Joy and Therese with Therese’s daughter Mary-Louise on her wedding day in Coober Pedy on the weekend. Sweet! Photo sent in by Marg Mackay. More on the wedding on the Coober Pedy Regional Times news site.

Download the excerpt here, or get yourself a copy of the latest Coober Pedy Regional Times online.

A letter from Dalry, Malacca, Malaysia

Hi All
My what a lively forum the Copley web page presents. Great stuff! Considering recent events in which some of you at Copley have participated it seems appropriate to comment on local activities here in Malaysia. Enjoy!

Every year, during the seventh month of the Chinese Calendar, it is believed that the Gates of Hell are opened and all Hell beings (actually only those who are well-behaved) will be set free to roam at will on Earth for a month. In this month, many spirits roam the world in search of their past memories to fulfil unforgotten attachments. As such, these are called the “hungry ghosts” and the festival is also called the Hungry Ghost Festival.
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Laying rest once and for all to the too often asked question ‘Where the *** *** is Copley?’ what can only be described as a stroke of genius by the Copley Awareness Group (CAG), with assistance from the RAF to either confirm or deny the presence of this too often forgotten outback bastion. While swarms of tourists pass by the town, oblivious to its many services, perplexed locals have been pondering the problem and the answer came literally from high above. CAG president, Theodore Bogsworth called upon his Rotary Club pal and long term ally Captain Strangelove, group leader of the Orion P3 Squadron based in Edinburgh, Adelaide. The $600,000 mission finally received approval after Strangelove convinced military command that the value of the Orion fleet could be proven statistically if the location and whereabouts of Copley could be confirmed, thereby enabling lost tourism revenue to finally flow into the town, a percentage of which would be allocated by CAG to help with escalating refueling costs of the Orion fleet. The success of the mission rests upon the publication of photos from todays mission, which will be sent to tourism operators around the world who oddly denied that Copley exists or is a tourism destination. There is absolutely no confirmation as yet but rumour has it that other lost towns will be put back on the map as an extension of the CAG-RAF mission.

Local teenager and horse lover Siobhan Nicholls is holding a fundraiser in support of unwanted, abused and neglected horses. All proceeds go to The International Blessed Broodmare Project who work to rescue horses who are abused as a result of the production of the menopause drug Premurin.

To find out how you can chip in and buy a fundraiser ticket, visit Siobhan’s website dedicated to Maynards Well Stables horse rescue charity fundraising, or email Siobhan. 200 tickets are on sale at $5 each. The prizes can be viewed on the website and the fundraiser date has been extended to September 30th.

Well done Siobhan!

Photo of rescued pony, Violet, taken by S. Nicholls 2007

Make yourself a cuppa and sit down for a read of Dalry’s story, a circle traveled around the world from fire to freedom…

Freedom is remembering who you are! Seeds of the future are sown in the past.

IT SEEMS THAT I HAVE BEEN CALLED TO FINISH SOMETHING AND TO INITIATE SOMETHING ELSE! IF AFTER YOU HAVE READ THIS YOU FEEL TO PASS IT ON TO OTHERS… OR TO INITIATE A FREEDOM NETWORK OR FREEDOM ACTIVITIES YOURSELF…….freedom from fear……freedom from aggression……..freedom from want….freedom from hunger….freedom to be yourself……THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL!

THIS IN BRIEF….TELLS OF HOW THE PAST BECAME THE FUTURE!

It was back in October 1974 I when I decided to run away. With good reason mind you! I had no wish to be injured again by my husband in one of his bouts of drunken rage. A few days previously it had occurred to me that if Jews could survive in the wilderness for 40 years on manna alone, I could manage in the Australian wilderness for forty days on $80.00 dollars because that’s all I had.

I set off on the evening of the 7th of October in pouring rain and took a route heading due North from Melbourne. Sure enough within a few days I found myself tucked safely away in a clearing within Cooee of mysterious Red George in the Northern Flinders Ranges of South Australia, where the high cliffs are scored with hundreds of chippings said to have been made by powerful Aborigine Mimi spirits….the perfect location to undertake a 10 day distilled water fast. No food. No people. Just me…. the Aborigine elders…the Mimis…and the others.

From there I made my way on foot, walking from dawn to dark in a straight line which took me initially through the door of the Copley Roadhouse, and eventually some months later through the front door of Tom Agnew’s house. Tom had arrived in the fifties from Ireland, and since then had made a monumental contribution to opening up the outback; first by introducing Landrovers to the desert and later by engaging in a multitude of contracts involving his precious toys….front end loaders…graders…bulldozers… and whatever else was required for the job in hand……
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Hi all! My daughter sent me this. I’m forwarding it because this kid has thrown down the gauntlet in no uncertain terms. I take this as a CLOSURE and firmly believe that from now on its the children who will lead the way.

Dalry


This video submitted by Dalry is of an astounding speech delivered by a girl from Canada who silenced the international Environmental Conference in Rio de Janeiro, an act of courage and clarity well worth sharing. Download as a 4.8mb wmv file.

This post was submitted by Margaret Mackay, Editor of the Coober Pedy Regional Times, contact details below.

Hello Copley, we see you’re back online. We’re getting letters to Ed and phone calls about the News site.

“This site has been taken down at the request of the Copley and Districts Progress Association.”

Is everything ok over there? What’s the story with pulling the plug? Readers want and deserve an explanation.

You can’t unplug the News guys, it’s not China! And it isn’t progress.

We had the ABC on the phone yesterday…What do you want, prime time NATIONAL NEWS? Silencing a community is not done in this country and you can’t hide this even in Copley. We are going to notice!

If you guys don’t like different, then come over here. We have 43 nationalities and they are all different. But you have to appreciate differences. You can’t have it one way… Go for a holiday…get a break..come back fresh. Noone OWNS Copley. People share. People are fair. People care. Have you lost your sense of community?

You cannot justify this. A violation has occured in a position of trust. A community service has been pulled with no notice and no explanation.

Will the Editor or “progress” please get back to us with some answers for regional readers? “In writing”. Deadline is next Wednesday 5 pm.
Unfortunately you have been progressed right across the country for this little stunt. If I pick up my phone one more time and it’s about Copley, it will be reported to our Federal MP for investigation.

Margaret Mackay
Coober Pedy Regional Times
cooberpedyregionaltimes.net (10 - 23 July_page 7)
cptimes@ozemail.com.au
08 86725920

Check out this delightful short film - and keep dancing and laughing!

Sent in by Gina