Sandy Shively, centre, with her daughter Kate, left, and Rose Thomas at a Red Rocks
Coast Action working bee.
Coast Action working bee.
By Tim Patkin
SANDY Shively arrived in Australia in 1972, having been recruited from the United States by our Education Department to fill a shortage of secondary teachers. America’s loss turned out to be very much our gain.
Her first appointment to Echuca High School stirred within her an early affection for our unique Australian environment. Coming from an urban life in San Diego, California, Sandy managed a complete change in direction, and soon embraced a country lifestyle, complete with an adopted pet sheep called Lambie. Renting an old farm house on a grazing property just into NSW on the Murray River surrounded by ancient River Red Gums gave Sandy an early appreciation of the Australian “bush”.
SANDY Shively arrived in Australia in 1972, having been recruited from the United States by our Education Department to fill a shortage of secondary teachers. America’s loss turned out to be very much our gain.
Her first appointment to Echuca High School stirred within her an early affection for our unique Australian environment. Coming from an urban life in San Diego, California, Sandy managed a complete change in direction, and soon embraced a country lifestyle, complete with an adopted pet sheep called Lambie. Renting an old farm house on a grazing property just into NSW on the Murray River surrounded by ancient River Red Gums gave Sandy an early appreciation of the Australian “bush”.
After that, and a stint in the Education Department’s publications branch, it was off to the hills of South Gippsland with her newly acquired husband, Tim, where she soon settled into teaching at Korumburra High School. Living once again in an old farm house, this time in the Strezelecki hills, led to involvement in the recently established South Gippsland Conservation Society. Her role there was first as minute secretary with the Korumburra branch, later secretary/treasurer, then vice president of that branch. Work mainly involved environmental issues such as CFA’s and Vic Road’s over enthusiasm with roadside and reserves clearing. Presenting a united conservation voice to Council was another important task in those days when exotic species were still considered for community parks and gardens plantings.
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Tree planting was always on the go. Coal Creek Historical Park was in its development stage, and Sandy helped organize and participated significant plantings there. She and Tim later moved to Kongwak. Amongst other native garden plantings, there remains a magnificent stand of blue gums in the adjoining paddock, planted in 1978.
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This essay is published to mark International Women's Day. It's an extract from “Women in Conservation”, edited by Christine Grayden and published by the Phillip Island Conservation Society in 2018. A PDF of the book is available on the PICS website. |
The historic Kongwak Hall has a bush planting to the rear of the block, due largely to Sandy’s initiative and perseverance in getting it started. At her school, Sandy formed a Conservation Group activity which occupied interested students for a half day each week, sometimes planting trees, or weeding at Coal Creek, or at other bush reserves around the Shire.
It’s hard to identify one factor alone for the motivation that drove her early interest in conservation. Sandy’s background in her native country was very much urban oriented. No doubt her newly found involvement in conservation in her adopted country helped form a bond with her new home. It also represented a way of contributing towards something she began to feel passionate about, namely preserving and safeguarding that environment. It also led to some enduring friendships with like-minded people. With her involvement in Gippsland, Cec Sainty loomed large. When she moved to Phillip Island in 1984, Margaret Hancock was a person she respected immensely, and enjoyed working with.
It’s hard to identify one factor alone for the motivation that drove her early interest in conservation. Sandy’s background in her native country was very much urban oriented. No doubt her newly found involvement in conservation in her adopted country helped form a bond with her new home. It also represented a way of contributing towards something she began to feel passionate about, namely preserving and safeguarding that environment. It also led to some enduring friendships with like-minded people. With her involvement in Gippsland, Cec Sainty loomed large. When she moved to Phillip Island in 1984, Margaret Hancock was a person she respected immensely, and enjoyed working with.
Sandy’s reputation as someone willing to contribute preceded her when she and her young family moved to Phillip Island. In no time she was recruited for minute secretary and treasury roles, always being on the cCommittee, and for a short time, as vice president. Again, that satisfaction of working with people she admired and respected as having a caring interest in the environment, was a motivating factor in her involvement. Island conservation issues in those days seemed to revolve mostly around town planning issues. This often required lengthy and detailed submissions to counter encroachment on the few remaining areas of natural habitat and scenic beauty.
An inappropriate hotel development on our beautiful south coast was one such issue she became involved in. Her school teacher back ground was useful in organising activities, one example being at the ‘Chinaman’s Estate’ (now Scenic Estate Conservation Reserve), organising a bird expert with knowledge of that particular habitat to conduct a walk through that area. This was an early step in the process of Bass Coast Shire eventually taking over the management of this neglected piece of land.
