Heathcote is the place to be

JUNE Gover has led a busy life filled with travel and community service and now believes she is living in the best place of all – Heathcote.

Ms Gover moved to Heathcote eight years ago with her husband Ron after many orienteering journeys looking at different places to settle.

“We knew the moment we drove into Heathcote it would be the place we moved to,” she said.

“It is a perfect satellite city with everything we could possibly need.

“I love it here.

“I belong to writing, craft, singing and exercise groups and I volunteer at the Ambulance Op Shop.

“They are all great ways to meet people, and I have made many good friends.”

Members of the groups she attends know Ms Gover as the one who always arrives with a full bag of tasty baking to share, including gluten free treats and homemade lemon butter.

“I enjoy baking,” she said.

Ms Gover’s caring nature saw her facilitating a painting group in Adelaide for twenty years before moving to Heathcote.

“I worked in aged care for 30 years, starting out in the kitchen,” she said.

“When the lady who ran the painting group retired, I was asked if I would like to lead it as they all knew I was interested in craft activities.

“I wasn’t a trained art teacher, but I enjoyed encouraging and helping the group members.

“I managed to secure a studio in an arts centre, and we met every Friday.

“The painters varied from 60 to over 90, a lovely mix of men and women which was unusual for an aged care group.

“I provided morning tea, made soup the night before and a wonderful crew of volunteers would make the teas and sandwiches.”

Ms Gover discovered some very talented people in the group.

“Mary, with MS, had only slight movement of her head and painted with her mouth, beautiful work, and all I had to do was mix her paints.

“Bob, with motor neurone disease, had very little movement in his hands and had lost the power of speech.

“His work was very precise and won lots of awards.

“I nicknamed Pat, Patrick Monet, as his sight was very poor due to macular degeneration.

“I encouraged him to paint like Monet.

“His family was horrified, thinking I set him up to fail but when they saw his work and the joy it gave him to paint again, they changed their tune.

“Molly, also with MS, painted water colours and painted a vase of flowers for my mother – a bilateral above the knee amputee – so that she could see flowers every day.

“Daniel loved to copy the old masters and Barbara could whip a painting in minutes using water colour and pen.

“Hector, a First Nations man, loved to paint landscapes.

“Ivan, of Polish decent and a paraplegic from a young age, painted animals in oils. His work was exacting and won many awards. He told me he survived the war but was haunted by the Germans lining men up and shooting every third man.

“A true survivor, he was rendered paraplegic by a drunk driver when he immigrated to Australia.

“Kitty’s father forbade her to paint, but she started at 89 and had her own exhibition.

“Helen, originally from Victoria, painted Al Grassby for the Archibald Prize, and Victor would whip up an oil painting in no time even though he’d had a massive stroke and lost the power of speech.

“He had an exhibition in the Adelaide art gallery.”

Over the 20 years Ms Gover coordinated the group, she said there were many other talented painters.

“I am very fortunate to have some of their works,” she said. “It was a pleasure for me to assist these talented people.

“The group is still running today, and I am sure discovering lots more talent.”