Minutes of Meeting 29th August 2017
( sorry the link went to July minutes instead of August minutes, now fixed.)
Hi all,
Things are progressing well and we are just over 6 weeks off the Community picnic! Make sure the 15th of October is in your calendar. It looks like we have scored the Uraidla Concert Band for the event which will really liven up the atmosphere.
Next meeting: 7:30pm on Thursday the 14th of September at the Lenswood Primary School.
Kind Regards
Chris Grant
Secretary LFRCA
A successful AGM and the election of Committee was conducted on Saturday 29th.
This was followed by an examination of the proposed area for use on the Picnic Day. Arrangements were discussed.
A welcome barbeque preceded the close of our meeting.
The reports and minutes are available and have been posted here as links.
Continue reading “AGM Reports L&FRCA 2017
& Minutes of the Meeting following the AGM”
Primary-students-the-first-to-code-experiments-for-international-space-station
excerpt from ” The Sydney Morning Herald”
About 24 primary students are the first in the country to code science experiments that will be launched on a rocket to the International Space Station this week and completed by astronauts.
The students from six public schools have spent the past three months choosing an experiment and coding the hardware necessary to complete it in space.
Granville East Public School students Jana Ajaj, Abdelelah Faisal, and Annabella Zraika have coded an experiment that is being launched into space.
Abdelelah Faisal, 11, who is in year 6 at Granville East Public School, and his group have coded a mini-computer to take photographs in space and transmit the data back to earth, where they will use it to create an artwork.
“We wanted to see how much light is actually in space because in space videos it’s always so dark up there,” Abdelelah said.
“No primary schools have ever done this before so this was our first opportunity to experience what uni students do.”
The school’s assistant principal Sarah Mellish, who has worked closely with the year 6 students involved in the project being run by Cuberider, said it has previously only been offered to high school students.
“We were initially told primary students couldn’t do the experiment and we said ‘no, that’s not true, we have really high expectations for them’,” Mrs Mellish said.
She said the students “picked up on it really quickly” once they started working with six year 7 students at Casula High School, and completed the project over four days.
“Coding and robotics are becoming really common in primary schools and the idea of sending something into space was a really cool drawing card,” Mrs Mellish said.
Emily Signorini, who is head teacher of STEM at Casula High School and led the project, said other experiments include measuring the temperature at the International Space Station and comparing it to earth to look at how a farm could be set up in space.
“One of the things the teachers have really enjoyed watching is all of the discussions that have broken off,” Mrs Signorini said.
“Not just about the space station but about things like the terraforming of Mars, changing it so that it’s fit for us to live on.
“As teachers, we were very surprised to hear that. They’re going off on their own hypothetical journeys.
“We could have the first people to ever go to Mars in our classroom right now.”
The codes and hardware to carry out the experiments will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday in a SpaceX rocket that is delivering supplies to the International space station.
Cuberider will also conduct the experiments in the earth’s stratosphere through a balloon launch scheduled in October.
Abdelelah said the project has made him much more interested in science.
“I wasn’t that interested in it until I went into this,” he said.
“I’m excited to see how it’s actually going to be launched and whether the experiment will work.
“And my friends are also jealous.”
.. Community Newsletter DocX ..
Community Newsletter
As many of you may be aware, Lenswood is this year celebrating 100 years since its naming. While there have been people living in the region for much longer, Lenswood itself only came about in 1917. Up until that time, the nearest postal service was at Forest Range. The following newspaper excerpt (sourced from the Forest Range and Lenswood History Group) sheds light on why Lenswood was formed.
June 5, 1917
“The eastern portion of the Forest Range district has long been inconvenienced by lack of postal facilities. Some residents were situated from two to four miles from the office, and as the bulk of mail business went to that part it was felt that some means should be found to overcome the difficulty. A strong committee has induced the Federal Government to establish a new office under the name of Lenswood.”
LENSWOOD POST OFFICE. (1917, June 5). Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 – 1924)
As to the name Lenswood, there is some hearsay around where the name came from. Lenswood was named by Arthur Mason but how did he come up with this name? There is likely some linkage to the Lens region in France. Australian soldiers fought near Lens (in France) in the battle of Bullecourt in April/May 1917 and over 10,000 men were lost. Some men from this district would have been fighting in that region at the time. The actual Battle of Lens (Hill 60) was fought by Canadians in August, however, which was after Lenswood was named. We have a sister town Lenswood in Manitoba, Canada.
So how are we celebrating this important milestone for not only our township, but also the district?
The Lenswood and Forest Range Community Association has been very busy working on a number of projects to help mark the occasion. You may have noticed that the entry signs coming in and out of the Lenswood township went missing for a few days. This was so that the date on them could be updated to correctly reflect the centenary (they previously showed a date more reflective of Forest Range’s formation).
We have also engaged with the Adelaide Hills Council to change the name of the Lenswood Recreation Park to the Lenswood Centenary Park. The Council have gone through a community consultation process for this and the name is now in the process of being changed. Why the change? Well, we are also planning on building a heritage trail through the park, with a number of steel silhouettes depicting the history of the region. There is an example of a woodcutter silhouette on the western fence of the Lenswood Primary School, and the plan is for 10 of these style silhouettes to be installed throughout the park (showing a range of historically relevant people and occupations, from indigenous people, gold panner, wood cutter, charcoal burner, fruit tree through to a number of others).
Some of the Lenswood Primary School children have been busy over the past term developing designs for the silhouettes. We are now in the final design phase and are working with Council on formal plans for installation. The Council have also cleared a number of fallen trees and mown a pathway through the Park that will form the route for the heritage trail. They have also placed logs as tables and chairs to help encourage people to linger within the Park and enjoy its beautiful environment.
