Alpine Division 300823

ON THE SLOPES

TOP skiers Seve de Campo (left) and Fabian Stocek would have undoubtedly been disappointed that the Kangaroo Hoppet was cancelled last week as they would have been podium contenders.

Mr De Campo is an Australian national Team member, Beijing winter Olympian and winner of the 2023 Australia New Zealand Continental Cup, while Mr Stocek won the 50km Konig Ludwig Lauf event at Oberammergau in Germany earlier this year and spent some time at Falls Creek training with the national team and competing in the National Championships the week before the Hoppet.

But the event’s cancellation didn’t stop keen skiers.

Instead the coaches of the Australian national team organised a 25 km time trial for the top athletes on the Falls Creek trails.

Meanwhile, other international skiers took part in a self-tracked cross country ski so they could receive accreditation in the WorldLoppet series.

• Story page 20.

A preliminary assessment

THE Deague Group has confirmed they will be undertaking a Preliminary Risk Screen Assessment (PRSA) of the Bright Valley site.

According to a spokesperson for the Deague Group, the Alpine Shire Council asked Deague Group to engage an independent auditor to conduct a PRSA , at an August 21 face-to-face meeting.

The meeting was attended by Deague Group CEO Will Deague, Alpine Shire CEO Will Jeremy and Mesh executive director Chris D’Silva, they said.

Mesh is a Melbourne-based planning consultancy contracted

Deague Group confirms they will undertake PRSA of Bright Valley site gpygy

for project management and strategic advisory services for the Bright Valley development.

According to the Deague Group spokesperson, a completed PRSA, or if determined, a full environmental audit, will be a requirement by council before the issuing of a statement of compliance for Stages One and Two.

A statement of compliance is issued by council once all conditions of a planning permit have been met.

The spokesperson said the

Deague Group is currently in the process of seeking auditors to provide scope of works and their proposal.

Speaking last week, they said the Deague Group expects an auditor to be formally engaged by this week.

According to the Environmental Protection Authority Victoria, PRSAs help determine if a site requires an environmental audit, while an environmental audit is a further assessment of any risks of harm to human health or the environment due to contaminants,

waste or other activity.

A 2023 Preliminary Site Investigation also recommended the site undergo a PRSA.

According to that report, the PRSA may require field investigations and soil sampling with oversight by an Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) auditor.

According to the Alpine Shire Council website, the approval of the planning permit application for the Bright Valley Development has not yet been approved, and the decision will be made at a

future council meeting.

The Deague Group has confirmed the Bright Valley site was exposed to pesticides during its use as a tobacco farm around 40 years ago.

Alpine Shire CEO Will Jeremy said council’s planning team is currently undertaking an assessment of a permit application for the Bright Valley site.

“When we are satisfied that due diligence has been completed, a recommendation will be presented to council for decision at a public meeting,” he said.

Rotary hosts students from Denmark and Germany y y Our international visitors

By LEAH ANDERSON-BYRNE

MYRTLEFORD has been host to two new arrivals for just over a month now, with Rotary exchange students Soren Koch-Larsen and Viktoria Risnyovszka taking in the local sights.

The two teens have been enjoying their time at Myrtleford P-12 College after more than 22 hours travel time from Denmark and Germany. Soren, 15, said he’s done plenty of travelling but Australia is his favourite country so far.

“I come from Denmark and I traveled over Dubai; It took 20 hours straight flights and I spent two hours in Dubai Airport,” he said.

“I love traveling, I have traveled with my parents almost across the whole of Europe and a bit of Asia and Africa, and then I wanted to try travelling on my own and being

independent and see the world with my own eyes.

He said while Rotary had given him a variety of countries to choose from, he chose Australia because his parents spoke highly of the country after staying for two years.

“The biggest difference between here and Denmark is people’s behaviour; here you are going to pay in the supermarket and the cashier starts talking to you, in Denmark they look at you weirdly and do not say a word,” he said.

“I can’t say one moment is my favourite, I have to say moments; I think meeting new people and skiing with some of them was so nice.

“Normally I don’t like bus driving when I go up for skiing but this time it was nice, because everyone had so much to tell and

show and were kind and friendly.

“There haven’t been many things to adjust to, just talking in another language all day has been hard for me.”

Viktoria, 17, travelled from Germany and said she really wanted to see kangaroos.

“I wanted to do a youth exchange and my friends were with Rotary so I did it too.

“My three choices of places to go were firstly Australia, second was Brasilia and the last was Norway.

“Australia was number one because it is on the other side of the world and I would like to see kangaroos and I want to see the culture and make new friends and see how the life in Australia is going.

“And have fun and meet new people and make friends for the rest of my life.

“I think the time difference is the biggest, Germany is eight hours behind us and it was a little bit hard to come in to the time in Australia.

“Maybe also the side of driving on the road; the first days I would sit on the wrong side in the car.

“The best moment was when I saw the kangaroos for the first time because I love kangaroos and it was so interesting to see them.

“In Germany we also don’t wear school uniforms, we are going to school in casual clothes, and another difference is I hear English for 24 hours a week.

“School in Australia is so much easier than in Germany and the classmates are friendlier.

“To find friends in Germany is not so easy but in Australia I made friends the first day of school.”

WELCOME TO OZ: international students Soren Koch-Larsen and Viktoria Risnyovszka have been staying in Myrtleford for the past month thanks to a Rotary exchange program.

PHOTO: Brodie Everist

Cub Scout reaches her peak with Grey Wolf award

By BRODIE EVERIST

INTREPID local Cub Scout

Louise Benci has been awarded the Grey Wolf award - the highest award a Cub Scout can earn and considered the pinnacle of Scouting for Cubs.

Members of the 1st Myrtleford Scouts, along with Scout regional commissioner Darren Leckie, gathered at the Myrtleford Piazza last Thursday evening to award Louise the Grey Wolf, which is also known as a peak award.

In order to receive the Grey Wolf

award a cub scout must have met a series of milestones, including planning and leading an adventurous journey of at least four hours duration, and meeting Stage 3 in all three core areas of bushcraft, bushwalking and camping.

Louise said she was excited to receive the prestigious award and enjoys being in the Cub Scouts.

“It’s adventurous and we get to do all sorts of things,” she said.

It’s even more remarkable that she has received the award after only two years with the cubs.

To meet the required five nights

of camping for the badge, the 11-year-old has camped at Mount Buffalo, Nug Nug, while another camping trip is planned in September for the ‘Cuboree’ in Gilwell Park at Gembrook.

Badges Louise has received recognise her efforts in raising money for Reach Out Wildlife Australia, learning about bushfires, making a scout uniform for a doll, making crystals and helping the Joey Scouts for a some weeks.

Cub unit leader Joanna McIntyre said Louise’s award was the first Grey Wolf awarded in the

No injuries in Ovens crash

A FAILURE to give way resulted in a three-car crash at Ovens on Sunday, but no passengers were injured, according to Leading Senior Constable David Goodley of Myrtleford Police.

Sen Const Goodley said two cars collided when one entering Happy Valley Road failed to give way, and then the two cars collided with a third.

He said no-one had been injured and the ambulances at the site of the crash were merely precautionary.

According to Sen Const Goodley, no speeding was involved in the incident, but he reminded motorists to take care and slow down on the roads. The crash occurred around midday, he said, and was cleared after about a hour and half.

Art Prize entries now open

THE Myrtleford Show Art Prize has returned for 2023 with a $1500 prize pool.

All artists are invited to create a 20cm x 20cm mini masterpiece for the competition on Saturday October 28.

Myrtleford Scouts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s really exciting for the group,” she said.

“It’s also exciting as her unit Akela and it’s been a privilege to help her achieve the award.

“She’s come a long way from when she first started.”

Ms Mcintyre also said it was important to acknowledge Louise’s supporting family as well.

“We ask a lot of her as a Cub Scout to achieve the peak award, and she needs that supportive family to help her achieve,” she said.

First prize is $500, second prize is $300, winner of the People’s Choice award will take home $300, while the highly commended prize is $200. Winners of the secondary student and primary student categories will receive $100. Registration and the submission of one 20x20 canvas costs $10, any addition canvas is $10 each.

Entries close September 30. Contact myrtlefordshow@ bigpond.com for more information.

Everton hall comes alive with a night of bush dancing

A LIVELY bush dance was held at the Everton Hall on Saturday evening.

Hosted by the Everton Hall and Sports Committee’s asset management committee, the dance was funded by the Rural City of Wangaratta’s Emergency Recovery Program.

During the event, the committee made a special presentation to local resident Ron Dawson for his contribution to the Everton community over many years.

While Ron was unwell and unable to attend, the speeches were livestreamed on the group’s Facebook page to enable him to watch from home, and his service certificate was presented by Rural City of Wangaratta councillor Harry Bussell to

Ron’s neighbour and friend Davina Machin. Committee president Ruth Kneebone said Ron and Maree Dawson moved to Everton in 1973 for Ron to take up the role as primary school principal. He taught at Everton for 11 years when the school had 58 pupils, and left after six years, before returning in the 1980s for a further five years.

Ron and Maree initially lived in the schoolhouse, then built their own home in Diffey Road before purchasing a home in Great Alpine Road where they now live.

During Ron’s 50 years in Everton, he was a brigade member of the Everton CFA for 45 years from 1974 to 2018 and served as chair for 13 years, from 1986 to 1998.

He served on the Everton

COMMUNITY FEELING: Residents of all ages enjoyed Saturday night’s bush dance at the Everton Hall.

Hall committee for six years and was president for four of them, from 1975 to 1978.

Ron has always maintained an interest in community matters.

One of the conditions of his teaching appointment

was that both he and Maree play tennis for Everton, just as the previous teacher had.

He attended his first meeting of the Everton Tennis Club in 1973 and was elected secretary for two years, then vice president of the Everton

United Tennis Club in 1975, and he continued playing into the early ‘80s.

Ron undertook a key role in the development of the Everton tennis courts, culminating in their opening in 1983 and development of the rebound wall behind the school.

Ruth said the community was excited about the redevelopment of these courts as they ticked over their 40th year, with a grand opening set for October.

She said Ron was passionate about the Ovens River, and was the government appointee to the Ovens River Management Board in the early ‘80s, becoming something of a community spokesperson on river matters.

“Ron also makes himself

available for musical pursuits. I remember his calling bush dances in this hall when he was a member of ‘Bush Telegraph’ a predecessor of the band we have tonight,” Ruth said.

“We have also enjoyed Ron’s expert guidance through our Australia Day singing, and he even took on the role of choir master one year for some of our more senior female singers.

“Ron, you have often taken on senior roles in our community and have earned the respect and friendship of those around you.

“We know you will be watching, so with the best wishes of everyone here tonight, we wish you well and thank you for the many years of service you have given to this community.”

DIB DIB DIB: Louise Benci (left), pictured with members of the 1st Myrtleford Scouts and Scout regional commissioner Darren Leckie, received her Grey Wolf award last Thursday.

PHOTO: Brodie Everist

Nurses dispute backpayment arrangements with Alpine with Health

ALPINE Health is currently in dispute with nurses at Mount Beauty Hospital over incorrect allowance payments that date back to at least six years, with nurses alleging current overpayments are unfairly recouping senior nurses’ owed back payments.

According to a statement from senior nurses at the hospital, they allege multiple entitlements have not been paid for over six years, consisting of crib payments, annual leave entitlements, change of roster allowance and higher duty allowances.

However, they allege the current overpaying of night nurses’ crib allowances across the hospital is unfairly recouping some of those wages.

Former associate nurse unit manager at Mount Beauty Hospital, Lavon Garrett, said the health organisation had underpaid their afternoon shift crib payments, but is currently overpaying night nurses’ crib payments.

Crib payments are provided when nurses are unable to take a meal break.

In the nurses’ statement they said senior management at Alpine Health became aware of the lack of crib payments for senior nurses’ at Mount Beauty

Council decides on Tawonga South land

THE Alpine Shire Council was set to decide on the purchase of land in Tawonga South fronting the Kiewa Valley Highway for a public toilet at their monthly meeting yesterday.

According to the council plans, the council was to decide on purchasing a parcel of land at 244-252 Tawonga South (next to Bogong Ski Hire), for four unisex toilets, a small car park and a pathway to the West Kiewa River.

Council stipulates the design is not finalised.

At the meeting council was to receive the results of their 2023 community satisfaction survey, which consisted of phone interviews with 400 shire residents.

Council was also to decide on two planning applications, including the development of two food and drink premises, seven dwellings, two shops, and an office at 228-230 Kiewa Valley Highway in Tawonga South.

Councillors were recommended to issue a notice of decision for the planning permit, signalling council’s intention to grant the permit.

We’ll have full coverage of last night’s meeting – held after we’d gone to press –in next week’s edition.

BY BRODIE EVERIST beverist@ nemedia.com.au

in November 2022.

They said these payments were reinstated, but the overpayment of night nurses is ongoing, meaning the continuing overpayment subtracts from their owed wages.

“This is wage theft,” the nurses’ statement reads.

“The underpayment to Alpine Health nurses need to be paid immediately.”

According to Ms Garrett, between six and eight currently employed senior nurses are impacted by the underpayments.

Nurses across Alpine Health are currently in discussions with the health provider over a Change Impact Statement (CIS), which is a tool used by workplaces to consult with workers on upcoming changes, to rectify the inconsistent payments.

