Hi Leanne here. In March (along with what always seems like half of our suburb) I went once again to Port Fairy Folk Festival - where Archie Roach has regularly performed over the years. He was looking very frail. He’d been in a wheelchair last time I’d seen him, but this year he really couldn’t walk at all and had an oxygen tube.

I have seen him in concert for half my life, since going to Folk Rhythm and Life Festivals around the late 1990s and through the 2000s where he and his partner Ruby Hunter were often the feature act.

As you know if you’ve seen him live, he generously shares his story throughout his performances, and his recounting of reconnecting with his family here in our neck if the woods - Fitzroy - is mind bogglingly eye-opening and deeply sad. The stolen generations experience is such a tragedy for whole families and communities and it’s not a distant thing - the trauma sits here now today, close to the surface. It happened to our neighbours and friends, it is their lived experience. Archie Roach was only 66 after all.

It’s very sad that he died so young. Amazing that he was so willing to share his life so openly.

You can get a taste of his connection to Fitzroy and his family story in this great episode of Kutcha Edwards’ show Kutcha’s Carpool Koorioke that is also jam packed with understated kindhearted love, respect, caring, gratefulness and joy in community and connection.

Alphingtones Choir has been going for many years now and is full of lovely (tuneful) locals! They used to meet at ACC but now meet at St Andrew’s Church just behind Grill’d off Station Street so they have more room to spread out in these Covid times …

And they need some more members - in particular bass and tenor singers (but everyone is welcome!).

If you are interested in being part of this group that meets weekly on a Thursday night just email or call (details below).

Don’t forget to come along to the Alphington Bowls Club at 7pm on the 19th of December to enjoy some Christmas Carols with your neighbours.

Well it’s nearly December and the season is suddenly upon us. So … do you fancy a round of Jingle Bells or have a hankering to belt out Good King Wenceslas alongside your fellow neighbours?

Join us for Community Carols on Sunday 19th December at 7pm at the Alphington Bowls Club.

The Alphingtones Choir might be a little rusty after two years of mostly Covid zooming … and will probably be part of the audience rather than up the front this year. But it will still be very nice to get together for a sing-a-long … and I am 100% sure Santa will pop past!

A date for your diary. Bring the whole family along to this long-standing and low-key cross-generational community activity. Always on the last Sunday before Christmas 🎄.

This week we’re looking forward to:

• Our ukulele friends returning, and

• Another book club finally meeting up in person again!

We run 5 book clubs in partnership with Darebin Libraries here at ACC and Kalimna and Jodie (from the library) do an amazing behind the scenes logistical juggle to ensure books arrive on time and return on time and that all the groups get the books they want to read etc. They are just in the process of organising everything for next year. If you are part of one of our book clubs already and want to return but haven’t yet signed up for next year … please do! Kalimna has contacted everyone now (I think).

If you would like to be part of a local book club of up to 10 people that meets once a month here at ACC please let us know (give us a call or send us an email). Kalimna will let you know if there are spots available for next year in the existing groups … or put you on a list to create a new group if demand is strong.