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The meeting heard that an estimated 30 per cent of students at year seven level could not read at sufficient standard to continue their secondary education.

Kyabram District Council of State School Parents Clubs organised the event and a motion was carried to approach the state body to voice concerns at literacy and numeracy levels in the region’s schools.

Sportsman fined

A Kyabram sportsman was fined $100 in Kyabram Magistrates’ Court after punching a Shepparton United timekeeper at the Kyabram ground.

The timekeeper’s top false teeth plate was broken when he was punched, but afterward the sportsman helped him up and told him to get back to his timekeeping.

A part-time journalist from Shepparton News was also in the timekeeper’s box to witness the incident.

1987

Todd new chamber boss

John Todd was elected president of Kyabram Chamber of Commerce at a meeting which made a strange decision to issue a letter of disappointment to a bus company over a parking incident in the town days earlier.

A senior citizens bus had parked across several parks, having delivered 42 seniors to Allan Street in the town on a day trip from Melbourne.

The driver was asked to move his vehicle by shopkeepers and an argument ensued involving police, Kyabram Town Council officers, the driver and the concerned shopkeepers.

Having paid $20 each for a meal at the Albion Hotel and spent several hundred dollars shopping, Mr Todd said he found the incident disappointing that a complaint had been made against the seniors.

Kyabram Development Committee CEO Graeme Macartney said he had been directed to write a letter expressing regret that the incident had occurred.

Mr Todd said driving tourists out of the town was not the intention of the organisation, after replacing John Westerveld in the role as chamber boss.

Maruei Gorman and Kevin Bell were others to take on office bearer roles, while Max Bramley, Maurie Finn, Ross Blacker and Don McKenzie were also on the committee.

Was it a world record

Koyuga cricketer Peter McGann sent club officials to the record books when he made 73 not out in his team total of 74 — the other run being a leg bye.

B-grade batsman McGann made the entire total of his team, apart from the extra, and it was considered some sort of a record in the Kyabram district competition.

Twenty-three-year-old McGann had made 41 the previous week, which had been his best score.

Former champion Kyabram batsman Ern Purdey was among previous stars to achieve similar feats, scoring 59 if his team’s 66 run total to win a Kyabram cricket premiership.

It was completed on a day when five centuries and a hat-trick were completed in the competition and one of the highest ever one day scores.

Record breaking fete?

Kyabram Hospital fete was expected to break records as the 15-man Police Highland Pipe Band had been secured to perform at the annual event.

Kyabram Mayor Chris Salter was scheduled to open the fete as the hospital auxiliary planned to make a substantial contribution to the construction of the new wing at the A.G. Hutchison Wing.

1997

Kyabram’s best garden

Outstanding was the word used by judges when describing Val and Ken Curnow’s garden, the 1997 winner of Kyabram Garden Club’s Garden of the Year competition.

The garden, at 5 Munro Crescent, had claimed the award for the previous two years and made it a trifecta with the announcement.

It beat the Marie and Tony Ciavarella garden at 21 Outram Avenue, which judges noted “did not have a weed in sight and was immaculate”.

Third in the competition was Michelle and Dallas Fitzgerald’s Poplar Street garden. Also of note was the Poppa family home on the corner of Edis and O’Keefe Streets.

Pettifer’s prize

Kyabram Secondary College student Drew Pettifer was recognised for his acting skills when he was awarded the best supporting actor role in The Big Bopper (The Buddy Holly Story) at Shepparton’s Gregory Awards.

The school performance involved 120 students, directed by Trivia Sargent, with Pettifer also back stage manager.

He was planning to study law in Melbourne at the end of the year. He had also just won the AFL Golden Whistle Award as the best junior umpire for the GVFUA.

Dangerous dogs

Three Kyabram dogs were declared dangerous by Campaspe Shire Council, all owned by the same person in Kyabram.

During a four-day period all three dogs entered properties in the Kyabram area and killed pet rabbits and guinea pigs, bylaws officer Steven Stevens reporting that the dogs had been impounded a number of times previously, but were continuing to cause problems.

There had been 13 reports of the dogs wandering in a 10-month period and they had also attacked another small dog.

The declaration meant that the dogs had to wear distinctive bright collars and if found wandering again were to be impounded and destroyed.

Saga ends with naming

A long running saga involving the relocation of a Kyabram street name came to an end with a monument and plaque to honour former Kyabram man, the late Fred Dettman.

A signpost erected at the car park area of Warramunda was the feature of a ceremony conducted by Mayor of Campaspe shire, Mary Bowman.

He was a tireless committee worker of the village and his daughter, Judy Binion, told the fathering of his passion for Warramunda.

The name Dettman court has been transferred to a previously unnamed court in a more remote location near Warramunda Village.

Mr Dettman’s great grandsons were there to witness the unveiling, James Lovison, Adam Lovison, Jacob Preston, Sam Lovison and Joshua Preston.

2007

First campdraft event

Kyabram Showgrounds hosted 400 horses and 100 riders for the inaugural campdraft event, Kyabram Show Society president John Black saying the event was jam packed for two days.

Kyabram legend Grahame “Skew Wiff” Watt, Mick Coventry and Bob Healy from King Valley were among the poets setting the mood for the event, while including Kyabram riders Ric Raftis and 12-year-old daughter Kate.

Historic occasion

A crowd of 600 people attended the official launch of Kyabram Recreation Reserve’s new lights, the $300,000 project involving Cr John Elborough, Les Dillon, special guest Garry Lyon, Ian Purdey and Peter Lyon.

Fremantle coach Chris Connolly had been guest speaker at a corporate dinner to fundraise for the project, replacing Bill Brownless as guest speaker.

Peter Lyon had been a key figure in the lights being erected, along with electrician Les Dillon and a $25,000 donation from Morrison and Sawers Lawyers.