2014
Volunteers roll up for town hall build
Work has started on the Kyabram Town Hall after Campaspe Shire signed the licence agreement for work to begin last week.
Volunteers and members of the town hall committee have started the vital refurbishment and repair works required to bring the facility into shape, including rendering walls, fixing electrical issues and rebuilding rooms in order to house the new visitor information centre and the Isobel Harvie exhibition.
Town hall committee treasurer Barry Prideaux said he was happy to see work finally started and had hope the building and visitor centre would open in two months.
Isobel Harvie, whose exhibition will be housed in a dedicated section of the refurbished hall, said she was delighted to see work had started and hoped to have her exhibition up and running in November.
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Just not cricket
Tongala Cricket Club coach James Stokes has slammed Campaspe Shire for “stalling” and “mismanaging” the promised building of new cricket nets at Tongala Recreation Reserve.
The comments came before a club meeting last night to discuss the future of the nets and the possibility of having them built without the shire.
Mr Stokes said the council had been stalling building the nets for the past several months, despite promising funds in the Campaspe Shire’s 2014-15 budget.
He said time had run out to have the nets built in time for the cricket season just three weeks away and having unsuitable training nets would greatly affect his team’s performance this year.
“I can’t see these nets being built this year, if at all,” Mr Stokes said on Monday.
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No fuss driving bus
What do an emu, an ostrich, a deer and school children have in common?
They have all been passengers on one of Allan Weeks’ buses.
Allan was this week inducted into the Australian Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs in recognition of his many years of school bus and livestock driving.
Nominated by a local truck driver and hall of famer, Allan was inducted in front of 1000 people during four days of celebrations in the red centre, followed with a parade of more than 80 trucks through the heart of Alice Springs.
“It really felt terrific to receive the awarded, and I think it’s the real pinnacle of the 38 years in the school bus business,” Allan said.
Beginning in 1975, Allan has driven several generations of Kyabram, Tongala and district students to and from school in what he calls an incredibly rewarding experience.
1994
Undera’s budding DJ’s
The children of Undera Primary School recently presented a radio show on ‘Schools on Air’ on the community radio show ONE FM.
Eight volunteers from grades 3 to 6 wrote and presented their own one-hour show.
The children worked hard to produce a varied program that would be interesting, entertaining and informative.
Each child dedicated themselves to polishing both script and performance.
Ian Saunders, the ONE FM operator who was in the booth with presenters, congratulated the children on their quality performance and professionalism in the studio.
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Youthful musical treat
Shonah Tomkins is pictured performing with Roslyn Beck in the Music for Youth Festival concert in Kyabram last Friday night.
The concert was a resounding success for the students, who showed their immense talent in the music industry.
The students had participated in a two-day seminar with tutors in the musical field from Melbourne.
Students from all around the region participated in the seminars and the concert and moved one step closer in their musical dreams.
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Rotary Art Show launched
Rotary Club of Kyabram’s 15th annual art show was launched on Wednesday night when more than 200 art enthusiasts packed the Tijuana Reception Rooms for the annual dinner.
Focus then shifted to the Youth Club Hall, where some 527 works of art are being exhibited from some of Australia’s best artists.
Judge Ernest Smith had an interesting account of the showcase of art he had judged during the day and said, “overall, the standard of the exhibition was very good”.
Artist Irene Ritli again took out the local award with her painting Beauty And The Beasts.
The overall award was won by Mrs Peg Widdows, a Melbourne artist, for her painting Grass Trees.
1974
Students may help design fauna park
Details of the Kyabram Fauna Park have been submitted to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in the hope of the park becoming a project of design for final year architect students next year.
This action was taken after a recent meeting of the committee of management meeting of the fauna park in which the development of the park, drainage and restoration of levee banks was discussed by members.
A report of the meeting was presented to the Kyabram Town Council’s Tuesday meeting by Cr Vic Kuhle.
In general business, Cr Kuhle informed council that Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology students would be asked to prepare a scheme for the fauna park.
He said this may be done in the form of a competition for students and if what they came up with was suitable for the area, the committee of management could apply for grant money with a suitable scheme to work on.
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Top fruit man visits Kyabram
Mr K. W. Trapnell, managing director of Australian Canned Fruit (IMO) UK Ltd, was a visitor to Kyabram recently.
Australian Canned Fruit (IMO) UK Ltd is a company formed by Australian Canners in 1972 to carry out the marketing function for all Australian canned fruit in the United Kingdom.
Mr Ken Trapnell brought IMO wide experience in marketing and administration in the grocery field. He has been associated with such companies as Beecham Foods, Crosse & Blackwell and Nestles.
Prior to taking up his position as chief of IMP Mr Trapnell was general manager of the UK operation of Ardmona Fruit Products Cooperative Ltd.
During his visit to Australia, Mr Trapnell who is accompanied by his wife Pat, has visited all major canneries for discussions on the marketing situation in the United Kingdom.
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Even the Ky kangas are ‘toey’
“Tie your kangaroo down sport...” Well not quite, but the secretary of the committee of management of Kyabram Fauna Park Mr John Polley said that has quite a few suggestions what to do with five kangaroos who went hop-about this week.
The kangaroos escaped through a gap in the cyclone fence surrounding the animal enclosure.
The kangaroos were discovered nonchalantly grazing in Ficher St much to the surprise of several passers-bye.
Without too much worry, the animals were herded back to their enclosure at the fauna park.
Some wit even suggested that the urge to see the VFL ‘Kangas’, North Melbourne, play Richmond in the grand final this Saturday got the better of the Kyabram kangaroos and prompted their escape.