January 8
A crowd of thousands attended the spectacular Katamatite Rodeo, enduring temperatures as hot as 37°C. The event was organised by the Katamatite Lions Club, which distributed the profits among local community organisations.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
In harness racing, Sirlou, trained by Craig Turnbull and driven by Abbey Turnbull, won the $15,000 Jim Phillips Memorial Cobram Pacing Cup.
January 15
The Cobram Community House received critical state government funding to continue its mission of supporting the community, with a $16,800 grant going towards a range of programs at the house.
Suzanna Sheed stepped down from her position as administrator of Moira Shire Council to spend more time with family, after her appointment in June of 2023.
Cobram Barooga local Emma Corrin, 15, took home the coveted award of Queen of the Murray for her win in the Ben Ward 40 Miler Junior race, completing the 64km course in five hours, 31 minutes and 24.7 seconds.
Emma is the youngest competitor, and the first female, to win the Ben Ward 40 Miler Junior event in its history.
January 22
For six days, Cobram SES volunteer Mitch Heaton gave up his holidays to support efforts to extinguish the deadly Grampians fires. Working 12-hour shifts, he secured accommodation for incoming support teams, shared maps and shift plans and ensured front-line firefighters received their regular meals.
Friends and donkey owners Jean Arnold and Kylie Johnson started hosting free morning teas for nursing home residents to enjoy a therapeutic experience with the very personable 16-month-old miniature donkeys, Pedro and Diego.
January 29
Gavin Davey was named Cobram’s 2025 Citizen of the Year, Tyler Holt, 14, was named Cobram Junior Citizen of the Year and the Cobram SES Unit was named Cobram Community Organisation of the Year.
A Goulburn Valley fruit growing company was found to have underpaid workers by nearly $127,000 over seven years.
Cobram finished round 12’s T20 clash with a punctuation mark in the shape of a 72-run clawing of Tocumwal, the final score saw Cobram finish on 2-143 to Tocumwal’s 9-71.
February 5
Saputo Dairy Australia’s Cobram site received the 2024 Business of the Year award from Goulburn Murray Local Learning and Employment Network, for the Moira Shire local government area.
After suffering a severe head injury during a football game in 2023 that left him in an induced coma, Cobram’s 2025 Junior Citizen of the Year Tyler Holt was ready to take his beloved sport to the next level.
Cobram youth Cameron Sneddon, 15, won first place at the Shepparton Hexman Enticer triathlon, which involved a 250m swim in Victoria Park Lake, a 10km cycle to Mooroopna and back, and a 3.5km run to finish it off.
February 12
A rare disease known as tomato brown rugose fruit virus was found in seedlings recently moved from South Australia to a glasshouse at the Katunga Fresh facility on Numurkah Rd and led to a full site shutdown.
Peter Don, along with his son Keelan Don and business partner Kevin Gribble, took the reins at Cobram Caravans, which first opened its doors in 1972.
February 19
Cobram SES Unit Deputy Controller Kate Goldsmith was elected vice-president of the Victorian Division of the Australasian Institute of Emergency Services.
Popular Cobram identity Brendan Brooks, affectionately known as ‘China’ by many of his friends, retired after 37 years working for the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, known today as Goulburn-Murray Water.
Cobram Secondary College seniors Adithi Gurunathan and Taylar Knight were selected to attend the prestigious London International Youth Science Forum 2025, out of a pool of 500 students from across the world.
February 26
After graduating from Moira Shire Council’s Community Leadership Program, Numurkah local Stacey Dick founded Women of Moira, a volunteer-run start-up aimed at connecting and empowering women across Moira Shire.
Family, friends and fellow Freemason colleagues of Trevor Hocking gathered at the Cobram Cinema for the official naming ceremony of the Trevor Hocking Room.
March 5
The annual Numurkah Art and Craft Exhibition celebrated its 45th year, promoting the work of artists from the local area and beyond.
The slab was poured and works began on Cobram Anglican Grammar School’s new Trade Centre, a state-of-the-art learning facility with industry-standard equipment.
