On the Grapevine

When Kevin retired in 1988 from the workforce in Melbourne he and his wife Beryl made the move to Cobram, where they were keen to tackle the golf course.

“It was a bit harder than Waverley, longer fairways and more difficult pin placements, but it was beautifully cared for and a delight to play on,” Kevin said.

“Beryl was a good golfer; she loved the game too, and I remember the day she hit a hole-in-one on the eighth, boy, was she excited.”

The couple enjoyed their golf immensely and soon became well-recognised at the club until Beryl was diagnosed with a debilitating illness and forced to give the game away.

Kevin took a long break to become her carer, and now and then, he would organise somebody to stay with Beryl and play an occasional game.

Sadly for Kevin, his beloved Beryl passed away in 2015, and after some time and with support and encouragement from his golfing mates, Kevin went back to playing the game he loved.

Generally playing a minimum of three days a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the retiree was delighted to be out on the course again and explained his continuing enthusiasm.

“It staved off the boredom. I needed to get back to golf as you can only do so much gardening, housework and cooking the occasional meal.”

I asked Kevin about his favourite golf club.

“Definitely my driver, but I lost a lot of length when hitting off the tee in the latter stages of playing. It sure dents your ego when your shots don’t cover the distance they used to,” he said.

He also acknowledges he was a reasonable putter, and together with his driver, it enabled him to get down to a handicap of 10 during his best playing years.

Did he win any big trophies?

“Well, I won lots of small events and am proud to say I won the B-grade championship on two occasions, so I am quite happy with that. The only problem is, I now have to dust the trophies,” Kevin said.

“At the age of 91, I partnered Edna Lloyd in a stableford event. She is an amazing golfer, and we were both about the same age, octogenarians.”

Did they win it?

Actually, no, but they gave it their best shot.

Mighty innings for the now-retired golfer as Kevin turned 93 on May 1 and regrettably put away his clubs for the final time, just 12 months ago.

Today, his finest shots come from occasional discussions with his mates over coffee and are often replayed in the clubhouse.

Thirteen-year-old baptised in Murray

Young Judah Shilling, a Year 7 student at Cobram Anglican Grammar School, was the youngest of 10 people to be baptised in the Murray River on Sunday, November 26.

His family are parishioners of Ignite Life Church, and while the 13-year-old had expressed his desire to be baptised earlier in the year, he needed to be certain the time was right for him.

When asked how it felt afterwards.

“Today was just right,” the beaming teenager said.

Judah was one of two young teenagers baptised together with eight adults on the day. The other was 15-year-old Kadan Anderson.

Ignite Life Church is recognised for providing a friendly, rapidly growing church community that encourages people to come along as they are.

The baptism day was viewed with pride by pastor Greg Duns and his wife Carolyn, also a pastor, who baptised the four women, while an elder of the church, Andrew Leimgruber, baptised the male members.

Judah’s older sister Alex was among the happy group who took the plunge after a period of study, reflection and prayer to prepare for their commitment to God and the church.

Mick Cleary walking track to open

The official opening of the Mick Cleary Walking Track in Strathmerton will be held next Tuesday, December 12 at 5 pm at the Strathmerton Recreation Reserve.

Funded by Moira Shire Council through the Federal Government’s Planting Trees for the Queen’s Jubilee program, the walking track is a project by the Strathmerton Community Steering Committee, led by the energetic Kerry Murray, has been working on it for a long time and it’s wonderful to see it come to fruition.

Do go along to the opening and perhaps take a walk on the new track. You just might find it amazing that this small town has such a welcoming activity available to everyone.

Mike’s the bee’s knees

Beekeeper Mike is a man on the job, 24/7.

Last week, I noticed quite a large swarm of bees had gathered in a small shrub at the front of my home.

Given Mike Toomath’s contact details, I called to ask if he would have any time to come and remove the swarm.

His response was, “Yes I could come in about 1.5 hours. Would that suit?”

“Absolutely”, was my reply and sure enough, he arrived, a man on a mission, bringing a nucleus hive fitted with frames, one containing honey.

Mike shook the branch holding the swarm of relatively quiet bees, activating them immediately, and with the only protective wear being special beekeeping gloves, he encouraged the majority to enter the portable box and focus on the honey.

However, many bees were buzzing about, so he closed the lid and promised he would return in 30 minutes. As expected, Mike found that most of the remaining bees had entered from a small side opening.

Mike then took the box of contented bees to a new home in his garden, and I received a call the following day to say that the remaining stragglers had found the hive, and the family was together again.

The wonders of nature.

Thank you Mike.

If anyone has a swarm of bees they would like taken away, please contact Mike Toomath on 0403 177 531.