It was the perfect weather for last week’s home game at Nenke Oval in Kukerin. The Cougars played the Narrogin Hawks but unfortunately all grades lost to the away side. See the D, B and A grade results below.

D Grade
Final score: 4.0-24 vs. 4.4-28
It was a close game for the D grade Cougars side though the Narrogin Hawks pipped them to the post to win by 4 points at the final siren. Best players went to S.Shotter, M.Browne, J.Faulkner, A.Shotter and R.Jolley-Williams

B Grade
Final Score: 5.6-36 vs. 9.12-66
The Narrogin Hawks are flying high as they defeated our Cougars by 30 points. Goals by D.Leo(2), C.Davidson, M.Roberts and K,West. Best players to A.Gray, C.Doney, N.Leonhardt, L.Joyce and D.Head.
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A Grade
Final Score: 5.6-36 vs. 28.11-179
Unfortunately A grade lost at home with Narrogin Hawks winning by 143 points. Goals by J.Scafidi(2), P.Joyce, J.Hickey and L.Ward. Best players went to J.Hickey, T.Ferguson, P.Joyce, C.Ditchburn and A.Wisewould.

The weather was quite warm for the first Souths game of the season on Saturday April 22 in  Kukerin against Corrigin. By the end of the day we were hoping that the rain held off (which it did) for the A grade to finish.

C grade lost 1 - nil
B grade won 2 - nil
A grade won 3 - 2
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A big thanks to Fletcher Taylor and Trish Leo for umpiring. This weekend the team will play in Lake Grace against Karlgarin/Hyden.
Article by B.Adams

Glorious weather and great company were top features at the Lake View Opening day last Saturday. There was also some interesting golf and lots of laughter with many tales afterwards.
 
Winners of the Mixed Ambrose generously sponsored by Graeme Taylor, Elders were Jamie Dare, Sharlene Powell and international member Brian Lynch who also celebrated his birthday on the day. Jamie did raise some concern when he was sighted running across the out of bounds paddock next to 16, to arrive soon after having retrieved nearly a dozen balls! It was suggested a carry bag might be the way to go next time so there is capacity to carry a drink as well. Sharlene received a fine for her tremendous effort on the tee-box on 18 after her award winning hole in on number 2.
 
Runners up were the the self named Cripples team of Bob Hannah, Eric Gossage and Graham Ball. Despite the name there were obviously some wise shots for the team to limp in and grab the second prize.
 
It was noted that a couple of the ladies came in exhausted after being paired with the young guns, having traversed terrain never seen before.
 
A big thank you to Bob Hannah for all his amazing work on the course - it is well noted and greatly appreciated. And a special mention to wife Lola for the sumptuous sticky date pudding!
 
For those wanting to get in a Stroke round before seeding is in full swing, this Saturday is for you. The day is sponsored by Sports Power Katanning and will also be the monthly mug.
Article by D.Gossage

​The Dumbleyung Ducks will play their first game of the season this weekend! The Ducks will play Allstars 2 at 1.30pm in Katanning. Spectators and supporters welcome! 

Just a reminder that there is still plenty of time to register your children for Gymnastics 2017.  Please email your forms to myself or alternatively bring them on our first day which is Monday 1st May.  See times etc. below.
 
STARTING TERM 2
 
Monday Week 2 May 1st
2.45 -3.45 Sporting Schools (free for KPS students)
4.00 -5.00 General gymnastics - costs attached. Suitable for out of towners and comp gymnasts and those ready for more skills.
 
