A new seat has just been placed at the bus stop outside Millthorpe Public School.

It was made by Golden Memories Museum President Peter Whiley, and tells tales of a love for Millthorpe, a tragic death and a bewildering new discovery.

It was donated to the village by Emily Baxter as a tribute to her brother Lieutenant Edward Drummond-Baxter who, with Lance Corporal Siddhanta Kunwar, was killed in Afghanistan in October 2012.

Both were from the First Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, and were shot at the conclusion of a meeting by a man wearing an Afghan police uniform who had been attending the meeting.

Emily married her husband Simon in Millthorpe at the station on April 12, 2014 after the two had visited the village many times and fallen in love with it.

Their gift of the seat is a thank you to Millthorpe as well as a tribute to her brother.

Following her brother's death, Emily discovered there were huge problems in dealing with the practical affairs of a family member who has died and made extensive use of online services.

She says "My family has been struck by the extent of the digital footprint left behind by my brother. We were faced with a plethora of information in a variety of formats - data from online cloud and service providers, email accounts, social media and mobile accounts."

Many of his photos, for example, were held on social networks which would not give access to family, and unknown passwords were a big obstacle.

Emily has set up a website, http://awayforabit.com/, to help enlighten people about this emerging problem in the online world and what can be done to manage it, both in dealing with the deaths of others and in planning for their own.

Millthorpe Markets a record success

The Markets on Sunday, March 22 scored a record attendance of about 10,000 visitors while stallholders numbered about 250.

The Markets are a huge organisational event and are a credit to Millthorpe Public School P&C's new organising committee and the school as a whole.

Co-ordinator Johannah Francis said "The markets highlight what an amazing school community we have. The teachers, support staff and Jo [Jackett, Principal] help out not just on the day (all day), but in the weeks beforehand. Their help, time and patience are essential and very much appreciated."

The money raised from gold coin entry donations, stallholder fees, and school stalls selling food, drinks, cakes and more is all spent on educational resources at the school. The next Markets are on Sunday, December 6 as they move back to the usual schedule of first Sunday in April and December.

Wednesday Readers meet next Wednesday

The Wednesday Readers group will meet on Wednesday, April 8, 12noon, at the home of Virginia de Santis, 7-9 Pearce Street, Millthorpe, phone 6366 3313.

The book up for discussion is a topical one, The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman, and all are welcome to attend.

Set on a small island off the Western Australian coast, the book tells of a young lighthouse-keeper and his wife, who are content enough but desperate for children. All goes fairly smoothly until a boat washes ashore carrying a male corpse and a crying baby.

Currently being made into a major Hollywood film starring Rachael Weisz and Michael Fassbender, The Light Between Oceans uses Stanley, Tasmania, as one of its locations.

Spring Hill gets into the Easter spirit

Come along to Spring Hill Hall on Easter Sunday, April 5 at 10am and join in the fun at the Spring Hill Easter Egg Scramble.

This simple game creates a huge amount of hilarity.

The kids line up at one end of the hall while the Easter Bunny at the other end throws Easter eggs in their general direction.

The competition is to see how many eggs they can pick up.

Entry is by gold coin donation, and if you need more information phone Jan on 6365 5210.

Millthorpe Night Church on this Sunday

The Millthorpe Night Church, which caters to all denominations, will have an hour-long service this Sunday, April 5, beginning at 5pm. It is held in the Uniting Church, Church Street, Millthorpe on the first Sunday of each month and is run by the Blayney Baptist Church. For more information, call Paula on 0497 575 258.

Something for the Murmurs?

Contact Laurie Williams at mm@goannagraphics.com or drop a note in at Galvanised, 17 Pym Street, Millthorpe.