The proposed CIS says where an individual has been overpaid and underpaid these payments will be reconciled to determine backpay, but Alpine Health will not recover money from any nurses if they have been overpaid overall.

However, the nurses’ statement says the CIS should have no bearing on their unpaid entitlements, as some nurses at Mount Beauty will lose money compared to nurses who have never been underpaid.

“They’re punishing us for owing us money,” Ms Garrett said.

Ms Garrett said the Mount Beauty nurses are asking for the two payments to be separated, as currently they must agree to the alleged overpayment, which some nurses dispute, before receiving money they are owed.

“All we are asking is for them to be dealt with separately,” she said.

In a statement sent to the Myrtleford Times and Alpine Observer, Alpine Health said they are aware of the inconsistent application of the nurses’ enterprise agreement and they have been “working with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Victoria and the Victorian Hospital Industrial Association (VHIA) to address the issues surrounding the payment of these allowances”.

The said with support from the ANMF, Alpine Health have presented staff with a detailed CIS for discussion and consultation.

“The Change Impact State-

ment proposes an agreed understanding that will ensure the correct application of the crib allowance and a method of the treatment of historical payments over a six year period,” the statement reads.

“A series of consultations with clinical staff, the ANMF and Alpine Health are currently underway to discuss the Change Impact Statement and work towards an agreed way forward to resolve the issue, including ensuring that no clinical staff members will be left owing monies to Alpine Health.”

Alpine Health chief executive officer Nick Shaw also said the consultation process surrounding the CIS “provides staff the opportunity for discussion, questions to be raised, and alternate perspectives to be presented”.

“Alpine Health acknowledges the crib allowance has been applied inconsistently across the sites and recognises the importance of providing clarity to our staff on this issue,” he said.

“The consultation process provides the opportunity for that clarity and an agreed way forward to resolve the issue.”

The ANMF were contacted for comment but did not respond before deadline.

REMUNERATION ROW: Former associate nurse unit manager for Mount Beauty Hospital, Lavon Garrett, wants Alpine Health to pay nurses’ owed wages before there is any agreement over changes to current payment arrangements.

PHOTO: Brodie Everist

OVERPAYMENTS AND UNDERPAYMENTS CAUSE ANGST FOR SENIOR NURSES

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Barwidgee Park gets a facelift

A PLUCKY team of volunteers gave Barwidgee’s Toner Park an early spring clean last Saturday, with workers targeting woody weeds and invasive plants, as well as the removal of dead trees and fallen branches.

The working bee was one step in a plan between council, landcare groups and combined service clubs to beautify the park.

“We have partnered with Mudgegonga Landcare and consulted with the Alpine Shire in developing plans to better look after the park,” Myrtleford Landcare president Paul Reser said.

“Important in this effort has been the involvement of local residents as

well as members of Mudgegonga and Myrtleford Landcare Groups who donated their time and effort today in beautifying the park.

“Further woody weed control will be undertaken by the Shire as the weather warms, and we have plans for revegetation with native species to follow.

“In addition, a donation by the Combined Services Clubs of Myrtleford will see replacement of the picnic table and the installation of a bench along Barwidgee Creek.”

Toner Park is located at Barwidgee, and serves as a gateway to Myrtleford for those travelling from Yackandandah and beyond.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Regular Myrtleford stories conclude

IN the late August edition of our local newspaper in 2021, Myrtleford Historical Society undertook to maintain contact with the community throughout COVID by preparing a fortnightly feature on local history.

After preparing 80 stories over two years in this series, each one requiring two to three days of research, the upcoming feature on the State School Pine

Plantation will be the final one published.

From time to time in the future, there may be opportunities to respond to requests for a feature on a special topic.

The list of potential topics is still a long one, to be sure.

On a personal note, I wish to thank those readers far and wide who have contacted me about story content and shared their recollections of people, community and events. Quite a few have expressed how they have waited for the fortnightly feature, wondering what was

coming next! I have also appreciated the prime role of Times/Observer journalists in getting the stories together one week before publication. I have worked with five people, all professionals, over these two years. In conclusion, given the breadth of topics shared over this time, I now hope additional people will want to learn more of the “Myrtleford Story” at the Old School Museum.

John C Taylor, OAM President Myrtleford & District Historical Society Inc.

LETTERS to the editor must be signed with the full name, address and contact telephone number of the author provided. Letters under 250 words are preferred and we reserve the right to edit letters to fit available space. Nom de plumes will only be published at the editor’s discretion. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by this newspaper.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Myrtleford Times and Alpine Observer would like to thank John Taylor for his fortnightly feature stories over the past two years. His quality contributions have helped us make an interesting and informative newspaper, which is greatly appreciated.

We wish John all the best and encourage readers to visit the Old School Museum on Elgin Street for a comprehensive display of the town’s history. John’s feature on the school pine plantation can be found on page 9.

Email: edit.timesobserver@nemedia.com.au

Post: North East Media 76 Standish Street, Myrtleford, Vic 3737

PARK PROGRESS: Volunteers at Toner Park were hard at work last Saturday targetting woody weeds and invasive plants.

Voice panel discusses constitution, and fields audience questions

ATTENDEES filled the Bright Courthouse for the Voice to Parliament information session last week night, with constitutional expert Kim Rubenstein, research fellow James Blackwell and Independent MP for Indi Helen Haines laying out the reasoning behind the upcoming referendum and answering questions from the audience.

After introductions from Dr Haines and Stacey Doleman, who is active with the local Yes campaign, Mr Blackwell spoke on the history of the Voice proposal.

He said the Voice proposal emerged out of the Referendum Council, a group appointed to investigate recognising Indigenous people in the constitution, and who established 13 regional dialogues across Australia.

Mr Blackwell, who is also a Wiradjuri man, said instituting the Voice in the constitution means it cannot be repealed by parliament, unlike previous Indigenous bodies.

“Those bodies that have come before had two key flaws,” he said.

“The first is that they’re responsible to the minister that also pays them, so it’s

BY BRODIE EVERIST beverist@ nemedia.com.au

hard to give frank and free advice.

“The second flaw they had was that they are at the whim of the government.

“The government had the ability to shut them down very easily and we’d have to start from scratch again.”

In response to a question over funding the Voice, Mr Blackwell and Dr Rubenstein said the Voice is likely to save money by improving government spending.

“Yes, democracy and access to representation does cost on one level,” Dr Rubenstein said.

“But when we think about the amount of money that is spent on Indigenous policy and issues, to this day, it’s a considerable amount of money that could be better spent and more targeted if we had the right advice.

“There are many arguing that this will actually save the country money.”

The current constitutional amendment only asks Australians whether they sup-

port the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice; further detail will be managed by Parliament, said the panel.

“We’re voting here on the principle, and then we’re

No stance on voice debate: council

THE Alpine Shire Council has ruled out taking a stance on the Voice to Parliament referendum.

“Alpine Shire Council is not taking a position,” a council spokesperson said.

“Council’s role will be to support equitable access for members of its community to information from all sides of the campaign in the upcoming referendum.”

The position of local councils was thrown into the public spotlight earlier this month after Greater Shepparton Council threw its support behind the ‘Yes’ vote.

Councillors endorsed a recommendation to support the establishment of an

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament at their August 15 meeting.

Some Melbourne councils have also voted to support the Voice, including the City of Melbourne, the Merri-bek City Council and Yarra Ranges Council.

Locally, the Rural City of Wangaratta council has confirmed it will not be taking a position.

As part of the Australian

Government’s commitment to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a referendum will be held between October and December this year.

The Voice would be an independent and permanent advisory body that would give advice to the Australian Parliament and government on matters that affect the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

going to have a discussion on the detail,” Mr Blackwell said.

Dr Rubenstein said the constitution is a broad framework, allowing parliament to be flexible to the

needs of the current population, meaning it would be inappropriate for the constitutional amendment to be overly detailed.

“We’ve got design principles already that are out

there that are likely to inform the power of the government of the day that will introduce this bill,” she said.

In response to a question about the constitutional amendment ‘re-racialising’ the community, Mr Blackwell said the “Australian Constitution speaks very harshly in racial terms”, and this amendment can recognise the significant history of Aboriginal people in Australia.

“Indigenous peoples of this continent have for too long been second-class citizens in this document,” Mr Blackwell said.

“Up until 1967 we were explicitly second-class citizens and we weren’t recognised as people in this document.

“In recognising that history, we want to bring our communities in line with the rest of Australia, and equally create the quality of outcome and equality of inclusion.”

The session in Bright was one in a series across the North East last week, with the panel having held a session earlier that day in Myrtleford and another in Wangaratta the previous Sunday.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATION: Independent MP for Indi Helen Haines (left), Professor in Law Kim Rubenstein and ANU research fellow James Blackwell with copies of the Australian Constitution.

PHOTO: Brodie Everist

PEOPLE AROUND TOWN

Linda Parkinson

How long have you lived here?

I moved here in 2015 with husband, Mike and Jack Russell Terrier, Chloe. We lived by the bay in Werribee South for 10 years before our Mount Beauty ‘tree change’. The decision to move had been brewing for a while and when we found our ‘Goldilocks’ house we made the leap.

What do you like about living here?

I enjoy being part of a vibrant community, being surrounded by the most beautiful valley in the Australian Alps and having Victoria’s tallest peak, the majestic Mount Bogong, on the doorstep. Would you like to see any changes or additions ?

I truly appreciate everything this town has to offer and the way the community comes together to support each other. While there is so much to love, there is always room for growth and improvement. We can especially watch out for each other and prepare, as we approach the potentially drier and hotter summer season.

What do you do, your hobbies and interests?

I volunteer full time with Alpine FM, our local community radio station. What an incredible asset for a small community to have. We celebrate the station’s 20th anniversary this year and acknowledge the work done by Mary Smith and the founding committee. A dedicated team

TAWONGA SOUTH

of volunteers led by station manager Michael Ahearn makes sure the station is on air 24/7, and you can hear local voices presenting their diverse sounds, local news and information.

Tune in to 96.5 FM in the Kiewa Valley, 92.9 FM in the Ovens Valley or listen live from our website or your radio app. Alpine FM is your local emergency services broadcaster.

Where would you take visitors to showcase the area?

There are a few special places I’m always excited to share. Whether it’s discovering the magic behind our radio waves, meandering along the serene river walks, exploring the heights of the alpine high plains, or savouring the flavours of our local cafes, our town has an array of experiences that truly showcase the essence of our location.

Nici Nieuwland

How long have you lived in the area?

Nineteen years.

What do you do for a living?

I was a registered nurse for 30 years. Then I got to work with Steph, who owns the shop here (Greystones Antiques). Steph closed the shop after COVID and now her mum, Lorraine and her dad Phil have taken the shop over. They replenish the shop from Melbourne every couple of weekends, I manage it from here.

What are your hobbies and interests?

I love painting, reading, gardening, doing up furniture and I love cooking. I don’t have enough hours in the day.

What do you like about the area?

I’ve lived all over the world and I think, for me, this is one of the most beautiful areas in Australia. It’s absolutely stunning wherever you go, not just Myrtleford, but all the surrounds, even the trip to Albury. It’s still really country and peaceful.

Where would you take visitors to showcase the area?

Mount Buffalo, the mountains generally. We’ve got a beautiful lake just outside of Myrtleford, I would certainly take them there. And there are so many beautiful walks to do.

Is there anything you would change about the area?

No, I wouldn’t, it’s beautiful.

MYRTLEFORD

Paul Lewis

How long have you lived in the area?

I moved up here when I was 15. We came up here for holidays when I was probably eight years of age.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a carpenter, building supervisor - I’ve been doing that for years - and I’m still on the tools. Over winter I do snow chain hire business here.

What are your hobbies and interests?

Fishing, but I haven’t done that since COVID. I’m quite happy. I met a girl nine years ago, she’s a cooking teacher at Bright P12 College, and I’m happy doing things with her. Life’s fantastic; my eldest son turns 32 tomorrow, we’ve got two grandkids, and my youngest son is 29 and he’s got a really good business going.

What do you like about the area?

I love the people. This is my 22nd year doing chain hire, and I don’t advertise nothing at all.

Where would you take visitors to showcase the area?

Mount Buffalo first - Buffalo is a beautiful, gorgeous mountain. Mount Hotham second because of the view. Also Lake Buffalo out of Myrtleford, that is absolutely a magnificent view out there.

Is there anything you would change about the area?

We have got busier because of tourism, but that’s life. If they do have that 300-lot subdivision they should have affordable housing there. We can’t get workers in Bright, you can’t afford rent. They need housing where people actually can afford to live here.

BRIGHT

Radio regulars return for 20th anniversary celebration

THE Mount Beauty and District Men’s Shed are holding an open day for members of the public on Tuesday, September 5 at 12 noon.

You can come earlier but the free BBQ lunch will be starting at noon.

Come along and have a look around the shed including the new west wing, see what projects are happening, have a bite to eat, there will be plenty of socialising.

Feel free to bring a friend and introduce them to the Men’s Shed. No need to book.

ON Wednesday, August 23 Alpine FM (formerly Alpine Radio) celebrated 20 years on air.

A special dinner was organised for volunteers past and present, with a large crowd in attendance, including recent past president Nick Brown, who made the trip from Adelaide.

