Author: Keith Platt

IT would be a rare day when George Paterson could walk along the streets of Rye or pull up at the back beach for a surf check without being recognised. A long time businessman in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula Patterson is an easy to talk to type who always has an adventure on the go or an anecdote to tell. But lately he’s discovered a way to become almost invisible. The secret is one he shares with others who wear tight fitting, colourful outdoor clothing – in short, they’re cyclists. Paterson has had so many near misses with…

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TO some, boxing may seem a strange road to travel in search of peace. But that is exactly the destination where the lessons in life handed out by boxing trainer Ron Smith can lead. The Mt Eliza-based former professional boxer admits to making mistakes while growing up, but says he learned from those to be a better man. Now 71, Smith is an advocate for peace, harmony and self-respect; attributes he passes on to people of all ages attending the Mt Eliza Boxing Centre he runs with his wife Sharyn. The philosophies espoused by Smith resonated so much with Jack…

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SHEREE Marris submerges herself in her work. An outspoken advocate for the Mornington Peninsula, she concentrates on its rarely seen and hidden attractions. To actually see Marris at work requires some beach accessories, but not the ones advertised in style magazines or found hanging in trendy boutiques. An aquatic scientist, Marris is more usually billed as a “marine educator” and has long promoted the attractions that live under the waters of Port Phillip. Marris has been widely published and exposed on TV and radio in her quest to highlight the unusual and unexpected life forms that dwell beneath the bay’s…

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AT an early age Melissa Jane found solace in poetry. In more recent years she found herself penning songs. But it was not until she experienced a personal tragedy that the words and music fused into a completed, recorded song. Jane’s Happy Birthday in Heaven was written to help people deal with grief after the death of a loved one. Specifically, it is designed to bring solace and comfort on the birth date of that loved one, although Jane’s friends have suggested it could also be played and sung at funerals. Sadly, the words and music came to the Frankston…

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HAVING fast internet speeds at home is not good news for everyone, especially if you are a sugar glider in Mt Eliza. Inspections made before the rollout of NBN cabling at Mt Eliza have revealed families of sugar gliders living in Telstra’s underground pits. Wildlife experts believe the small nocturnal marsupials have been forced to seek emergency accommodation because of a lack of suitable hollows in trees. The sociable sugar gliders generally sleep in family groups and have found direct access into the plastic-lined pits through white conduit running down power poles. The problem facing the sugar gliders is that…

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