A few final words of trivia...

Remember that delivery of supplies we started with? And the top ups along the way? Well now that the dust has settled it's time to count the stock...or rather the empty bags and containers!

And with that we can confirm that if you'd like to bake 37 670 biscuits, you will need 8kg bicarb, 352kg butter, 215.5kg desiccated coconut, 2l vanilla essence, 430kg flour, 230kg rolled oats, 240m baking paper, 525kg sugar and 97kg golden syrup.

Piece of cake...measure, mix, roll, bake and pack, allow around 11 days. Wrap it up with about 2km of ribbon and tie in a giant bow!!!

Words of remembrance

We'd like to ask you to take a moment and reflect on the sacrifices by so many, and read about our history and traditions.

https://www.army.gov.au/our-history/traditions/the-ode

An old favourite...

...to keep all you Anzac biscuit affectionados going over the weekend!

1988-2018 - 30 years of Aurora

The Barn, Chigwell

Were you born in a barn? Well, actually yes, we were! Aurora opened its doors in 1988 and the early activities were held in The Barn in Chigwell. This facility was shared with a number of other users meaning everything had to be packed up at the end of the day and at times the day would start with a cleanup especially if there had been a party over the weekend.

The Old Chapel Tearooms
1A Chapel Street, Glenorchy

The old, and at the time, sadly neglected O'Brien's Bridge Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on the corner of Chapel Street and Main Road became available and Aurora packed up and moved...one of several moves.

The building was originally purchased, and the mortgage paid by Joy Cairns herself, so that Aurora would have a place to call its own. A donation from Friendly Care Pharmacies some years on saw the mortgage paid out and Aurora now truly had its own home.

With many working bees, and some serious maintenance, the building came back to life. What else is generally associated with churches of this era? They tended to have graves around them and this one was no exception...one afternoon someone took a walk in the back garden when the ground gave way and they disappeared into an abyss of sorts!!!

Fortunately no one was hurt and no evidence of its past occupant was found, however when the driveway for the service station next door was dug up, work had to be stopped as a skull was found. The tombstones may have been moved (to behind the Supreme Court Building in Salamanca Place, Hobart) but the graves themselves remained...

Very soon Aurora not only outgrew this building but another idea for its use also started to take root...a silver service tearooms, staffed and operated by trainees of Aurora. This meant another building needed to be found to house the day program.

15 Mill Lane, Glenorchy

Enter a Council owned building at 15 Mill Lane that was sitting empty, having been earmarked for demolition for carpark spaces.

Again, needing a lot of work and many a working bee, this building was set up for running the day support program, the Learning Centre, cottage industry and catering, as well as administration, and to this day remains the main base of the organisation.

At the end of 2006, and with new compliance regulations, it was deemed no longer up to standard and Aurora faced yet another move. Negotiations and fundraising resulted in major renovations, the cost of which was shared between the Glenorchy City Council and Aurora Disability Services. That left just one question. The renovations would take place over the summer holidays but where would the office run from? From a sea container, like the ones that were used to pack all the furniture, materials, craft, kitchen and other supplies and equipment?

45 Charles Street, Moonah

To the rescue came John Radcliffe, offering temporary accommodation and all the necessary services from a few rooms at his premises in Charles Street, Moonah. BYO computers and paperwork was all we were required to do to keep the administration of the organisation up and running. John has been a long term supporter of Aurora and his generosity was, and is, much appreciated.

Upon return to Mill Lane following the renovations we had to of course unpack these sea containers, something no one will easily forget. The kitchen was now downstairs where the learning centre used to be located, and a new spot needed to be found within the building. Soon this proved too small and too noisy and now the search was on for a new home for literacy, numeracy and tutoring activities.

Learning Centre
5 Eady Street, Glenorchy

A heritage building in Eady Street, previously used as a doctor's surgery was for sale and at around the same time as Aurora purchased 15 Mill Lane from Council, the premises at Eady Street were also bought - multiple mortgages meant a lot more fundraising! But the space and individual rooms were ideal for the purpose and both students and tutors were very happy to have all that space where they could work uninterrupted.

