Dancing with the Celebrities- Fundraiser Orange Function Centre

What a truly amazing experience! I have never known how to do Ballroom dancing and was invited along with 11 other celebrities to learn. With regular dance lessons 2-3 per week for 4 months we learnt how to do the Tangoette and one other dance. My other dance was the Cha Cha. I had a very kind and patient partner and we developed our routine.

The night had arrived and so had 600 people to witness the evening filled with music and dance. The evening had been organised by the Orange Dance Group who did an amazing amount of work to put this event together. They had organised this event so they could raise money for the accommodation for patients at the soon to be Radio-Therapy unit in Orange. They raised in excess of $27,000 which deserves a huge congratulation.

Back to the experience well there were many special times to remember. First would be all the new friendships that have occurred. We were supportive of each other and laughed when mistakes were made. Everyone stayed committed even one of our dancers who left and then became the MC for the evening. There were the moments when you wondered if you would ever get all the moves into your memory let alone your bodies ability to co-ordinate them all. It is an experience in my life that my family and I will remember probably to the day I leave this earth.

The emotions and atmosphere on the evening of the event were quite unique. There were smiles everywhere and people taking to the dance floor like it was second nature. The community was very generous with their donations and that doesn't surprise me as I have seen the community of Orange pull together on other occasions with such passion. We are very lucky to live in a town where there is so much care and commitment when supporting such a worthy cause.

Thank you Orange Dance Group for this opportunity,

I am just going to keep on dancing!

Citizenship Ceremony- Council Chambers

We had five members of our community who became naturalised at a recent Citizenship Ceremony held at the Council Chambers in Orange. It is always nice to meet these people and make them feel welcome and the Mayor, council staff and myself were able to do just that.

There were a mix of nationalities and some people who had been in Orange for some time but have decided that they feel the time is right now to become a citizen. Once the official part is completed with the reading of the oath then there is plenty of time for a chat to learn more about our new citizens.

Congratulations to each one and welcome to Orange.

For anyone interested in becoming a citizen please contact your local Council offices to find out more. In Orange our web address is http://www.orange.nsw.gov.au/

Life’s Good in Local Government- Sydney

I was invited by the Local Government Learning Solutions to a recent conference called Life's Good in Local Government, how true this is. The conference was in June and my invitation extended to being one of the speakers at the event. My presentation was called "Lessons We Can Learn From a Tree"-Home and Work Life Balance. I use the analogy of a poem to explain the life that I have lived, the hurdles I have had to get over, the people who I have met and my passion in life.

The conference was held in Sydney and had 140 Executive and Personal Assistance in attendance. It was a well planned and presented conference with a mix of speakers and workshops. The organisers should be congratulated for the planning and days activities.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of sharing my story with the people in attendance and welcomed and appreciated the lovely comments I received. It is very satisfying to know that you have inspired people and of course let them see how different or similar whichever the case may be, our lives are. Public speaking is a role I enjoy and have had the opportunity to do more now in my role as a Councillor. I do welcome contact from the public with regards to further public speaking roles and thank Learning Solutions for this opportunity.

To learn more about their courses visit the Local Government site http://www.lgsa.org.au/www/html/150-learning-solutions.asp

Australian Local Government Women’s Association- Rockdale - 16 & 17th June

This was my first official meeting as a newly elected executive on the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA). After an extraordinary flight to Sydney in very poor weather I vowed I would never fly again. This was short lived though and a safe return was made a day later ( I have a huge fear of flying).

The meeting was held at Rockdale and the smell of fresh sea water gave it great appeal. The meeting we had was very productive and there was discussion about the next annual ALGWA forum being held at Rockdale. Further to that the group elected the representatives for each of the sub-groups which are: Conference Committee, Public Affairs/Communication and Governance. My preference was for the Public Affairs/Communication committee. We are looking forward to developing a presentation package in which we can use to meet with and speak at conferences encouraging more women to join ALGWA and also support and guide women wishing to enter politics.

Sponsorship from organisations are always welcome at ALGWA and in particular is a beneficial way to promote at the annual conferences. We welcome contact at our website ALGWA http://www.algwa.org.au/ to the President Sue Page.

We also discussed a Scholarships with stakeholders and will have updates on this in the near future. A Leadership program has been developed called "Work Life Balance" through the Local Government Learning Solutions http://www.lgsa.org.au/www/html/150-learning-solutions.asp I do recommend this course as I attended it last year, it was an opportunity to have a in depth look at yourself via workshops and identify where you can make changes as well as learning from others.

There was plenty more discussed at our meeting such as lobbying, budgeting at Councils for conference training for both Councillors and staff and of course strategies to increase membership numbers. Membership details are available on the web-site listed above.

A significant document worth viewing is the Review of the National Framework for Women in Local Government-The Way Forward. This document presents strategies that can be implemented at the three levels of Government to increase women's participation in Local Government. The document can be viewed at the ALGWA National web site

All executive members are passionate about their role and the commitment to encourage more women to politics. We hope you would consider this role!

United Day Care Centre- Orange - 6th June 2007

Praise for day care centre

Orange's relocated Uniting Day Care Centre was officially opened by Member for Calare Peter Andren on the 6th June in Orange. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the official opening and was in awe of how many people filled the room. "This is definately a place well loved and from what I heard utilised". The day care centre has been set up in the former Uniting Church Hall in Kite street.

The Uniting Care Centre provides a program of day activities for the elderly, frail and disabled. The atmosphere and decor were well planned and gave the feel of being at home with the warmth generated. We were priveledged to an aerobics sesssion from the visitors with staff of the centre and they made the activity look like a lot of fun.

The Regional Director said that the unit was the best in the state. The volunteers and dedicated staff who work at the facility were also congratulated for their work.

This was a lovely day out and a wonderful opportunity to meet the hard workers who make this Day Care Centre possible along with the visitors who attend.

Leadership Forum- Beechworth Victoria - 1st, 2nd and 3rd June

What a truely amazing trip away. After flying to Sydney and then onto Albury a car trip to Beechworth and then the heavens opened up. It was a cold place because it was Autumn and the trees were full of colour. We were all very happy about the rain especially the amount.
I hadnt been to an Australian Rural Leadership forum before so I was on a new adventure. There were a lot of people there and plenty of speakers. The days were packed with activities and there were plenty of opportunity to meet new people.
My first session was called Fuelling the Inner Leader Cafe- feast for body and soul! We actually did the workshop in a cafe setting with coffee and tea served, scones and then wine. This was an interactive workshop and there were several questions to answer and your answers could be in whatever type of medium you chose. We had a feed back session at the end and it highlighted common themes.
A professional speechwriter and speechmaker graced the evening. Owen made learning about speechwriting fun with a commical speech throughout. The evening finished with several people from the floor producing a speech of the cuff.
The next day involved learning about how to breath and speak correctly. Debra Lawrance gave us tips on using our diagphram and breathing, we had the opportunity to sound out words and make them sound like Belgium Chocolate. It was a lot of fun and something to think about.
Another workshop followed and then a field trip to King Valley. We learnt about the bush fire damage and the effects of fire, water and frost on industry.
The last day we heard from the foundation members and then viewed the DVD from the weekends events. It is a weekend I will remember for quite some time, lots of new friends, learnt skills and plenty of information.

For more information visit the site Australian Rural Leadership Program