Around 2500 people flocked to Thompsons Beach to catch the beach volleyball action as the Cobram-Barooga Classic landed on the banks of the Murray River.
March 12
About 90 local women filled a function room at Sporties Barooga for International Women’s Day in recognition of the trailblazing women who changed the world.
Moira Arts and Culture launched a coffee table book celebrating and showcasing the success of local artists in the district and in acknowledgement of the diversity of their artistic talents.
The ultimate prize in the MVCA A-grade went to the Cobram Tigers after a tight final showdown with Deniliquin at the Berrigan Sportsground.
March 19
Cobram Secondary College student Jessie Ashcroft auditioned at the University of Melbourne’s South Bank campus for a spot in the Melbourne Youth Wind Symphony and was accepted on the spot by conductor Rick Keenan.
The Barooga Botanical Garden committee spent six months designing and creating two archways, which were installed at the Nangunia St and Banker St entrances to the gardens.
March 26
Junior and senior students showcased their skills at the District 22 Rural Championships in Mooroopna, winning a competition spot in the CFA state championships.
Greenkeeper Terry Vogel marked 40 years with the Cobram Barooga Golf Club. Since 1985 he has worked for the club as an apprentice, a superintendent, a foreman and leading man on the greens.
Cobram Cricket Club held its 2024-25 season presentation night with Manny Artavilla named the 19th Life Member of the Cobram Cricket Club for his contributions over many years.
April 2
Archie Ellis and friend Mervyn Jack reminisced about how they set up their own internet service provider company, Country NetLink, in the 1980s, to bring the internet to Cobram.
Talented young Berrigan rider Lilli Meyer Vale competed at Moonee Valley in the National Pony Racing Series, blitzing the opposition by several lengths on Honey, a seven-year-old 13.2-hand pony, owned by Jordan Owens of Berrigan.
Yarrawonga Lions club member Debbie Van Corler, and Ambulance Victoria’s Yarrawonga branch team manager Stephen Ralph were recognised by the council and presented with a certificate of acknowledgement for their service to the community.
April 9
Katamatite Police Station on 34 Beek St marked 25 years since its opening with cakes, streamers and a bright autumn sky.
A charity run and bike event traversing up to 300km of the Hume region beginning from the Ambulance Victoria unit in Yarrawonga raised more than $20,000 for the Code 9 Foundation, a charity that provides mental health and wellbeing support for emergency services personnel.
April 16
The Paterson family raised funds to support the same hospital that treated their son, Benji, for a terminal illness. The funds raised for their Good Friday appeal surpassed expectations with their original target of $2500 doubling to $5771.
The Cobram Lions Club celebrated its 30th anniversary market.
Port Adelaide’s Tom Clurey has made a dramatic return to his childhood club with a Katamatite victory in round one of Picola District Football Netball League.
April 23
Out of hundreds of Victorian towns and cities, Cobram-Barooga was found to be in the top 10 of communities that had donated the most to the Royal Children’s Hospital, sitting in sixth place in the town rankings, raising over $10,600.
A total of 2000 rubber ducks took to the water at the Easter River Beaches Festival Duck Race at Thompsons Beach.
April 30
Cobram Secondary College was joined by Cobram, Barooga and Strathmerton Primary Schools and Cobram and District Specialist School, community groups, local and state dignitaries to commemorate Anzac Day.
The 18-year-old bugler Lewis Brown showcased his skills at multiple ceremonies on Anzac Day, performing the Last Post and Reveille to crowds of up to 1000, including at the Cobram Civic Centre.
Barooga’s Riley Brooks played his 350th game of football with the same club in the Good Friday derby against Cobram at the Barooga Recreation Reserve.
May 7
Major upgrades began at the notorious intersection of Labuan Rd-Murray Valley Hwy near Strathmerton.
Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell retained his seat for a second term in what was a landslide win in the seat for the Nationals.
Two stalwarts of the Katamatite Cricket Club, Ben Lukies and Rohan Allport, took over from Mark Haberfield as head coaches.
