What’s in a name?
Plenty of irony, at least in the case of a local developer’s new marketing initiative supporting Refugee Week.
Rory Costello sounded pretty excited last Friday when he launched his latest progressive message on a hillside overlooking Geelong’s bypass.
The giant corten steel installation, #withrefugees, echoed the slogan of the United National Humans Rights Council’s global campaign on refugees, Rory explained.
Fogies unfamiliar with the significance of the # might like to know that the UN intends it as social-media activist shorthand for I Stand, so the message effectively translates to I Stand With Refugees.
“Our letters at Wandana are aimed at helping engage the community on important issues and we hope our #withrefugees message will do just that,” Rory declared.
And so it might. It’s just that Rory’s #withrefugees is beside signage of his company’s name, Villawood – yes, the same name used by Australia’s most-notorious immigration detention centre.
Some refugees might not #withVillawood on that!
While developers might not always influence refugee policies, dads apparently hold more sway over their kids’ eating behaviour than previously thought.
That’s the finding of a newly minted Geelong academic, with Adam Walsh’s local research finding that fathers could set up their offspring for healthy diets from as young as 20 months.
It’s all about setting a good example, said the recent PhD graduate.
“Little things” like cooking meals, sitting with the family at dinnertime, and eating the same meal as everyone else could have profound effects, especially on obesity, Dr Walsh observed.
Sounds about right, although trim Gen Xers might advise that there’s something to be said for the traditional, “Eat you peas or you’ll get a clip under the ear”.
The Geelong constabulary’s enhanced public profile under Superintendent Craig Gillard is certainly winning brownie points, or maybe that should be bluey points.
The boys and girls in blue were out and about again this week, visiting a series of shopping centres for meet-and-greets with the locals as part of a Community Safety Networks campaign.
Bell Post Hill, Corio and central Geelong were staging points, with police even taking the campaign aboard a train from Waurn Ponds to Lara.
Campaign updates on Geelong Police’s Facebook page earned praise from locals, with plenty of positive comments and helpful suggestions.
The latest initiative follows Cuppa With a Cop events at various suburban locations, along with recent mounted branch patrols through central Geelong.
Sure makes a change from years past when the average shopper was more likely to encounter a Clydesdale than a cop!
