Home » News » There’s a bear in there …

There’s a bear in there …

Families across Doreen and Mernda are going on bear hunts and following rainbow trails as the community looks for ways to spread cheer amid new social distancing regulations.

Members of a new community Facebook group, called Doreen Community Spirit, are encouraging locals to add colour to the streets by creating rainbows, and to take part in the bear hunt by putting teddy bears in their front windows for children to find.

Doreen Community Spirit founders Lauryn Bahen and Yvonne Vuillermin said the rainbow trail was an inclusive community art project.

“Rainbows are bright, positive and for many, are a sign of hope. We wanted to brighten up our community and remind others that after the greatest of storms there is always a rainbow,” they said.

“Many in our community are struggling due to the current coronavirus crisis and those vulnerable are facing even harder times ahead. We want to remind people that they are not alone and that we are all in this together.”

Doreen’s Cassie Burrows, who started the bear hunt locally, said the simple act of putting bears in windows and creating rainbows had brought the community together.

Ms Burrows said there were about 400 or 500 people in Doreen and Mernda who were taking part in the bear hunt.

Details: https://bit.ly/3axmqBE

Digital Editions


  • Start your engines, Bacchus Marsh

    Start your engines, Bacchus Marsh

    Get set for engines to roar and propellers to spin as Bacchus Marsh Wings, Wheels, and Coffee returns for 2026, promising a high-octane day where…

More News

  • Clotheslined to clobber Footscray

    Clotheslined to clobber Footscray

    Inner-west punters should prepare to get well and truly cleaned-up and checked for concussion when five of Melbourne’s toughest and hardest bands take over Footscray this Australia Day weekend. Headlined…

  • Victorian bushfire appeal accepting donations

    Victorian bushfire appeal accepting donations

    Purchase this photo from Pic Store: 201153 Victorian’s are being urged to give generously to support communities devastated by the state’s ongoing bushfire emergency. The Victorian Emergency Relief and Recovery…

  • Air quality advice

    Air quality advice

    With bushfires burning across the state, Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) is providing regular air-quality updates. EPA is monitoring air quality using its stationary and mobile monitoring stations and publishing…

  • Serving up more public transport for Australian Open

    Serving up more public transport for Australian Open

    Thousands of extra public transport services will be available for tennis fans heading to the Australian Open. Public and Active Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams announced that almost 5000 extra trams,…

  • Record passenger numbers at Melbourne Airport

    Record passenger numbers at Melbourne Airport

    Melbourne Airport has recorded its busiest month on record, with 3,421,195 passengers travelling through the airport terminals in December. The airport also set a new monthly record for the number…

  • Cattach’s big break

    Cattach’s big break

    Whittlesea’s Ashton Cattach considered giving motorsport a number of times over the years but a love of the sport kept him going. That decision has paid off with Cattach to…

  • Out and about

    Out and about

    Purchase this photo from Pic Store: 526776 Each week Star Weekly photographers are out and about capturing the people and events of Whittlesea, Hume and the Macedon Ranges.

  • Community Calendar

    Community Calendar

    Whittlesea Probus Members of The Combined Probus Club of Whittlesea will meet on Monday 2 February at the Whittlesea Bowls Club at 9.30 am. The presenter will discuss regenerative farming…

  • Housing prices rise in the north

    Housing prices rise in the north

    House and unit prices across Melbourne’s northern suburbs mostly recorded growth in the three months to December 2025, according to new Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) data. In Hume,…

  • Local kid bowls out cricket superstar’s son

    Local kid bowls out cricket superstar’s son

    Local cricketer, Blake, 11, had a moment he will never forget when he bowled out cricket legend Ricky Ponting’s son, Fletcher. Blake’s dad, Wayne Dow, said it was exciting to…