Wednesday Week 2 May 3rd
9.30am - 10.30am Kindergym
6 week program
   
For more information contact,
Amanda Nenke President - nenkes71@bigond.com
Jasmine Mycock Treasurer - jaz.mk321@gmail.com

More commonly known as the plover sitting on her eggs – photograph taken by K. Ladyman at Falcondale

The Banded Lapwing is a large plover with a broad black breast band and white throat. The upperparts are mainly grey-brown with white underparts. There is a black cap and broad white eye-stripe, with a yellow eye-ring and bill and a small red wattle over the bill. The legs are pinkish-grey. These lapwings have an upright stance and a slow walk, breaking into a faster trot when alarmed. They fly with quick, clipped wing-beats - giving them the name 'lapwing'. They prefer open, short grasslands such as heavily grazed paddocks, agricultural lands and saline area in dry and semi-arid region. They are nomadic, flying considerable distances at night to find suitable conditions of food and water. They chase insects and may eat seeds in dry times. They prefer areas with very short grass, to find insects, worms and spiders. They use foot-tapping to disturb insects from cover, running to catch anything that moves.

Banded Lapwings need rain before breeding. The nest is a scrape on the ground, lined with dry grass and even sheep droppings. The eggs and chicks are speckled and well-camouflaged. They freeze and keep quite still at sign of danger. The parents defend their nest and young with great courage and will fly at human intruders, often with a distraction display, pretending to drag a broken wing.
Their biggest predator at breeding time is the Red Fox and also seeding machines which can destroy nests, eggs and chicks.

Controlling foxes by regular culling with the several methods available will not only keep your lamb weaning numbers at a profitable high but may also ensure one more Banded Lapwing is saved from certain death to live and breed for another year!
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Free fox baits are still available to Landholders who have a valid permit and wish to partake in this program funded by the Wheatbelt NRM Office in Northam. Fox traps are also available for hire.
Please contact Claudia Hadlow at the Landcare Office to secure your FREE FOX BAITS          
Phone 0429612447 or 9863 4225                or email                dyglandcare@westnet.com.au
 

Charlotte Edwards and Sienna Ball (pictured left) played in the Year Eleven and Twelve Club Championship side for Lower Great Southern (LGS) in the second week of the school holidays and came home with the championship medal.
 
Pippa Bairstow was also playing at the same event for Upper Great Southern. The girls played great hockey and enjoyed the time at Perth Hockey Stadium with a great group of girls. The Dumbleyung girls head back to Albany now to play against each other in the LGS hockey season, Sienna for Great Southern Grammar and Charlotte and mum Marisa for Manypeaks.
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Article by T.Ball

Rhyme time with rhyming extraordinaire Mrs Gilfellon is back! Rhyme time will be held on a new date, Monday May 1 (yes, next Monday!) at 10am at the CRC.

Rhyming, singing and dancing to your favourite rhymes is not only fun but a very beneficial activity to help with your child’s brain development.  Along came Henry Café will also be open to enjoy morning tea or lunch following the event.
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A free event which everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend! Registration is essential so please contact the CRC on 9863 4829 or email admin@dumbleyungcrc.com. 

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep – no we’re not counting sheep to fall asleep, but rather we’re counting sheep in the paddock and yards as there has been an increase in stolen sheep within our Shire.

Over the last couple of weeks, several sheep have been stolen from properties to the north west of Dumbleyung out on North Nippering and Doradine Roads. This follows thefts of stock to the south east of Dumbleyung late last year along Peterson Road. The paddocks are relatively remote and a distance away from homesteads on roads not often used.

The thefts have been as brazen as opening a gate, driving in and rounding them up into their vehicle. In one instance, a number of sheep escaped a paddock due to the gate being left open and ended up poisoning themselves on noxious roadside weeds.

We are asking people in the more remote areas to be vigilant in observing vehicle movements at night, in particular, utes, trailers and light trucks set up to carry livestock.

Where possible, obtain a registration number for the police to follow up on.

Likewise, we would also invite those who do run stock to forward their ear tag details to us so that when we stop small vehicles carrying livestock, we can readily identify the owner and ensure they are being carted with the relevant permissions etc.

Any information should be forwarded to the Dumbleyung Police Station via email at Dumbleyung.Police.Station@police.wa.gov.au and we urge locals to follow us on Twitter at @DumbleyungPol.
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Article information supplied by the Dumbleyung Police

Parade master Stephen Hughes led eight men in the ANZAC Day march down Absolon Street in Dumbleyung on Tuesday April 25.
An impressive 100+ strong crowd of all ages assembled at the war memorial to attend the 11.30 service.

