A sea of broad-brimmed hats and blue, white and red flags filled Mooroopna’s Ferrari Park on January 26, as cockatoos screeched from the towering gum trees in a fitting setting that was iconically Australian.
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As the smell of sizzling sausages free for the crowd of around 200 wafted through the air, guest speakers and dignatories took to the microphone to talk proudly about their country and their region, specifically Mooroopna.
And, to honour the postcode of 3629’s Citizen of the Year, Monsignor Peter Jeffrey.
Monsignor Jeffrey was born in Bendigo in 1938 and educated at the convent there before attending the Marist Brothers school and being sent to boarding school in Ballarat.
After completing an eight-year seminary course, he was ordained in 1963.
He served in several Victorian parishes throughout his time, including Cohuna, Beechworth, Heathcote, Shepparton and Mooroopna, and held major leadership roles, including rector of seminaries in Melbourne, Fiji and Auckland and director of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria.
Monsignor Jeffrey says one of his most memorable achievements was being named Prelate of Honour by Pope John Paul II in January, 2000, receiving the title of Monsignor.
He later became well known in Shepparton and Mooroopna as appointed Parish Priest of St Brendan’s Catholic Church in 2002.
In 2012, Monsignor Jeffrey moved to New Zealand, but his stay was cut short after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and returned to Australia for treatment.
He returned to the Goulburn Valley when he was well again, becoming the Parish Priest of St Mary's Mooroopna, until he retired last year.
He promoted building relationships and understanding with the region’s rich cultural and religious diversity.
Monsignor Jeffrey was also chaplain at Shepparton drug and alcohol rehabilitation residency The Cottage.
He continues to live in Mooroopna following his retirement.
“I notice we were all singing, ‘let us all rejoice, for we are young and free’, now I'd say, yes, I'm free, but I don’t know that I'm so young, but I do hope I'm young at heart,” Monsignor Jeffrey quipped when he took to the microphone after receiving his award from City of Greater Shepparton councillor Kieron Eddy on the scorching summer’s Australia Day.
“And it is a great honour to receive this award and to have our members of parliament and councils here present. So thank you for your attendance.
“As I look back over my life, I was initially refused entry to the seminary because my dad had a brother who had epilepsy, and it was thought that that wouldn't be any good because I might have an epileptic fit in the middle of the Holy Mass.
“But, fortunately, they consulted specialists, and they said that that could now be under control.
“So I must say, this is a great honour for me to receive this acknowledgement.
“I enjoyed very much my time here in Mooroopna.”
The Mooroopna Australia Day event, which was presented by the Kiwanis Club of Mooroopna with support from Greater Shepparton City Council, the Rotary Club of Mooroopna, and Mooroopna Guides and Scouts began with an Acknowledgment of Traditional Custodians and a flag-raising ceremony, before Sara Bodey and Kathleen Parry entertained the crowd with Australian songs.
The keynote speaker at the morning event was Disaster Aid Australia chairman and former Mooroopna resident Peter Faulkner, whose parents — Frank and Margaret Faulkner — were also honoured on the day with the official opening of a Rotary Club of Mooroopna-funded fitness park in their memory.
Cr Eddy — elected councillor of the Lower Goulburn Ward, which includes Mooroopna — made a passionate speech, before state Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell, Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell, state Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe and City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali addressed the crowd.
Goulburn Valley Motor Vehicle Drivers Club also put on a vehicle display at the event.