Welcome to The Prestonian, a fortnightly newsletter that brings you all the ins and outs of Preston and its local surroundings.

We are a group of creatives who want to share our love and passion for the northern suburbs. We'll be covering a whole host of topics ranging from local news to food reviews to local sports. Everything Preston, always.

Meet our editor

Sezer is a creative writing wiz who specialises in putting words onto a page. He moved to Preston at the start of the year and fell in love with the suburb. You can see him walking his dog, Ramsay, up and down High Street.

He works as the social media marketing manager for Digital Basis, a Preston-based digital agency that has thrown its support behind The Prestonian.

What are we covering in this issue?

We have a lot to cover for this fortnight, with a wide range of different topics and segments to bring to you.

There's school holiday fun at the Preston Market, a chat with Kelly from Makers' Mrkt, and even a reformer pilates session at Balance North featuring members of The Prestonian staff.

And plenty more!

What's On at Preston Market? (School Holiday Edition)

The heart of Preston will be alive during the school holiday period with multiple activity days for the whole family to enjoy.

For the first week of holidays the market will play host to an animal farm and a snow making workshop, while the second week brings the animal farm back for a second day but the snow making workshop is replaced with face painting and balloon twisting.

Kids can get up close and personal with cute farm animals to give them a better appreciation for all of natures creatures, while the face painting and balloon twisting is just good, old-fashioned fun for everyone!

Bring the kids down to the market on the dates listed below for a fun activity for the whole family over these school holidays!

Wednesday 6th of July: Animal Farm - 11am - 2pm

Friday 8th of July: Face Painting and Balloon Twisting - 11am - 1pm

Darebin Arts Speakeasy

The Darebin Arts Speakeasy returns from July to October with 4 new performances to experience.

The Speakeasy is a year-round independent performance development program offered at Northcote Town Hall and Darebin Arts Centre. With the Speakeasy entering the second half of its eighth year, it continues to help facilitate creative contemporary performances by emerging and established artists across Melbourne and beyond.

Speakeasy embraces our varied cultures, stories and ideas to bring together more and more people in the community with new and exciting performances.

Check out all the info at: https://arts.darebin.vic.gov.au/Programs-and-opportunities/Programs/Speakeasy-independent-arts-presentations

Local Business Interview

Makers' Mrkt

Kelly Thompson is the creative powerhouse behind Makers' Mrkt - an online store that specialises in selling homewares, fashion and handcrafted goodies carefully curated from a whole range of creatives across the Internet.

With demand for stock increasing at a rapid rate during the pandemic, Kelly took her online business out of the house and into the heart of Preston to create a space that people can browse freely in.

Kelly turned the two-level space into a creative's dream complete with pastel pink floors and a bright red banister as you head upstairs.

Prestonian: What was the inspiration behind Makers' Mrkt?

Kelly: I used to work as a freelance illustrator and sell my illustrations through my website. I was fortunate to know lots of creative people, so whenever I needed to buy birthday presents or gifts, I would go to them first. I realised that as a creative, I was finding it hard to get my work out there and knew other creatives had the same struggles. The platform started as a hobby, a one-stop shop for creatives and their products, and once the lockdown in Victoria happened, the demand increased, and my focus on Makers' Mrkt became full-time.

Prestonian: What drew you to Preston for the showroom location?

Kelly: I live locally, about ten minutes away in Heidelberg Heights, where I was running the store from home. I needed a space for the store since the demand had increased during the pandemic, and I no longer had room for all the stock. The need to move happened during the lockdown with the 5km radius, and I got lucky that this space was the right size and Preston was within that boundary.

Prestonian: What does a typical day at Makers' Mrkt look like for you?

Kelly: I get into the office in the morning and start packing any orders that have come through. Since I do all of the marketing and content for the brand, I need to shoot the products, especially on sunny days. I'll be spending most of my time doing that.If I'm not shooting the products or packing orders, I'm working with stylists and finding new products to showcase on Makers' Mrkt.

Prestonian: How often do the products on Makers' Mrkt cycle in and out?

Kelly: All the stock is constantly changing because I'm always adding new Makers' to the platform, the store aims to be different every time you walk in.

Prestonian: What does the future hold for Makers' Mrkt?

Kelly: The lease runs out in a year, so once that happens, I'll be looking to move to a bigger, more permanent space, more of an open gallery style with more room for more Makers that will be open all the time, not just by appointment. We'll also be putting on 1 or 2 shows a month to showcase more and more Makers in the showroom. Our first showcase is going to be on August 4th which I'm super excited about!

Check out Makers' Mrkt online or at 273 Raglan St, Preston by booking an appointment here.

Website: https://makersmrkt.com  | Instagram: @makersmrkt | Pintrest: makers_mrkt

The Prestonian x Balance North.

