Depending on what they spend, sponsors get proportional advertising with their name, business logo and photograph on the worldwide solar cells website.

In this way sponsors show that they or their business are active supporters of renewable energy and organic foods in the community.

For more info on this project visit www.sponsorasolarcell.com or to contact Dean Ervik email: sponsorasolarcell@ecoworld.com.au

The bird had to be euthanased. Further investigation with EPA confirmed that the man did hold a licence to kill cockatoos. Margaret was horrified, “How can a

government department condone and licence this? There’s no policing of it and no process to ensure that it’s done humanely.”

Donna Anthony of Wildlife Volunteers said,“It’s just sad – on one hand you have wildlife carers spending so much time and money on caring for injured and orphaned wildlife, usually the result of human impact in some shape or form. On the other hand you have an unpoliced licence allowing people to kill.”

Further discussions will be held with EPA regarding these licences. We’ll update you with the outcome.

Gary Crew and Conondale Grade 4 teacher, Phil Gaffney with his winning team.

THE SEVENTH annual Gary Crew Readers Trophy was even bigger and better this year. The reading competition for Year 4 classes at Maleny State School was expanded to include student teams from Montville and Conondale Schools.

More than 100 students, teachers and parents gathered in the Maleny Community Centre to see three teams answer questions on four books – From Little Things Big Things Grow by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, Sally Murphy’s Toppling, Moya Simons, High Crime in Milk Bay and The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan.

Founder of the Readers Perpetual Trophy, author Gary Crew talks to students from the three competing schools before the contest gets under way.

The morning’s fun was under the control of actor and playwright, Simon Denver. The three judges were Peta Miller from Rosetta Books, June Hammond from Friends of the Library and Maleny Library Coordinator, Patricia Stahl. Maleny Library organised the event with considerable community input on the day.

On stage Simon Denver posed questions to the three teams who had a minute to write down their answers. The judges awarded points on how well the students had read the four books and were precise in their answers.

Facilitator Simon Denver confers with judges. The Conondale team is in the background.

The winning school was Conondale who received a resounding applause from the audience. The winning team consisted of Tarci Carey, Matthew Fisher, Sophie Grigor, Chloe Lanham, Aya Rae-Anthonysz and Jack Shalley.

Patricia Stahl said she was delighted that the Readers Trophy was into its seventh year and had now embraced Montville and Conondale schools. It is hoped that Mapleton will join the competition in 2011.

“We are delighted that the students are involved in this competition”, said Patricia. “As librarians and friends of the library we want children to read for life and the Readers Trophy is one way of helping fulfil that ambition.”

Author Gary Crew told all the students that he had started the Readers Trophy because as a child he had loved reading and he hoped this competition stimulated them to keep reading books.

Montville team confer over one of the questions.

“Writing, reading and the arts competitions can be just as important in schools as sports competitions” said Gary, “as they encourage the budding writer or artist to seek out a future career in the industry.”

Team members received certificates and medals, with the winning school to be inscribed on the perpetual trophy.

The Gary Crew Readers Trophy was supported this year by Rosetta Books and Maleny Additions, Friends of the Library who provided book vouchers and prepared refreshments, Maleny IGA and the Maple Street Cooperative who donated food, Peter Hudson who visited schools to discuss his work, and the Hinterland Times and Rosetta Books which donated sets of books to each of the schools.

Since then buttons have had a fascinating history and an important place in human adornment.

Renee in her studio

BUT IN OUR modern world of zips, snap fasteners and Velcro, buttons have taken a back seat. However, jeweller Renee Blackwell has re-discovered the button by creating attractive rings, pendants and earrings from a bewildering array of buttons from all over the world.

Renee has been designing and making jewellery for over 25 years, using a wide variety of materials in her work such as stones, gems, glass, clay/porcelain, metals and found objects.

