Renowned for its bustling monthly market, Violet Town has always been a favourite of those in the Goulburn Valley and beyond.
But now, tourists will have a reason to stop by on more than just a monthly basis, with an ode to cricket’s king Shane Warne now a permanent fixture on the town’s picturesque facade.
Adorning the walls of the much-loved Violet Town Café, a mural of the late leg-spinning marvel appeared late last week to commemorate one year since his death.
So how did this touching tribute come about?
Well, the idea was spawned out of the Warne family’s close connection with Violet Town’s Richard and Ann Byrnes, who wanted to create a tribute to the cricket legend in their home town.
With the help of Violet Town Football Netball Club director Gary Abley, the task of bringing this idea to life began and the crew went about enlisting renowned Melbourne street artist Matt Ling to take on the job.
“The Byrnes were the ones that started this whole project up, they saw the work Matt Ling had done in Melbourne and got in contact with him to see if he would do a similar thing up in Violet Town,” Abley said.
“That was how the whole thing started basically, and the wall on the café was the most prevalent one in town for people driving through to put it on, so the landlord increased the size of the wall and away it went basically.
“It was a pretty easy process to get everything locked in.”
The photo used for the mural was a Warne family favourite of Shane leaning behind the famous Ashes urn, as Ling quickly went to work and created the stunning piece of street art.
“He did it in two days, it was simply amazing,” Abley said.
“Basically, he got Richard to pick the photo which was ironically one of Shane’s dad’s favourites of him, and once that was done, he just sketched it out and went to work.
“They are very talented people these artists, there were lots of squiggles and that and I was wondering what he was doing, but suddenly it started to take shape, it turned into a real masterpiece.”
But what made the mural tribute even more special was the special guests that came up to give it a visit.
One year on from their son’s passing, Warne’s parents Keith and Brigitte made the trip to Violet Town to see their old friends and take the time to thank all those involved in the mural for the gesture.
Abley said it was incredibly touching to see the Warnes choose to spend the anniversary of their son’s death at Violet Town.
“That was just amazing to have them come up,” he said.
“Again that was all Richard and Ann’s doing, but the whole thing with it being the anniversary of Shane’s death was completely coincidental.’’
With the mural now completed and sealed with the Warne family stamp of approval, the next step comes in the form of an official opening.
Abley said preparations were well under way for a grand unveiling, which he said would take place in the next couple of weeks.
“It is already dragging people off the road to pop in and have a look at it, so it should be fantastic for the town to have something like this,” he said.
“In terms of the opening, we haven’t nailed what we are going to do, but we will hopefully try and get the Warnes back up here again and get the local council involved to make it an official event.”