50 years ago, July 1976
Rochester's two Kevins – Kevin Radley and Kevin Hanson – showed the way in the sixth heat of the Goulburn Valley Handball Championship, when they took out the prizes donated by Fernell's Electrical Store, of Shepparton.
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Rochester's Radley and Hanson defeated the Mooroopna combination of Barry Freer and Brian Dunlop in the GVL section, and in the open division disposed of Cobram, Katamitite and Picola.
Although the Rochester Football Club is on the bottom of the Goulburn Valley League ladder, the two Kevins showed they are no slouches when it comes to handball. Congratulations to coach Kevin and full-back Kevin on a great effort.
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Victoria's irrigation communities (including local towns) are not only feeling the crunch of the present rural economic crisis.
They are also threatened with permanent disaster if the ‘’White Death’’ of salinity is allowed to continue its slow but inevitable destruction of hitherto productive irrigated agricultural regions.
In association with the Victorian Farmers Union (Land and Water Committee) and the Victorian Private Water-Diverters Association, the Victorian Irrigation Research and Promotion Organisation (VIRPO) will stage an ‘’Irrigation Environment Survival Rally’’.
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At the annual meeting of the Rochester Young Farmers Club, the area adviser, Mr Don Dennis, said the Rochester club had become one of the strongest in the northern area.
Mr Dennis congratulated club members and office bearers on their fine effort and wished them continued success.
The club's success showed out in the report of the retiring president, Bryan Griffiths, who said that a large increase in membership, and members, Joan Jenkins, Greg Laurie and John Lees, winning the ‘’Age’’ $300 award for their essay ‘’Why Farm?’’, were two of the highlights of the year.
25 years ago, July 2001
More than 3000 hours of restoration work and 10 years' struggle has resulted in one of Elmore’s oldest buildings, the Athenaeum Hall, being brought back to its former glory
The newly restored hall in Michie St, which was all but demolished in 1992 after being vandalised and left derelict, now has a bright future thanks to the efforts of a small group of concerned Elmore residents.
The work to rebuild the public hall built in 1886 became a painstaking process for Elmore's Save the Athenaeum Hall Committee, as many bricks were missing from the walls, the interior, floors and windows had been totally destroyed after years of misuse.
Committee members set out to rebuild a facility that would benefit the entire community and ensure that its history was retained.
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Rochester's Mick Baker thought he knew a bit about the greeting card business until he travelled to the American headquarters of Hallmark Cards.
The newsagent has just returned from a three-week greeting card industry independent retail study tour where he was given the chance to view Hallmark operations in Las Vegas, Kansas City and Chicago.
He joined more than 30 card company representatives and retailers on the tour of Hallmark's retail markets in the United States, its distribution and design companies.
Mr Baker said he was blown away by the whole process.
‘’One of the things that I was amazed by was the fact that Hallmark's distribution centre in Liberty, near Kansas was under a 37 acre roof,’’ he said.
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Rochester and Elmore District Health Service is without a chief executive and financial officer following Jeanette Wharton's resignation, for personal reasons.
Ms Wharton's resignation, effective at the end of July, was revealed when Victorian acting Shadow Health Minister Maree Luckins announced moves to install a ‘consultant’ to manage the hospital in the interim period.
Ms Luckins said she had spoken with Ms Wharton last week about her decision to resign and believed the announcement highlighted the increasing ‘crisis in confidence’ amongst the staff with hospital management.
10 years ago, July 2016
After 46 years of garden growing, Rochester and District Garden Club members are hanging up their spades, drying out their gloves and getting ready to watch the weeds grow.
Through all those years the club has gathered like-minded garden lovers every Tuesday to hear from guest speakers, enter competitions, visit flower shows and share green secrets.
They’ve visited beautiful gardens, enjoyed countless suppers and sparked scores of friendships with an active and loyal membership — but as the years go by it becomes harder to meet club commitments.
Merle Carr still remembers the inaugural meeting of the club, with 56 people present, including seven from Kyabram’s group.
It was July 10, 1970, Margaret Harley has the handwritten minutes to prove it.
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Rochester clearly likes what it sees in playing coach James Flaherty and has extended the backman’s contract until the end of 2018.
Club president Max Hann confirmed the news, stating the Tigers’ board had been impressed by the professionalism of Flaherty since his first day at Moon Oval in November 2014.
‘‘We wanted to lock down our coach for the next few years and James was the obvious choice,’’ Hann said.
‘‘He has provided a lot of success for us on the field, but I think more importantly he has been fantastic for the club off the field as well.
‘‘James is a big part of our future and we as a club are thrilled to see him sign on for another two seasons.’’
Flaherty said he felt lucky to have started his coaching career at such a great club and said there wasn’t much to think about when the offer was tabled.
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Rochester’s Shamrock Hotel publican Ian Crouch is pretty happy.
After months of building works on his damaged pub, he could finally unveil a new and improved balcony and structural work.
Two men escaped injury on February 25 when a motorist allegedly blacked out and smashed into the historic hotel.
Builders attended the scene shortly after and spent the next few months improving the verandah and structural integrity.
‘‘It’s as strong as ever,’’ Ian laughed.
‘‘We’re happy to have her back showing off to the public.’’