** Fred and Mien Blom's Place **PO
Box 4072 Alice Springs |
Community Involvement
In 1999, we organised workshops and lobbied the Alice Springs Town Council for financial assistance creating a Community Playground with our neighbours on an empty block in our street.
Our native garden also gives visitors a lot of pleasure. Participating in Australia’s Open Garden Scheme gave many people a chance to see the regenerating of native plants by the removal of ‘buffel grass’, brought in by the cattle industry in the early sixties and rapidly taking over our beautiful countryside. Our garden was shown ‘Gardening Australia’ on ABC Television in September 2002. (More about Buffel grass here)Fundraising
Oliebollen, a Dutch new years eve tradition proved to be a great fundraiser for the local nursing home and other events around the town.
Dressing up for the kids is fun too!! A thick bater of self-raising flour with lots of sultanas, currents and apple would be prepared the evening before to bedeep-fried the next day.
Panorama Guth
Organising a petition to save Panorama Guth, one of the major tourist attractions in Alice Springs, recently also gave me a lot of pleasure and personal growth I wish to share with others. The Dutch-born artist, Henk Guth (81) died recently, only three months after two local businessmen bought his dream panorama, which depicts the many beautiful nature spots around Alice Springs. (More about Saving Panorama Guth)
Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame
"Red Hot Soup, Alice Springs in the Seventies" was launched at the National Pioneer Women Hall of Fame in Alice Springs on the 23rd of September 2002
Being a bit of a pioneer myself I have since become one of the regular volunteers. I enjoy greeting the many visitors from interstate and all over the world on arrival at the Old Courthouse where the museum is housed. The photographic display of women of all ages pioneering in their different fields, show how they have made a significant difference in the way of life in Australia. Mien Blom with Mrs. Molly Clark who is the founder of the Pioneer Womens Hall of Fame. To raise funds for larger
premises a beautiful quilt is being raffled on International Woman’s Day on the 8th of March 2004. It contains almost 350 signatures from women who were first in a variety of fields from the arts to zoology, from banking to winemaking, from the church to yachting and other sports, varying in age from 21 until 91.
Visit www.pioneerwomen.com.au for more information.
Please feel free to