Nick gave a tribute to presenters and volunteers who have since passed away, a very touching speech.

A delicious cake with theme was made by Elene Wood.

The cake was inscribed with a quote from Mary Smith, a founding member, who said “Ordinary People Engaged in

By FAY MASON, Kiewa Valley Correspondent

an Extraordinary Enterprise”. Mary Smith sent a congratulatory letter to be inserted in the Alpine FM Newsletter.

It states: “At 1pm on Saturday 23rd August 2003 the first official sounds of Kiewa Valley Community Radio Association Inc as Alpine Radio 96.2 FM resounded loudly throughout the Kiewa Valley with ‘The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music’ followed by ‘Nothing Gonna Stop us Now’.

There was a special treat of a running pictorial of volunteers past and present.

Foundation members at the dinner included Yvonne Sutton, (whose husband Bill was a foundation member, sadly now has passed away)

Paul L’Huillier, Rob O’Connor, and the first president Ken Reid.

KEEPING up the celebrations for their 20th anniversary, Alpine Radio will be running a bumper raffle with prizes valued at over $2000, kindly donated by local businesses.

Tickets are free, so don’t miss out on the chance to win this fabulous prize.

The Alpine Radio crew will be in Bright on Thursday, August 31 and at the Mt Beauty Market on Saturday, September 2.

Come up to the Alpine FM van to secure your ticket.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

ON the Alpine FM Brunch program today Ann Dickinson will be interviewing composer David Hush, who will be conducting the premiere of his latest work performed by the Partridge Quartet on Saturday, September 2 at the Community Centre in Mount Beauty.

Bar opens at 7:30pm for an 8pm start. Tickets available at the door.

I will be having a two week break from the Brunch program, but stay tuned for some great music.

TUNING IN: Station manager Michael Ahearn and Alpine FM president Linda Parkinson.

History of the school pine plantation

By JOHN TAYLOR OAM, Myrtleford and District Historical Society Inc.

UNTIL 2010, a pine plantation on Reform Hill overlooked Myrtleford; it was created out of interest generated within a group of parents in 1924, when David Black was head teacher of the old Myrtleford State School 955.

Discussions led to a plantation being established under a covenant between the Department of Public Instruction and the school community in 1927-28, which now had Mr C F Butler as head teacher.

It was known as the ‘Myrtleford Primary School Endowment Plantation’ and some 36 parents were listed as project supporters.

Today, these covenant documents, dated February 2, 1928, are held by the Myrtleford & District Historical Society Inc.

They record that the plantation was initially allocated 60 acres (24 hectares) by the Department of Crown Lands & Survey “from above Albert Street to the end of the spur”.

Trees eventually grew along the full length of this area above Robertson Street, from the Albert Street intersection around to above the old Standish Street saleyards (where Banool Avenue is located today).

The plantation expanded to reach the rear of homes on Power Street and Halls Road.

Later, two other plantings occurred adjacent to the town water reservoir to the north of the original acreage.

Local community representatives who signed off on the 1927-28 Covenant on February 2, 1928 included wellknown members of the community: the Rayner, Teakel, Hill, Trahair, Elvish, McDonald, Lowerson, Ablett, Clancy, O’Donnell,

Macaulay, Luth, McGeehan and Barton families.

It is significant to note that at this very same time the first steps to develop softwood plantations at Ovens, Merriang and in the Bright area were also under way.

The objects of the school plantation at the time were varied: “to promote among pupils ideals of diligent labour” which would “benefit the school in later years”.

Other reasons included a need to “beautify our wastelands with conifers and other suitable trees” and to “increase our timber supplies, rendering us less dependant on other countries”.

The so-called “wasteland” had been degraded by gold mining and removal of timber for fencing, building

COVENANT DOCUMENT, 192728: The Trust Deed, signed off by the Lands Department, head teacher and school council representatives, acknowledges the role of the plantation and commitment of the school community.

Environment and the Friends of Reform Hill as an opportunity to revegetate the cleared plantation above the town with up to 50 different native species.

Environment, Friends of Reform Hill, the Historical Society and Landcare.

In particular, on planting days over some twelve years and reminiscent of students of old, local year 9 and 10 secondary students and their teachers have planted 6000 trees, co-ordinated by the Friends group and the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action.

and firewood supplies.

Plantation responsibilities included fencing, seedling raising and then planting and weed control.

Each child was assigned responsibility for their own trees, all identified with a designated number.

The stand of pine trees overlooking the town above Robertson, Banool and Power streets was a popular vantage point for photographers in the 1920s-50s period, before the opportunity was lost as pines grew in size.

For children, after school and at weekends, the pines were a popular venue.

Eventually, with the

approval of the Forests Commission of Victoria, proceeds from harvesting would be released for the benefit of the school.

Amajor harvest of 30 year-old pines and planting of 2000 new seedlings by students from the Consolidated and Higher Elementary Schools occurred in 1961.

Then, plantings as far back as 1947-48, the mid1960s and early 1980s were harvested in 1995 and 2010.

Harvesting the 2010 trees was seen by Myrtleford P12 College, the then Department of Sustainability &

It also provided an opportunity to develop a walking track to a second Reform Hill lookout and install historical signage on a new “Mining Loop Track”.

These signboards highlight streets and buildings in the town and display images taken by photographers in the 1930s and 50s. Bushwalkers now recapture some of the old panoramas and can access clear views to the north of the town.

Much work has been done to the old plantation site to realize its potential with a co-operative effort from local schools, the Victorian Department of

The efforts of these students, often in cool conditions prior to Spring, built on the early days of the Friends group from 2001 which had restored the Hume and Hovell Monument precinct (with a primary school tree planting crew), funded the erection of signboards along a renewed track network in the south east section of Reform Hill State Forest and designed the historical signage at Paul’s Gold Crusher.

The old State School Pine Plantation, which began as a training ground for young arborists, a venue for their nature study and a source of future school funding, now adds to Myrtleford’s attractions.

Revegetation of this site contributes to the quality of the air we breathe, the variety of birds and animals we see and is an example of climate action in a small country town.

REFORM HILL FROM BANOOL AVENUE, 2011: Old tree stumps and mine workings are exposed after harvesting concludes.

REFORM HILL PINE PLANTATION HARVEST UNDER WAY, 2010: Taken from Albert Street, this photograph shows contractors removing the pines above the town, ending over 80 years of planting and harvesting on the site.

MYRTLEFORD HES PLANTATION CLEARING, 1957: Senior students from the Higher Elementary School pay a visit to Reform Hill where clearance of native trees and scrub is being undertaken.

DAVID BLACK, HEAD TEACHER, MYRTLEFORD STATE SCHOOL, 1923-26: The instigator of discussions to propose creation of a pine plantation near School No. 955.

MYRTLEFORD STATE SCHOOL PANORAMA, 1920s: A ‘Rose Series’ image of the town captures the old school and playground as it was in the mid-1920s, from the slopes where young pines would be planted by the end of the decade.

Op shop thanks Op thanks long-time volunteer volunteer

By BRODIE EVERIST

VOLUNTEERS at the Bright Hospital Op Shops have thanked former Bright resident Lois Matthews for her long service with the store, following Ms Matthews’ relocation to Bendigo in June.

Volunteers Barbara Davie and Eileen Hunter said they wanted Bright residents and regular op shoppers to know that due to health issues she has moved to Bendigo to be closer to family.

Both were effusive in their praise of Ms Matthews, saying not only had she been a competent treasurer for 20 years, she was also instrumental in the Bright op shop gaining the second shop at 26 Ireland Street, which is big enough to house large

furniture and seating.

“Statements and everything were down to the last cent,” Ms Davie said.

“She did her job, always spot on and ready for the meetings.”

In fact, Ms Matthews had been a familiar face with the op shop for so long that volunteers couldn’t recall the length of her tenure with the store, but Kelly Matthews, her daughter, confirmed Lois had been working there for a remarkable 26 years.

Ms Davie and Ms Hunter also said how friendly Ms Matthews was.

“When I first came here eight years ago and I wanted to volunteer she was the first person I spoke to,” Ms Hunter said.

“She was so friendly and so inviting that you just felt

comfortable - and that’s how she was.”

Martyn Paterson, landlord of the smaller op shop at 12-14 Ireland Street (also known as the ‘top shop’), said he wanted to thank Ms Matthews on behalf of himself and his wife.

“We have always appreciated her practical and sound judgement, and freely given advice with the running of the op shop,” he said.

“We are beholden to just a few who give so much to this community over so many years, a contribution that directly impacts on the services and facilities available to all.

“To all those volunteers, thank you.

“Those in leadership positions are especially important – Lois’s contribution is immeasurable.”

Confidence grows as market settles

By LEAH ANDERSON-BYRNE

HOUSE and unit sales in

the Alpine area are tracking as usual for this time of year, though noticeably lower than last year.

The local market is reflective of CoreLogic’s regional market report which showed just 2566 sales in the Hume region which is 25.3 per cent lower than one year ago, and 19.8 per cent below the five year average for the region.

Dickens Real Estate Sales manager Gerard Gray said the market seems to be settled back into its rhythm after a rough patch.

“It’s tracking very normally, though sales are definitely lower than 2022,” he said.

“The market came to a screeching halt for some time but it feels like it’s settled back into a rhythm for us now and is the normal, pre-COVID market.

“Sales numbers are looking usual and the market, whilst its come back in pricing and has settled well above pre-COVID levels,

peaked in February/March 2022 and prices have settled since then.

“Right now what we’re seeing for winter is normal; typically more owner occupied than renter and very little holiday home enquiry within the marketplace.

“In terms of house value it overall feels like everything comes back 10 per cent.

“The rough median price of houses in Bright would be $1.15 million.

“Houses are spending an average of 60-90 days on the market and its spread out well, this is again reflecting the few years leading up to COVID.

“There are certainly genuine buyers there and as it stands there’s nothing new buyers need to know about what the market is doing.

“Because those numbers have settled again we’re seeing quite a bit of local movement with both buying and selling as it’s added to local confidence that the market is usual at the moment.

“That market rhythm is being reflected with local buys.”

For the full regional report, go to https://www. corelogic.com.au/newsresearch/reports/regionalmarket-update.

LOCAL CONFIDENCE: Dickens Real Estate sales manager Gerard Gray said local housing prices have settled.

VIVACIOUS VOLUNTEER: After 26 years volunteering for the Bright Op Shops, Lois Matthews has moved to Bendigo to be closer to her family.

Festival’s first time round a hit with dancers

By BRODIE EVERIST

AN estimated 500 people attended the first Myrtleford Mountain Music Festival at Club Savoy between Thursday and Sunday last week, with travellers and artists coming from across the state and beyond for the event.

Co-organiser Heather Hoffman, who also performed with her husband David, said it was a great sign for the festival that it had been so well-attended in its first outing.

“Thursday night was swimming, it was great,” she said.

“Friday night was really good, all day yesterday and last night was phenomenal.”

The festival featured rock and roll, gospel, and country, but Ms Hoffman said it was

mainly about the dancing.

“They’ve been doing line dancing all weekend,” she said.

“Thursday night they did partner dancing, line dancing, rock and roll.”

Melbourne residents Anne and Bob Prince travelled to Myrtleford for the festival and were planning to head to another festival in Corowa next weekend.

The pair regularly travel with their caravan around the east coast of Australia attending music festivals, they said, and particularly enjoy various types of partner dancing, including old-time and New Vogue styles.

“We clocked up quite a few kilometres on the dance floor this weekend,” Bob said.

Anne said they had enjoyed the music

program of the festival, as well as the large dance floor and food at Club Savoy.

“It’s a real treat for Myrtleford to have such a lovely venue,” she said.

Ms Hoffman said many attendees were travellers like Bob and Anne Prince, including some from South Australia and Tasmania.

“A lot of people will stay until tomorrow and then they’ll head off back with their caravans,” she said.

Whether the event will run next year hasn’t been decided, Ms Hoffman said, as they are waiting for the venue to review attendance numbers and other details, but she said they did seek feedback from attendees on what they could do next year, including artists they would like to see.

Mobile tower plans one step closer

Connectivity woes in Tarrawingee closer to being solved for residents who’ve had enough

By STEVE KELLY

A NEW 40-metre 4G and 5G mobile base station will be installed near Tarrawingee Recreation Reserve once a planning application is approved by the Rural City of Wangaratta.

Amlitel, which is part of the Telstra group, plans to submit a planning permit application to council in the coming days for the telecommunications facility comprising a 40m monopole, 6-panel antennas and associated equipment at 10 Nolan Lane (near the reserve).

Telstra regional general manager Jenny Gray said they’re making good progress in their work to deliver improved mobile coverage to Tarrawingee as part of the Federal Government’s Regional Connectivity Program (RCP).

“Under Round 2 of the RCP, we’ll be building a new mobile base station in the area, delivering improved 4G coverage and 5G for the first time to the region,” she said.

“We recently completed community consultation with nearby residents and we expect to submit our ap-

plication to council in the coming days.

“This is an important step in the process to deliver improved mobile coverage to the region and we look forward to working with the council and the community.”

Part of the consultation included a summary of levels of radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic energy (EME) around the wireless base station.

The proposal is part of Round 2 of the Regional Connectivity Program (RCP2) which is designed to improve telecommunications infrastructure and

digital connectivity across regional, rural and remote Australia.

