There was a good yarding of stock for the Rochester cattle sale on Friday when prices obtained were on a firmer basis than previous sales, especially for vealers. Surveying the yarding are Mr Albert Godden and the manager of the Rochester branch of Dalgety’s, Mr Jack Newman, and the firm's auctioneer, Mr Bruce Foster. The men were photographed at the sale yards in August 1974.
Photo by
Campaspe News
50 years ago August 1974
Retiring president of the Rochester Apex Club, Mr Brian Murphy, handed over the reins of leadership to the new president, Mr Neil Gledhill, at a well-attended hand-over dinner at the Rochester Bowls Club.
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Prior to investing Neil with his collar of office, the incoming District Governor, Apexian Bill Deeley congratulated the Rochester club and the year’s attainments.
President of the Rochester Lions Club, Bernie Halton, enjoys a joke with long-serving Apexian Kelly Stewart at the hand-over dinner.
Photo by
Campaspe News
Many bigger clubs would have been proud of Rochester’s record of achievement in the preceding 12 months.
The Rochester club had reached a very high level, said Apexian Gledhill and he regarded it as a privilege to be president of the Rochester Apex Club.
The Combined Service Clubs annual dinner which the Apex Club hosted will long be remembered.
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Tenders for the construction of a new pre-school at Lockington will be called in the near future.
At the monthly meeting of the Lockington pre-school, members were told that the Rochester Shire had decided to go ahead without further delay to engage an architect to prepare final plans and specifications for the new pre-school at Lockington and it was hoped to call tenders for the construction of the building at an early date.
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‘’The tomato growers of northern Victoria must insist upon a payable price for their tomatoes,’’ Mr Michael Clarke, MLC for the Northern Province said.
‘’The processors have come up with such a miserable offer for next season that many growers are considering pulling out of the industry. If the price is not increased to at least $1.60 a 48lb case, which is a mere 3.3 cents per lb, then the tomato paddocks should remain unplanted.’’
Mr Clarke said that tomato growers had experienced two disastrous seasons in succession, due to wet weather.
They are now faced with steep increases in the costs of fertiliser, spray and picking, and the prices of machinery and spare parts have skyrocketed.
25 years ago August 1999
Farm machinery distributor Lely Australia is to move all its Rochester operations to one site on the Northern Hwy, south of the town.
Campaspe Shire Council approved a development application at its meeting for Lely to move to the site.
Situated about 3km from Rochester, the site has been used as a demonstration farm by Lely.
However, the approval means that Lely will be able to have its administrative centre, warehouse, demonstration farm and training farm on the one site instead of five different ones throughout the town.
The original recommendation tabled at council’s meeting by Campaspe Shire town planning manager John Brennan was to reject the development application because it did not strictly comply with council’s local planning policy framework.
The land in question is zoned ‘’rural’’ and Mr Brennan did not believe the business strictly complied with that zoning.
The recommendation was overturned, with Cr Neil Repacholi moving that the application be approved.
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Nanneella Primary School is $5000 richer after winning the Australia-wide ‘’Help train more Guide Dogs with PAL’’ competition.
The competition involved students collecting labels from PAL dog food products to help funding training of Guide dogs.
The school collected more labels per student than any other school in Australia to win the first prize.
Nanneella Primary School students celebrate their win with Uncle Ben's area sales manager Rob Douglas (back left) and Major's IGA Everyday manager David Major.
Photo by
Campaspe News
Nanneella Primary School collected 17.4 labels for each of its 26 students.
Nanneella parent Cheryl Berryman was the driving force behind the school’s involvement in the competition and she said the community was excited with the win.
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Lockington-Bamawm United Football Club may not play in the Bendigo Football League next year.
The club is currently reviewing its future and is looking at the possibility of leaving the Bendigo league for a minor league.
The Heathcote league and the Loddon Valley league are options for the club, and apparently both are willing to add LBU to their ranks.
Club president Bernie McManus said at this stage all the club was doing was looking at its options for the future and said no decisions had been made.
10 years ago August 2014
A festival planned for Rochester early in 2015 aims to attract thousands of visitors to the district.
The Rochester Mural Festival will be run in conjunction with Sheffield Tasmania, which attracts worldwide attention.
The theme of the festival is Ride Like the Wind, and entrants will provide a mini-mural for judging.
A Committee for Rochester initiative, the festival will be held in the Moore St precinct, featuring eight murals created by finalists in an Australia-wide competition.
Entries will be judged by a professional panel and the eight artists will then create their own murals on-site across the festival week.
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When Ayla Pearson heard about the chance to work in an African village for four months, she grasped the chance with both hands.
Later this month, the Nanneella resident will fly to Malawi in south-east Africa, where she will work closely with women and children in a small village.
Nanneella's Ayla Pearson will spend four months in Africa working in welfare.
Photo by
Graham Willis
‘‘I have always dreamed of working with people who have less than we do and this is something I’ve needed to do for a long time,’’ she said.
‘‘My grandmother Margie (Rochester’s Margaret Pearson) said she has always seen this in me so I guess she has encouraged me to do something like this.’’
The desire to travel overseas started when Miss Pearson completed a Lions exchange to Italy and Germany in 2012.
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Leading Senior Constable Chris Goyne has joined the team at Rochester police station.
Leading Sen. Constable Goyne has replaced recently retired Steve Dempsey, having spent several months in an Acting Sergeant role at Rochester.
Leading Sen. Constable Goyne has been in the police force for the past 24 years, having been the officer-in-charge at Gunbower for the past 13 years.
Leading Sen. Constable Chris Goyne has joined the team at the Rochester police station.
Photo by
Graham Willis
The four-officer team at Rochester now boasts a combined experience of more than 90 years.
Born and bred in Dimboola, Leading Sen. Constable Goyne was destined to become a police officer, as his father, uncle and cousin were all officers.