Hands-on activities were always there, one memorable one being when the mutton birds headed off on their migration around Anzac Day each year. The sometimes distasteful task of scraping off the San Remo bridge roadway the squashed remains of unfortunate birds was shared with her two daughters, Sally and Kate, under the guise of being character building. The reward for this, however, was the possibility of saving a disoriented bird from the fate of the others, and returning it to the Cape Woolamai reserve.
Red Rocks and Five Ways reserves planting and weeding days were always on the calendar, and attended generally regardless of weather, again with one or both daughters, depending on their prior social arrangements. The gradual involvement of her two girls was handled in a characteristically gentle way, given the competing and more appealing attractions the Island had to offer young people.
With the prospect of retirement from her job as head librarian at Wonthaggi Secondary College, Sandy was looking forward to a much greater involvement in conservation on the Island. Sadly, however the breast cancer that had been diagnosed in 1995, and had been partially in remission, returned in 2001.
That year she retired from her librarian work, and her position on PICS Committee, and with Tim, took up a sea gypsy life on their yacht for the winter months, cruising along the North Queensland coast. Of course, this was interspersed with frequent land trips back to the Island to keep in contact with family and friends, and later for more necessary medical treatment.
Travelling along our tropical coast reinforced Sandy’s bond with her adopted country. Visiting islands and isolated bays and river estuaries fulfilled an early wish to see more of our North, and her interest in conservation gave her an insight into both the positive and retrograde aspects of what was happening to our Great Barrier Reef.
Redressing some of the unintended harm we have done to our environment was probably the main motivation factor in Sandy’s involvement in conservation. This stemmed partly from a long history of family Christian values, but also from her inner desire to be involved in issues she thought worth supporting.
Towards the end of 2004, Sandy was finding her cancer treatment was proving too great an assault on her body. Her last days around Christmas of that year were spent at her Newhaven home, with visits from old friends, her adopted Australian family, and many others through her involvement in conservation. Her legacy was one of quiet and steady involvement in conservation, some achievements in retaining South Gippsland and Phillip Island’s natural beauty, and above all, raising two daughters with an appreciation for looking after our natural environment.
The author, Tim Patkin, was Sandy Shively’s husband.
An inappropriate hotel development on our beautiful south coast was one such issue she became involved in. Her school teacher back ground was useful in organising activities, one example being at the ‘Chinaman’s Estate’ (now Scenic Estate Conservation Reserve), organising a bird expert with knowledge of that particular habitat to conduct a walk through that area. This was an early step in the process of Bass Coast Shire eventually taking over the management of this neglected piece of land.
Hands-on activities were always there, one memorable one being when the mutton birds headed off on their migration around Anzac Day each year. The sometimes distasteful task of scraping off the San Remo bridge roadway the squashed remains of unfortunate birds was shared with her two daughters, Sally and Kate, under the guise of being character building. The reward for this, however, was the possibility of saving a disoriented bird from the fate of the others, and returning it to the Cape Woolamai reserve.
Red Rocks and Five Ways reserves planting and weeding days were always on the calendar, and attended generally regardless of weather, again with one or both daughters, depending on their prior social arrangements. The gradual involvement of her two girls was handled in a characteristically gentle way, given the competing and more appealing attractions the Island had to offer young people.
With the prospect of retirement from her job as head librarian at Wonthaggi Secondary College, Sandy was looking forward to a much greater involvement in conservation on the Island. Sadly, however the breast cancer that had been diagnosed in 1995, and had been partially in remission, returned in 2001.
That year she retired from her librarian work, and her position on PICS Committee, and with Tim, took up a sea gypsy life on their yacht for the winter months, cruising along the North Queensland coast. Of course, this was interspersed with frequent land trips back to the Island to keep in contact with family and friends, and later for more necessary medical treatment.
Travelling along our tropical coast reinforced Sandy’s bond with her adopted country. Visiting islands and isolated bays and river estuaries fulfilled an early wish to see more of our North, and her interest in conservation gave her an insight into both the positive and retrograde aspects of what was happening to our Great Barrier Reef.
Redressing some of the unintended harm we have done to our environment was probably the main motivation factor in Sandy’s involvement in conservation. This stemmed partly from a long history of family Christian values, but also from her inner desire to be involved in issues she thought worth supporting.
Towards the end of 2004, Sandy was finding her cancer treatment was proving too great an assault on her body. Her last days around Christmas of that year were spent at her Newhaven home, with visits from old friends, her adopted Australian family, and many others through her involvement in conservation. Her legacy was one of quiet and steady involvement in conservation, some achievements in retaining South Gippsland and Phillip Island’s natural beauty, and above all, raising two daughters with an appreciation for looking after our natural environment.
The author, Tim Patkin, was Sandy Shively’s husband.
The launch of Women in Conversation, including most of the women featured in the book. It was launched by Pamela Rothfield, Bass Coast mayor at the time.