Reflections of the Past

— Councillor RS Rankin was the guest of honour recognising him being honoured with an OBE.

He had been a member of the shire since 1951 and was three times president. His two sons, Ian and Russell, attended as did his brothers.

— An advert for Major’s Big Star Supermarket had some interesting prices attached to items.

An 80-ounce tub of Bulla ice cream was 52 cents, a packet of Birds Eye frozen chips (1 pound) was 24 cents, a box of 100 two-ply tissues was 23 cents and a half pound block of Kraft cheese was 18 cents. A 100-foot roll of Glad Wrap cost 43 cents.

Deney’s grand winter sale also had some special offerings. Among them denim boys jeans for $2.50, men’s work socks for 50 cents and, from the furniture department, a three-piece lounge suite for $105 and a recliner lounge chair for $25.

— Band Box Salon was officially opened by Mary and John Hocking.

Margaret Arendt was manageress of the store, while Jeanette Moore, Lee Foster and Christine Cummins also worked at the salon — which had a phone number with two digits, 57.

1980

Rochester was on top of the Goulburn Valley ladder after four rounds, with three wins and had just beaten Echuca by 29 points. Peter Fuller kicked four goals in the win and the ruck domination of Bill Nalder and Ron Haring was dominant. Tony Windridge was best on ground.

— A planned 10-bed nursing wing at Rochester hospital was a step closer after $121,000 in funding was secured through a Federal Government grant.

The appeal for the geriatric wing had been launched three years earlier and board members had been waiting for the announcement.

— John and Shirley O’Bree became the new owners of Rochester fruit supply in Gillies St.

They came from Kyabram, where Mr O’Bree had been the manager of a timber yard. A big change was the business being open on Sunday.

— Mother’s Day adverts featured a Speedie semi-pro styling dryer for $17.45 and an ironing board for what seemed like an expensive $25.50.

Dishwashers were all the rage and Ann Barry was the choice of any for flowers.

— Popular infant welfare sister Margery Nicoll announced she would be retiring after 34 years working in the field.

She started with Rochester shire in 1946 and had since cared for children from Rochester, Lockington, Elmore and Goornong.

The four centres had 2000 attendees in the previous 12 months.

Ms Nicoll has been involved in Guiding and was planning to retire to Shepparton.

— Rochester apprentice electrician Chris Langdon was named the top apprentice for Bendigo region in his trade.

Chris was employed by Rochester firm of Frank Godden and was in the final year of his apprenticeship.

— Rochester businessman Reg Ellis launched a range of colourful stickers containing comical messages about Rochester — to remind people of their visit to the town.

The stickers and cloth badges available were proving popular with people — Mr Ellis selling them from his Rochester mower service business.

— Ron Haring was best man on the ground for the GVL interleague team in its round-one Winfield championships win against Ballarat.

The Yackandandah-raised ruckman had been a star all year for the top-of-the-table Tigers.

— A dozen St Joseph’s Catholic Church debutantes and their partners were involved in at the Rochester community centre.

Karen Tyres was page girl and Greg Knight page boy.

— Peter Fuller kicked 11 goals as the Tigers extended their record on top of the ladder to 7-1 after a 88-point win against Tatura.

Mark Mackinder, Russell Holman and Rob McConnell were the other stars of the win.

1990

Andrew Shearer was named the Apexian of the year for the region.

He suffered from a degenerative nervous system disease, but had not let it stop his community involvement.

— Rochester lost its TAB agency when it was removed from the Shamrock Hotel.

It was a further blow for the hotel, which had recently been robbed of $11,000.

The TAB had been closed temporarily after the robbery, but the permanent closure followed.

— Shire president Judy Weller officially opened the Murray Goulburn farm and Hardware supplies store.

Peter Symington was the store manager and Gerry McCurry was a key employee.

— The continued redevelopment of Murray Goulburn’s factory in Rochester resulted in plans for a new roundabout for the town.

Manager Matt Papp outlined the plans for the roundabout on the corner of Mackay, Elizabeth, Bridge and Campaspe sts.

He also criticised council for holding up the development of the company.

Council and VicRoads had given the green light to land purchasers, which would mean a change to the intersection.

— Kate Hudgson and husband Daryl welcomed their sixth child into the world — only days before Mother’s Day.

Brady Daryl Hudgson was born in May 8 and is a brother for Nathan, Gregg, Ainsley, Amanda and Erryn.

— Sir Edward Weary Dunlop launched a Rochester hotel for the aged appeal, which was at $147,000 at the time.

The total amount required for the appeal was $621,000.

Mr Dunlop, still a practising surgeon at 84, spoke to the audience for 45 minutes prior to launching the appeal.

2000

Navy marine technician Ben Fraser returned home from East Timor to March in the Anzac Day parade at a rochester.

He had served on HMAS Sydney for the last month as part of the mission.

He had spent time with his parents John and Marg at Rochester since returning and celebrated his 21st birthday while home with family and friends — Chris Eeles was then principal of Rochester Secondary College.

Ms Eeles and his wife, also a teacher, along with their two children were planning to live in the town.

— Scott Hansen was best on ground for Rochester in its 48-point win against Kyabram.

Jeremy Campbell and John McNamara, who kicked five goals, were among the best with Chris and Simon MCCarty.

Robbie Gray bagged three goals and Brenton Gray also kicked three goals.