Telstra has committed capital, as part of a co-investment with federal and state governments to the program.

Tarrawingee resident Barry McGrath said the town has been in desperate need of improved telecommunications services as it drops out often and it’s very slow to re-engage.

“Internet banking can be problematic and if you’re ringing places and they put you on hold and it cuts out, it makes it difficult and it’s

the same with the internet,” he said.

“It’s very difficult for business and a lot of kids are missing out from an educational perspective.

“The phone and internet are human rights and people are missing out but they’re being charged normal rates.”

Tarrawingee locals have been waiting some time for the new tower with Indi MP Helen Haines advocating for government funding before last year’s election.

A large component was the Tarrawingee community petitioning to improve connectivity in the area.

The funding was announced in April 2022, and prior to this Dr Haines wrote in her letter of support to the program and Telstra telling them that businesses which work and raise families in Tarrawingee were reluctant to invest or improve systems when there was no guarantee the technology would hold up.

“Upgrades and improvements of this nature are essential for townships like Tarrawingee that rely on modern technology to grow businesses, run farms, teach children and stay safe and healthy,” she said.

HAVING FUN: (from left) Rob and Phyllis Hall and Anne and Bob Prince had enjoyed dancing to the variety of musical styles at the Myrtleford Mountain Music Festival.

Schools’ Book Week bonanza

Primary school students dress up for Children’s Book Week yp

SCHOOLS across the Alpine Shire celebrated book week last week, with many students dressing up as their favourite characters from novels, comics and stories.

At Myrtleford P-12 College school librarian Kathleen Morgan said the school had their parade on Monday, where all primary classes participated in dressing up and a winner from each class was picked by herself and the library leaders.

She said they also had many related classroom activities throughout the week as well as a teddy bear sleepover in the school library.

Whorouly Primary School celebrated Book Week with a dress up parade of favourite book charac-

ters and their annual Library After Dark family evening, according to principal Pauline McPherson.

She said students led the evening highlighting an Australian author Ursula Dubosarsky and her book ‘Midnight at the Library’, written to celebrate the National Library.

“Families participated in a treasure hunt for books and students displayed their own published informative texts,” she said.

Similarly, at St Mary’s Primary School students spent the week celebrating books and Australian children’s authors and illustrators, according to administrator and teacher aide Lucia Southern.

Each classroom chose a book

from the shortlist and developed activities and told stories relating to the theme of the book.

Over at Wandiligong Primary School, principal Bob Clyne said the week commenced with a spirited Book Week Quiz, where teams formed across the school, each a mixture of different grades, coming together to unravel the mysteries of book-related trivia.

“Midweek we had a cozy day where students came to school in their pyjamas and ‘oodies’ and we served hot chocolates and marshmallows and kept warm reading books with our friends,” he said.

“Finally we had a dress up day and there were all sorts of wonderful characters on display.”

AROUND: Myrtleford P12 College student Zoe Robert as the Cat in the Hat.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE: Myrtleford P12 student Ishanya Sharma.

DRESSING UP: St Mary’s Primary School students (from left) Lexi Piazza, Lila Murray, Cameron Bonacci and Ben McLean.

DOOPITY-DOO: Wandiliogong Primary School year three students Kai Pywell and Jack Murphy dressed as Oompa Loompas.

Cricket stars visit town on teaching tour

By BRODIE EVERIST

TWO members of the Melbourne Stars Twenty20 team were in Myrtleford last Tuesday as part of a tour through the region, teaching cricketing skills to students at Myrtleford P12 College and encouraging participation in local cricket teams.

By around 9:45am students were in the full swing of activities run by the two cricket players, Liv Henry and Tom Rogers, with the students erupting in laughter in some of the games in the multipurpose room.

Cricket Victoria manager for the North East, Peter Brear, said

they had visited Wodonga schools yesterday, and after Myrtleford they would head to Whorouly and Oxley, before visiting Wangaratta the next day.

He said it was important to have the top cricketers at the sessions to inspire the students and help them see a pathway into the sport.

“The kids get a better appreciation that, oh, you’re just like me or the local down the road who’s now playing at the MCG,” he said.

“These kids can relate to their journey.”

Mr Brear said the activities had mainly consisted of mo-

tor skill development, but they started the hour-long session with a question-and-answer period for the students.

“The players love being involved and hearing from the kids,” he said.

Towards the end of the session the students were given a ball, a Melbourne Stars flag and a poster.

Many of the students had their posters signed.

Myrtleford P12 student Emerson Salvemini, who plays cricket with Ovens United and at home with his brother, said he enjoyed the session and particularly liked the teamwork.

Students have grande time at camp

By BRODIE EVERIST

STUDENTS of Italian from across the region were enjoying the sunshine at the Valley Homestead in Ovens last Friday morning, making Italian banners, cooking pizzas and even playing volleyball, but the three-day camp wasn’t all fun and games.

The LOTE camp saw around 110 students from Myrtleford’s Marian College, Galen College in Wangaratta, St Joseph’s College Echuca and Notre Dame Shepparton converge for an intensive study of Italian language and culture.

According to Marian College Italian teacher Anna Fin Genero, grade six students from St Mary’s Myrtleford and St Joseph’s Beechworth also visited on Thursday.

Co-founder of the camp, Franco Cudini, said it has been running since the early 1980s, but this is the first time it has run since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said they also had six Italian speakers from CO.AS. IT., also known as the Italian Assistance Association.

“The kids have a chance of really listening and hearing other people speak a lot

of Italian,” he said.

“We’re trying to create pretty close to an immersion camp - not full immersion, but a lot of the activities have

a lot of language.”

While the students were doing fun activities on Friday, they had been studying hard the previous days, Mr

Cudini said, with year 12s working on their upcoming exams, while other students had workshops in singing, theatre and art.

“They’ve worked really hard Wednesday afternoon and yesterday was a full-on day,” he said.

Mr Cudini also thanked Bastoni Pizzeria, of Myrtleford, for supplying the dough that students used to make pizzas on Friday.

Galen College year 12 student Chiara Lestino said she appreciated the intense period of practice in the lead-up to exams in October.

Marian College year 11

student Alessi La Spina said she enjoyed the activities and getting to know people from new schools.

She said her favourite experience was the banner making that students were undertaking that morning.

Chloe Pasquinella, another Marian year 11 student, said she particularly enjoyed the variety of activities on Thursday, including singing dancing and cooking.

“We did a lot of activities and then last night, we had a presentation where we did acting skits, dancing and singing, and then we had a disco,” she said.

RAISING THE FLAG: Myrtleford P12 College students (from left) Heidi Barry, Elsa Magyar, Tayla Walters, Mason Durling, Hunter Durling and Emerson Salvemini, with Melbourne Stars cricketers Liv Henry and Tom Rogers.

PHOTO: Brodie Everist

BELLISSIMO: Marian students (from left) Saskia Terlaak, Chloe Pasquinella, Helvina Murphy and Ryan Martin with art created in the style of Italian artist Modigliani.

PHOTO: Brodie Everist

ACROSS

3 What is a particular printing paper size (8)

7 Name a poisonous derivative of benzene (6)

8 Which term describes military weapons of all kinds (8)

9 What is another name for a lapwing (6)

10 Name a breathing medicine (8)

11 To be very excited is to be what (3,3)

14 Carson City is the capital of which US State (6)

17 Which alkaloids are used to treat malaria (8)

18 To go with short unsteady steps, is to do what (6)

19 What do we call one who mimics (8)

20 What is another term for revenue (6)

21 Name a lyric poem suitable for musical setting (8)

DOWN

1 What is a cup for the wine of the eucharist (7)

2 To be dishonest, is to be what (7)

3 Name a retailer of flowers, ornamental plants, etc (7)

4 What is an alternative term for ancestry (7)

5 Which musical composition resembles a short oratorio (7)

6 What items are used for plucking strings of guitars, etc (7)

11 Which mass is celebrated for the repose of the souls of the dead (7)

12 To have made a god of, is to have done what (7)

13 Name the art of folding paper into shapes of flowers, birds, etc (7)

E-QUATIONS

Letters A to Z have a number value. Some are shown in the right-hand cells. Create remaining values using clues in centre cells.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD QUICK THINK

SUDOKU

14 What is one of the external openings of the nose (7)

15 What is a bridge, for carrying a road, etc, over a valley (7)

16 Which document states a candidate’s success in an examination (7)

Find the following words in the grid. They may be read in any direction, even diagonally. Some letters are used more than once.

WHICH WORDS

BIYWORD

Build it yourself using the clues and each of the twenty-four letters once only to form ten words: five across and five down. A key word (bold clue) builds on the letter set in the grid.

CLUES:

Adolescence (5)

Close pal: ... buddy (5) Fervor (7)

Fifth note (3)

God (5)

Ground under a river (3) Inlet (3) Month (3) Physical (7) Skeletal materials

SOLUTIONS

Solve the crossword. Each answer has four letters.

Custom design, quality built

INSPECTIONS are a must to fully appreciate this impeccable three bedroom plus study custom built home, combining outstanding quality and comfort within a desirable Baltimore Estate location.

This sizeable home offers a seamless open plan kitchen, living and dining and all with high 2.75m ceilings.

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Appointed to a high standard, the home has twin ovens (Pyrolytic), dishwasher, an abundance of soft close storage along with excellent storage and butler’s pantry.

Designed to maximise natural light,

the emphasis is all about indoor-outdoor living.

This is truly a home to cater for all seasons, where glass doors lead you straight out to the expansive outdoor area.

Further enhancing this home is the inground salt chlorinated plunge pool surrounded by frameless glass fencing, established landscaping providing both beauty and privacy.

This lovely home provides a primary bedroom with spacious walk-in robe with custom cabinetry and an ensuite featuring an oversized shower, frameless glass,

Smartly designed, the two separated guest bedrooms all contain BIR’s and the main bathroom with freestanding bath,

porcelain tiles and generous shower.

Comfort is ensured with ducted refrigwhilst double glazed windows through-fort and quite enjoyment.

Let the house do the hard work for you with minimised expense as the 18 panelciency.

The home has shedding 3.6m X 5m with side access for caravan or trailer storage.

Please contact Danial Siperki at Nutrien Harcourts Real Estate to arrange your private inspection on 0400 027 473.

It’s the very best of rural outlook, residential living

LIVING in great properties is surely the aim for us all.

If you want central access to town with a rural outlook continue reading: designer built in 2006 on almost one third an acre, this four bedroom home has ducted heating and cooling, formal and informal dining and living areas.

It has an ensuite, separate large laundry, three toilets, powder room, bath, ample storage throughout for linen and supplies, double garage, remotes, 9m X 6m shedding with light, power, great indoor and outdoor living, decking, barbecue area covered and a space for any day of the year.

Further enhancing this property is a security system and a 6.6 KW solar unit.

It is located in a private central terrace, with only a paddock for a rear neighbour simply accentuating the beauty of the lawns, gardens and as-

Agent | Phone | Price | Location |

Nutrien Harcourts

5722 9444

$1,150,000

24 Vernon Terrace, Wangaratta

wangaratta.nutrienharcourts. com.au/L19190413

pect from every vantage point. Inspect to appreciate with Harcourts residential today.

FOR SALE BY EOI

TUESDAY 12 TH SEPTEMBER @ 12 NOON

TWO HIGH EXPOSURE COMMERCIAL INVESTMENTS 40 - 42 Rowan Street, Wangaratta

• Four tenancies across two titles – Gordon Gibson Nominees P/L (Retail), Gordon Gibson Nominees P/L(Consulting), Rural Housing Network Ltd & Water Technology Pty Ltd

• 40-42 Rowan Street (ground floor) - Anchored by second generation irrigation specialists, Gordon Gibson Nominees (established 1976)

• 3 year lease commenced 1 July 2023 with 3 x 3 Options. Annual net rental $90,000 +GST

• Second 3x3x3 lease provides additional net annual rent of $17,323 + GST (approx)

• 1/40-42 Rowan Street (first floor) - Leased to Rural Housing Network Ltd for 3 years commencing 1 July 2023 at a net annual rental of $86,324.88 + GST.

• The second 2 x 2 x 2 lease to Water Technology Pty Ltd commenced 1 July 2023 at a net annual rental of $24,687+ GST (approx)

• High quality, energy efficient building on large, central land holding

• 15 onsite, sealed car parks and fully landscaped with mature trees

• 17,000 average estimated daily traffic movements (sce VicRoads Open Data)

• 50% regional, commercial stamp duty concession available

EOI Closing Tuesday 12th September 2023 @ 12noon Terms: 10% deposit. Settlement 60 days.

TOYOTA YARIS CROSS GR SPORT

By ALISTAIR KENNEDY, Marque Motoring

AS the name suggests, the Toyota Yaris Cross is a version of the popular Yaris hatchback bulked up to provide access to the, even more popular, compact SUV category.

Launched here in late2020 Yaris Cross is available in both two-wheel drive and electric all-wheel drive variants in three grades: GX, GXL and Urban all with the choice between petrol or hybrid drivetrains. A fourth variant, and our test vehicle, the GR Sport, was added in October 2022 but only as a 2WD hybrid.

STYLING

Yaris Cross shares the distinctive styling of the Yaris hatch, the Cross SUV carries a sense of robustness and high-riding demeanour favoured by buyers of bigger genuine off-roaders.