May 14
Bega Group announced it would close its Strathmerton factory, with the phased closure of the factory expected to be complete by mid-2026.
Morning and afternoon, five days a week, Marilyn Barrs has escorted students to safety outside Cobram Anglican Grammar School on Campbell Rd for the better part of the past two and a half years, part of a 15-year career as a crossing supervisor.
Women’s Football Week kicked off with Cobram’s Casey Chandler being awarded best-on-field in the Roar women’s clash with Boomers FC in division one.
May 21
Katamatite Primary School has joined hundreds of schools across Australia to highlight road safety, converging at Lions Park for National Walk Safely to School Day, an initiative that aims to educate young people on how to keep safe around roads.
A soup appeal for community members doing it tough saw at least 110kg of tinned goods and pasta donated to Moira FoodShare and Cobram Community House.
The Shepparton based We Listen Suicide Loss Support Group expanded its services to Cobram, with regular meetings at the Cobram Community House.
Talented Cooma cricketer Cooper Fawcett played an innings to remember in the Goulburn Murray Cricket season, with an unbeaten 195 runs.
May 28
A handful of Cobram’s own volunteer firefighters took to the streets of Melbourne alongside thousands protesting the government’s passing of the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund.
Cobram BP’s biggest morning tea drew a steady crowd of regular customers, couples and families from morning to afternoon in the name of raising money for Cancer Council Australia.
The Cobram Courier announced the closing of its office at the end of June.
The North East Martial Arts Championships, held at the Art and Craft Pavilion at the Cobram Showgrounds, drew at least 40 students from five dojos (schools) from Cobram, Shepparton, Wodonga, Wangaratta and Melbourne.
June 4
Hungie Fangs Artisan Bakery owners Lina Galati and Damien Gow threw their support behind Baking for Brain Cancer, raising a grand sum of $2222.20 for brain cancer research.
Moira Shire Council teamed up with leading health agencies to spark conversations around men’s health and wellbeing, hosting a series of free breakfasts across the shire.
Cobram’s Karl Hindson made a shocking and ever-so-rare shot at the Cobram Barooga Golf Club during the club’s CEO Golf Day, shooting an albatross (three-under par for the hole). Hindson made his way into the club’s history books, as the last time anybody pulled off the feat on the 16th hole was in August 1986.
June 11
Arts for All unveiled its latest larger-than-life contribution to the Cobram community at Federation Park with a 8ft tall replica of a male eastern rosella, built by Tank and Tobin Sculpture Works.
McPherson Media Group announced a major expansion in digital media, launching upgraded mobile apps across all its news mastheads, including the Cobram Courier.
Leslie ‘Les’ Harrison has received the Order of Australia Medal, for services to the communities of Tungamah and Cobram.
Mark Meyland has been appointed senior football coach of Cobram for the 2026 season.
June 18
Women of the Murray founder Stacey Dick organised a course on self-defence for women in Cobram and Barooga, a six-week program that aimed to give women the skills they need to feel more confident and strong in their own bodies.
Local accounting and financial planning firm Moggs Accounting and Advisory, through Count Charitable Foundation, made a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service – Victoria, making a difference to the health and wellbeing of rural and remote Victorians.
Cobram’s Alec Corso, 12, was one of 23 boys from across the state selected for the School Sport Victorian under-12s representative football side.
June 25
The district’s brightest stars were recognised for their contributions to the community at the Cobram Rotary Club's annual changeover.
Jake Taylor, 20, who is in the third year of his baking apprenticeship at Hungie Fangs Artisan Bakery, was awarded the 2025 RJ Cornish Memorial Apprentice of the Year.
Grace Fazzolari from Ritchies IGA received the Customer Service Award, Renee Lincoln of Ambience Bakery Cafe was awarded the Trevor Noonan Citizen of Distinction award and Karen Brown was named Rotarian of the Year.
Barooga footballer Philippa ‘Pip’ Bain, 15, marked 100 career games of women’s football with her youth girls’ side’s victory over the Shepparton Swans, and Claudia Leighton Daly played her 50th club game when the Hawks met Rumbalara.