March 30

source: The Sun-Herald

March 30 2003

Russell in village he calls home
By Matthew Benns

One day a resident of the tiny community of Nana Glen will owe their life to actor Russell Crowe.

The Hollywood star has just spent $36,000 on lifesaving Heartstarter machines for the township where he lives with his extended family, 25 kilometres west of Coffs Harbour.

The machines are manned by volunteers, including Crowe's parents, Alex and Jocelyn, and brother Terry, and are used to keep people alive while an ambulance makes the 40-minute dash to the town.

It is just one of many generous gestures made by the Gladiator star that has helped win the fierce loyalty of the town's 500-strong population. It's a protectiveness that has helped him feel comfortable enough to marry fiancee Danielle Spencer there on his 39th birthday on April 7.

"Russell has got the community in his heart," said sister-in-law Melissa, who is married to Crowe's brother. "Mum and Dad are in the Heartstart team too, together with Terry and me."

The Nana Glen Heartstart equipment is housed in a specially built shed at the end of the Matilda Cafe in the main street. The cafe is run by Melissa's sister, Pam Sedgmen. Crowe has also paid for similar equipment in the nearby town of Coramba.

But so far neither town has been able to use its equipment because Telstra has refused to give either a special conference call number that allows all members on the Heartstart list to be phoned at the same time.

"It is very hard when someone sitting in an office somewhere is stopping us do something that is so good for our community," Mrs Crowe said.

Heartstart training officer Geoffrey Hicks said: "We have the conference call facility for Glenreagh's Heartstart team but not for Nana Glen or Coramba. The equipment is ready, the people are trained, the only thing holding us back is Telstra.

"People's lives are at risk and they could die because there is no number for people to call," said Mr Hicks, whose Glenreagh team has helped keep alive asthmatics and heart-attack victims as the ambulance rushed to help.

A spokesman for Telstra said the service had a limited capacity that was restricted to registered emergency services. "However, we do recognise Heartstart and will therefore be relooking at the policy," he said.

He said the Glenreagh Heartstart team had been given their preset conferencing number through an "administration error" and were allowed to keep it as an act of good faith.

Mrs Sedgmen believes the 24-strong team's first call-out could be for a farming accident or spider bite. "My daughter found a 1.5-metre red-bellied black snake in the classroom at school last week," she said. "That's the sort of thing that could lead to a call-out if it had bitten someone."

She was not surprised at the generosity that has made Crowe the undisputed monarch of Nana Glen. "It shows his real involvement in the community. It is a great community with a great feel to it," she said.

This was a rare break from the code of silence most people in Nana Glen adopt when asked about the famous film star resident who has been buying vast tracts of land around the town.

No one wants to talk about the celebrity wedding on Monday week, when stars such as Sting, Jodie Foster, Heath Ledger and Naomi Watts are expected to attend. The three-day party will culminate in the wedding in the specially-built chapel on a hill at Crowe's 320-hectare property.

Before that there will be a cricket match between the Crowes and the Spencers. Banned spin bowler Shane Warne is rumoured to have an invitation, along with Crowe's cousin, former New Zealand Test captain Martin Crowe. The property has its own cricket pitch complete with white picket fence and pavilion. And if guests tire of the cricket, they will be able to make use of the lap pool, dressage ring, mini-cinema, Jacuzzi and tennis courts.

None of this causes any resentment among the locals.

Crowe's generosity has ensured that they see his success as their own. Neighbour Ekk Berner's Kia-Ora guest cottages have all been booked out for the wedding.

"I suppose when you live in the community and are so close to the people, they expect you to support them - he has been very good," he said.

Last June, Alex Crowe called Nana Glen public school principal Lawrie Renshall with an astonishingly generous offer.

"He said would we be interested in a pool being put in, and I said 'well, yes, of course'," Mr Renshall said. The 25-metre, six-lane pool will cost $200,000 and will be used by the community outside school hours.

But Crowe does not like to talk about his gifts to the community. The new school traffic signs warning people to slow down, together with the one for the BMX track, were donated by a member of the Nana Glen community. No prizes for guessing who.

Similarly, the nearby Orara Valley rugby league club has a sign at the front of the ground that bears the names of all the sponsors, except one. Crowe has paid for the kit for both the senior Axemen and junior Tomahawks for several years.

A local junior softball team won the state championship in uniforms paid for by Crowe, while the Nana Glen junior cricket team spent a day playing on his pitch.

When another neighbour wanted help to get the local rodeo going again, Crowe was the first to reach into his pocket. And he is equally generous when standing at the bar of the local Coramba pub.

"He starts on beer and then goes to bourbon and he can really put it away," said the neighbour. "I will say this for him, he always shouts - but it's tough when you are three drinks behind and you have beers waiting for you behind the bar."

The pub has also been the scene of fund-raising concerts by Crowe's band, 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts, which is expected to be in fine form for the wedding next week.

Crowe also came to the party with Nana Glen bush band Tallowood, which has his neighbour Rick Reid on percussion and vocals. The band's first CD credited Crowe with the money-giving executive producer role and said: "Special thanks to Russell for backing vocals on Gypsy Rover and the opportunity."

That sentiment is shared by many in Nana Glen, who are grateful for the opportunities living next-door to an Oscar-winning star has afforded them.