Letters To The Editor
Lismore Relay for Life with thanks to all
The second Lismore Relay for Life held at Oakes Oval on the weekend of October 9-10 was an outstanding success - attracting 38 teams, over 600 participants and raising in the vicinity of $35,000! (Teams are still in the process of banking their monies). Relay for Life not only raises funds for cancer research programs throughout NSW and support programs for local cancer patients and carers but also builds awareness and creates a positive spirit to build a more cancer smart community.
The atmosphere and goodwill created from Lismore's Relay for Life will ensure that a community so responsive to our cause will assist cancer patients, cancer survivors and cancer cares to gain strength and support from each other, to reach out for information and empower the community to learn as much as possible about prevention, and the control and management of cancer, which effects one in three people throughout Australia.
Our sincere thanks and gratitude to all on this year's Lismore Relay for Life committee led by chair Don Whitelaw. This committee worked throughout 2004 to ensure that the event developed and evolved from our first Lismore event hosted in October 2004. Our sincere thanks to the food vendors - West Lismore Rotary and the students of Wollongbar TAFE - for providing some excellent food to fuel our wonderful walkers, to all the excellent on stage and off stage entertainers who donated their time and talents to build a festive atmosphere of colour and music, to in kind sponsors who, free of charge, donated so many resources. Relay for Life was hosted with a nil expenditure budget allocation make possible with the generous heart of the Lismore community.
Our sincere appreciation to everyone who registered and participated, who sponsored a fundraiser, or who presented at and attended the beautiful Opening, HOPE Candle and Closing Ceremonies, our thanks and congratulations!
For Lismore to continue to give us their unflagging support to this event, to position cancer as a No 1 priority to be dealt with so practically from the grass roots up, is social evidence that we feel sure that cancer will be defeated in our children's lifetime. From the Cancer Council NSW and from our regional team based in Ballina, Diana Fisher, Sandra Rowan and myself, we are most grateful to the people of Lismore and beyond for providing the Cancer Council NSW with such a first rate event.
The funds raised by teams are still being banked and we encourage teams to complete their fundraising and banking by the end of November 04.
As Relay for Life is generally a biannual event in the Far North coast for host towns - the October 2005 Relay for Life will be hosted in Ballina. For further information phone 6681 1933.
Carolyn Forbes,
regional manager, The Far North Coast, Cancer Council NSW
|
|
Brilliant design
May I, through your columns, share with local councillors, developers, architects and builders generally, an exciting and inexpensive form of air-conditioning which is guaranteed to beautify, protect and enhance any development?
This innovation needs little maintenance and attracts innumerable benefits and is a health and life-giving force. People of all ages, animals, birds and insects love it. It has a long life, can be bought very cheaply and in too many shapes and sizes to mention here - and it is adaptable to almost any location you can think of. People, kids, animals, birds and insects love it.
It is called a shade tree.
Rosalee Bennett
Lismore
Bullying from the top
Blaming schools for bullying is passing the buck. Schools are aware of bullying and it's many variations and do all they can to implement programs to teach social skills.
Some children watch adults bullying each other at home. Some children are bullied by adults and some children learn how to bully/manipulate adults.
Society presents a scenario where parents are over worked and pressured by capitalistic expectations. Quality time with children and family is being replaced with a lifestyle that does not promote good communication, honest communication. We also have "leaders" like John Howard and George Bush who are bullies. I am not proud these people represent me. I detest warfare –the ultimate bullying.
Louise Hall
Goonellabah
Troops under fire
While the US military wages mass murder and devastation on Fallujah, the conduct of Australian troops in Iraq has been kept pretty well under wraps. But the random shooting of civilians at checkpoints and roadblocks by Australian soldiers needs to be spotlighted.
This pre-emptive 'self defence' measure of gunning down civilian cars for failing to obey commands, given in English, which they probably don't understand, is not justifiable. The Australians' nervousness has no doubt increased since one of their military vehicles was blown up near the Australian embassy in Baghdad last month. But the increasingly dangerous conditions provoked by the continuation of this illegal occupation should not be an excuse for indiscriminate firing on innocent people. It should be a sign that it's time for Australian troops to get out of Iraq, and for Howard to get his blood-soaked hands out of Bush's business.
