the history of the letter and how it developed into a book.  Steve Walter , who had been an integral part of several dramatisations of the book, read excerpts from it and als

Newstead Preschool received two awards recently for the development and implementation of a food safety program at the kinder. The parent-run Committee of Management as well as the Director/Teacher Jo Ride received Make Allergy Treatment Easy (MATE) Awards for developing an effective food safety program for children with serious food allergies and anaphylaxis.

Recently Leah Sertori from Central Victoria Solar City met with a group of people from Newstead 2021. The group, convened in 2008, is well known for its capability in leading and implementing initiatives that benefit the community of Newstead.

For the last year, the ADSL connections that help provide the free wireless network in town have been sponsored by Internode.  Recently the arrangement was reviewed and Internode have agreed to sponsor the services for another year.  The ongoing support of Internode and the initial sponsorship from Mt Alexander Shire have made the whole project possible.

Earlier this year I saw a pair of Black Falcons Falco subniger on a number of occasions, in the area around Rodborough Rd on the Moolort Plains. Despite numerous subsequent visits I hadn’t seen the birds since the 9th March, suspecting that they had moved on. Well they are back … or perhaps they have been around all along! This afternoon I got great views of a pair in exactly the same location as they had been observed previously. The Black Falcon is the largest Australian falcon, slightly larger than its more famous relative, the Peregrine.