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Long time Burnside resident Mary Maitland has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Born in Riverton in the mid north in April 1920, Mary had a long career as a teacher and an even longer marriage to Bill.

Mary says things have changed a lot in her time. “You have to lock up your house when you go out, even if I just go around the corner I lock the back door. Many years ago we didn’t do that - we just left everything open. Things change – even the bus routes into the city have changed.”

Asked her secret to longevity Mary says “I think if you are lucky enough to have a loving family and you have enough common sense to eat properly. I have someone come now to shower me every day and someone who comes in the evenings and helps me get ready for bed. I couldn’t live here if I didn’t have that help.”

Raised at Auburn in the mid north she was brought up a very staunch Methodist. “I was not allowed to buy an ice-cream on Sunday,” she says. “My father believed it was wrong for shops to trade on a Sunday. Those were very different days. Our bathroom did not have hot water or a shower.”

Despite the hardship and lack of modern conveniences Mary says people who haven’t lived in the country have missed a lot. “I used to go dancing Saturday nights at the Auburn Institute but I couldn’t go unless my older brother went with me.”

Playing tennis regularly Mary met Bill on court when he appeared for an opposing team. “Our first date was a dance on the lawn at Riverton and we had to wear sensible shoes,” Mary says.

Completing her education at Clare High School Mary was the only girl in the senior class. She went on to train at Adelaide Teachers College and began teaching at Woodville High School in 1940.

“I was very lucky that I had loving, caring parents. I was renting a unit (in Adelaide) but I could go home any time,” she says. “I could also go to Bill’s parents any time.”

In the 1940s married women were not employed as teachers or bank staff. “So when I decided to marry Bill I went to the Director General of Education and asked for an exemption,” Mary says. “He thought about it and said ‘You have to resign and stay home for 3 days to make it official, then I will re-appoint you as a temporary teacher for 3 years.’ And that’s how they got around it,” Mary says.

She and Bill attended Church regularly at the Pirie Street Methodist Church where Mary sang in the choir and learnt to play the pipe organ. “We were married there in 1941,” Mary says. Soon after marrying, Bill went to South Africa with the Air Force to learn to fly planes. Mary heard very little from him except the occasional telegram.

After the war Bill returned but stayed with the Air Force. Their only child, Craig, was born in 1943 at Auburn where Mary was living with her parents. Bill was in Melbourne at the time and got home on the odd weekend.

They eventually moved back to the country where Mary taught at Clare and Riverton High Schools, two days in one and three in the other. When Craig was three they moved south to Pinnaroo. There the local school Principal heard Mary was a trained teacher and asked if she would work there. “He said I would be happy because women got as much (pay) as men did which was not the case before,” says Mary. Later Bill was moved to Jamestown and Mary resigned. “But the same thing happened,” she says. “There was a knock on the door and the principal of the High School asked if I would come back.”

When they moved to Adelaide in 1958 she was called by Nailsworth Girls’ Technical High School. She became a senior mistress, then Deputy Principal, until she was 61 when she retired. “I enjoyed teaching. As Deputy Principal a lot of staff came to me with their problems and when I could solve them that was the best part.”

“We bought a house in Allinga Ave Glenside when Craig was 12 (1955). We stayed there about 30 years then we decided we better buy a unit which would be less work. I was 89 and I have been here since.”

“I used to always go over to the library, that’s where I leant to use a computer and the books were excellent. I found Burnside Library a great help with everything. They still deliver books to me once a month.”

Mary says she is not good at walking around Burnside Village as she used to, so Craig does the banking. She has a hairdresser and podiatrist come to her and the chemist delivers. She also has groceries delivered once a month. “You can live successfully in your own home,” she says. “I am being very careful now since I had a fall a while ago and broke a couple of bones so I use a little walker around the house.”

Mary has a granddaughter who is married and lives at Jamestown with her three children. Her grandson is 50 this year and has a partner and they have two children, 7 and 10.

She is still a social member at Toorak Bowls where she played with Bill for more than 20 years. “The Club was going to have a party (for my 100^th),” she says. “My son was going to have a party as well but this virus came and it was all stopped. They all arrived with flowers and the back porch was filled with flowers. I even got a letter from the Queen and the Governor General.”

