From Hilltops Council – John Horton

The 19,000 residents of Hilltops live amongst some of the most talented people in Australia. Far too many to mention, however some on that list include actors, musicians, vocalists, dancers, photographers, sculptors, artists, sporting people, bands, writers and the list goes on and on.

Today, I want to talk about one such group, the Wombat Bush Poets. This group consists of many talented poets, they meet bimonthly in Young, recite some of the old classics and indeed, recite many poems written by the bush poets themselves.

A few months ago one of the very active Committee members, Mr Ted Webber, was the instigator and entrepreneur responsible for introducing poetry workshops in Hilltops primary schools. Ted engaged two of Australia’s finest poets, Mel and Sue, as they are known.

The goal was to engender love of country and spoken word in all Hilltops primary school children. Throughout the Hilltops, 24 workshop sessions were presented by Mel and Sue with a total of 886 students attending.

This was a wonderful result, each workshop covered aspects of traditional Australian bush poetry, showing how rhyme and rhythm were used by noted Australian poets. Stage presence and voice modulation were discussed and this led onto performances with student participation.

The workshops spanned two weeks, were very well received by all concerned and the school children definitely enlightened in Australian bush poetry. Without people like Ted Webber, President Greg Broderick and the Wombat Bush Poets, this educational school children experience may have passed Hilltops by.

My sincere congratulations go to Ted Webber and the Wombat Bush Poets.

– John Horton

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• Local Council