Dumbleyung Shire President Gordon Davidson and Mr Hughes made speeches before the ‘last post’ was played. Several wreaths were laid on behalf of the RSL, Australian Police Force and the Shire of Dumbleyung.

The Australian anthem was sung and to conclude the service those in the march exited first and an applause was given as they marched down Absolon Street. Much of the crowd then attended a light luncheon with a side of ‘two up’ at the Dumbleyung District Club.

See below the speech read by Stephen Hughes:
Welcome everyone to our Anzac Day service, it is wonderful to see a large attendance today as we gather here together to commemorate our fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave up their lives for their empire and country.
 
  Over the last few years, there has been a great amount of focus on the first world war as the centenary of the landings at the Dardanelles passes and we follow the movements of our Anzacs from Egypt to the battle grounds of France and Belgium.
 
  The start of 1917 saw the Anzacs still around the Somme, in France recovering and reinforcing their depleted divisions after the devastating battles at Frommelles and Pozieres. The winter of 1916 / 17 was the coldest that France had experienced in twenty three years.  Frost bite and trench foot were very common and cases of men freezing to death were innumerable, a stark and shocking difference to the winters in Australia and New Zealand.  In April of that year, the Australian 4th division attacked the Hindenburg line at Bullecourt in snow with twelve tanks in support.  This was the first time our soldiers fought with tanks.  Only three tanks made it to the still intact walls of barbed wire where they were destroyed and the Australians were forced back, suffering 3,290 casualties for no gain.  It would take some time before they trusted and relied on tanks in future battles.
 
  In October, the Anzacs were to be found in Flanders where they fought in the third battle of Ypers.  The Australian and New Zealanders were to be used as shock troops in this battle, with their final goal being a village on top of a ridge called Passchendaele.  Once again, appalling weather came into play.  Unseasonal Autumn rains turned the ground into a brown liquid morass that movement became impossible in.  Guns sank when they fired and their shells would not explode in the mud leaving the belts of wire in front of the enemy intact.  The mud swallowed up machines, horses, mules and man alike, many drowning in the bottomless putrid soup.  The New Zealanders had their sole division ripped to shreds by machine guns as they hung, caught on the barbed wire, suffering 3,300 dead and wounded, their worst casualties for the war.  The Australians faired no better.  By the end of the campaign 38,000 Australians were dead, wounded or missing, picked off by the Germans as they floundered in the mire below them.  The Anzacs had made small but important gains at Passchendaele, more than the English had achieved but still falling short of their goal.  Passchendaele eventually fell when the Canadians attacked just as fiercely as their dominion cousins.  The Anzacs were withdrawn for the rest of the year to once again rest, reinforce and rebuild.
 
  1942 wasn't a very good year for Australians in general.  Whilst battling the German army once again in the Second World War, Japan entered the war on the axis's side after a surprise attack on America at Pearl Harbour in December 1941.  By February, the Americans had surrendered in the Philippines and after fighting the Japanese down the Malayan peninsula, the English army surrendered the fortress city of Singapore, forcing 22,000 Australians into captivity.  These POWs were to spend the rest of the war under brutal conditions where many were to die from over work, disease bashings and torture from their captors.  Australians were either killed or captured in the islands North of us and the Japanese held territory from Thailand through Malaya, Java, Ambon and New Guinea to the Solomon Islands.
 
  Soon the Japanese attention turned to mainland Australia.  With the bombing of Darwin and raids around the coast including Broome and Exmouth, panic set in to the Australian people as invasion from the enemy seemed imminent. A raid by 3 Japanese midget submarines into Sydney Harbour that killed 19 Australians did not help to calm the populace.
 
  Things were looking fairly desperate with most of our Army still returning from fighting the German and Italian Armies in North Africa and a whole division in captivity.  One small glimmer of hope lay with  several militia battalions in Port Moresby, New Guinea who were being used to build defences, unload ships and represent a token gesture of defence for the town.  These untrained troops weren't really allowed out of Australia, let alone fit to fight a jungle war, but they were thrown into the fray anyway.
 
