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19 MARCH, 2025
Taking on melanoma Everyone is invited to Featherbrook Reserve on Sunday, March 30, to join the battle against melanoma and make sure people understand the importance of regular skin checks. The Remembering Jeff Butcher campaign is a continuation of the mission of the man whose name the campaign bears. After receiving his diagnosis shortly after his 40th birthday, the father, husband and Point Cook Centrals stalwart set about spreading awareness of melanoma. Jeff’s message was pretty simple - he did not want anyone else or any other family to go through his experience. He died on April 30 last year, aged 44. His wife Christine and their three children are now fighting to spread his message. “When you have kids re-iterating his message and having his sunscreen hanging off their school bags, you know that his legacy lives on in our next generation of sun smart kids,” Christine said. “It is a cancer that can be prevented.” Christine also said it felt like a duty to keep Jeff’s legacy alive. “We have an innate responsibility to do something, and there should be something to come from it,“ she said. The event is on from 3pm. Christine Toon, her kids Lachlan, 15, Elyse, 9, and Chloe, 9. (Damjan Janevski) 465157_01
New chapter for libraries By Jaidyn Kennedy
12533599-HC07-22
Wyndham council says it needs more money from the state government to build two new libraries and expand existing facilities, an investment that a Truganina resident says is urgently needed. Mayor Mia Shaw said council has plans to construct two new libraries over the next 10 years. She said a library cost about $30 million to deliver, with the cost split 50/50 between council and the state government in the past, but the majority of cost had been shifted back
on to council. “Over the years, the state’s contribution has declined to just 17 per cent, leaving councils to cover the remaining 83 per cent,” Cr Shaw said. “This cost-shifting has got to stop. Why should ratepayers be forced to fund essential community infrastructure like libraries and aquatic centres?” Truganina resident Jawad Muhammed said the Truganina Library Lounge, the closest library facility to his house and also the existing facility council said needed the most upgrading, is too small and lacks the resources his five children need to study. He said that due to the lack of a viable
library service in the suburb, he has to drive his five children to either the Tarneit or Point Cook libraries. “There’s too much traffic on the roads and both the libraries are about 15 minutes drive away from Truganina centre to begin with,” he said. According to Mr Muhammed, the growing population of the region and cultural diversity among the youth makes the investments even more urgent. “Nowadays, kids need books to read in order to help them improve their vocabulary – especially if English is not their first language. “We need more libraries and they need to
be bigger, because they are good spaces, they are safe, and that means our kids are doing productive things.” A state government spokesperson said financial support to councils had increased by $161 million this year. According to the government, Wyndham has received $2.45 million from Living Libraries Infrastructure Program for four projects since 2015 – the expansion of Hoppers Crossing library, Truganina Community Centre, Wyndham mobile library van and the Point Cook library expansion – and $14.66 million under the Public Libraries Funding Program.
Kenyon-Smith Denture Clinic A family tradition for 60 years 100 Pier Street, Altona 9315 9231 • 27 Old Geelong Road, Hoppers Crossing 9748 8204
Dental Prosthetists Full dentures, Partial dentures, Repairs - relines • Victorian Denture Scheme • Veterans’ Affairs John, Andrew, Simon and Paul Kenyon-Smith