Our S.A. Spring Garden Festival is over for another year, and despite the reluctance of Spring to formally take a bow, it was pretty successful. Kudos to the Farmers Market Management Team - led by Chelsea. It’s a great thing for our town, and together with the Fleece and Fibre Fair, these events are managed brilliantly. Don’t forget Makers on Melrose returns for the summer season on the 18th October!

Meanwhile, the challenging times continue. If we thought COVID was bad, the ongoing wars and strifee make that all seem so much less then. People often wonder why those of us in other countries should be so involved - and it’s not only because it all affects us in some way or another - it’s because we are human, and seeing preventable suffering on our television screens, phones and social media should fill us with a ‘there, but for the Grace of God, go I’ moment. Sometimes it seems that the world is full of enraged men and enablers, and this is despite the empirical evident of what has recently gone before. Maybe in the old days you could get away with becoming a dictator and profiting from it, but the last time it happened on such a scale in the west, there was plenty of evidence kept to remind us ‘never again’. Apparently, you can still fool some of the people all of the time. The challenge will be finding a way to not let this happen …. oh, wait … Yep, it seems if we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat it.

Meantime, South Australia is still suffering the effects of an algal bloom, and this may be our new normal. We may still have to cope with climate change, but there are always a few things we should do - whether you believe the keyboard warriors or the scientists. Don’t make a mess, clean up after yourselves, don’t take more than you need. Look after your environment, after all, it is our only home. Despite what Science Fiction tells you, we may never find another place like home, so wrecking this one isn’t really an option.

Plans are underway for some events to celebrate the Centenary of our beautiful Soldiers’ Memorial Hall next year. We are hoping that Council will paint the exterior and fix up a few of the small jobs we have been asking for. (Thank you to the Hall Committee.) Soon, the Mt Pleasant District Historical Research Group will be sending out information and asking for assistance and ideas on how we can celebrate this milestone. We hope people will be able to spare some time to help us, as we won’t be around for the next one!