Women in the Workforce in focus for International Women's Day - 11th March 2010

The Greater Taree City Council shines the spotlight on Women in the Workforce on International Women's Day, 11th March 2010. RSVP is essential.

For more information, download the Council's invitation.

If you are interested, you can complete the Premier's Council for Women survey on women and paid work. It provides regional women with an opportunity to have a say.

NSW Office for Women’s Policy - Survey:

http://www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/women/women_and_work/a_conversation_with_nsw_women_about_paid_work

(Please feel free to let other people in your network know about this survey.)

Jill Cameron Book Launch - 4th March 2010

Local author and illustrator Jill Cameron will launch her debut picture book Miffy the crooked eyed cat at Taree Library on Thursday 4 March at 4.00pm.

Jill is a retired teacher who worked with hearing impaired children for many years and has specialist skills in linguistics. This is her first picture book and she says she has thoroughly enjoyed the process from coming up with the idea to writing the story, creating the illustrations and then seeing the final published work.
“Miffy the crooked eyed cat has an underlying message of accepting who you are. What I want the book to portray to young readers is that everyone is different, we all have a different lot in life and it is futile to envy someone else” said Jill. She hopes that Miffy the crooked eyed cat will eventually be used in schools to address issues of self-acceptance and belonging.

Greater Taree City Libraries Events Coordinator Danielle Donnelly said “Jill’s book launch is part of an overall focus on supporting local authors and attracting well-known authors from around the country. The general feedback we are receiving from the community is that they would like to see more authors visit Greater Taree City Libraries and we are certainly working towards fulfilling this request” said Danielle.

For those interested in attending the launch of Jill Cameron’s debut picture book Miffy the crooked eyed cat, the event is free of charge however bookings are essential. Contact Danielle on 6592 5390 to reserve a spot.

Sobs and Songs from the ‘Inconvenient Child’ Hear Sharyn Killens Tell Her Story - 12th March 2010

Author Sharyn Killens will visit Taree Library on Friday 12 March at 12.30pm to talk about her compelling new book, The Inconvenient Child.

The Inconvenient Child, reveals the shocking true story of a secret Australian child's struggle to survive childhood and find her African American family, after a search spanning two continents and 48 years.
Sharyn Killens is better known as Sharyn Crystal, a successful Australian singer and entertainer. But her life wasn't always glamorous and her childhood was at times, a living hell. The Inconvenient Child is the true account of her extraordinary journey to success and her quest to discover her identity.

Sharyn co-authored the book with friend Lindsay Lewis, a friendship that has spanned twenty years and began during their time as entertainers. Their close relationship and music background makes for a lively yet emotional author talk, keeping the audience enthralled as Sharyn recounts her extraordinary story and her often difficult journey through life, so keep the tissues handy.

Born in 1948, Killens was the product of an unacceptable liaison between a blue-eyed blond Sydney socialite and a visiting African American serviceman. In 1950, baby Sharyn was rescued from squalid foster care by visiting champion African American boxer Freddie Dawson and taken to live in a ‘party house’ in the red light district of Kings Cross. But her absent, elegant mother then abandoned her in a convent-orphanage at age five, where she suffered abuse at the hands of a cruel nun.

At fifteen, after clashes over her father's undisclosed identity, the troubled runaway teenager was arrested in Kings Cross. Sharyn had committed no crime but the Courts deemed her 'uncontrollable' and in 1964, she was sentenced to notorious juvenile detention centres of Parramatta Girls Home then Hay Girls Institution, where she was stripped of her dignity and programmed into submission.

Sharyn’s solace was her love of music but how could she realise her dream of becoming a singer if by twenty-four, she was still caught up in the Kings Cross lifestyle as an exotic dancer?

Through courage and perseverance, she achieved her singing dream as Sharyn Crystal but her problematical relationship with her aloof mother was exacerbated by the other secret her mother kept for forty years; the identity of Sharyn's African American father.

When that secret was finally revealed, determined to find him, Sharyn set out in search of her roots; a quest taking her eight years and a journey across the world, first to New York, then Los Angeles and eventually to America's Deep South. How she gets there and what she discovers en route makes for riveting reading.

For those interested in hearing Sharyn Killen talk about her new book The Inconvenient Child at Taree Library, the event is free of charge however bookings are essential. Contact Danielle on 6592 5390 to reserve a spot. Angus and Robertson will be selling copies of the book during the event.

SENIORS WEEK 2010 - 2BOB COMMUNITY RADIO PRESENTS STUDIO TOUR

Tuesday 23rd March, 2010

2BOB Community Radio Station

Cnr. Albert Street and Wynter Street, Taree

11am Bookings essential

6552 6200 call Michelina

Proudly sponsored by GTCC as part of Seniors Week Celebrations

See how a community radio station works, the panels, studios and the music library. 2BOB is always looking for new volunteers.

You might find yourself a new hobby!

2BOB will also be presenting 5 interviews during Seniors week about some special seniors in our community doing

very important jobs. Interviews will be aired at 11.15am, Monday 22nd March to Friday the 26th of March, Tune in to 104.7FM

For further information call Michelina at 2Bob Radio 6552 6200.

2Bob Community Radio - www.2bobradio.org.au

Ayesha, Susan and Alison Catch-Up

While visiting Taree very briefly, ManningNet's webmaster, Ayesha Hilton, had a delicious lunch at Bent on Foods in Wingham with ManningNet facilitators Susan and Alison. Other ManningNet facilitators were at work and could not come. Ayesha now lives in regional Victoria but still comes to Taree to visit family.

Good Beginnings in the Manning Valley

Good Beginnings, which has just come to Taree, is a national charity which works to give children the best possible start in life through a range of community driven programs designed to strengthen families and communities.

Working in partnership with other organizations Good Beginnings enhances existing services to maximise their effectiveness and avoid any duplication of services for children and families.

In Taree, Good Beginnings had a lengthy consultation period following the initial request for a program in the area and in February 2008 the Play and Learn program was launched by the mayor of Greater Taree City Council , Cr Paul Hogan. The program operates in partnership with Child Care Services Taree and Districts (CCST&D) and Snugglepot Day Care Centre and is housed at Snugglepot’s ‘Cool Kidz ‘ building in Myall Avenue.

Two playgroups are conducted weekly, one of these being the Biripi Young Mum’s group which especially requested inclusion in the program. This is a first for Good Beginnings - operating a playgroup specifically for Indigenous families.

The Taree Play and Learn playgroups provide opportunities for parents to form relationships with other families and to access parenting information and support services. The playgroups are staffed by an experienced child development worker, family support worker and several volunteers. The focus is on provision of appropriate development experiences for parents and their children which they share together.

We know that the early years are critical for the healthy development of our children. Studies show that high stress in that period can cause neurological and developmental harm in a child. Coincidentally it is also in those early years that parents are more open to changing their own parenting behaviour. By reinforcing parental capacity through skills, information and support parents can make positive changes.

We also know that with broad community support Good Beginnings will be able to increase services for children and their families in the area, in the long term interest of our community and the nation. If you would like to find out more, or lend your support and/or make a donation you could contact Rosemary Sinclair on 02 65538276 or email her at rosie@mulberry-farm.com.

The greatest gift you can give a child is a good beginning.

NEW COOKBOOK TO SUPPORT GOOD BEGINNINGS

Rosemary’s recently published cookbook ‘Cooking and Looking in the Manning Valley’ is a fundraiser for Good Beginnings Taree. It is available for $25.00 from Angus & Robertsons, Bent on Food at Wingham, Cundletown Historical Society, Wingham Museum and newsagencies at Cundletown, Chatham and Manning Mall.