Raffle for a dovecote

Yarra Glen and District Men's Shed's George Miller, Ross Ward, Michael Fawkner and Stan Hardidge with the dovecote. 155584 Picture: ROB CAREW

By JESSE GRAHAM

THE handiwork of the Yarra Glen and District Men’s Shed will be raffled off on Saturday, 25 June, as part of the all-out event for one of Yarra Glen’s Biggest Morning Teas.
From 10.30am, the event will open at the Yarra Valley Racecourse, featuring entertainers, speakers, children’s entertainment and, of course, tea, with money raised being donated to the Cancer Council of Victoria.
Yarra Glen and District Men’s Shed president George Miller said the men at the shed had been approached by the event’s organisers to build a dovecote, a shelter for birds with a feeder and nesting areas, for a raffle on the day.
“They gave us a drawing and a photo of it and said, ‘Do you think you can build it?’,” Mr Miller said.
“We said, ‘We’ll have a go at it’.
“It’s quite impressive – it’s like a miniature house up on a pole with a little bird feeder.”
He said the dovecote stood almost eight feet high, but would be closer to six feet when it was planted in the ground, and estimated the item’s worth to be about $1200.
“They’ve been at it for about two or three weeks,” he said.
“There’s a lot of work in it.”
Entry to the Biggest Morning Tea event is $15. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/biggestmorningteayarraglen.