Its bold face features a split grille with a lower diffuser, flanked by deep-set LED daytime running lights and slimline headlight clusters, while at the rear a squared-off rear hatch suggests a practical purpose.

Likewise, at the rear, the broad horizontal lines connecting the integrated taillights and squared-off rear hatch suggest a robust and practical attitude.

GR Sport sits between GXL and top of the range Urban grades and can be identified as a part of the GR family thanks to its newly designed black grille with the distinctive ‘G’ mesh pattern found on other GR

Toyota sports models.

The same mesh pattern is applied to the rear bumper, with a sporty rear diffuser featuring four vertically oriented aerodynamic fins.

Unique 18-inch alloy wheels with a twin-fivespoke design and bright machined finish also help to differentiate GR Sport from the rest of the Yaris Cross range, housing sporty red brake callipers complete with GR logos on the front brakes.

INTERIOR

While the platform of the Yaris Cross is only slightly longer and wider than that of the Yaris hatch, it features a substantially longer, wider and taller body to maximise interior space.

While the larger body translates into an airy space for five occupants, but the three in the rear shouldn’t be on large side.

Inside, the GR Sport is immediately identified by unique seats featuring synthetic leather on the bolsters and perforated black suede-like upholstery in the centre, with contrast light grey stitching on the seats and steering wheel.

Ornamental gun metal trim highlights are applied to the shift knob, instrument panel moulding and inner door trim, while suede-like material is also applied to the door trim inserts.

The Urban and GR Sport variants come with nanoe X air ionisation technology which helps to inhibit unwanted pollutants and viruses from the cabin.

Boot space in the 2WD Yaris Cross is 390 litres but

changes but no extra performance.

down to 314 litres in the AWD with a clever split floor for extra storage.

The 2WD gets a spacesaver wheel but the AWD only a tyre repair kit.

POWERTRAIN

The hybrid system for front-wheel drive versions of the Yaris Cross, including the GR Sport, combines a 67 kW / 120 Nm, 1.5-litre three-cylinder, Atkinson Cycle petrol engine and two motor generators on the front axle putting out a combined 85 kW.

AWD hybrid Yaris Cross models gain a third electric motor to drive the rear wheels in slippery on- or offroad conditions.

All variants get a continuously variable transmission with a mechanical first gear for strong take-off

A 10-speed sequential shift function that can be operated by the shift lever, or paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

SAFETY

All Yaris Cross models come with the latest version of Toyota Safety Sense technology include a precollision safety system with day / night pedestrian and day cyclist detection, emergency steering assist, lane trace assist and lane departure alert with steering assist, intersection turn assist, automatic high beam, road sign recognition and adaptive cruise control.

Standard equipment also includes eight airbags including two between the front seat, reversing camera, parking sensors, seatbelt warning and Isofix

child seat anchors.

GXL and above add a blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic alert.

DRIVING

Although its under 4.2 metres in length, clever packaging makes it feel like a much larger vehicle.

Its relatively easy to get into the front seats although a bit more difficult for rear entrants.

The GR Sport tag is a bit misleading because, although it adds plenty of styling enhancements, there’s no difference in performance from the other Yaris Cross models.

There have been adjustments to the tuning of the suspension which added extra firmness that was quite noticeable when we encountered bumps during the rural component of our drive route.

Claimed fuel consumption from the 2WD Yaris Cross Hybrid is listed at 3.8 litres per 100 kilometres.

We averaged a still impressive 4.6 L/100km during our week in the GR Sport.

SUMMING UP

The Yaris Cross is a neat, compact and attractive compact SUV with excellent safety and 10 variants from which to choose.

Pricing is very competitive with the extra $2000 for the hybrid technology well worth considering.

Whether the glammedup GR Sport is the best choice is debatable and we’d recommend doing a comparison between it and the other variants especially looking at the harsher ride.

Note: These prices do not include government or dealer delivery charges. Contact your local Toyota dealer for driveaway prices.

SPECIFICATIONS (Toyota Yaris Cross 1.5 GR Sport Hybrid 2WD)

RATINGS:

Looks: 9/10;

Standard warranty is five years with unlimited distance with the powertrain increased to seven years if it is serviced on time. Service intervals are 12 months or 15,000 kilometres.

ENGINE:

Capacity: 1.490 litres

Configuration: Four cylinders in line

Maximum Power: 67 kW @ 5500 rpm

Maximum Torque: 120 Nm @ 3800 rpm

Fuel Type: Standard unleaded petrol

Combined Fuel Cycle (ADR 81/02): 3.8 L/100km

CO2 Emissions: 86 g/km

DRIVELINE:

Continuously variable automatic

DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:

Length: 4185 mm

Wheelbase: 2560 mm

Width: 1765 mm

Height: 1580 mm

Turning Circle: 10.6 metres

Kerb Mass: 1200 kg

Fuel Tank Capacity: 36 litres

BRAKES:

Front: Ventilated disc

Rear: Solid disc

STANDARD WARRANTY: Five years / unlimited kilometres

SPORTY LOOKS: New Toyota Yaris Cross gets styling

BORE APPLICATION FOR MYRTLEFORD SPLASH PARK PROJECT

Notice of Intention to apply for a Licence to Construct Works (Bore) / Take and Use Licence for a Licensable Purpose

GMW Reference No: BGW0304-23

We Alpine Shire Council, Of Lewis Ave MYRTLEFORD VIC 3737 –

Refer to Vic Roads Map 660 C6

Intend to make application to GoulburnMurray Water (GMW) for a Licence to Construct Works (Bore), and if successful:

- This is our notice for an application of a new Licence to Take and Use Groundwater for 0 ML and intention to apply to transfer 39ML of licensed entitlement from an existing licensee/s on a temporary or permanent basis.

The application is for one (1) bore to be constructed to a proposed depth of 100 metres.

The water will be used for the purpose of: Irrigation

To be constructed and used on land described as:

Crown Allotment 7C Section - E ParishMyrtleford

Any person able to demonstrate that their interests will be affected by the issuing of this Licence including any intended groundwater use, is invited to make a written submission (via post, email or fax) setting out the nature of the impact within 14 days of receipt of this written considered.

To make a submission please read the information available to download from https://www.g-mwater.com.au/ customer-services/forms refer to the Groundwater section (or contact GMW to arrange for a copy to be posted to you). Submissions must be lodged in writing using the template available by either mail or email to Customer Support Coordinator, Licensing Administration, PO Box 165, TATURA VIC 3616 or email licensingadmin@gmwater.com.au

FREE GREEN WASTE WEEKEND

Dispose of your excess green waste for free on 2 and 3 September!

Porepunkah Pit

> When: Saturday, 2 and Sunday, 3 September 2023

> Time: 10am - 2pm

> Where: Porepunkah Pit (enter from Station Street/Back Porepunkah roundabout) Myrtleford Transfer Station

> When: Saturday, 2 and Sunday, 3 September 2023

> Time: 10am – 3pm

> Where: Myrtleford Transfer Station, Morrisons Lane Myrtleford Mount Beauty Transfer Station

> When: Saturday, 2 and Sunday, 3

September 2023

> Time: 10am - 2pm

> Where: Mount Beauty Transfer Station, Maddisons Lane Mount Beauty

Maximum two cubic metres per customer. The green waste must be clean, with no wire, netting or any other contaminants.

Maximum branch diameter of 200mm. No stumps.

encountered at the transfer stations and pit on these days, so queues and some delays are expected. Please use care and follow the guidance of staff when driving around.

Notification by Buyer – Intention to apply for the permanent transfer of a Licence to Take and Use Groundwater

GMW Reference No: BPTWE0019-23

We Labvale Pty Ltd

Of 106 Toniazzo Lane MYRTLEFORD VIC 3737

Refer to Vic Roads Map 49 D2

Intend to make application to permanently transfer entitlement to our existing Licence to Take & Use Groundwater and increase the licensed volume from 36.0ML/Year to 55.0 ML/Year.

The Volume sought in this application is 19.0ML/ Year

We intend to extract groundwater from an existing bore

The water will be used for the purpose of: Irrigation

To be used on lands described as: Volume Folio Lot No. Plan No. Plan Type 10241 419 1 & 2 552972R TP

Any person able to demonstrate that their interests will be affected by the transfer of this Licence including any intended groundwater use, is invited to make a formal submission setting out the nature of the impact within 14 days of receipt of this written notification.

To make a submission please read the information available to download from https://www.g-mwater. com.au/customer-services/forms refer to No. 4 (or contact G-MW to arrange for a copy to be posted to you). Submissions must be lodged in writing using the template available by either mail or email to Customer Support Coordinator, Licensing Administration, PO Box 165, TATURA VIC 3616 or email licensingadmin@g-mwater.com.au

ANNUAL MEET UP AND EV INFO SESSION

Sunday, September 17, 2023, 3 - 4:30pm

Bright Senior Citizens Centre 10 Cobden St, Bright.

With special guest speaker: Russell Klose from Kilowatt Cars Yackandandah - Explore the benefits of second-hand electric vehicles. All committee positions will be declared vacant, paving the way for fresh ideas and leadership. Nominations for office bearer roles are welcome. Light refreshments provided. Contact: info@sustainableupperovens.org.au. ALL WELCOME.

HOLDEN Cruze

SRi-V, (1OK9GX), great first car, 1.6L turbo, auto. Top of the range including heated seats, Bluetooth, Sat.nav, 6 air bags. Registered to Nov. 2023. RW certificate. $10,600. Couple minor scrapes on passenge r side. Contact Brad 0488 095 109.

CLASSIFIEDS WORK!

5723 0101

2014 Mazda CX5 Maxx Sport, AWD, 2.2l TurboDiesel, 6 sp Auto, Reg Dec 2023 (1DT2XG), ODO 122,400, towbar, RWC supplied, $20,500 ONO. Ph 0447 381 481. NISSAN Navara, dual cab ute, JN1CNUD22A0026712, suit wrecking, 2 engines, 2 radiators, bull bar with electric winch, tow bar, good axles and gear box, $500. Ph (03) 5764 4332.

Personal Notices

ANNIVERSARIES

MARASCO, Giuseppe and Maria. August 31, 1963. Our wonderful parents and grandparents celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary Tantissimi Auguri di Cuore. ~ Love Always from Giuliana, Michael, Sandra and families.

BARNARD, Warren Charles.

The Legacy group members mourn the recent passing of our long serving legatee.

Cook/Chef Mount Beauty (15 hours per week)

September 4, 2023

Apply via email

DEATH NOTICES

CARSON, Kevin Geoffrey.

15/10/48 - 17/8/23

Wangaratta. Passed away peacefully at St Vincents Hospital in Melbourne with his devoted wife, stepdaughter, and sons by his side.

Son of Ethel “Betty” and Geoffrey (both dec). Brother of Helen (dec), David (dec), Elizabeth and brother-in-law of Paul Lonergan. Husband of Realene (dec) and loving husband of Phoeurn. Father of Jason and Troy and stepfather of Thida.

Grandfather of Kai, Kleo, Sasha and Safin. Rest in Peace and always in our hearts.

DEATH NOTICES

HARDMAN, Professor Donald John.

Passed away surrounded by the love of his family.

11/7/1929 – 22/8/2023

Beloved husband of Mary for 66 years.

Adored father and mentor of Suellen, David, Christopher, Adrian and Donald.

Much loved father-in-law to Frank, Carolyn, Geraldine and Susan.

Cherished grandfather to Tomarsh, Xavier, Juliet, Edward, Tori, Catherine and Braden.

Great grandfather of Matilda (Tilly). Enjoy Gods library!

CARSON

The funeral service to celebrate the life of Mr Kevin Carson will be held on Friday, September 1, 2023, in the Mason Park Chapel, 95 Mason Street, Wangaratta commencing at 2pm.

A private cremation will follow.

Kevin’s celebration can be viewed via livestream at www.masonpark.com.au/live-streaming/

Hoppet cancelled, but silver linings abound

THERE were a lot of very disappointed international cross country skiers around Mount Beauty and Falls Creek last Wednesday, (not to overlook a few more who were still in transit from the northern hemisphere), when they received the following email.

“Following an inspection of snow conditions on the course today (Wednesday), and taking into consideration the expected weather conditions on Saturday, the jury for the Kangaroo Hoppet has decided that it is not possible to hold a fair and safe competition and that the event should be cancelled,” it read.

However, by lunchtime Thursday these gloomy feelings had turned to smiles as organisers were able to announce that some quick overnight negotiations.

The Worldloppet Secretariat in Estonia had come up with a plan that would enable skiers to be credited with taking part in

HARDMAN

Funeral prayers for Professor Donald

Delaney’s Chapel, Riley Street, Wangaratta on Friday, September 1, 2023, at 10am.

Private cremation will follow.

Donald’s service can be viewed via livestream at www.masonpark.com.au/live-streaming/

Flowers are welcome or if preferred a donation in memory of Donald to the Albury Wodonga Cancer Centre can be made online at www.awh.org.au/donate-now

FUNERAL DIRECTORS

the Kangaroo Hoppet by completing a self-tracked 21km ski anywhere at Falls Creek over the next two days.

The Kangaroo Hoppet is part of the annual Worldloppet series of 19 long distance ski marathons spread across five continents.

