50 years ago March 1976
Following a public meeting held in Lockington early in March, 26 young district men have decided to form an Apex Club in the town.
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Apex zone president Bob Osborne, of Maryborough, addressed the meeting and told of how Apex was founded in Australia in 1931.
He said Apex had now grown to 800 clubs with a membership of 18,000.
Apex District Governor Ken Slatter, of Boort, explained to the meeting Apex’s purpose and this was to channel the enthusiasm and idealism of young men towards more intelligent, aggressive and useful citizenship and to build better communities, both locally and internationally.
The first dinner meeting of the Lockington and District Apex Club was held on March 17, when office bearers were elected.
These were president David Kuiper, secretary Dick Van Den Bosch and treasurer Robert Field.
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The gardens surrounding the RSL Hall, Rochester, were the setting for the enrolment and registration ceremonies of the Rochester St John Ambulance Brigade Cadet Division.
The Commissioner of St John in Victoria, Dr J. Peter Bush, C. St.J., presented the registration papers of the division to divisional officer Eric Symons. Dr Bush congratulated all involved in forming the division.
The enrolment ceremony was performed by District Officer (C) Don Fraser. The cadets enrolled were Sharon Quinlan, Michelle Henry, Sandra and Linda Thompson, Kristen Boysen, Mandy Mitchell, Simon Pearson and Ronald Robertson.
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The grand finals of the Rochester Churches and District Tennis Association, played at Elmore on Saturday, were real ‘’heart stoppers,’’ with four of the finals having a margin of five games or less.
In A-grade, Lawn Black sneaked in by five games and a draw on games and B-reserve saw Methodists take the premiership from St. John’s on a countback of sets won.
The big upset came in B-grade, where the College team was defeated for the first time for the season. The B-grade title went to Salvation Army.
25 years ago March 2001
Rain and wind didn’t deter Rochester’s Murray to Moyne cycling relay team in its bid last weekend to raise thousands of dollars for the Rochester and Elmore District Health Service.
On Saturday, light to heavy showers followed the cyclists until just out of Charlton, but the weather cleared and the prevailing wind favoured the southerly ride from Charlton to Port Fairy.
Covering a total distance of 520km, the nine cyclists — Dustin Kemp, Bronwyn Griffith, Jim McKenzie, Adam Campbell, Steve Gray, Garry Hedington, Paul Macague, Tass Gavalakis and Janet Webb — took it in turns to stay on the road over a 20-hour period.
They were supported by food crew Robyn and Noel Lucas, back-up drivers Alan Darbyshire and Royden Webb, bus driver Barry Carter and masseurs Judy Ryan and Leanne Carter.
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Timmering’s Nirelle Somerville has been riding ponies in the annual Barastoc Horse of the Year events for a number of years, with limited success.
‘’Top 10 is as far as we've ever got before,’’ Nirelle said.
This year, however, has marked a change. Her new pony, four-year-old Viewbank Boyd, with Nirelle gently guiding him through his paces, recently won the Barastoc Newcomer Large Pony of the Year.
Nirelle said she was always hopeful but never confident when entering shows, but when she purchased Viewbank Boyd, she could see his potential.
In May last year, he was broken in by Paul Dunstan of Tynong who also bred Andrew Hoy's Olympic horse Darien Powers, she said.
With Nirelle, he then did some schools with trainer David Quick at Murchison and started his show season in October last year.
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Farmers converged on the Elmore Field Days site for a demonstration used in tillage and cropping.
The day was the brainchild of the sub-committee from the general Elmore Field Days committee, which ran with the idea of giving October exhibitors an opportunity to demonstrate their machines in their field day dedicated to tillage and cropping.
The aim was to keep costs to exhibitors and farmers to a minimum and a low-key approach was used, spokesperson David Johnson said.
10 years ago March 2016
It is all gone. Every bit of Paddy Eeles’ hair.
Almost a year of growth was shaved off in front of more than 100 school mates on Wednesday to raise money for people living with cancer, as part of the World’s Greatest Shave.
The nine-year-old felt a little lighter after mum Ros did the big chop during a special school assembly last week.
He couldn’t stop smiling, friends egging him on to go shorter.
Motivated after the loss of his brother-in-law’s father, Jack, to cancer in May, Paddy set a target of $560 — enough to house a person seeking treatment in Melbourne for a week.
‘‘I want to help people get better and raise money to help scientists find a cure for cancer,’’ he said.
But the Ballendella boy was blown away when he realised he’d raised more than $4000 last week.
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Overcast skies and the occasional shower did not deter Bamawm’s Broom family from taking part in the fourth annual 65 Kilometres for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) fundraising walk in Melbourne on March 19.
They joined 200 people who together raised more than $70,000 (and counting) for CF Research at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute working with the Royal Children’s Hospital.
All proceeds contribute to research or clinical improvements to improve the lives of those living with CF.
The Broom’s team — GENetics — raised $3300 alone.
Spencer and Jennifer Broom walked with their daughters Suzanne and Joanne, son-in-law Phil and granddaughter Stephanie along the picturesque course of Princes and Royal Park.
But it wasn’t just them — they had an extra team member pushing them along.
Genevieve Broom died four years ago after battling the disease her whole life.
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Rochester Lions Club’s Youth of the Year is Genevieve Foott.
The 16-year-old took away the title last month at the annual club final at Rochester Bowls Club.
Fellow Rochester Secondary College students Molly Taylor and Elise Anderson were also in the mix for the title, impressing judges with their maturity and passion for social issues.
The Lions Youth of the Year Quest is a project of the combined Lions Clubs of Australia to select an outstanding youth to be an ambassador and travel overseas under the auspices of the Lions Clubs of Multi District 201.