Car Yard Café
267A Main Road, Derwent Park

Demand for hospitality training, and so many trainees seeking a place at The Old Chapel Tearooms saw the organisation look for another facility to provide this, and in March 2017, coinciding with the Association's 29th birthday, a brand new café operated by Aurora's trainees was opened.

Like the Tearooms, the Car Yard Café operates 5 days a week within Aurora's term dates and has provided many of our trainees the opportunity to work and train in a café environment with the support they need to succeed, complementing the training undertaken at Mill Lane as part of the Certificate I in Hospitality.

New Learning Centre and additional space for activities
17 Mill Lane, Glenorchy

The Learning Centre at Eady Street did of course mean a lot of shuttling back and forth between the two facilities and when in 2017 the two workshops next door at 17 Mill Lane became vacant the decision was made to move out of the Eady Street premises.

The Learning Centre has been set up in one section, and the other building is used for many activities that are simply not possible at number 15. Think sport and recreational pursuits from table tennis to trike riding, as well as woodwork, gardening and other activities that are not practical within a building also used for catering and general food preparation.

Some more food for thought

 Another beautiful image courtesy of Kelvin Ball.

Product endorsement, advertising, sponsorship...

Thank you Ben Brown for your support!

Lest we forget

Lets take a moment to reflect on what lies behind the tradition of Anzac biscuits...

Image courtesy of Kelvin Ball

Travelling abroad

It can't be said our biscuits do not have a sense of adventure, in fact they love to travel!

Just this weekend a few bags have made the big journey to the UK, we are not expecting them to return though...

 Passport...check. Ticket...check.
Ready to travel.

Helen and Ruth enjoying a biscuit upon arrival.

The A B C of Anzac baking covered...

Yesterday we welcomed some visitors with a special mission here at Aurora.

Who were these special agents and what was their mission? you may well ask.

Well, they were Helen Shield and Lucille Cutting from ABC Radio, who had come to meet our bakers and gather evidence about the Aurora Anzac Bake.

And here is what they discovered:

Your Afternoon with Helen Shield Part 1
 

Your Afternoon with Helen Shield Part 2
 

Flags of our blogs - competition

When we started our first Anzac bake blog back in 2011, wanting to share this event with our members, families, friends, and our customers, we had no idea of how this might take hold and grow.

Now, in 2018 we have an enthusiastic fanclub following each and every crumb from the first biscuit to the final tally each year - eager to see how it's done, as well as looking for photos of themselves or others they know.

But that's not all...what happens behind the scenes is a staggering picture of how powerful social media is in reaching out to the world. A quick look over the stats for these years reveals that not only do we have plenty of visitors from Australia, but from all over the globe. 25 countries no less at the time of writing this post, including Australia!

Below are each of those countries' flags.

Besides making a colourful addition to our blog, it's also this year's competition - email us telling us what country each of the flags belong to and you could win a Devonshire tea at The Old Chapel Tearooms or a drink of choice with cake or muffin from the Car Yard Café.

The winner will be the person who correctly identifies the most flags, or if more than one persons correctly identifies the same number of flags, we will draw the winner on the last day of this year's bake. Graeme Cairns, Aurora's resident vexillologist, will be the official scrutineer.

Graeme has for many years observed national days and other significant events, flyng various countries' flags from his collection out the front of the family home.

Send your entry to Tanja at Competition Entries - we look forward to hearing from you.

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30 years young and going strong

On 15th March 1988, 30 years ago, The Tasmanian Association of People with Disabilities And Their Advocates Inc – or more fondly known as Aurora Disability Services - was founded in the lounge room of Joy and Graeme Cairns.

With Cosmos filled to capacity and no other services available, the meeting was attended by about 80 parents and carers desperate for help.

The organisation was initially established within a shared facility called The Barn at Chigwell ... where Monday mornings were usually spent cleaning up the broken bottles and mess remaining from parties held there over the weekend …

Aurora Disability Services is now housed from two large facilities in Mill Lane Glenorchy, and proudly operates The Old Chapel Tea Rooms, The Aurora Learning Centre and The Car Yard Cafe.

Aurora will be celebrating the
Anniversary of their first activity at an
Open Day in Mill Lane on Wednesday 30th May
All welcome!