There’s a special Worldloppet Master award given to skiers

who have completed ten different events of the series and recorded this achievement with stamps in a special Worldloppet Passport.

There’s also a special clause that requires at least one of these to be from outside Europe, which makes an out of season ski holiday in the southern hemisphere a very appealing option

for skiers from Europe, North America and Asia.

In this context, one can appreciate how it would feel receiving the cancellation news, having outlaid a few thousand euros or dollars (and if they were Icelandic crowns or Japanese yen, make that hundreds of thousands) on what might well be your trip of a lifetime to Australia with the aim of getting that elusive Kangaroo Hoppet stamp in your passport.

Or even worse, if you were Massimo Presotto from Spilimbergo in Italy and had a passport with nine stamps and only needed one more to become a Worldloppet Master.

However, the stars aligned for Massimo.

On Saturday afternoon Massimo arrived at the Hoppet race office in Mount Beauty with his Strava record of 21m skied earlier in the day to receive his Kangaroo Hoppet stamp and his Worldloppet Master Diploma.

Mount Beauty golf continues to impress

ONLY six men ventured out on Wednesday, August 23 to play the back nine of the Mount Beauty Golf Club.

Don Mason proved victorious on a countback from Ron Gallagher with their 17 points apiece.

NTPs went to Allan Retallick on the 17th and Ron Gallagher on the 18th.

A crop of 15 turned out to make eight teams for the Two Ball Stableford Multiplier on Saturday, August 26 on a nice springlike day.

Stuart Jelbart pulled double duty, and played in two ‘teams’.

The team of Rick Biesboer and Victor Selway took the honours with a very creditable 67 points from Allan Retallick and Ross Rynehart who only managed 59 points.

NTPs went to Dave Browning on the seventh along with the Tatts Ticket from the Tawonga South Newsagency & Post Office.

Stuart Jelbart got a ball for both the ninth and the 17th while Victor Selway took home the ball and the money on the 18th.

The better individual scores on the day were Rick Biesboer with 35 points, Victor Selway and Allan Retallick with 34 followed by Dave Browning with 32 points.

Extra incentive to sign up for Harrietville Half

THE lauded Harrietville HalfMarathon is just a few short weeks away, and organisers have put out a bonus for those eager to register.

All participants who register before Friday, September 15 and who finish their event on the day go into a draw to win a 2024 Resort Entry Season Permit for Mt Hotham, valued at $599 and donated by Alpine Resorts Victoria - Mount Hotham.

The Harrietville Half-Marathon, which is being held this year on Sunday, October 8, is

an annual, volunteer-run event raising funds for the Harrietville Primary School, thanks to the generous support of local sponsors.

It is also a popular community event, with a great race day atmosphere as well as coffee, food and entertainment for spectators and visitors.

“We’ve seen a steady growth in participant numbers since the half marathon was launched in 2015,” creator of the Harrietville Half-Marathon and chair of the organising committee

Robyn Downey said.

“It’s popular because the course traverses such a beautiful environment, and is a great way for runners to ease into the summer running season.”

The completion of the Great Valley Trail between Bright and Harrietville in January 2022 provided a new route for the half marathon and 10.5km events, taking runners off the road and into the beautiful bushland following the Ovens River.

Runners emerge into Harrietville to stunning views of

Mt Feathertop in the distance, often still covered with winter snow.

“There are kids’ events from 2km and 5km, as well as a 10.5 kilometre for all ages that can also be walked,” Downey said.

“We wanted this event to be family-friendly, as it’s a great way to introduce kids and adults to running and instil a life-long love of sport and fitness.”

To register for the 2023 Harrietville Half Marathon, visit www.harrietvillehalfmarathon. com.

MASTERED: Kangaroo Hoppet chairman Allan Marsland presents Massimo Presotto (right) with his Worldloppet Master Diploma.

WINNERS: Rick Biesboer and Victor Selway took the win in Saturday’s Two Ball Stableford Multiplier.

Panthers crash out of baseball finals

THE under 12 Porepunkah Panthers played a great match against the Albury Bears in the grand final, with the Albury Bears hitting away to end the Panthers winning streak.

The first innings had Porepunkah get one run over the plate, with leadoff batter Eamon Thompson hitting into the gap and rounding the bases to score.

The Albury Bears scored five runs and Panther Wez Booth, pla ying second base, fielded nicely and threw the batter out at

first base for a nice out.

The second innings had the Panthers keep the Bears scoreless, with duel MVPs Heath and Link Hughes, pitcher and first base, combining to get the first three batters out.

It took until the fourth innings for the Panthers bats to fire, with Nate Iles leading the way again with a solid hit.

Big hitters Rory Clarke and Cohen Guest-Smith both launched the ball way out into the outfield helping the Panthers bring in five runs.

The Panthers managed to shut the Bears out again in the sixth inning, with Cohen Guest-Smith at shortstop making a nice throw to first.

Eamon Thompson also had an amazingly rare play gathering the ball in centrefield and throwing the batter out at first with a very good throw.

In the Panthers’ last at bat it was crowd favourite Harvey Hughes who hit safely and rounded the bases to score.

Well done to Steph Alexander and Uriah Iles who

did a brilliant job catching for the day, it was a fun match and to see how much improvement has happened over the season was amazing.

Final score Albury 17 def Panthers 7.

With the A grade game deciding who would reach the grand final, the Panthers were hoping to upset the Wangaratta Rangers.

The game was a short affair with the Panthers not being able to control Wangaratta’s batting.

In the three innings

played the Panthers managed three safe hits, Damon Barker as usual was one of the batters who hit well to get on base.

He scored off Ryan Banks, who blasted one to centrefield.

Jamie Jelleff came into the game in the third dig and had an immediate impact, smashing a nice two base hit. The Panthers used two pitchers for the day - starter Ryan Banks threw well and gave his teammates plenty of chances but the team could not quite capitalise on this.

Heath Anders also came in as relief pitcher and was solid. Due to a collision in the third innings the game was called off Well done to the team for the year, and all A grade players have helped with the junior training and club duties to make the club a great place to be.

Final score Rangers 17 def Panthers 2.

This coming Sunday, the C grade Panthers will be playing in the grand final at Wangaratta.

Bright under 14s exit finals

IT’S the end of the season for Bright’s under 14 football side, after they crashed out of the Wangaratta and District Junior Football League finals in straight sets after an amazing year.

After falling to Centrals last week, Bright needed a win over Imperials on Sunday to keep their finals dreams alive and took the game on early.

Momentum swung Imperials’ way after quarter time and they kept Bright scoreless, trailing by 27 points at halftime.

Despite generating plenty of looks on goal, Bright only managed to kick 4.8 through the second half, going down to Imperials by 22 points.

Bright 3.1 3.1 5.6 7.9. 51

Imperials 2.2 7.4 10.5 11.7. 73

BEST: BRIGHT: Fraser Stephens, Hamish Johnston, Otis Dalbosco, Noah White, Gus Van Loon, Oscar Lewis. Imperials: Archer Direen, Charlie Flynn, Beau Benton, Matthew Gay, Lenny Campbell, Judd Campbell.

GOALS: BRIGHT: John Caloutas 2, Darcy Andersen 1, Brock Buckland 1, Hamish Johnston 1, Alex Tanaskovic 1. Imperials: Harry Allen 4, Archer Direen 4, Isaac Robinson 2, Charlie Flynn 1.

5752 1058

AGILITY: Lachlan Russell quickly changes direction to lose his opponent.

BUMP: Fraser Stephens bodies Harry Allen off the ball. PHOTOS: Melissa Beattie

UNMARKED: John Caloutas runs into the open goal and boots it through.

Junior Bombers down Yack to progress through finals Bright golfers compete well

By BRAD REDMOND, U14 coach

ONE step onto the ground at Sandy Creek and you know it’s the big time - the MCG of the bush did not let us down.

With players injured (and on camp), we started the game with the smallest of benches which meant one thing - lots of running was required.

In the first quarter we seemed to have a lot of the ball in our half but try as we might, our conversions let us down, and Yackandandah made us pay.

They only had a limited number of entries in that quarter but came in at quarter time one point up.

That was our typical slow startthe boys were nervous but we ran with the opposition and knew our best was yet to come.

The second quarter we lifted.

Our backs, led by Billy (PerriWilliams) and Fergus (Gardiner) were unstoppable, with Billy instructing the troops and Ferg taking high overhead intercept marks at every opportunity.

Our forwards and centres were

starting to exert their strength, with Toby (Derrick) dominating the ruck and Jack (Coulston), Will (Lutter-Wood) and Darcy (Fallon) making every clearance count.

By the time Hudson ‘Showtime’ Grundy kicked his first goal, we were in control of the game.

By half-time, we kept Yack scoreless in the second quarter and added 2.2 to be 3.3 (21) to Yack’s 1.2 (8).

The third quarter is usually when we shine, the premiership quarter – on Saturday, this is when Yack bought the game to us.

It was our first scoreless quar-

ter for the year, and when Darcy got injured, we were down to no bench.

At three quarter time, we came in with scores level at 21 all.

We told the troops at three time that everyone needs to lift - run, shepherd, talk, all the one percenters.

We also said that this is the time for our youngest bombers to step up and shine, and did they ever. Zelk (Shuttleworth) with his second and third efforts, Ryan (Jamieson) was in and under everything, Ollie (Anderson) with some big shepherds, and Rowan (Jones) was

dominating his position.

By the time ‘Showtime’ Grundy kicked his second goal, we’d locked in a date next Saturday with Beechworth.

Final scores

DMB 1.1 3.3 3.3 5.8.38

Yack 1.2 1.2 3.3 3.3.21

BEST: Jack Coulston, Billy Perri-Williams, Toby Derrick, Will Lutter-Wood, Rowan Jones, Beau Duggan.

GOALS: Jack Coulston 2, Hudson Laidlaw-Grundy 2, Massimo Perri 1.

We wish Darcy a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back out on the ground soon.

Bombers aim to fly high in 2024

By DANIEL SAVILLE

AS the dust begins to settle on another season for the Dederang-Mount Beauty Football Netball Club, it has been a bittersweet ending for the Bombers’ senior football and netball sides. Led by coach Alex Novak and captain Alysha de Koeyer, who were the only remaining players from last season’s A grade netball squad, the team was filled with a mixture of new talent and returning familiar faces, as the team hit their straps after a few rounds and were able to find their rhythm more and more as the season progressed.

The Bombers finished the season in seventh position with nine wins and nine losses, which bettered last year’s tally of victories by two, which Novak believes can be built upon further in 2024.

“We’ve already had a commitment from most of our team to play on again and we look forward to welcoming back Tessa Walsh, who was last season’s best and fairest winner, to further strengthen our squad,” Novak said.

“There’s no reason why we can’t play finals next year and mix it with the best teams if we continue our improvement across the board.”

Covering the departures of El-

RESULTS:

NORTH East

Bushrangers

Basketball (NEBB) is a collaboration between local North East basketball associations with the commitment of “Creating Realistic Pathways for all North East Athletes”

Eleven NEBB junior teams compete in the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) - the highest level junior competition in Victoria.

One NEBB Youth League Men’s (YLM) team competes in the semi-professional Big V competition.

Big V & VJBL consist of teams from both metropolitan and regional Victoria.

SEMI FINAL

liot Powell, Nick Hynes and Joel Heiner to O&M footy was never going to be an easy task for Dederang-Mount Beauty, but loyal servants such as captain Josh Kable, leading goalkicker Cody Hewat and star midfielder Jordan Harrington tried their best to fill the massive void, with the aforementioned trio expected to poll well at this week’s Barton Medal count and club presentation night.

After bowing out to eventual grand finalists Kiewa-Sandy Creek in the second week of finals in 2022, the Bombers missed out on finals action this year and finished with seven wins from 18 games. The focus turned to youth for

U14 Girls 1 42 def Diamond Valley 2 31

(Top Scorers: Ella Mercieca 24, Lily Purss 11, Eloise Hudgson 5)

QUALIFYING FINAL

U16 Boys 1 39 def by Gippsland United 1 47

(Top Scorers: Blake Newton 10, Connor Breheny 10, Dashiell Smith 9)

SEMI FINAL

U16 Boys 2 66 def Ballarat 34

(Top Scorers: Lenny Lonergan 17, Mateo Hanley 13, Josh Vearing 11)

ELIMINATION FINAL

U16 Girls 1 50 def by Altona 1 65

(Top Scorers: Molly Moylan 25, Lily-Anne McClure 9, Elise Napier 6)

QUALIFYING FINAL

U16 Girls 2 24 def by Bulleen 3 45

(Top Scorers: Scarlett Mullavey 6, Sienna Sampson 6, Sophia Kotzur 5)

QUALIFYING FINAL

U18 Boys 1 46 def by Waverley 1 62

(Top Scorers: Lochie Harvey 18, Caleb Wharepapa 9, Frank Oguche 8)

much of the season as coach Damien Jones looked to teenagers Will Hocking, Callum Bowring and Logan Dickson, whose taste of senior football will hold themselves and the club in good stead moving into next year.

In what is arguably the greatest success to date, the under 14 football team recently made it through to week two of the finals series and has a genuine opportunity to realise their premiership dream.

Dederang-Mount Beauty are aiming to field an under 17 team next year as part of its ongoing development and growth of its junior program.