Jillian Watt
Mullumbimby
Coraki thanks
The 7th Coraki Tea Tree Art Prize and inaugural Artsfest has been a great success. Part of that success can be attributed to The Echo's support by publishing so many items in the lead-up to the event.
Visitors to the Art Prize exhibition were far in excess of previous year's numbers. Opening night was a lot of fun and on Saturday a steady flow of visitors enjoyed the exhibition, stalls and workshops. The Artsfest workshops proved to be very popular with kids and adults, who had a lot of fun producing artwork, in spite of the rain. On Sunday, with the rowing regatta, yet another audience enjoyed Coraki and the region's art.
Artists are happy... there were quite a lot of red dots on artwork by the end of the weekend! We thank you for sponsoring the Popular Choice Prize and Photography Prize and our advertising, as well as the aforementioned exposure. Your good-natured support and enthusiasm is much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Sharon, Kate, Kim and Narelle
Coraki Tea Tree Art Prize
Honestly?
The suggestion that Federal Independent Tony Windsor should resign is ludicrous, and it seems that the Nationals may be protesting too much, eh?
Of course, they can't be caught out in one-to-one conversations, and they know it. So here we have this charade of demanding Windsor resign.
The Coalition may have won government on their economic credibility, and that appears to be all that counts to the electorate. However, their honesty is still an issue and will remain so, given their past record and this present 'outraged' farce that we are being bombarded with.
Cherie Imlah
Mongogarie
Café conspiracy
I find that this weekend, November 20-21, has been quite a good one for me, Australia comprehensibly winning the first cricket test against New Zealand, Glen McGrath finally showing, (in spite of the so called experts saying for years that he would never go even close to a half century with the bat), that he is a reasonably good batsman. (For those who have just returned from outer Mongolia, Glen scored 61 runs for Australia).
While I write, the aroma coming from my kitchen is heavily roast lamb, so I should be content in my old age, with all that, but no, I keep remembering what Chris Jeffery, of Chris and Lisa's Café in Lismore Star Court Arcade, told me on Friday.
Unbelievably, they and the other café in the arcade have been told they can no longer have two tables outside the alignment of their establishments. I, like many others, cannot see why. The arcade is quite wide enough for people to pass through without these tables being an inconvenience. Surely this decision must be reversed, it is quite ridiculous. Speak up, customers, for the two cafés in the Star Court Arcade.
Doug Myler
Lismore Heights
Asbestos rewards
We sincerely hope that the Ballina, Lismore City and surrounding councils also have a ban on the use of James Hardie products in line with most NSW councils.
Today's news from JH Chairman, the brittle, (or is that "Hellfire Club" brutal), Meredith Hellicar, that James Hardie Industries is paying its disgraced former chief executive, Peter Macdonald, $77,000 a month to share his "knowledge and experience" with current management, is an absolute disgrace.
Macdonald resigned last month after a special commission of inquiry found evidence he had broken trade practices and corporations laws during the company's elaborate three-year attempt to cut its ties with its asbestos-producing past.
NSW Premier, Bob Carr, has taken a proactive and strong stand on this issue and is to be congratulated on his very strong leadership.
The Prime Minister has been very strangely silent.
Welcome to Corporate Governance, Canberra Style, a la John Winston Howard.
John X. Berlin
Maclean
Indigenous plan
Having missed the opportunity to comment on Lismore City Council's Draft Strategic Plan for 2004-2012, which was recently on display, I wish to express my disappointment that under the heading "Quality of Life" the list of groups identified as having special needs does not include Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
This is both disturbing and embarrassing both for myself and no doubt for the Indigenous population in Lismore City Council's jurisdiction.
Lismore City Council's draft Community and Social Plan includes Aboriginal people as an identified group that local government should focus on under the State Government Social Justice commitment. So why have they been omitted, presenting a disjuncture between the two plans.
Under the heading "Trends" on page 7 of the Draft Plan Council states that it is concerned about affordability of housing, unemployment and family and social stress.
The high levels of poverty, ill health and social problems amongst the Indigenous community in the area suggest that Lismore City Council need to amend this omission in the Strategic Plan 2004-2012 before it becomes final.
Helen Rigby
Dunoon
Lismore People for Reconciliation member
|
