Blackwood garage sale to help complete storm documentary

THE eighth annual Blackwood Whole Town Garage Sale takes place this weekend, with proceeds to go towards completion of a major local project.

Money raised from map sales, a sausage sizzle and fees from participating properties will be used to pay for finalising Windfall, the working title of a locally produced documentary about the freak storm in June 2021 that left widespread destruction in its wake.

Garage sale organiser Jinny Coyle said she expected to have a final tally of about 17 participating properties, which is the average number of participants each year.

Maps of participating properties will be available in the town centre from Ms Coyle for $5 each from 7.45am tomorrow, Saturday 7 March.

“People will get their map and then they go around town and chase each other around trying to get bargains,” Ms Coyle said.

“It’s really, really fun. It’s great for the community, it’s a great way to recycle stuff. It’s a lot of fun for the community as well, just to catch up with people.

“This year has been such a hard year with fires and heat and everything, I think it will just be a lovely day for people to catch up and chat and grab a bargain.”

Ms Coyle said the 2025 sale raised about $6000 through stallholder fees.

“The pub did really well that day, they were flat out, and the post office (and cafe) actually had people waiting for coffees before we even started,” she said.

Ms Coyle started organising the whole town garage sales as a way to raise money for local causes, and this year the storm documentary was identified as needing some help.

She said official funding was received when the project began but had not been enough to cover the ultimate production costs.

“It’s so close to finished now; the final editing is being done now, then it will go on to a sound guy. They’re both doing it on a voluntary basis,” Ms Coyle said, adding that most contributions had been voluntary.

“We’ve just got no funds left to do the launch.”

The documentary’s director, local artist Brendan Hehir, said Blackwood was one of the last areas to be hit by the storm as it moved west.

Mr Hehir said the storm was unusual because it came from the east, whereas major systems normally came in from the west or north-west.

He said winds of up to 180km/h lasted for 12 hours and knocked out power and communications in Blackwood.

“The forest was absolutely roaring and people in Blackwood were under their beds because there was nothing else you could do,” he said.

“Sixty-metre giants (trees) were raining down all around us.”

Mr Hehir said locals found themselves isolated for about 10 days, and the documentary grew from his idea of obtaining some aerial drone footage of the damage.

He said he took a film producer who has a holiday house in Blackwood to show her what he described as “absolute moonscape” of what used to be forest, and she said a film should be made of it.

The producer, Lizzette Atkins, enlisted the help of a friend from Daylesford who had drone footage, and the project began.

Mr Hehir said interviews were conducted with locals, officials and experts who recounted their experiences and thoughts about the event.

He said it was hoped the 30-minute documentary would be launched in the next few months, with distribution to be arranged after its local launch.

“It’s looking good,” Mr Hehir said.