Each silhouette will have a small sign and a QR Code (a special bar code that can be scanned by a Smart Phone) that will link to a web page that outlines some more detail on that element of the history of the region. The school children will be busy working on this over the next term (with guidance from the history group). These web pages will be easily able to be updated by future generations of children over time.
When we brainstormed what we would like to do at the Centenary Park, there were a number of other ideas for improvement of the area to make it a special place for locals and visitors to the region to enjoy. While we are not going to get to all of those this year, it is hoped that the Heritage Trail is just the beginning of further community involvement with this beautiful part of our district.
The Lenswood Primary School are also very busy rehearsing for their whole of school play, “Tale of the Century”, which has been written specially to look back on the past 100 years in the district. The children are thoroughly enjoying their rehearsals for what is shaping up to be an extremely entertaining performance in September. There will also be a special Lenswood Centenary class featuring apples in the cookery section at this year’s Uraidla and Summertown show in November.
The other main event that we are planning for is a Community Picnic, to be held on Sunday 15th October at the Lenswood Memorial Park (Lenswood Oval) from 11 am to 5 pm. The aim of the picnic is to bring the community together in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere for a day of celebration of our past 100 years.
We are encouraging all past and present Lenswood/Forest Range community as well as those who have worked in the area, visited or have an affiliation to the district to come along and catch up with old friends and acquaintances. What a fantastic opportunity to also meet others within the community.
There will be a range of food and non-alcoholic drinks for sale (such as burgers, sausages and apple pancakes) or you can bring along a picnic basket and your own beverages. There will be raffles, prizes, historical displays and the launch of the Lenswood History book. Lennie the Centenary, Celebrity Centipede will be making a star appearance, there will be 100 bouncing beach balls and the Lenswood Primary School Choir will be performing.
We will just be asking for a small donation on entry to help cover the costs of putting on the event.
Please help spread the word and keep this day free.
Wanting to get involved?
Considerable time and effort is required in order to bring these community initiatives together. If you want to help out there are lots of ways you can get involved:
If you think you can help out with any of the above and want to be involved, either come along to a meeting or contact Lenswood Forest Range Community Association Chairperson Susie Green on 0417 451 999 or lenswood100years@gmail.com
Lenswood Forest Range Community Association
Click read more
to download The minutes from
the Committee meeting held April 19th 2016
Download the Minutes of the meeting HERE
An article In ABC News by Nicola Gage :-
Cherry, apple, pear and strawberry industries are pushing for the Adelaide Hills region to become globally recognised as a pest-free area, like South Australia’s Riverland, Victoria’s Sunraysia and Tasmania.
“We’ve initially identified Thailand — Taiwan is another market that recognises [it] and there’s also a lot of work being done in China,” Mr Noske said.
The proposed Hills zone would stretch from Stirling through to Mount Barker and Strathalbyn, taking in Yankallila on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
What remains unclear is whether any global accreditation would restrict produce movement in the Adelaide Hills region.
Cherry grower Nick Noske had a bumper crop last season but said strict international quarantine laws meant he could not fully benefit from the good times.
The Hills region is considered fruit fly free within Australia but that is not the case internationally.
Read the full article Here
Minister Geoff Brock Minister for Regional Development Minister for Local Government. Monday, 21 September, 2015.
50 new jobs in Adelaide Hills Co-operative expansion. An $850,000 State Government Regional development Fund grant will go towards a major expansion at iconic Lenswood Apples facilities in the Adelaide Hills. Regional Development Minister Geoff Brock said the proposed $11.37 million expansion by Lenswood Cold Store Co-operative Society Limited would diversify and expand its capacity, as well as creating new regional employment opportunities. “This is a major project which will bring economic benefits to the region and industry,” Mr Brock said.
The complete news release is available here. http://www.premier.sa.gov.au/images/news_releases/2015/15_09Sep/lenswood.pdf
Also a news article from Stock Journal ” The land ” http://www.theland.com.au/news/agriculture/horticulture/general-news/lenswoods-juicy-plans-on-track/2745233.aspx?storypage=1
http://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/ahc-news/Pages/Congratulations-Lenswood-Apples.aspx
On the 11th of August a small group of Business Owners met to discuss emerging issues with the increased volume of traffic along Croft and Mawson Rds.
Residents may be aware that the State Government has encouraged Bike SA to use Mount Crawford Forest for their activities. Residents will also be aware of the success that Anderson Hill, Pike and Joyce and Mt Lofty cellar door sales have enjoyed. If we add to this pick your own cherries and pick your own pink ladies we can see that this part of Lenswood is becoming increasing popular to visitors.
At this initial meeting there was general agreement that we welcomed the benefits that this increased popularity brings to our various businesses. However, we are also aware that it has brought problems.
Problems can be solved.
Dale Knappstein has offered to make a presentation to Council on December 8.
Dale has spent many years as corporate communications, Corporate brand and Crisis Manager for an international Pharmaceutical company and most of those years were making presentations to staff, management and senior executives.
Although Dale knows how to make a good presentation her presentation can only be as good as the information at her disposal.
We need to assemble FACTS – present our case in a way that gets the best outcomes possible for all the various needs and concerns of the group. We won’t get perfection but we will hopefully, all get something that supports the growth of these very exciting roads.
Dale has agreed to prepare a presentation based on the information received by any community members who wish to make a constructive contribution to this discussion. She will put this into a written / power point type document and circulate it to everyone who has had an input at least two weeks prior to the meeting for your feedback.
That feedback will be incorporated back into the contents . A final version will be circulated and copies prepared for all Councillors to receive – after – the presentation.
If you have an interest in this issue and either want to be informed or make a constructive contribution then please contact:
Dale Knappstein: dale@timknappstein.com.au
What is the Mt lofty ranges world heritage liisting Bid?
