Another road toll victim in October 1974
Another road toll victim in October 1974
The district was shocked by the death of Greg Brown, son of local pharmacist Ernie Brown and wife Joyce. Greg died instantly when his car failed to take the bend from Murchison Road into Wigg Street, and plunged into the gutter behind what is now Waranga Aged Care. He was buried in Rushworth cemetery, after a large funeral for the young man in his early 20s.
Court fines
There was a long list of fines for traffic offences. One local man was fined $170, with his licence cancelled for twelve months, after charges relating to speeds of 100 kph in Parker Street. Two weeks after these offences, and before his first court appearance, he blew .18 on a breathalyser, charged again with speeding, dangerous driving and careless driving. (Fast speeds. Slow learner.)
Driving a tractor without a licence and various motorcycle offences involving speed kept the Magistrate busy, with Shepparton solicitor John Curtis, formerly of Rushworth, appearing for some of the defendants.
Schools
Pictured welcoming incoming High School headmaster Ernest Jones were outgoing head John Teasdale and Mothers’ Club president Mrs Jean Laurie.
The school promoted its upcoming fete, highlighting a slave auction and a frog race! (The Woke folk would be outraged by both events today!)
Rushworth Primary School report was a beauty. Grade 6 reported: “This week the barbecues were used for the first time. We decided to have the whole school joining in because the other grades would smell the cooking and want some. Stephen, Kaye and Linda went to the shops to find out the prices of the bread, meat and sauce, and how many sausages there were to the pound and how many slices in a loaf. Then we calculated the quantities we would need to buy and how much to charge for a sausage and sauce on a slice of bread”.
The report goes on to add that 230 sausages were cooked in pouring rain, and that teacher Mrs Mackinder got very wet. (What a great learning exercise! Poor Mrs Mackinder, mother of Mark, of the Rushworth Motel.)
The tiny infant Simon Barnes was taken to school for show-and-tell by former teacher Mrs Gwen Barnes, and displayed to Grades 1 and 2 (composite), Grades 2 and 3, and Grade 4. (Poor boy would have been glad to get home!)
Community
There was a half-page plan of the centre-street parking across from the Post Office, already dubbed Max’s Maze while still in construction. There were traffic arrows in all directions, parking bays, marks for tree plantings and the whole outcome was mass confusion. (Reminded me of a chess board with snakes-and-ladders board placed over the top!)
Shire engineer, and designer of the parking area and the traffic flows, Max Richards, was not too pleased with the label Max’s Maze, given primarily by Chronicle editor Peter Davidson. Max called the mistake-riddled newspaper Peter’s Puzzle!
The Spastic Society of Victoria, re-named as Scope in 2001, was the beneficiary of $3,299.06 after the fund-raising by local organisations in support of Miss Australia quest entrant Yvonne Hill of Colbinabbin. (A truly remarkable figure for 1974. Yvonne became Yvonne Tuohey, wife of the late Tom Tuohey.)
Personal
A front page photo supplied by the Australian Army showed former Rushworth lad Danny Gray, who had been stationed on duty in S-E Asia. He had been in the Army for three years, and he was shown learning the skills of rope-splicing. (I would have expected rope work to be part of Army training a little before the three-year mark.) Danny is the brother of Bev Rogerson, formerly of Stanhope, now of Kyabram.
Added to the terrible year of deaths in the district, of people of relatively young age, was Mrs Dorothy Todd, who died suddenly at her home near Stanhope.
Mary Heath of Wanalta, educated at St Mary’s School Rushworth, married Tom Hayes of Elmore at Rushworth Catholic Church. Mary was attended by Pauline Howe, Maureen Hayes and Catherine Heath, partnered by Pat Hayes, Rick Considine and Bill Heath.
A tractor and mower was available for cutting grass. Contact Les “Flash” Morgan.
Football
The football season refused to end with presentation night for Rushworth Football Club. Mrs Eileen Lambden was pictured presenting the Lambden trophy for best-and-fairest to Herbie Barlow (father of former Fremantle Docker Michael), and vice-president Ian Borger was shown with the winner of the Most Improved trophy, Noel Lloyd, who had sideburns down to his knees!
Chris Geisler was awarded the Hoyling Memorial Trophy for best-and-fairest in the Under-15 competition. The award honoured the late schoolboy Stephen Hoyling, fatally shot while rabbiting in the mid-1960s. Chris moved up through the ranks to play in the Tigers senior premiership in 1977.
Tennis
The tennis season commenced with a dozen Rushworth teams. Adults had eight players to a team and junior teams had six, in the Tatura Association. Three teams were entered from Murchison.
B-grade Rushworth II juniors selected to play Tatura IV were Brendan Barlow (captain), Rob Geisler, Daryl Britton, Isabel McLean, Rosanne Heily and Lyn Merryfull.