  Two of these battalions were to march unprepared up an old pre war trail that was used to take mail to the villages on the North coast of New Guinea, to try and stop the advance of the yet undefeated Japanese Army on Port Moresby. They met and engaged the enemy at Wairopi on what is now known as the Kokoda track.  Using a fighting withdrawal to make the Japanese pay for every yard of that track, the Australians retreated through Kokoda to Isurava where the were reinforced with a Brigade of experienced regular Army, fresh from victories in the North of Africa.  The relentless Japanese pushed the Australians back along the mountainous jungle track often engaging each other on a front no wider than a meter and at distances sometime under 5 meters.  Using grenades and bayonets to stop the enemy from over-running them, the Australians withdrew past Imita ridge where the Japanese attack stalled as they ran out of supplies and disease and mounting casualties stopped them within view of the harbour of Port Moresby, just 30Kms from their goal.  Now the Australians, with fresh soldiers and a shortened supply line, forced the exhausted enemy back over the Owen Stanley range to their original landing points.  This was to be the first defeat of the Japanese Army since they entered the war, dispelling the myth that they were invincible.
 
  While the battles for the Kokoda track were taking place, a similar fight against the Japanese was taking place on the Eastern tip of Papua New Guinea at Milne Bay.  The enemy were trying to take over the Australian air base so as to launch their own air attacks on Port Moresby, assisting their attack over the Owen Stanley Range.  The Japanese attacked with infantry and tanks while supported by their navy, but were repelled by the Australian troops and Air Force at the very ends of the runways of the airfield, forcing the enemy to withdraw from this area.
 
  Both of these battles came about from the turning back of the Japanese navy, as they attempted to take Port Moresby by landing a force by sea in May. This became known as the battle for the Coral Sea. This was a naval engagement of a new kind, as planes from an American and Australian fleet engaged  Japanese ships off the Queensland coast and the enemy planes engaged us, without the two battling fleets seeing one another.  This defeat at sea for the Japanese, forced them to attack Port Moresby by the Kokoda track and Milne Bay.
 
  These engagements and battles inflicted much damage to the Japanese and put a stop to their expansion in the South West Pacific, possibly sparing Australia from invasion.  The first defeats of a seemingly invincible enemy seventy five years ago were attributed to the Australians who were fighting with their backs to the wall.  These men turned the tide and saved Australia.
 
  Through out our short history, men and women of our Army, Navy and Air Force have shown time and time again, their resilience, courage and fortitude, especially when the chips are down.  Not just in the First and Second World Wars but also in Korea, Viet nam, Malaysia, Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.  We come together today to commemorate our fallen countrymen and women and also to acknowledge those still serving on overseas deployment in advisory and peacekeeping roles as well as fighting in the War on Terror. We pray that they are kept from harm and return safely to us especially during these uncertain times.  We stand here today to remember those friends and family who serve and have given their lives, fighting for the freedom that we enjoy today.  Lest we Forget.

Please assist us by completing the 2017 Shire of Dumbleyung COMMUNITY SURVEY
Click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CGX2VP2
The survey has the same questions as last time, however there were some comments that it was difficult to fill out. If you do have trouble then please only fill out what you can and move on. We would prefer to hear a little from you than not at all. It will be interesting to see how our performance has changed over the past two years. This does help to figure out if we are heading in the right direction or if we have adequately addressed community concerns. It is an important chance to shape what happens at the shire. You can complete the survey online by clicking this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CGX2VP2 or by visiting or contacting the shire office on 9863 0412 to request a hard copy form.
 
The monthly Shire of Dumbleyung NEWSLETTER 'Lake Express' is out now! Want to receive it by post or email? Call us now 9863 4012. Read all about our latest happenings in the Lake Express online: http://us11.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d3f3bc52ba7c60abb453c7a10&id=f146382ed0&e=46d0a26658
 
April Public Holidays – Shire Office Closed
Tuesday 25th April
We hope you enjoy the break.