“I just like to be grateful for living in Burnside with all the help that I get. I go to the Legacy Widows’ Club, a lovely group, but I haven’t been for months because of this virus. But of course the numbers are declining and the younger girls are not joining because they are all working. I have always found Burnside a wonderful area to live in. I miss Bill very much but I recognise that I was lucky to have had him for so long.”

Today is International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste #FLWDay. Let’s stop food loss and waste for the people, for the planet!

LET'S SAVE MONEY BY SAVING FOOD WASTE!

Did you know that Australians throw out 1 in 5 bags of groceries each week? This adds up to between $2.6-3.8K worth of food per household each year.. Eeek !

Our latest East Waste Councils bin audit showed that:

30 % of what we throw in the landfill bin is food.

75 % of this is edible food.

48 % is fresh fruit and vegetables.

Let's eat it and not waste it! Read more about how we can save money and food waste.

City of Burnside’s stats were:

30 % of what we throw in the landfill bin is food.

64 % of this is edible food.

51 % is fresh fruit and vegetables.

William Anderson established the Mountain Hut Inn on the Great Eastern Road, Glen Osmond in 1845. The next publican was the infamous Robert Spearman, who in 1848 was sent to Van Diemen’s Land for highway robbery.

The story of the robbery was shared years later in The Express and Telegraph:
“A farmer called at the hotel, and having been served by Spearman continued his journey up the hill by the longer way round the Devil’s Elbow. Spearman followed his man, and taking the short cut, intercepted him and robbed him on the top road. He got back to the hotel as quickly as possible, and the farmer came back and reported the robbery to the very man who had robbed him.” (5 August 1899, page 4).

The Mountain Hut Inn traded as a pub until 1909. The site then operated as a Temperance Hotel until the 1950s. The building was used as a dog and cat boarding business for 50 years and was sold earlier this year with plans to develop it into a childcare centre.

William Wagener opened a motor-wrecking yard on Glen Osmond Road, Frewville around 1930. Famously, in the branches of the tall pines surrounding the yard, Wagener hung a battered Model T Ford as an advertisement for the business. The wrecking yard would be a collector’s delight today! Do you recognise any of the vehicles?

Water supply was a high concern for Adelaide’s population in the late 19^th Century. At that time, the River Torrens (Karrawirra Parri) was the primary water source.

In 1860, the first piped-water network was built, reaching some Adelaide homes. It took many years for houses in the suburbs to be connected, so many property owners had to establish their own water supply, such as a well.

Pictured here are well diggers at work in Stonyfell, circa 1902. Alfred Black of Bell Yett purchased this allotment next to a creek to build an extra well for his home after struggling through a drought year.

The pump track is having a spell but will be back at Miller Reserve, Devereux Road, Linden Park from 28 September to 14 December. BYO bikes, skateboard, roller skates, scooters. Some equipment is not suitable for use (3 wheels, go-karts, motorised equipment, bikes with training wheels). Protective gear and helmet must be worn. Contact 8366 4200 with feedback, queries or to report damage.

We invite you to help us celebrate by sharing YOUR three favourite books/series (adult, teen or children's).

The 60 most popular books will feature on a new book list for you!

Submit your list by Saturday 31 October 2020.

One entry per person.

One adult raffle prize and one children's raffle prize on offer.

https://au.openforms.com/Form/7c257a3a-9b36-4515-8d21-5d90c6305d42

The new Shed at Conyngham Street has expanded to also provide a service for women. Rose Squire and Helen Zakelj have been engaged to teach skills to women in the Shed. “Helen and I are really excited,” says Rose. “We’ve got some fantastic facilities here and a lot of equipment. There are opportunities for women to come down and have a nice cup of coffee, have a bit of a chat and learn some woodwork skills.”

L - R: Rose and Helen with Men's Shed Facilitator Evan Reay

Rose says women interested in developing skills they may already have and wanting to build on are welcome. “We’re in a position to cope with a wide range of expertise and if you’ve never picked up a hammer before don’t let that stop you because we can certainly help you with that.”