Two guys in their 20's take on Reformer Pilates for the first time.

We wouldn't describe ourselves as athletic by any stretch of the imagination, and our coordination certainly isn't the greatest. When Balance North invited us to come for a reformer pilates session we definitely knew we were in for an experience well outside of our comfort zone.

Walking into the studio on Plenty Road, the ladies greeted us with warm smiles and an inviting space. The studio has been designed with a heavy focus on creating a calming and enjoyable place for your 'me' time.

Olivia, our instructor for this session, gave us a rundown of the reformer machine before we got stuck into the session. With her help and prompts we managed to figure out how to position ourselves on the reformer and get to work on trying all the exercises.

For two guys who had never done anything remotely close to reformer pilates before, we were huffing and puffing and sweating bullets by the end of the session. We'd worked muscles all across our body, from top to bottom all on the reformer. Olivia kept us upbeat with encouragement and analogies to help us understand how to do certain exercises properly.

We came away with a sense of satisfaction having completed the session, and definitely look forward to returning for another crack at reformer with Balance North!

Olivia was also kind enough to lend us some of her time for a couple of questions.

Prestonian: What is Balance North all about?

Olivia: One of the core things we love here at Balance North is the sense of community we create whenever someone walks through the door. We make sure to learn names and provide a space that is both fun and calming at the same time. There's nothing worse than going to do something for yourself, like pilates, and coming away with a poor experience. It ruins your day, so we focus heavily on making it enjoyable every time for every participant.

Prestonian: Is Balance North just Pilates or do you offer other stuff?

Olivia: We do lots of different things ranging from physiotherapy to rehab. We have a clinical pilates service that's more of a one-on-one session, tailored specifically for the client. Our staff come from a diverse background of experience, so we have a wide range of knowledge to offer when providing services for our members. We also offer a range educational sessions to give people a better understanding of their health and these sessions are lead by dieticians, physiotherapists and even podiatrists.

Get down to Balance North at Level 1/353 Plenty Rd, Preston and enjoy the range of services provided by the fantastic staff there!

Website: www.balancenorth.com.au | Email: [email protected] | Phone: (03) 8657 4922 | Instagram: @balance.north

Local Food Review

Takeaway Pizza.

The beauty of living in Preston is that we are surrounded by many cultures and are spoilt for choice when it comes to great eats.

Last Friday night, the pizza craving hit, but we didn't want to travel too far after a long day at the office. Lucky for us, Takeaway Pizza. are right across the road and always best to accommodate customers.

Walking in, you are met by friendly staff and a quirky interior with the restaurant mixing a wine bar with a pizza joint to perfection.

We ordered the Margherita (a classic for a reason!) and the mushroom pizza, and we even went for a side of fries covered in shaved pecorino. The flavours that hit your mouth as soon as you take a bite are complemented by the crunch of the crust, creating a mouth-salivating experience that you'd have to fly to Italy to find, and luckily you can get that experience right here in Preston.

If you're local and haven't given these pizzas a go before, head down and grab yourself a slice, you'll quickly find yourself coming back for more.

Check out Takeaway Pizza. at 535 High St, Preston, Sunday to Thursday from 4pm to 9pm and 4pm to 9.30pm Friday and Saturday.

Website: www.takeawaypizza.com | Instagram: @takeaway.pizza | Phone: (03) 9044 6850

Sport in Preston

VFL: Northern Bullants V Williamstown - Match Preview

The Northern Bullants will face Williamstown FC this Sunday in a bottom-of-the-table clash that will be both teams' best chance at securing a win over the next few rounds. Last week the Bullants faced a stern test against North Melbourne's VFL team, which fielded 10 AFL-listed players and proved much too strong for the Bullants by running out 42-point winners, 13.12 (90) to 6.12 (48).

Tom Wilson continued his fantastic season with another huge performance racking up 33 disposals, six tackles, five clearances, and five inside-50s. Will Mitchell, Matthew King and Doug Lawrence all providing solid backup on the day.

Williamstown are coming off a 38-point loss to Essendon's VFL team and will be looking to bounce back against the Bullants.

With both teams only having secured one win for the season so far, pride will be on the line as both aim to avoid the wooden spoon for season 2022.

Get down to Preston City Oval this Sunday afternoon to support the Bullants as they aim to come away with a win against a fellow standalone VFL club.

Match time: 2.15pm - 3rd of July 2022.

Spread the Word

The future of The Prestonian is bright, and we want to showcase more and more of the northern suburbs. Bringing increased exposure to small businesses in the area, and creating a sense of community by keeping everyone in the know.

If you're a business owner, a local resident or a lover of Melbourne's northern suburbs and you have something you'd like to share, then DM us on Instagram @theprestonian or reply to this email to get in touch.