This year’s Flicks at the Flat has been proudly sponsored by the following local businesses.

We have been lucky enough to also have the support of the following businesses:

We can’t thank our local business community too much for all their support. Without them this event wouldn’t be possible!

This year it’s all about Christmas. We have an amazing range of stall holders, free entertainment and activities. 
Check out the facebook event for more information!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1843612259205027/?ti=cl
Don’t forget there’s a sister event this year- the Inaugural Show’ n ‘Shine. Get your car-mad kids onto it.
https://www.facebook.com/events/641193302711286/?ti=cl

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Yep. You got it.

The McLaren Flat Community Club is participating in the UGLY Bartender of the Year competition this year.

UGLY is a Leukaemia Foundation fundraiser that runs for 6 weeks – from October 1 to November 14 in 2016. It’s a fabulous opportunity for bars and clubs to band together and raise funds to help out vulnerable families who need assistance while their loved ones are having treatment for leukaemia in hopsital.

You can donate to the fundraiser at the bar at the club on Thursday nights, at Friday night club teas, at Bowls events. You can purchase UGLY merchandise, you can try your hand at some games, you can sponsor our Bar Manager ALI to dye her hair a crazy rainbow stripe.

You can come to the inaugural Open Mike night to be held at the club this Friday the 14th of October and check out the local talent – or show us yours!

So many options to get your game on and support those who need it!

Hopefully we will see you at the club soon!

Dress up and head on down for a night filled with raffles, competitions, silent auctions, and **Live Music** by Adelaide band, Strange Brew!

It all kicks off at 7.30 and supper is provided. The band starts at 9 til late so bring your dancing shoes.

Tickets available at the door on Saturday 28th November for just $15. Please book ahead either at the club on Thursday night or by text to 0407 826 478.

Look what is coming soon! 

This is sooo exciting! We have been able to coordinate another fabulous free family event here in McLaren Flat.

Get yourself to the Recreation Ground in full costume this coming Saturday and join in the fun!

Proudly sponsored by The Vintage Bean cafe, McLaren Vale

Gemtree Wines

Goodiesons Brewery

Sutherland Home Solutions

Winey Kids

MC Mechanical

And of course the Onkaparinga Council.

The amazing lacework on the verandah.

A trace of the old garden still remains.

The old copper boiler in the outside laundry.

We first discussed Wickham Park back in September’s issue of the Gazette, and further material offered to our team since then has enabled us to frame even more of its curious past. For example, Benjamin Wickham is stated to have bought additional property on the 23rd January 1851, upon which he established two stockyards. These yards had plenteous livestock, with supposedly over 1200 ewes, 1300 wethers, 150 cows and an abstruse number of pigs and horses.

The Shearing shed.

There’s just something about shearing sheds.

Treasures inside.

Moving on, George Sauerbier (1860-1936) built the current homestead with wrought iron in 1903. After the fire of 1925, treasured possessions including family photos and furniture were lost. The house was soon rebuilt, albeit at a smaller size.

The old cottage.

The cottage next to the main house shows it’s age.

We know that Sauerbier’s son (1897-1988) – also named George – took over the land after his father. After returning home from the First World War he married an Annie Robertson (1903-1995). They had two girls and a boy…the latter of whom was also named George! This George (1930-2011) continued to tend the property. As you might know from September’s article, it was eventually sold to Geoff Merrill Wines in 2000.

The view from the shearing shed window back towards the house.

Even neglected gardens can still show some of their former glory.

As an addendum to this blog installment, we have an anecdote about George – the first one, that is. At the turn of the 20th century he travelled to England and had South Australia’s first Shropshire and Southdown sheep exported. The sheep had originated from a ‘royal flock’ at Sandringham and were earmarked for a 1900 exhibition in Paris. As one might imagine, it was quite the task for him to accompany his purchases on the long boat journey back to Australia!

Christopher Snape

The views across the vineyards.

NB: Photos were taken by the editor with full permission of Geoff Merrill Wines.

The Rosemount Staff Vege Garden

Last week I had the very great pleasure of a tour of the Rosemount winery on Ingoldby Road, right here in McLaren Flat. Although Rosemount has its cellar door in McLaren Vale, the bulk of their production occurs here in the Flat.

Ross Lyman invited me to visit as he had received a copy of the Gazette and is keen to become a part of our community initiative.

The tour was rather exciting for me as the majority of my wine knowledge comes directly out of the bottle rather than from the production side! As we wandered around, suitably attired with hard hats and glowing yellow vests, the sheer history of the site had me enthralled.

Concrete fermenting vats competed for space with huge shiny steel ones. And there were so many reminders of history in amongst the industrial technology that I hardly knew where to look next.

It is apparent that Rosemount employs a large component of local staff and the numbers increase by 100% at vintage. This places them in a prime position to influence and assist our local community.

A staff driven initiative that is enjoying a comeback at the moment is the vegetable patch.  This was started in response to staff wanting to learn more about where their food comes from and how it is produced. It has gone through a growth period,  been attacked by rabbits, re-irrigated and is now picking up again with staff adopting patches to grow their own choice of food.

I look forward to some more interaction with Rosemount and their community support will be gratefully received.

There is nothing better than a fabulous picture or three to get your story across. To this end, we are holding a photography competition.

As you will have already seen, there are three photo spots on this site, and they each have a space for a description, heading AND a clickable link underneath.

Our competition is for one of these spots, for an entire month.

Rules are very simple! Send us a fabulous photo of McLaren Flat. We’d prefer to get them through via email, admin@mclarenflat.info and we’d love a description of the photo, plus a link to your web presence, be it a facebook page, business, or even the place you have photographed!

Keep the pictures rolling in, we will have lots of opportunities although keeping the photos seasonal would be fabulous.

Each meeting we have had has pulled together new ideas and some fabulous resources from our local community and surrounds.

Keep your diaries free on October the 18th. There will be a picnic dinner on the oval, including an outdoor cinema with kids films and possibly a later feature for the older crowd.

We are planning on some local bands in the Community Hall in the afternoon, and local sports clubs will be invited to show their hands in stalls and try-out set ups on the day.

As it is Market day too, we may even use the opportunity to set up our market later into the evening! Keep the day free for this fabulous event!