Then she discovered the fascinating world of buttons

“On a trip to Buenos Aires a few years ago,” says Renee, “I discovered in an antique market a stash of beautiful, old buttons, and I felt they were so exquisite I might be able to use them in my work. Since that trip, I have been to Paris, Germany, New York City and San Francisco all in search of antique and vintage buttons. The metal antique buttons are all late 1800s and the vintage buttons are from the post WW2 era – the late 1940s. These buttons are mainly French, German and Czechoslovakian and made of glass.”

Renee is constantly in search of vintage buttons from the 1940s which she tries to buy on the original card.

In Paris, Renee discovers a box of "new" vintage 1940s French glass buttons. These buttons have never been off their original button card.

In Paris recently, Renee discovered an antique button dealer’s shop where she spent the entire day looking at, and buying buttons. The woman who owns the shop and her husband bought the business from his parents, who were button and trim suppliers to the world of Paris fashion designers in the 1930s-1960s.

“I set all the buttons as rings, earrings and pendants usually in sterling silver,” says Renee. “ For me, the button jewellery is so much more than “just another ring or pair of earrings,” she adds. “They become a piece of jewellery with a rich history – the ultimate reuse of objects made in another time and era.”

Renee Blackwell’s jewellery is stocked in about 85 jewellery stores and galleries right around Australia. Renee’s website: reneeblackwelldesign.com

SCAP winner Miles Hall with Caloundra Regional Gallery Director, John Waldron following the announcement of the $15,000 prize for Pine Lime (Splice).

BRISBANE-BASED artist, Miles Hall is the winner of the fifth annual Sunshine Coast Art Prize. Miles is the son of Maleny residents Les and Rae Hall. Miles has won a $15,000 cash prize and four weeks workshop residency at Arley Farm in Maleny. The winning painting is an abstract called Splice (Pine Lime).

This year’s judge, well-known art critic and weekly columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, John McDonald commented on the distinguished contribution SCAP was making to the national art calendar.

Highly Commended was Catherine O’Donnell’s Civic Centre. Catherine is from Sydney.

“Australia has a fatal attraction to art prizes, from the Archibald to the local fete”, said John at the Caloundra Regional Gallery. “By avoiding an obvious theme such as portraiture or still life, the prize leaves the door open to many different styles and genres in a range of media.”

While announcing the winner at the Caloundra Regional Gallery on August 26, John said, “Splice (Pine Lime), is essentially an abstract picture that generates a range of pictorial tensions. We see the work at first as a kind of landscape, depicting tangled undergrowth or a reflection in water. The severe green line across the bottom of the work creates a jarring contrast, bringing us back to the formal issues of line versus plane, depth as opposed to flatness. It’s an edgy, speculative affair that never aspires to perfection, but that’s part of the appeal.”

Commended was Vicki Hersi’s abstract painting, Still Life Objects.

Catherine O’Donnell’s Civic Centre was given the highly commended award.

John McDonald commented that, “Few will fail to be impressed by the artist’s painstaking mastery of charcoal, and her careful delineation of a piece of urban geometry that would make even Jeffrey Smart think twice,” said Mr McDonald.

The 2010 SCAP exhibition at the Caloundra Regional Gallery showcases the work of all 40 finalists. It is open until 3 October.

All works are for sale and entry to the gallery is free. If you would like to place your vote for the People’s Choice award you can do so either online at www.scap.org.au or at the gallery.

“I STARTED supporting Becky with her art eleven years ago. The first year we went to TAFE together and after that she worked with me in my studio. I could see that for Becky, art was a way of communicating, so I took over a mentoring role with her.

From an early age Becky’s mum taught her through the use of patterns. This is a process that involved putting words, numbers, colours, etc on the floor and Becky would crawl over them reading and learning as she went. The shapes and colours communicated to her even then. Becky’s Mum, one of the founding members of the Maleny Arts and Crafts Group enjoyed painting, so art was always around her. When Becky found she could paint and work with art, it was a way of decifering information and bringing it out again. “

Corrie has always been a career artist but at the same time has felt a need to commit to the broader community. She gained a Certificate IV in Disability and has worked with downs syndrome and cerebral palsy patients for 15 years. During that time Corrie has found that creativity has an important part to play in the disability sector because it offers a different approach to the way people learn.

