A 30-year Rotarian not only played a role in helping the event to run on an almost annual basis from the early 1990s until recently, but being in business he has seen first hand how much of a boost it delivers to Rochester.
The return, after a two-year absence, of the field days to Elmore is being celebrated not only by the long time car dealer — but also by the various community and service groups of the region.
“I used to take cars with the Mitsubishi dealership and then started working with the field days through the Rotary Club,” Graeme said.
There is an even longer connection between the community minded mechanic, who still runs his business from a Moore St location, as he remembers the field days when they were held halfway between Elmore and Rochester on the Campaspe River.
Graeme arrived in Rochester in 1956, arriving as an apprentice mechanic with Woodlands garage and later working with the Bendigo Motor Company.
He opened up his own business in 1990, moving away from almost 20 years of operating a general freight truck company
Graeme has worked at the field days as not only as an exhibitor and service club volunteer, but until only recently was a key figure in the Rotary club’s driver education complex, which spent many years at Elmore field day site.
It was developed through the rotary club and students from throughout the region would travel to the site for specialised road training.
“The field days were pretty generous to the Rotary club,” he said.
“When we built it we had a lot of support and the field days allowed us to use the car park area all year round — apart from the field days of course.”
Schools only stopped using the facility three years ago.
Graeme recently ended a 28-year association with the Rotary Club of Rochester, but remembers well the role the field days played in its establishment.
“Because so many people were being hurt on farms, we started a farming safety program that we used to run at the Rochester football ground,” he said.
“It went for 20 years and was always run in August. From that we decided to get involved with the field days.
“We ended up having three cars and six instructors at the Elmore site and would focus on teaching kids how to stay alive once they got a licence rather than just how to get the licence.”
Graeme said there would be few students from the past three decades that had not experienced the program.
Rochester Rotarians have regularly been used to peg out the sites, along with catering, parking and any role they could play during the three-day event.
“The field days is wonderful for the community groups and the money that it brings into the town is vital,” he said.
“It is great to see it back again.”
Graeme said for some groups the field days represented the biggest days of their fundraising calendar.
“I know just how important it has been for the Rotary club, for years the bus has been used to ship volunteers from Elmore to the field day site,” he said.
“The field days are a vital cog in the community.”
Graeme’s daughter Joanne Speight, who is the administrator of his business, said she had been a little jealous during the years of brother David.
“I used to be the one that had to stay back and look after the business,” Joanne said.
“David didn’t miss too many field days.”
David, who works on farm at Mitiamo, will be at the event for its return this year.
His father may not be so fortunate, a staffing shortage meaning he is busier than ever.
Graeme said he was among several long-time Rochester people who realised the importance of the field days, along with the likes of Bruce Hocking and Brian Murphy.
“Brian would have been going there for a lot of years with his motorbikes,” he said.
Graeme said the field days was “one of the best things to happen to the area” in a number of ways and he hoped their return would be strongly supported.
“I know the field days have done a lot for the rotary club,” he said.
“They have always looked after Rochester groups and ensured there was an opportunity to be involved in the process.”
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