Helen says 20 years ago an opportunity like this just wasn’t available. “I think it’s fabulous because we are all living longer - a lot of people are isolated, both men and women, so it’s a fabulous space to be able to just catch up and get that little bit of something that maybe they’re not getting,” Helen says. “A lot of women are by themselves and they just want to do something, maybe their partners had always done for them. So just to be a little bit independent and do things, it might be just to learn how to undo a screw or a bolt if it’s stuck – just do something little it may make them feel a bit more self-sufficient.”

The two women are looking forward to the Shed ‘taking off’ and they are hoping it becomes a really good social hub for local residents.

“I firmly believe that any shed of this nature should be a community shed,” says Rose. “I think there should be equal opportunities for everyone to use the facilities because it is a fantastic place to be and an opportunity for people to get together socially and also to develop some skills.”

“I’ve got a long history in the building industry - I’m a self-employed carpenter/builder. I’ve been building houses and doing renovations and repairs for many years so hopefully I’ll be able to transfer those skills to the Shed here and be able to nut out any projects that people might like to tackle.”

Helen adds, “You may not know how to do anything or you may be very handy with the tools. Maybe we can teach someone how to change a washer, glue up that special piece of woodwork that may have been broken or repair something that’s been in the family for a long time. The Shed is just amazing, it’s warm it’s inviting the staff are really nice and welcoming.”

Our team of dedicated biodiversity nursery volunteers guided by Dr Mark Ellis are now ‘ensconced’ in the new nursery at The Shed on Conyngham Street. After working for years at the old Laurel Street nursery they are now surrounded by ‘shiny new things’.

Mark is Council’s Technical Officer, Conservation & Land Management and coordinates the biodiversity nursery.

“This has been built specifically for our needs,” he says. “With new potting benches, automatic overhead watering, wash-down areas, a polyhouse and a fantastic nursery workshop.”

The nursery is a hive of activity all year round with volunteers sowing seeds, propagating cuttings, potting up seedlings, and tending a wide range of plants native to Burnside that are grown for our biodiversity sites across the City. The nursery is also the hub for the plants grown specifically for the annual Native Plant Sale.

“It is a full annual program,” Mark says. “Deciding which species we need to sow, when to take cuttings. Then there is the maintenance – fertilising, watering, thinning out and making sure we keep the stock healthy and free of pests and diseases.”

The nursery can hold up to 10,000 native plants at peak time. Planting season starts once the rains have ‘broken’ which can be as early as April. Mark says the soil needs to be wetted thoroughly so to allow the plants’ root systems to establish well before the dry summer months. “Indigenous natives are usually not planted in irrigated areas so apart from some establishment watering in the first year they have to fend for themselves,” says Mark.

“All the species grown at the Nursery are indigenous to the Burnside area so they have adapted to Adelaide’s dry climate. They are planted in our hills face reserves and urban biodiversity sites. This year we gave away around 3,000 plants to local residents to plant in their own gardens.”

Every Friday a small group of dedicated volunteers partake in a structured session run by Mark where they plant, prune, pot and plan.

“Our volunteers have a range of knowledge of our indigenous plants but all are very passionate about doing something positive for the local environment and enjoy learning about our local flora.”

On Friday 28 August Mark took the volunteers for a walk and talk to show them areas of land management and revegetation (with the plants they have grown) at Wheal Gawler Reserve, Glen Osmond.

After 38 years as a volunteer Peg Bennetts is ‘retiring’. The 2020 Citizen of the Year has been volunteering on the community desk at the Civic Centre since 1982. At the age of 85 she has decided it is time to move on and “let someone young take over”.

“I have loved my time here and made lots of friends,” Peg says. “I have seen a lot of changes over the years – there were no computers when I started!”

Peg, of St Georges, is well-known for her quick wit and love of a chat. “I hear all the gossip,” she says with a wink. “And some good jokes!”

She is a great story teller and has spent many a moment entertaining people with colourful tales, many that involve her pet cat Oscar, whom she loves.

In her role at the desk she has been able to inform members of the community about what is happening within our facilities, and she has always done so in a very friendly and compassionate way, getting to know regulars who come to classes within the centre, providing them with a familiar friendly face.

She is adamant she is not saying ‘goodbye’ and plans to visit regularly to say hi “and pinch a few books from the Library”.

Peg is pictured with Tricia Foster-Jones, Senior Coordinator, Community Centres & Development (L) and Lisette Bruno, Volunteer Program Coordinator (R).