“I believe that a lot of people with intellectual disabilities have a right brain approach to things. When I first met Becky, her way of getting information back out again was through her art. So we started using her painting as a way of learning. We started to tap into the other side of her brain that she needed.”

Sadly, Becky has other problems, particularly with her eyes. She has depth of field difficulties which make it difficult to diagnose. While this affects her art, it also impacts on the physical side of her life.

“When we started coming to gym Becky couldn’t even sit on a fitball because of a depth of field imbalance. But we started working with the trainers, Charmaine and April and now Becky gets on and off the fitball without any problem.

“One positive thing that Becky has had all of her life is her ability to say, I can do that or I will give that a go. I think that’s partly having lived in a family with six children and being treated as a normal child.

“In the gym Becky knows  that I am not just standing there to help her, because she can do it. I think you have to empower people to know that they can do it.

“April has been working with me on Becky’s programs and we are always targeting different things. At the moment it is Becky’s balance because her eyesight has declined considerably over the past two years. So exercises like balancing on the fitball and stepping up and stepping down are important. And with April, we have implemented a program that she can do at home too. It helps to give her confidence right now when her eyesight is not as reliable as it has been.

While care for the intellectually disabled is clearly demanding, the long relationship between Corrie and Becky has been sustained through a connection with art.

“We’ve gone all around the country doing workshops together,” says Corrie. “Becky goes into joint exhibitions and she has her own exhibitions. I am constantly surprised at the power of her art to communicate despite her intellectual disability.”

Maleny Community Gym trainers are experienced in tailoring programs for the elderly and disabled. Tel: 5429 6911

SUNSHINE COAST COUNCIL has completed its Master Plan for the Precinct but has left off the plan a key community resource – the 4km walkway from the township to Gardners Falls. There was also concern over a request to Council by the Maleny Golf Club for $450,000 to start its golf course.

The meeting at the RSL Hall was the first opportunity in more than two years that the public has had to discuss Council’s plans for the Precinct.

One of the five Precinct stakeholders, the Green Hills Fund, called the meeting, and its new president, Steven Lang, gave a detailed slide show presentation of the site components, the importance of species connectivity throughout the Blackall Range, and Council’s proposed schedule of development.

It is this schedule which concerned people at the meeting. Questions were asked of the three Council representatives present – Councillor Jenny McKay, Council’s director of the Precinct project, Alan ‘Fox’ Rogers and Council’s head of environmental policy, Steve Skull.

It was pointed out that feedback from the previous Council’s community consultation in 2007 had come down most strongly in favour of a walkway along the Obi Obi Creek from the Maleny township to Gardners Falls.

Peter Stevens, president of Lake Baroon Catchment Care said the walkway was absolutely vital to give the entire community the chance to connect with the Precinct after ten long years of planning.

Peter Rogers from Hinterland Tourism endorsed the view that a walkway would enhance the increasing reputation of the Range as a place for walking trails.

For example, Mary Cairncross Reserve receives 500,000 visitors a year confirming that visitors come here for the area’s environmental values.

Council plans to spend $4 million dollars over the next four years to kickstart development of the Precinct, but the first stages of the Master Plan do not include the walkway.

At the meeting Alan ‘Fox’ Rogers acknowledged that the Golf Club was seeking $450,000 to carve out its first nine holes, but said no decision had been taken by Council.

“If this funding is seriously being considered in the first few years of development then it goes against the intent of resident wishes as indicated by the consultation process three years ago,” Mr Lang told the Hinterland times. “It confirms that he who shouts loudest wins the prize.”

“The proposed walkway/cycleway to Gardeners Falls is how our children and grandchildren will get to Gardeners Falls. It gives ownership of the Precinct to the community. It is something everyone will use, regardless of which club or society they belong to. It is the one feature everyone can agree on. It is the priority.

