Great memory of Clive
Among the many tributes, former Free Press boss Ian Purdey related a side-splitting story about Kyabram funeral director and town stalwart Clive Coventry at his well-attended memorial service in Kyabram last week.
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In the 1970s, Clive was a keen duck shooter who reluctantly had to refuse an invitation from mates for an opening season shoot in NSW to attend more serious and sombre business.
He then got a call from those mates who had sent an SOS revealing they had shot 93 ducks — yes, 93. But they were deeply concerned just how they would get them all through the fruit-fly roadblock on the Murray River at Echuca-Moama because they were well in excess of their bag limit.
Clive immediately swung into action.
‘‘Meet you at Mathoura and we’ll sort it out,’’ he told his mates.
The mates were a bit surprised, to say the least, when Clive arrived in Mathoura in a hearse and proceeded to transfer 85 of the ducks into a coffin in the back of the hearse.
When they got to the Echuca roadblock and after the inspectors had checked out his mates’ duck tally and had given them the green light to proceed, Clive rolled up in his hearse.
When he reached the checkpoint, there was no checking for ducks, just a salute from the officers who unwittingly paid tribute to the 85 deceased ducks in the coffin!
Fatal crashes
Two more deaths on the region’s roads last week.
A Rushworth man was the latest casualty after his white HiLux ute ran off the Euroa-Shepparton Rd on Wednesday, September 27 and struck a tree.
The 91-year-old died at the scene.
Another road fatality in the Strathmerton area occurred on Tuesday, September 26 when a vehicle left the road and hit a tree on Bourchiers Rd near Old Coach Rd between 10.30am and 11am.
The driver died at the scene.
The latest deaths bring the tally to 36 on the region’s roads this year.
Something fishy
A very fishy story.
A Kyabram man and serial fisherman was visiting a mate last week when he came across a mysterious find outside the mate’s Cooma Ave home: a large yellowbelly.
A check of the gills suggested it hadn’t been long caught and Aub’s theory was it was a generous gift for a mate, who is reported to have had a lean run of late trying to catch edible fish.
Shares available in renowned company
If you’ve got a whole lot of spare change, you may be interested to know some of the Deniliquin district’s historic and iconic properties are up for grabs, with shares in the Australian Food and Agriculture Company for sale.
AFA is a large-scale, diversified agricultural business established by the late Colin Bell in 1993 with his acquisition of the historic Burrabogie station.
The Deniliquin aggregation up for sale consists of Boonoke, Wanganella, Peppinella, Baratta, Zara and Warriston properties and includes the globally renowned Boonoke and Wanganella merino studs.
There are reports the portfolio could be sold for as much as $700 million, so you’d need a fair bit of that spare change to do business.
Deni Ute Muster a success
And while mentioning Deniliquin, its annual Ute Muster at the weekend again lived up to expectations.
More than 18,000 people attended, with 60 per cent crossing the Victorian border to attend the iconic event, which attracted 7949 utes, slightly down on last year.
Even NSW Premier Chris Minns sampled his first Deni Ute Muster.
Dry conditions across the GV
It’s becoming a dry argument weather-wise, but fingers crossed it is better on Tuesday and Wednesday, when good falls of rain are predicted for the eastern Goulburn Valley area.
Up to Monday, just 0.4mm of rain had been recorded since September 9 and only 12mm for September, which has a long-term average of 41.7mm.
Kyabram’s rainfall had reached 316mm for the year, below the average of 340mm.
This time last year, Kyabram had received 380mm of rain, but in the final three months of 2022, it recorded a further 347mm, a whopping 219mm of this total recorded in October.
The rain tipped for this week will be welcomed, particularly by grain growers and those who don’t irrigate, whose crops are calling out for a drink.
Cooma on the lookout for female cricketers
If you are a female and would like to have a crack at playing cricket, Cooma Cricket Club would love to hear from you.
Cooma is fielding a side in the Goulburn Murray Women’s competition for the first time this season and is chasing prospective recruits.
The club has appointed club stalwart and president Adam Hubble as coach, and training sessions are held on Tuesdays from 5pm.
Any females who may be interested can turn up, or call the coach on 0438 984 220.
Manhunt the state’s largest for many years
That recent manhunt for gunman Stanley Turvey was the biggest conducted by Victoria Police for eight years.
The hunt started at Katandra West, progressed to Youanmite, Finley, Yarrawonga and ended back in the Goulburn Valley at Tatura and, finally, Ardmona, where Turvey was shot dead by Special Operations Group police at a property.
He had forced a man at gunpoint at Youanmite to drive him to Finley.
The last big Victorian Police search also involved the northern Victoria area in 2015 when father and son Gino and Mark Stocco shot a property caretaker in the stomach with a pump-action shotgun.
The pair dumped the grandfather’s body in scrub, burning his clothes and stealing some money and his boots.
They were both given a 40-year sentence for an eight-year crime spree, which ended in a “cold-blooded” murder.
Age is more than a number
Mega field days at Elmore and Henty this year have something more in common — their age.
Last week, the Henty Field Days celebrated its 60th birthday, and this week, the Elmore Field Days will reach the same milestone.
The Elmore event started yesterday and continues today and tomorrow.
Tasty result
Cobram’s Hungie Fangs bakery can make a mean banana chicken curry pie.
The pie has just been judged the winner of the Poultry Pie Category at the Official Great Aussie Pie annual competition.
It defeated up to 600 entries in its category and overall, the competition drew entries from 1500 bakeries across the country.
Hungie Fangs head baker James Walker revealed it took a month to get the exact measure of ingredients ‘spot on’ to make the award-winning pie.
The bakery also produced the second-placegetter in the potato pie category.
It can also produce a tasty vanilla slice, with placings in the Great Australia Vanilla Slice Triumph conducted earlier this year at Merbein.
New mayors
Berrigan Shire has its first Indigenous mayor.
Cr Julie Cornwell McKean has been elected by fellow councillors and said she was looking forward to serving the Berrigan Shire for the next 12 months.
She takes over from Matthew Hannan, who had held the position for the past seven years.
Deputy Mayor Carly Marriott was re-elected.
NSW’s Murray River Council also has some new faces at the helm after last week’s elections.
Cr Frank Crawley was elected the new mayor, replacing Chris Bilkey, who didn’t seek re-election. Cr Neil Gorey was elected deputy mayor, also unopposed.
Greater Shepparton pushes for date change
Greater Shepparton City Council’s push to change the current date for Australia Day is gaining momentum.
This time last year, the council resolved to advocate to the Federal Government for the current January 26 date to be changed for the national holiday.
At its recent meeting, councillors voted to cease hosting and supporting Australia Day activities from next year.
Square Dinkum
Square Dinkum is back.
Our former contributor of this segment in Traps is making a comeback after COVID-19 and will again keep readers amused with his jokes and thought-provoking humour, such as:
G’day.
Last night, after dinner, my wife asked me if I could clear the table.
Well, I had to take a really long run-up … but I did it!
Been feeling pretty pleased with myself ever since.
Hooroo!
Did you know?
1. Dingoes are more closely related to the Indian wolf than dogs and do not bark. Instead, they howl.
2. The only two mammals in the world that lay eggs are found in Australia — the echidna and platypus.
3. Australia has the world’s largest population of feral camels (wild camels). There are an estimated 1.2 million camels roaming around 37 per cent of the Australian mainland across Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
4. There are 10 times more camels than koalas.
Sports reporter