‘Largest Albanian Festival in Australia’ helped Albanian community connect.
On Sunday, March 20 Shepparton's Albanian community held its annual Harvest Festival at the Queen’s Gardens, showcasing its culture through food, dance and music, as well as providing fresh produce of the season.
The event was packed, with more than 5000 people attending.
“The event was the largest festival that we have had in over 20 years and it was the largest Albanian festival in Australia,” he said.
“This event was important to showcase the Albanian culture to the wider community, and to also reconnect the Albanian community of Australia together,” Mr Qemal said.
Shepparton Albanian Women’s Committee secretary Mary Ahmet has been volunteering at the festival since it started more than 20 years ago.
She said it felt “overwhelming” to see the event’s progress and how it had reached the broader community.
“It has evolved, and we’re encouraging everybody to come, and seeing non-Albanians come was really heart-warming,” she said.
Shepparton's first White Night — a huge success
More than 30,000 people enjoyed the spectacle of White Night in Shepparton on Saturday night.
The Victorian Government event spread along Welsford St, Shepparton, where people watched a projection called Star Dreaming, a journey through 80,000 years of First Nations stargazing.
A maze of lasers created a canopy of light that led people past the water treatment plant, which was illuminated with the story of the inherent power of water.
A performance stage overlooked the culture kitchen, a row of stalls with food from the Pacific Islands, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Shepparton's Victoria Park Lake was a maze of performances and visual art, and the strong sense of First Nations culture and connection flowed through the projections and illuminations.
Bands played at the skate park, which was turned into a Beat Bowl, with patrons dancing amid the projections on the concrete.
The most popular attraction was the Crepuscular Beam, which took up residence on the grassy knoll on the lake's western side.
The Crepuscular Beam’s light reaches for kilometres into the night sky, accompanied by an emotive soundtrack built from sounds recorded by the NASA Voyager mission.
“It was an unbelievable spectacle,” City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali said.
“To have Illuminate and now this, it was just a fantastic few months for the city. It shows what a great events city we are and why we should also have events during the Commonwealth Games.”
Record funds raised for men’s health at Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch
A record amount of money was raised for men’s health in the Goulburn Valley through the Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch on Friday, August 26.
The lunch aims to increase awareness among men of the need to undertake regular health check-ups, particularly for prostate and bowel cancer, but also contributes funds towards specialist nurses and equipment for the treatment, locally, of men diagnosed with the two cancers.
It attracted almost 1000 people and raised a record $125,000 through its auction, with another $20,000 raised by a raffle. Ticket sales and donations boosted the tally further.
The first lunch was organised in 2009 by Chris McPherson, an owner of McPherson Media Group, publisher of the News.
Mr McPherson died in 2015 but left behind a growing legacy highlighted by this year's fundraising efforts, which support vital men’s health initiatives in the Goulburn Valley.
This year's event, the first in two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, was also boosted by a donation of $60,000 by the Freemasons to provide vital biopsy equipment to Goulburn Valley Health.
The equipment means patients no longer have to travel to Melbourne to access that level of care.
Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch chairman Shane O'Sullivan said the reaction from the community had been incredible.
“Everyone I’ve talked to was having a great day,” he said.
“It’s just a real good community feel for the day.”
The keynote speaker at the lunch was Olympic gold medallist Kieren Perkins, who opened up about the loss of his father to bowel cancer, highlighting the central message of the day to get regular check-ups and never ignore changes in your health.
“Like many of us, prostate and bowel cancer does have a personal connection,” he said.
“My dad had passed away 17 and a half years ago now from bowel cancer.
“He didn’t feel well for probably about eight months, went to the doctor and grumbled a little bit, but didn’t really receive too much (treatment), and unfortunately, by the time they worked out that he did have cancer, it was all too late.
“It was 42 days between his diagnosis before he passed away.”
‘One of our best’: Shepparton Agricultural Show delights on return
The 146th Shepparton Agricultural Show exceeded the expectations of organisers, with about 13,000 people making their way through the showgrounds’ gates on October 7 and 8.
“It was one of our best shows,” Shepparton Agricultural Society president Sue Trevaskis said.
