Marilyn made sure to rug up in gloves and her high-vis coat on the cool autumn morning.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
Morning and afternoon, five days a week, Marilyn Barrs escorts students to safety.
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Come rain, hail or shine, she takes to her post outside Cobram Anglican Grammar School on Campbell Rd, where she has served as crossing supervisor for the better part of the past two and a half years.
The crisp starts of late autumn see Marilyn, 78, rugged up in her layers — woollen gloves and all.
Throw in her high-vis coat and broad-brimmed hat, and she’s hard to miss.
Such is Marilyn’s presence as a fixture in the community that the occupants of dozens of passing cars couldn’t help but give her a wave on the morning of Tuesday, May 6.
“They see the lollipop lady, and it just seems to put a smile on their faces,” Marilyn said.
Soon, another SUV of smiling faces drove by.
“Oh, I’ve got to wave to this lot,” Marilyn said, as a child’s grinning face appeared in the rear window.
“They get so disappointed if Marilyn doesn’t wave to them.
“I think that’s because, hopefully, I make them feel happy. Maybe because I like the job and I’m not grumpy.”
Marilyn takes great pleasure in seeing students safely across the road.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
Eyes sparkling in the morning sun, Marilyn traced her 15-year career as a crossing supervisor back to her life in the Mornington Peninsula.
“I was volunteering at the Salvos store down there in Hastings, and a friend of mine said, ‘Why don’t you go and be a crossing lady?’” Marilyn said.
“I said, ‘That sounds great, let’s give it a go!’”
Later, when a retired Marilyn and her husband moved to Cobram in 2022, she looked around for something to keep her busy.
An opportunity for a crossing supervisor at one of the local schools came up.
And that’s what Marilyn has done in her mornings and afternoons since then.
“It gives you great satisfaction,” she said.
“And you feel like you’re connecting with the community.”
At 8.20am, the first student of the morning arrived, greeting Marilyn with a shy smile. When Marilyn asked about her weekend, the student’s face lit up.
“Every day on the crossing, you learn something different. Something to do with life,” Marilyn said after she had escorted the student safely across the road.
Since January, when the Moira Shire Council took over the management of the crossing, she’s managed to earn a little extra on top of her pension,
“That’s why I stopped doing it voluntarily. Because they took over, and I didn’t want to lose my job. So they said, ‘No, you can stay there. We’ll employ you,’” Marilyn said.
“It gets a bit quiet, but it’s never really boring. I don’t find it boring.”
Reflecting on all the people she’s encountered over her time as a crossing supervisor, Marilyn shared a nugget of wisdom.
“Just be nice. Be kind to everybody. Be patient,” she said.
“Treat everybody as an equal. I’ve met some beautiful people here and from all over; they’ve come from everywhere around the world and made Australia their home. And, honestly, they’re so beautiful.”
She may be in her late 70s, but Marilyn, the grandmother of eight and great-grandmother to two, has no plans to retire again any time soon.
“I’ll be happy if I can do this crossing for a few more years,” she said.
“The little kids, they’re so gorgeous. And the big ones, too. They often come up and give you a cuddle. And it’s lovely, it makes you feel a part of everything, you know; that you belong.”
18°C