GREAT weather brought the crowds to the Bright Golf Club this week.

Veterans, Monday, August 21, Stableford

A grade winner: Marg Curtis (20) 35 points. B grade winner: Graham Barrow (26) 34 points.

NTPs – third: Andy Armstrong, sixth: Marg Curtis, 11th: Glen O’Connell, 16th: Stephen Grogan.

Ladies, Wednesday, August 23, Stableford

Winner: Allison Gilbert (18) 33 points.

NTPs – third: Carol Burgess, sixth: Carol Burgess, 16th: Allison Gilbert.

Men, Thursday, August 24, Stableford

A grade winner: Mick Dunne (15) 37 points. B grade winner: William Kelty (21) 36 points.

NTPs – third: Jade Galvan, sixth: Phillip O’Neill, 11th: Hugh Kirk, 16th: John Forbes.

Men, Saturday, August 26, Stableford

A grade winner: Raul Cordero (9) 37 points. B grade winner: Norm McIntyre (20) 36 points c/b. C grade winner: Denis Hayes (28) 40 points.

NTPs – third: Chris Oswin, sixth: Raul Cordero, 11th: Chris Davey, 16th: Andy Cook.

Ladies, Saturday, August 26, Stableford

A grade winner: Allison Gilbert (18) 33 points. B grade winner: Frances Bentley (36) 26 points c/b.

NTPs – third: Robyn McGrath, sixth: Carol Burgess, 11th: Tina Cook.

Tallangatta league finals underway

■ From back page

In A grade netball results, the showdown of second versus third lived up to the hype as Yackandandah held on to a qualifying final victory with a five-goal win against Thurgoona, as the Roos edged out the Dogs 46 goals to 41.

Despite finishing the lower of the two teams, Chiltern have beaten reigning premiers Mitta United for the third time this season, after comfortably winning 4732 in Sunday’s elimination final, which has ended Mitta’s season.

The winner of Kiewa-Sandy Creek and Yackandandah this Saturday will earn themselves a grand final spot, while Thurgoona and Chiltern take the court on Sunday to keep their premiership hopes alive.

The ‘MCG of the bush’ will host all six days of finals across four weeks, including the football and netball grand finals on Saturday, September 16.

BOMBERS FLY UP: The team celebrates their victory in the first round of finals.

DISPOSAL: Billy Perri-Williams handballs to Fergus Gardiner in the Bombers’ win over Yackandandah. PHOTOS: Sharon Coulston

Giant killers’ miracle run

By BAILEY ZIMMERMANN

MYRTLEFORD Savoys men’s miraculous late season form continues.

Needing a win or a draw to make finals in their rescheduled Wednesday fixture against Wodonga Diamonds, the Savoys cruised to a 4-1 win before upsetting championship contenders Cobram for the second time in as many weeks to book a semi-final berth.

The 3-2 win was secured thanks to the brilliance of English import Tom Caplin, finishing with a brace in a see-sawing contest.

Myrtleford were first to score through Caplin before Roar sharpshooter Kieran O’Donnell equlaised in the 42nd minute.

The deadlock was short lived as goals on either side of halftime from Jack Milford and Caplin brought much needed breathing space for the Savoys, who did just enough to hold on for the last 20 minutes of play with a one goal advantage for an upset win.

Co-coach Richard Morgan said after a grueling schedule of four games in 14 days played under finals-like pressure, his team showed great heart to advance to the semi-finals against the odds.

“Everybody played their role, which was probably the best part of it,” he said.

“Tom [Caplin] really stood up in both games, Matt [Richardson] stood up again and Kaden [Saric] ran himself to exhaustion on Sunday, everyone put in 100 per cent.”

With their finals chances on the line last Wednesday night the Savoys made a nervous start before goals from Mat Richardson and Lewis Holloway a minute of game time apart gave a gaping advantage the Savoys would never squander.

Richardson added another brace to his season tally, in a game tainted by the red card and suspension in the last minutes of the match to star midfielder Josh Zito.

Zito’s suspension brought on veteran Nathan Mirt to the starting 11 for the weekend’s final, who came in for Jack Milford Wednesday night.

Morgan said Mirt slotted

seamlessly into the lineup on both occasions.

“Being an experienced campaigner out there it was good to have him there,” he said.

“Zito had a great game against Diamonds, he was fantastic, and to go in without him against Cobram was a little bit tough, but everybody got through.”

The Savoys will face Melrose under the bright lights at LaTrobe Ground, Wodonga on Saturday night for a spot in the grand final.

Sixth placed Melrose also overcame the odds in their win against Boomers and despite going winless against the men in purple across the regular

season, Morgan said he was confident the Savoy outfit at full strength will be able to flip the script.

“I don’t think there’s any trouble for us with the weaker sides, it’s who we’ve had available,” he said.

“The last two games against Cobram were really the only time we’ve had one player out of our best 11 this season.

“The stuff we’ve been dealing with all year is to have four, five or six of our prime playmakers not available, which in an 11 man team is a lot.

“The club’s buzzing for it and hopefully after this game, it’ll be for the next one.”

Savoy women cool off Lady Devil scare

By BAILEY ZIMMERMANN

A SECOND half turnaround has saved the Myrtleford Savoy women’s season as they surged past Wangaratta 4-2 on Sunday.

The quarter-final against old rivals was off to a shaky start at Aloysius Park for Myrtleford, who were sluggish out of the gates coming off two straight bye weeks and saw themselves trailing 2-1 at halftime.

With their season on the line, the Savoys found their groove behind their leading goal scorer Sienna Alam who finished with a brace and hit the lead with a Shae Justice penalty.

A fourth goal put the result beyond doubt as the Savoys booked their place in Saturday’s afternoon semi-final.

Coach Gabby Paglia said her side came out of half-time with

re-instilled belief after being jumped by the inform Lady Devils and

“I changed some positioning around at the start of the game just because we had a few people that were unwell or away for the week to ease them into the game but it wasn’t really working for us I found,” she said.

“We went back to our normal structure [after half-time] and the girls were able to go from there.

“Whenever we play Wang we know it’s going to be a good game, but it was really nice to come away with a win.

“I was really happy with how everyone played; they handled the opposition really well with reading the play and landing our tackles.”

Albury Hotspurs await the Savoys in the playoff for a grand final spot; after the third placed Hotspurs scraped past Albury

City with a 1-0 win in their quarter-final.

During the year Myrtleford went through unbeaten against the Hotspurs, securing a win and a tightly contested draw in their two matches.

Paglia said the team will be preparing for all kinds of scenarios throughout training this week, with one final already last weekend decided by penalties.

“Knowing the history of Hotspurs and how they play, with their pace and how smart they are on the ball, we’re definitely going in thinking it’s not going to be easy,” she said.

“We know we’re going to be run ragged for the 90 minutes so just keeping up with our fitness and playing smart, playing quick balls to each other and positioning ourselves well to receive those through balls.

“We’re going to stay really focused, putting our heads down and hopefully make some history for ourselves.”

The Savoys number one Jess Stringer will return in goal this weekend while mainstay midfielder Taylah Geddes will be missed for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

The under 17 Savoy girls also won their way through to the semi-finals beating Albury 3-0, and will play their match on Sunday morning at Wangaratta.

OTHER SAVOY TEAM RE-

SULTS

Division 3 Men: Myrtleford 1 def by Melrose 3

U17 Girls: Myrtleford 3 def Albury United 0.

U16 Boys: Myrtleford 1 def by Melrose 4.

U13 Boys: Myrtleford 0 def by Wodonga Diamonds Red 5.

Springlike weather makes for stellar golf

THE warmer days and sunny weekend lent itself to some cracking golf at the Myrtleford Golf Club over the week.

Saturday, August 26

Myrtleford Bake House Stroke

AMCR 73

A grade winner: Jade Galvan (14) 83/69. A grade runner up: Ben Holmes (16) 88/72.

B grade and medal winner: Jim Martin (21) 92/71. B grade runners up: Trout Batt (27) 99/72.

Ball winners: J Costello 74, D Rowe 75, P Veldman 76, A Rockliff 76 c/b.

Foodworks NTPs - first: Zac Cunneen, fifth: John Costello, 10th: Ben Holmes, 14th: Ben Holmes.

Matthews Cleaning encouragement award: Gerard Black 108/91.

Raffle winner: David Matthews.

Thursday, August 24

Myrtleford Bake House - Stableford AMCR 76

9 hole winner: Denise O’Donohue (52) 15 pts. 9 hole runner up: Faye McLees (35) 13pts.

Wednesday, August 23

Myrtleford Bake House - Stableford AMCR 73

A grade winner: Jim Martin (21) 35 pts. A grade runner up: Karl O’Shaughnessy (17) 33 pts.

Ball winners: D Clark 32 c/b.

Foodworks NTPs - first: Spider Hancock, 10th: Paul Evans, 14th: Karl O’Shaughnessy.

ALL SMILES: Jim Martin was on fire last Wednesday with an excellent 35 points.

Accountants

BELMORES CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

(formerly CRM Business Advisers)

Certified Practising Accountants

Myrtleford, 1-7 Albert Street

Phone: 5752 2288

Bright, 3 Ireland Street

Phone: 5755 1327

www.belmores.com.au

PAYNTER & ASSOCIATES

Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors

25 Clyde Street Myrtleford

Phone: 5751 1995

Email: admin@paynterassoc.com.au www.paynterandassociates.com.au

Clinical Massage

MYOTHERAPY, MUSCLE HEALTH & FITNESS

Dennis Kersting Dip. RM CM.

Myrtleford - 18 Rayner Street

Phone: 0427 440 744

Hearing Services

JO ROSS-JACKSON HEARING CENTRES

Now at 29 Clyde Street Myrtleford Plus Standish Street Surgery & Bright Allied Health

For appointments call 5752 2817

Insurance Brokers

OVENS VALLEY INSURANCE BROKERS

Myrtleford, 47 Clyde Street

Phone: 5752 1151

Bright, 104 Gavan St

Phone: 5715 9705

Email: info@ovib.com.au

Solicitors

DICK & WILLIAMS

Solicitors & Attorneys Vic & NSW

Myrtleford, 5B Clyde Street.

Phone: 5752 2363.

Email: email@dwlawalbury.com.au

TONER & MAY LEGAL BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS

86 Standish Street, Myrtleford.

Phone: 03 5752 1493

2A Camp Street, Bright, Phone: 03 5750 1819

Email: amanda@tonerandmaylegal.com.au or jess@tonerandmaylegal.com.au

Promote your service here!

Phone Jenny on 57313305 or email jking@nemedia.com.au

EYES ON THE PRIZE: Kaden Saric maintains possession from the defensive pressure of Layne Haley.

TURF TOE: Matt Richardson has his pass deflected by Dalesa Godwin.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

OVENS AND MURRAY SENIORS LADDER

SCOREBOARD RESERVES RESULTS

GOALS: WODONGA: Noah Spiteri 3, Joshua Mathey 2, Oscar Willding 1, Matthew Wilson

1. YARRAWONGA: Brayden Coburn 3, Jordan Urquhart 2, Ryan Bruce 1, Matthew Casey 1, Dylan Conway 1, Nicholas Fothergill 1, Bailey Frauenfelder 1, Ben Kennedy 1, Jess Koopman

1, William Wheeler 1, Leigh Williams 1. BEST: WODONGA: Charlie Morrison, Mitchell

Dinneen, Joshua Mathey, Matthew Wilson, Adam Jorgensen, Zac Harding. YARRAWONGA: William Wheeler, Bailey Frauenfelder, Leigh Masters, Ned Pendergast, Brayden Coburn, Ryan Bruce.

GOALS: WANGARATTA ROVERS: Will Christie 4, Alexander Marklew 3, Dylan Wilson 3, Toby Murray 2, Thomas Baulch 1, Judd Schubert 1, Darcy Wilson 1. NORTH ALBURY: Nathan Dennis 1, George Godde 1, Cayden Winter 1. BEST: WANGARATTA ROVERS: Elijah Amery, Dylan Wilson, Thomas Boyd, Darcy Wilson, Will McCarthy. NORTH ALBURY: Flynn Gardiner, Jack King, Fletcher Ramage, Jackson Weidemann, Sam Azzi, Tim Broomhead.

NETBALL SCORES

A GRADE

Wangaratta Rovers 50 def by North Albury 66

BEST: n/a

GOALS: WANGARATTA ROVERS: Samantha Kreltszheim 29, Rebecca Kreltszheim 21.

NORTH ALBURY: Lily Kelly 42, Sophia Kohlhagen 24

Myrtleford 41 def by Wodonga Raiders 61

BEST: MYRTLEFORD: Hidden Player 3, Sally Botter 2, Hidden Player 1 .

WODONGA RAIDERS: Molly Goldsworthy 3, Maggie St John 2, Taylor Donelan 1 .

GOALS: MYRTLEFORD: Sally Botter 17, Ava Brock 12, Eden Dalbosco 7, Saige Broz 4, Emma Sharp 1 . WODONGA RAIDERS: Taylor Donelan 33, Emily Stewart 28

Wodonga 41 def by Yarrawonga 72

Lavington 52 def Albury 34

B GRADE: Myrtleford 34 def by Wodonga Raiders 43; Lavington 57 def Albury 41; Wodonga 42 def by Yarrawonga 57; Wangaratta Rovers 48 def by North Albury 50.