“We were rapt with it — because we were under the threat of rain and some people weren’t sure about coming.”
After two years of having to cancel the event due to COVID-19, this year’s crowd total exceeded those of the 2019 and 2017 shows.
Moving to a mostly online ticket sale system this year, the initial 10,000 tickets sold out early on Friday night, with more released to meet the demand.
The heavy downpour forecast for Friday held off, with only a light drizzle in the morning before the sun came out, and stayed out, for the rest of the weekend.
Thanks to a COVID-19 recovery grant, organisers were able to offer free entry for children aged 14 and under.
“The kids had an absolute ball — they loved the animal nursery, loved walking around and looking at the games,” Ms Trevaskis said.
“People were happy, there were smiles and you’d see people catching up who hadn’t seen each other for a long time.”
The show had a bit of everything, from the myriad rides and games to arts and crafts, motorbikes, livestock being showed and judged, camel rides, ferret races and, of course, the Country Women’s Association’s scones with jam and cream.
100 reasons we celebrated Joyce
While most 100-year-olds spend their days taking it easy, Joyce Oxenbury still sews regularly for other residents and staff at the Shepparton nursing home she calls home.
She likes to feel busy and to help others.
On November 26, Mrs Oxenbury celebrated her 100th birthday.
While now a centenarian, she doesn’t look to be slowing down too much.
“I don’t feel 100,” she said.
“I think my body was holding up.”
Born in Euroa to Alexander and Theresa McKenzie in 1922, Mrs Oxenbury was one of two children.
She married Albert Oxenbury after he came back from fighting in World War II, and they had two children: a son and a daughter.
Sadly her son died a few years ago.
She now has six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Nursing was a passion of Mrs Oxenbury’s, and it was a career that lasted 57 years.
Mrs Oxenbury celebrated her 100th birthday with afternoon drinks with other nursing home residents on Friday before a party with family members.
And her secret to living such a long life?
“You’ve got to be pretty motivated and think about what you’re going to do, and make a good job of it,” Mrs Oxenbury said.
Party time for Vicki
Vicki Smith had 100 reasons to smile on September 29, as she celebrated her 100th birthday.
Vicki — whose real name is Violet — had a huge party to celebrate reaching the century milestone, complete with birthday cake and a singer providing entertainment.
Staff at Doutta Galla Harmony Village in Shepparton bought Vicki a new outfit for the party and organised all the celebrations for her and other residents of the aged care facility.
Vicki was born in Yorkshire in England on September 29, 1922.
Before moving into Doutta Galla Harmony Village in 2019, Vicki lived in the independent living units there.
These days Vicki enjoys hand massages, having her nails done, attending concerts, arm chair travel and singalongs.
Sometimes she does some cooking, as well as colouring and painting.
She also loves to be around people and chat to the other residents and staff, whom she thinks of as part of her family.
Lifetime of adventure
For Robert Jennings, turning 100 was just another day of getting older, but with all the change he’s seen in his lifetime, the feat is not one to be taken lightly.
Celebrating his birthday on April 5, Mr Jennings, the second youngest of nine children, is the last of his siblings alive but with most of them living until their late 80s and 90s, it’s no surprise he reached 100.
“I didn’t think I’d reach 100 but here we are,” Mr Jennings said.
“I’ve seen a lot of change, a terrible lot of change ... Everything was so steady back then and now it’s all so fast these days, I can’t keep up.”
Although he was born in Clare, South Australia, Mr Jennings spent most of his childhood in the nearby town of Farrell Flat with his sister and her husband after his parents passed away.
After leaving school at the age of 12, Mr Jennings went on to work in various jobs across South Australia, NSW and Victoria.
He worked across a major pipeline in South Australia as a young man and during World War II he was a courier for the Australian Army after being shifted from travelling overseas due to pre-existing injuries and a hernia surgery.
It was over a decade later that Mr Jennings met his wife, Nancy, and they have now been married for more than 50 years.
He then worked in Griffith, NSW, as a truck driver for many years, transporting goods between there and Melbourne and on surrounding farms, before the couple moved to Shepparton for retirement 36 years ago.