By Casey Neill
Sharon Anne Fitzpatrick was arguably the youngest face to appear in the Mountain Views Mail’s first edition.
Her birth announcement was the newspaper’s first and she was pictured with her mother Sonia, father Garry and her brother David.
Sharon was born on 23 June 1979 and was the first girl born in her dad’s family for 53 years.
“A real cause for celebration,” the 11 July paper exclaimed.
The family lived in Badger Creek and Sharon went to St Brigid’s Primary School in Healesville.
“I still have quite a lot of family that live in town,” she told the Mail.
“I stayed there until I was about 20 and really enjoyed living in Healesville.
“I enjoy going back and seeing my family.
“At the end of the day, Healesville’s still my home town.”
Sharon said she used to love picking up and reading the Mail.
“Dad used to bring it down to Sale when I lived there,” she said.
“I’ve always been quite interested in real estate so I’ve always kept an eye on it.
“It’s really touching that such a small local community paper is still in publication.
“It’s nice to know the area is still represented.”
Sharon doesn’t get her hands on a hard copy much these days but keeps up with the Mountain Views online.
“Even though I have moved on and I’ve got four children and a husband and I’m a correctional officer now, my heart will always lay in the Yarra Valley, especially Healesville,” she said.
“It’s still home.”