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that Green Hills opposes a golf course on the precinct. We have formally signed off on a Master Plan which includes one, recognising the compromise as a win for all of Maleny. But we did so believing Council would require potential lease holders to provide their own funding, leaving Council to concentrate on the infrastructure the Maleny community so clearly declared it wanted.”

Several residents expressed concern that while stakeholder groups had to prepare commercial business plans before they became leaseholders of Precinct land, Mr Rogers could not guarantee that residents would get to see those plans.

Given that the estimated cost of the Precinct Master Plan over the next 20 years is close to $75 million, one suggestion from the floor was that Maleny land and homeowners might have a levy attached to their annual rates to speed up the process.

This was immediately rejected by another speaker who said she did not want her rates going towards the funding of a golf course.

Councillor Jenny McKay said she and her officers had heard the concerns of the community and would ensure that they were reflected in the Precinct strategy report that will go to Council within six weeks.

“We have had nearly three years of consultation with key stakeholder groups, Council and consultants,” said Mr Lang. “It is important that the outcome now delivers the environmental aspirations clearly expressed by this community three years ago. “

For further information: www.greenhills.org.au

In conjunction with author Stephen Lang and Rosetta Books, national and international authors will be interviewed before an invited audience about their recent publications and writing careers.

The funding for the series of events to be known as Outspoken follows successful author events held in Maleny with renowned writers such as Mungo MacCallum, Tom Keneally (pictured), Geraldine Brooks, Professor Ian Lowe and Reg Mombassa.

A 24-seat café in a subtle location, no views, minimal advertising and only nine months old… and yet Range foodies are buzzing about the quality of the coffee and food at La Botiga on Obi Obi Road in Mapleton.

The brainchild of chef Rebecca Perry Matthews (above) and partner Michael Burke, its choice of name (‘La Botiga’ meaning ‘The Shop’ in Catalan) reflects their approach to food – simple, strong statements with a lot of feeling.

Rebecca and Michael decided on the Catalonian name having been inspired by the food from that region, their travels having taken them throughout Europe and included the sensory-overloading cheese event in 2007 in Bra, Italy (home of Slow Food International).
Their European journeying is evident in the café’s modern-casual design and fit-out, reminiscent of cafés more likely to be found in Sydney or Barcelona than in little Mapleton.
Rebecca has been cooking since she was a young girl preparing meals for her family and clearly delights in her chosen profession.

“I love cooking for people and I believe good food should be available to everyone. All our dishes are baked fresh every day – we actually aim to sell out every day,” she declared.
On the day I visited, the menu offered Moroccan lamb boureks (spicy, fruity filo pastries) and pear & Gorgonzola tart. But it was the coffee that I was really there for. I’d heard that fellow Maleny-ites – and we’re spoiled for choice as it is – are making the 20-minute journey just for a cup of La Botiga’s specially blended and roasted brew (they sell take-home beans or grind for addicts).

“We spent a lot of time getting the coffee right – we knew that the food was going to be good and so the coffee had to be of the same standard,” they agreed.

Amongst a range of seating options is the communal table, which stretches almost the length of the café and encourages patrons to engage. For Rebecca, it’s as though their customers are invited to the family table.

The café has not only become a meeting place but a drop-off point for locally grown foods.
“We have people arriving with bagfuls of excess fruit, herbs and vegetables from their home garden – they know that we’ll do something with it that celebrates its freshness and quality,” enthused Michael.

“So there’s a very good chance that the salad you’re enjoying today came from somewhere in Mapleton this morning!”

Rebecca added: “And that’s what we’re aiming for – a community gathering place and food hub. Locals stop for a meal and/or coffee and chat, then pick up their fresh-baked organic sourdough, interesting cheese, something pre-prepared for dinner, and head home.”

“We want our customers to feel connected and nourished.”

Lucky Mapleton!

Julie Shelton is Leader of Slow Food Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
For more information on Slow Food go to www.slowfoodsunshinecoast.org.au