Tongala lawn bowlers made it back to back premierships in the Campaspe Playing Area Division one pennant grand final and while Kyabram was strongly represented in the Goulburn Valley Playing Area, it did not fare as well. A Sunrise Estate development was given the green light to continue and the Stanhope community launched an unsuccessful fight to keep its Community Bank branch. The historic Kyabram West Hotel was burned to the ground and not long after the Kyabram Hotel (widely known as the Blue Brick) re-opened after being closed for three years. Stanhope community legend Bob Holschier celebrated his 90th birthday, one of several well known identities to reach the milestone in 2023.
Back-to-back for Bulls
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Tongala was crowned the Campaspe Playing Area weekend pennant division one premier for a second consecutive year after a thrilling seven-shot come-from-behind win against Rich River.
Skip Steve Hammond continued his superb finals series display, leading Tongala to a massive 31-8 shot win in the first rink over Rich River skip Peter Nesbitt, which ultimately proved the difference.
As was the case in the first semi-final, Tongala only won one rink, yet this time around the result was much more emphatic, with the 23-shot differential unable to be clawed back by Rich River in the remaining two rinks.
Tongala’s win marked back-to-back flags for the club, having triumphed over Echuca by one shot last year, while Rich River’s division one premiership drought will extend to 24 years.
Sam Lyon, who played in the Jarryd Tinning-skippered rink, said Tongala always believed it could win despite the overall board not being in its favour until quite late in the match.
“The overall board wasn’t looking too good. They got a bit of a gap on us and broke away, but we always kept the never die attitude during the game,” Lyon said.
Green light for development
Campaspe Shire withdrew its objection to the 33-lot second stage development of Kyabram’s Sunrise Estate.
A February Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing was not required after “common ground’’ was found at a compulsory conference between the council and developer Vic Properties.
The result ended what had been a two-year wait for some of the 26 people who purchased their blocks with the intention of building their home within a 12-month time frame.
Seven lots remain unsold in what is the second of nine planned stages, which will see the estate grow to 300 homes by the end of its development.
Campaspe Shire refused to grant a permit for the expansion of the estate based on advice from the Department of Transport, which had concerns with the intersection of Breen Ave and Allan St and was suggesting that traffic lights may be required before the expansion of the estate could continue.
Only one stage of Sunrise Estate has been completed, 30-plus homes currently on site, which were developed several years ago.
Vic Properties not only owns the Sunrise Estate land, but a further 70-acre property to the south of the site that has the capability of providing 500 new homes in Kyabram.
The developer has agreed to pay for a Traffic Impact Assessment report on behalf of council.
Fight for bank branch
Stanhope launched a fight to keep its own banking facilities after being informed that its Rushworth and District Community Bank agency would close on May 29.
The March 1 letter from the Rushworth-based organisation came as a complete surprise to the owners of the Birdwood Ave supermarket that houses the agency.
In the letter, the reason given for the closure was customers’ increased use of online and phone banking services.
Supermarket staff said they had not noticed a decline in use of the agency and that use of the facility had remained consistent for several years.
The agency is located in a specially constructed corner of the Stanhope supermarket, which was purpose-built when the agency relocated from the Stanhope Business Centre.
A public meeting was held in response to the announcement and letters were sent to the Tongala and Kyabram community banks inquiring if they may take it on the branch.
Historic hotel destroyed
The historic Ky West Hotel burned to the ground on Monday, March 20.
Firefighters responded to a call to a fire at the hotel on Graham Rd, west of Kyabram and south of Tongala, just before midnight.
CFA District 20 commander Darren Crawford said the building was completely alight when the first firefighters arrived on the scene only minutes after the call.
About 30 to 40 firefighters fought the blaze. It took about two hours to get it under control as it was difficult for firefighters to get close, Mr Crawford said.
The fire was extinguished by 4am.
Mr Crawford said the blaze lit up the night sky all around and the brigade was called by a nearby resident who noticed the flames.
No-one was in the hotel at the time of the fire.
In the daylight on Tuesday, the only things left standing of the weatherboard pub were the chimney and a part of the back of the hotel.
Fire investigators were on scene early Tuesday morning to try and find the cause of the fire.
Mr Crawford said the hotel had been an “icon of the community”.
“It’s a huge loss to the community,” he said.
Kyabram claims thrilling premiership
Kyabram’s giant-killing division six team came from third on the ladder to claim the Goulburn Valley playing area’s 2022-23 premiership.
The thrilling three-shot victory came with a 62-59 scoreline after the team had finished the home-and-away season with seven wins from 12 matches.
Kyabram beat Yea by six shots in round six this year, but when the teams met on February 11, they could not be split, and each finished with 55 games for the afternoon.
The grand final scoreline was right in the middle of those two results as Bob Mason and Ray Harrison both skipped their rinks to victory.
Bob Holschier’s 90th
In a year when several community leaders turned 90, including Campaspe Shire’s first mayor Mary Bowman and fundraising queen Win Crilly, Stanhope legend Bob Holschier celebrated his 90th birthday.
His speech at Stanhope Senior Citizens Hall centred around the best two decisions of his life — his proposal of marriage to Floss and his 1964 decision to buy a dairy farm at Stanhope.
He married his wife of 68 years only a week shy of his 22nd birthday and the couple looks on track to celebrate a rare achievement — a 70-year platinum wedding anniversary — in 2025.
“Two of the best things I’ve ever done in my life was marrying Floss and moving to Stanhope. I was a mad gambler as a teenager, before I met Floss. That slowed me down,” he said.
“And then coming to Stanhope was the second best thing.”
Bob and Floss, now 92, had four children but tragically lost Debbie when she was 22 and Greg at 25, both from natural causes.
The Holschiers’ two sons were at the celebration, with John travelling from Benalla and Russell from Mitcham.
Landmark re-opens
A 124-year-old Kyabram landmark was back in business.when the iconic Kyabram Hotel re-opened its doors to the public after three years.
And the new lessees want the pub to be known by its original name — The Kyabram Hotel — rather than the ‘‘Blue Brick’’ or ‘‘Bluey’’, which has been its popular title over the past 60 years.
The pub has had a thorough spruce-up for its much anticipated return with its façade now boasting a gentle grey appearance, and its former tinted street windows have been replaced by large transparent ones.
The pub’s new lessees — general manager George (Zac) Zaharakis, consultant Rob Bottazzi and director John Zurcas — have more than 100 years’ experience between them in operating hotels and restaurants and are confident they can make a success of the venture.
John is a member of the Zurcas family who ran one of northern Victoria’s most famous pubs, Shepparton’s Goulburn Valley Hotel, for more than 30 years.
Rob currently runs Hotel Traralgon in Gippsland. Zac and John will the run the Kyabram Hotel.
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