Looking back at the year that has passed is an important part of saying goodbye to 2018.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Finding and writing stories week in, week out is the best part of being a journalist and I am always happy to share the moments that made an impression on me and that I felt were important to the community.
Telling stories from communities is evident in my favourite moments this year.
But it is the variety of communities that I have written about that I have been most proud of.
From boulder to Buddha: Jade Buddha arrives home at Great Stupa
The end of a 15-year, worldwide tour was in Bendigo for the Jade Buddha of Universal Peace.
It started life as an 18-tonne boulder discovered in Canada in 2000 and was transformed into a four-tonne Jade Buddha for Bendigo’s Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.
Great Stupa chairman Ian Green told the story of how one of the world’s biggest jade boulders was refined and now resides as a Jade Buddha in Bednigo.
“To see it completed and in the place designed to have it on display, it's like a dream,” he said.
To see it sitting in Bendigo’s Great Stupa is nothing short of amazing.
Bendigo’s Charlie Munday lives his dream job on stage in the US
After getting his start at the Bendigo Theatre Company at age 13, 21-year-old Charlie Munday is edging closer to Broadway.
The now US-based performer has been impressing since graduating from the American Musical and Drama Academy, appearing in 12 professional musicals across 10 months and in four different American cities.
Coupled with award nominations from his American peers, it is the sort of achievement that leaves Bendigo’s theatre community beaming with pride.
We can only hope Charlie comes back to tread the boards on the Ulumbarra and The Capital stages again.
Castlemaine’s KIAN wins Triple J Unearthed High
Teenager Kian Brownfield was performing on stage at Castlemaine Secondary College when the fire alarm went off.
The false alarm was caused by Triple J hosts Ben and Liam who snuck into the school dressed as firefighters to announce that Kian had won the 2018 Triple J Unearthed High competition.
It was a great moment for the talented 16-year-old who has proven himself a very popular and capable musician on the radio network in 2018.
Telling the stories of LGBTI seniors in central Victoria
A project hoping to document the lives of LGBTI people who lived through a time where felt they had to get away from certain environments was important to Noel Hourigan.
The Bendigo Queer Film Festival committee member Noel Hourigan combined with independent LGBTI documentary filmmaker Issie Soudy to find and speak with people who were questioning their sexuality in the 1980s and 1990s when certain environments were unsupportive.
“Everyone (in Bendigo’s LGBTI community) has a unique tale of their own and a life story about how they coped being same-sex attracted or questioning gender of identity,” Mr Hourigan said.
Untold Histories was screened at Bendigo Library as part of Seniors Week in October.
Bendigo Soldiers’ Memorial Institute and Military Museum officially opened after $5.1 million revitalisation
The new look Bendigo Soldiers Memorial in Pall Mall has been popular since re-opening in November.
The $5.1 million project was a two-year process of revitalisation and renovation with support from local, state and federal branches of government as well as the RSL.
Complete with a new wing and layout as well as some impressive and moving displays, the memorial and museum is a key aspect preserving Bendigo’s history and telling local soldier’s stories.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.