Town Talk | Feedback and musings

We didn’t make our family Easter Day gathering, due to COVID-19 creeping its way through one of the local households. Had the five of them got it at the same time, we’d have been fine; however, that didn’t happen, with two still testing positive on Easter Saturday. No problem — postpone for a week. Except, this time it was my husband and I.

We’d neatly avoided it for three years — but not this time.

Your Town Talk

From the phone conversations I have had, I am aware that many of you have stories to tell; some part of your lives, happy or difficult or simply interesting, that you’d be willing to share. Many of you are happy to talk, but not to write.

So, here’s what I’m suggesting. Why not talk to me and I’ll write them for you?

I know what you are going to say here: ‘but I’m a private person’. Of course, you are — we all are, and there are parts of our lives we would never want to share. But what about the rest of it? You don’t have to use your legal name (I don’t — though many of you know it anyway!) Town Talk was always intended to be about you — not me.

I get ‘thanks, that was nice’ notes from you that I rarely publish because they are about me — not you. But I really want to write about you. Please have a think about that funny little thing that happened when you were on holidays; or why you went back to study in your adult years; or what you think about our town and its communities. Perhaps your daughter is successful, in another part of the world — tell us about it, share it.

Here is my ‘private’ mobile number, 0409 317187. Many of you use it anyway and it ceased being private a couple of years ago. Why not give me a call? If it’s an inconvenient time, I’ll tell you and call you back. Truthfully, I’m happy to talk to you most of the time. Call me — even if just to have a chat.

This week, I received this note, which is largely about Jeanette.

Hi Marnie, what a beautiful story about Jeanette Powell. I am a National Party member and know Jeanette very well — very caring and lovely lady. Your story was beautifully done.

Cheers, Wendy

My thanks

While we are talking about Town Talk, I want to thank the many of you who have responded to recent stories — in a different way.

Thanks for calling in to see Lauren Kiss at her beautiful boutique florist shop. She tells me she had some wonderful comments. And thanks to those who wanted a taste of the delicious offerings at Tinto Kitchen. I am told they had quite a few “fresh faces”.

You are strongly supporting local business and the young entrepreneurs who are creating them, and I thank you.

Devenish, Dookie and district

I know it is late to be talking about the Good Friday Appeal, but I ran out of space last week — and the Devenish/Dookie people just blow me away.

While the people on the telethon were trying to figure out where Dookie is, I was trying to call to give them some population details, but to no avail.

There are 208 people in Devenish, 303 in Dookie and, let’s make a guess, perhaps another hundred in the district. That’s around 600 people who raised $120,000 for the children of this state.

Yes, I guess they had assistance from the broader community; I know my son, along with other Shepp musicians, was in Dookie on Good Friday to help out, but, nevertheless, the amount of work involved in raising this total is amazing. In the whole of regional Victoria, they were only beaten by Ballarat — population around 117,000.

My personal congratulations to the people of Devenish and Dookie. What you have achieved is almost unbelievable.

And a long, long way from our town

The entry of Robert Kennedy Jr into the presidential race in the USA could well affect the whole world. It seems incredibly brave, given his family history.

He says he is standing as a Democrat. Surely he can’t run against a sitting president? Perhaps he’ll run as an independent.

There is no compulsory voting in the USA and given the choice between Messrs Trump and Biden, voters would probably stay home, in their millions. Mr Kennedy, however, is a fish of a different colour — born to lead. He could become a leader of the free world, with huge support.

I’ve always believed that, in our country and theirs, there is a large group in the ‘sensible centre’ who cannot support the extremes, on the edges — but, sometimes, have little choice. This is the group who could vote for Kennedy in their millions.

It will be interesting.

Our housing situation

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Linda Nieuwenhuizen’s column in this newspaper and hope you’ve been reading it also. Linda is chief executive of the Committee for Greater Shepparton, and recently clarified our housing needs.

She says we need 400 new homes per year — for the next decade. However, they don’t all need to be family-sized three or four bedrooms. There is a demand for smaller apartments also. There is no doubt in my mind that we have the building capabilities to meet these needs, although Dennis Family closing the Shepparton hub is a bit of a blow. The Shepparton office has been successful for more than 25 years; in fact, leading the way for many of those years — and the plan to centralise the business in Melbourne seems a vague hope to me.

Nevertheless, we have the construction capabilities to meet our target.

The problem is — and has been for some time — timely land availability. If developers can get on with their jobs of providing build-ready land, we could be okay. But we watch with interest; we need 400 homes each year, to allow this city to grow.

Happy birthday, Murray – 100 years next Sunday

Twelve months ago, I wrote about Murray Slee’s huge contribution to Shepparton — including 31 years as a councillor. Today, I’ve been reading about his football career. I have seen letters from the Footscray and Melbourne football clubs, inviting him to come and play. I have read reports of him training briefly with both Melbourne and St Kilda — but, always, he came home. He was Shepp’s best and fairest in 1948 and 1949, the league’s best and fairest in 1949 — and, at the end of that year was asked by both Mooroopna and Shepparton to be captain-coach. Unsurprisingly, he chose Shepparton and coached until 1952.

Perhaps this quote from a newspaper cutting says it all: “When Murray Slee is in a hurry, it is usually diplomatic to give him the green light. Murray is bigger and better than ever.” (1952).

We wish Murray all the best for his 100th birthday on Sunday, April 23.

The Biennial Greater Shepparton Cultural Heritage Awards

The awards will be presented next Saturday; however, if you are keen to attend, please check with Melanie Squires on 5832 9576 regarding seat availability.

These awards are important for many reasons, and I’ll quote from the brochure — something I didn’t write but wish I did.

‘Our cultural heritage is about more than maintaining buildings. It’s about conserving our unique identity, ensuring our children can learn about their history — and helping us build from the past to make a better future for all.’

Bye for now, everyone!

May it be easy, my friends

Marnie

Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au

Letter: Town Talk. Shepparton News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton 3631.

Phone: Send a text on 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back, if you wish.)