The life of one of Linton’s most well-loved residents has been enshrined in song, as part of a celebration of storytelling in the ‘thriving’ town.
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The inaugural Linton on Literary Arts (LOLA) Festival took place over the weekend, with writing workshops, exhibitions, performances and interview events popping up through the village’s main street.
The festival was also an opportunity to celebrate one very important village member, 92-year-old Betty Grigg.
After her mother Irene’s untimely death when Mrs Grigg was only three weeks old – and staring down a future as a ward of the state – she was adopted by a close family friend named Bessie, a 48-year-old single woman preparing to jet off to South Africa. She instead remained in Ballarat and raised a daughter.
Mrs Grigg became part of Linton’s fabric at the age of 24, when she moved to the town to with her Linton-native husband Eugene, having eight children.
Songwriters Phil and Trudy Edgeley took on role of unconventional biographers on Sunday afternoon, performing a song documenting Mrs Grigg’s life which moved her to tears.
“There were other stories we could have picked, but being the oldest of the village and after heading back to Ballarat, we sort of thought, ‘well we’ve definitely got to write a song for her.’” said Mrs Edgeley.
“We thought this was a good chance to do that, and to share the sum of her life.
“From a baby to 92-years-old, everything she’s done, she’s got a good story to tell there and we thought it was important to put it down in words. But I didn’t realise she’d be so emotional!”
Mrs Grigg was surprised with the song on Sunday, and said she “couldn’t believe it”.
“The song was so true. I had the most wonderful mother, who gave her whole life up for me,” she said.
“I was the only child of this doting single mother, 48 when she took me in, and in photos she looked so old. But she was wonderful, and I was very, very lucky.”
An arts and crafts market took precedence on Sunday, with musical performances and unique artists dotted down the main drag.
LOLA Festival co-cordinator Warren Bowen said the new festival developed from a push from others to start writers workshops, but “became more about storytelling and less about technical writing”.
“It’s quite basic: people like telling their stories, people like hearing other people’s stories,” he said.
“We’ve got a really thriving community out here now, artists moving into town and The Known World Bookshop, it’s just starting to take off so we’ve timed it really well.
“People have been really generous … I think LOLA could be extraordinary.”