13/06/2026
IN MEMORIAM DON DRUMMOND
The Committee of the Woodend Winter Arts Festival is saddened by the death of one of our foundation members, Don Drummond, a dear friend to all of us, and we offer our condolences to his family.
Don and his wife Sheila (who predeceased him by almost six and a half years) were with us from 2003, during the early planning stages of the Festival, and it quickly became clear that they were the people to take on the Words & Ideas component, which they did with diligence and success for our first fifteen festivals (2005–2019). Don continued to have considerable input following Sheila’s death, and he showed an interest in our programming until the end. He and a handful of friends, whom we knew as Don’s Coffee Group, also contributed a lot of physical work behind the scenes over the years, assisting with the movement of instruments and setting up of chairs in St Ambrose Church and Hall, and in the Community Centre and Norma Richardson Hall.
Don was a well-known and much-loved member of our community. An inveterate reader, he was always ready to discuss current affairs and a wide range of historical and literary subjects. His championship of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius was still active during recent visits to him. Don had also travelled widely, and he enjoyed reflecting on the visits he had made to various parts of the world with his beloved Sheila. His wisdom and wry sense of humour were appreciated by all.
We at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival were blessed to have Don in our lives, and as a member of our Committee. The event by which we have remembered Sheila over the last few years will in future be the Don and Sheila Drummond Memorial Lecture.