C GRADE: Lavington 47 def Albury 20; Myrtleford 58 def Wodonga

Raiders 26; Wodonga 22 def by Yarrawonga 49; Wangaratta Rovers 37 def by North Albury 42; Corowa-Rutherglen 30 def by Wangaratta 44.

17 & UNDER: Wangaratta Rovers 44 def by North Albury 47; Wodonga

90 def Yarrawonga 43; Lavington 40 def by Albury 44; Myrtleford 17 def by Wodonga Raiders 92; Corowa-Rutherglen 18 def by Wangaratta 57.

15 & UNDER: Wodonga 77 def Yarrwonga 13; Myrtleford 22 def by Wodonga Raiders 43; Lavington 36 def Albury 26; Wangaratta Rovers

47 def North Albury 32; Corowa-Rutherglen 26 def by Wangaratta 27.

WEEK ONE – QUALIFYING FINALS

SATURDAY 2nd SEPTEMBER

@ WJ Findlay Oval, Wangaratta FOOTBALL

Seniors: ALBURY vs WANGARATTA - 2pm Reserves: ALBURY vs YARRAWONGA - 11:45am

Thirds: WODONGA RAIDERS vs LAVINGTON - 9:30am NETBALL

A Grade: WANGARATTA vs LAVINGTON - 12:15pm

B Grade: WODONGA vs WODONGA RAIDERS 1:45pm

C Grade: YARRAWONGA vs WANGARATTA - 9:15am (Court 1)

17 & Under: WODONGA vs WANGARATTA - 10:45am

15 & Under: WODONGA RAIDERS vs WANG ROVERS - 9:15am (Court 2)

WEEK ONE – ELIMINATION FINALS

SUNDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER

Wangaratta Showgrounds, Wangaratta FOOTBALL

Seniors: WANG ROVERS vs WODONGA - 2pm

Reserves: WANG ROVERS vs WANGARATTA - 11:45am

Thirds: ALBURY vs WANGARATTA - 9:30am NETBALL

A Grade: WOD. RAIDERS vs MYRTLEFORD - 12:15pm

B Grade: WANGARATTA vs MYRTLEFORD - 1:45pm

C Grade: LAVINGTON vs MYRTLEFORD - 10:45am (Court 1)

17 & Under: NORTH ALBURY vs WANG ROVERS 10:45am (Court 2)

15 & Under: MYRTLEFORD vs NORTH ALBURY - 9:15am

GOALS: MYRTLEFORD: Simon Curtis 3, Cy Banks 1, Declan Bren 1, Mitch Dalbosco 1.

WODONGA RAIDERS: Nick Bracher 2, Nelson Bowey 1, Hayden Clarke 1, Beau O’Neill 1, Cooper Smith 1, Bradley St John 1, Connor Taylor 1, Cohen Trujillo 1, Ned Twycross 1. BEST: MYRTLEFORD: Simon Curtis, Mitch Dalbosco, Tom Sparks, Josh Muraca, Alex Jacobs, William McKerral.. WODONGA RAIDERS: Bradley St John, Nick Bracher, Nelson Bowey, Hayden Clarke, Max Glass, Cooper Daly.

GOALS: LAVINGTON: Luke Garland 3, Jake O’Brien 3, Myles Aalbers 2, Shaun Driscoll 1, Ewan Mackinlay 1. ALBURY: Jacob Conlan 4, Riley Bice 2, Jeff Garlett 2, Kolby HeinerHennessy 2, Connor O’Sullivan 1. BEST: LAVINGTON: Shaun Driscoll, Ewan Mackinlay, William Glanvill, Maclayn Hallows, Joe Hansen, Samuel Hopper. ALBURY: Lucas Conlan, Riley Bice, Jake Gaynor, Connor O’Sullivan, Michael Duncan, Kolby Heiner-Hennessy.

OVENS & MURRAY FINALS:

QUALIFYING FINAL - SAT, SEPTEMBER 2;

ELIMINATION FINAL - SUN, SEPTEMBER 3;

2nd SEMI FINAL - SAT, SEPT 9; 1st SEMI FINAL - SUN, SEPT 10;

PRELIMINARY FINAL - SUN, SEPT 17; GRAND FINAL - SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

FINALS SCOREBOARD

Lavington ................10.5.65

Albury ......................9.8.62

BEST: LAVINGTON: Nick Brennan, Drew Beavan, Alex McMaster, Aidan Cook, Tyson Neander, Hunter Galvin. ALBURY: Charlie Lappin, Riley Tuckwell, Charlie McGrath, William Blomeley, Zachary Gigliotti, Oliver Sharman. Wangaratta Rovers 16.15.111 North Albury..............8.8.56

BEST: WANGARATTA ROVERS: Kyle Smith, Connor Crimmins, Nicholas Redley, Luke Arcuri, Cameron Nottle, Shane Gaston. NORTH ALBURY: Callum Pattinson, Will Maclean, Mitchell Wadley, Lochlainn Simpson, Joel Gare, Joshua Mercieca.

Myrtleford .................8.7.55

Wodonga Raiders .....8.10.58

MYRTLEFORD: Tyler Thomason, Tyler Barker, Levi Young, Leigh Corcoran, Nicholas Ferguson, Jedd Bynon. WODONGA

RAIDERS: Thomas Gibbs, Joel Price, Declan Rochow, Declan Carmody, Blake Lieschke, Samuel Bone.

Wodonga .................13.3.81

Yarrawonga .............14.6.90

WODONGA: Jack Chesser, Will Bradshaw, Michael Driscoll, Brett Doswell, Bob Russell, Will Julian. YARRAWONGA: Beau Seymour, Tim Lawrence, Tom McKimmie, Max Hemphill, Luke Congram, Douglas Arnold.

THIRDS RESULTS

FINALS NETBALL SCORESSCOREBOARD RESERVES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26

A GRADE:

Tarrawingee 45 def King Valley 36

B GRADE: Bonnie Doon 75 def Whorouly 32

B RESERVE: Bright 47 def Greta 34

C GRADE: Greta 56 def Goorambat 43

UNDER 15s:

Whorouly 34 def Bright 18

SUNDAY, AUGUST 27

A GRADE:

Bonnie Doon 61 def Whorouly 34

B GRADE:

King Valley v Goorambat result unavailable

B RESERVE:

Benalla All Blacks 49 def Whorouly 39

C GRADE:

Benalla All Blacks 38 def Whorouly 29

UNDER 15s:

Moyhu 23 def by Benalla All Blacks 26

SEMI FINAL 1

SATURDAY, SEPT 2

BONNIE DOON VS GRETA @ TARRAWINGEE

SEMI FINAL SUNDAY, SEPT 3

BRIGHT VS MILAWA @ NORTH WANGARATTA

PRELIMINARY FINALSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

GRAND FINAL SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

ELIMINATION FINAL 1

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 @ TARRAWINGEE RECREATION RESERVE

GOALS: BRIGHT: Guy Campbell 3, Kieran Jamieson 2, Jonah McIntosh 2, Riley O’Shea 2, Dylan Bursill 1, Nick Lebish 1, Cooper Thomason 1. MOYHU: Brady Bartlett 3, Charlie West 2, Harrison Bell 1, Fraser Landgren 1, Jared Lea 1, Jett Roberts 1, Bailey Zimmermann 1.

BEST: BRIGHT: Joe Gray, Jonah McIntosh, Darcy Sholl, Chad Martin, Guy Campbell. MOYHU: Jett Roberts, Bailey Zimmermann, Liam Cook, Brady Bartlett, Josh Coonan, Lukas Jakobsson.

ELIMINATION FINAL 2

SUNDAY, AUGUST 27 @ NORTH WANGARATTA SPORTS RESERVE

MILAWA 6.4 10.9 13.15 13.15.93

NORTH WANGARATTA 0.1 3.2 4.2 4.2.26

GOALS: MILAWA: Jamie Allan 7, Jarryd Wallace 3, Ben Clarke 1, Sebastian De Napoli 1, Declan Joyce-Lawford 1. NORTH WANGARATTA: Jack Brown 3, Matthew Prestianni 1.

BEST: MILAWA: Jamie Allan, Ben Clarke, Jarryd Wallace, Declan Joyce-Lawford, Brent newton, Josh Owen. NORTH WANGARATTA: Ben Schulz-Dahlenburg, Jhye Devine, Patrick Killen, Jack Brown, Tana Freeman, Jamie Berry.

RESULTS BONNIE DOON 9.7.61 def MILAWA 8.5.53

BEST: BONNIE DOON: Sam Gunson, Matthew Cocks, Wayne Lockhart, Felix Johnson, Julian Mahon, Earl Ree-Goodings. MILAWA: Brenton Gray, John Conroy, Daniel Larkings, Tim Leslie, Braydon Jones, Tim Mortimer.

BENALLA ALL BLACKS 12.21.93 def MOYHU 4.4.28

BEST: BENALLA ALL BLACKS: Eoin Fitzgerald, Thomas Grimes, Michael

Kelly, Mark Mc Dermott, Harry Moran, Patrick Buckley. MOYHU: Jacob Beattie, Anthony Welsh, Darby West, Nikolas McAsey, Ryan Hargreaves, Jaden Scobie.

after dominating first half

Undisciplined Mountain Men live on despite second-half Moyhu fightback in elimination final yg

By NATHAN DE VRIES

BRIGHT’S senior football side will be thanking their lucky stars they had enough on the board to get over the line against a surging Moyhu outfit in the second half.

The Mountain Men progressed to the senior semi-final after their 12.19 (91) to 10.4 (64) win over the Hoppers on Saturday at Tarrawingee.

It was one-way traffic early on as Bright played the game their way and Moyhu struggled to keep pace.

Despite some inaccuracy in front of the sticks, Bright had more than enough looks on goal to take a healthy 50 point margin heading into half-time.

Moyhu came out of the rooms after the break revitalised, and after some undisciplined actions from Bright gifted an easy goal, momentum started to change.

The Hoppers started to get more of the ball, and convert on crucial chances, while the Mountain Men sprayed the ball for six minor scores and no goals, leading by 30 points with one term left to play.

A mad-dash final quarter saw Moyhu slightly close the gap but Bright

was too strong, sailing through to the semis by 27 points.

Bright coach Paul Harrison said the hard work done by his side early in the match paid off

“I thought our first half was brilliant, we missed a couple of opportunities early but after that we really got going,” he said.

“We do a lot of work on our defensive line, our zone set up behind the footy and our communication to set that up was really good - I thought we were on top across all areas of the game in that first half.”

Guy Campbell finished with three goals, with a total of seven Mountain Men hitting the scoreboard, but

with 19 minor scores, Harrison said his side would have to tighten up in front of goals.

“As much as you get frustrated and the boys’ skills went a bit skew-whiff with the discipline side of things in the third quarter, even though we gave them the momentum and got them back into the game, they never really got within 30 points,” he said.

“We’ve just got to get back to our basics this week and start building, because our good is very good.

“Joe Gray was great in the ruck for us, and we had a decent spread.

“Guy Campbell, Darcy Sholl, Chad Martin – we still had some good players but the pleasing thing was we won and we’ve got a lot of guys who have got room to lift.”

Bright’s seniors will take on Milawa on Sunday at North Wangaratta in their semi-final clash, while the reserves outfit will go up against Greta for a spot in the grand final at Tarrawingee on Saturday.

The seconds had an almost flawless run through the home and away season with only a solitary loss, and won comfortably over the Blues whenever the two sides went head to head.

A grade Lions out of finals, Bright B res advance

By NATHAN DE VRIES

IT was a glorious weekend for the first round of O&K netball finals, which saw two Bright and five Whorouly netball squads feature across the two days.

Whorouly’s A grade netballers fought hard in their elimination final against Bonnie Doon on Sunday, but fell short 34-61.

After a positive first term for the Lions, Bonnie Doon managed to take control of the match hand streak ahead to an insurmountable lead through the second and third quarters.

Although not the ideal end to their year, coach Ebony Allen said she was exceptionally proud of her squad for all their efforts through the season.

“Obviously it was very disappointing to go out like that, but Bonnie Doon are a quality side so we can’t complain,” she said.

“We had a really good first quarter, they got an early lead but we were showing good signs.

“Unfortunately in the second they came out firing and really pushed that lead out, and it was too hard for us to catch back up.

“They are a very good side, they’ve very accurate, they hardly miss any goals and they’ve got such a strong shooter in Portia (Keatch) so they’re really good at feeding the ball into her.

“They’re very good with their possession when they get the ball, they don’t cough up a lot of it, whereas we made a few too many mistakes and gave the ball back to them.

“It’s disappointing we couldn’t get a little bit further but all in all it was a really good season.”

In other matches from the weekend, Whorouly’s C grade,

B reserve and B grade sides all went down - Whorouly’s flag hopes rest on the 15 and under side, who progressed to the second round of finals after downing Bright 38-18.

Bright’s B reserve side stormed through their elimination final, defeating Greta 47-34, with shooter Taykea Boogaard sinking 32 goals for her side.

Bright’s C grade side play in their qualifying final against Bonnie Doon on Saturday at Tarrawingee, while Bright’s B reserve and Whorouly’s 15 and under sides take to the court on Sunday at North Wangaratta.

LONG SHOT: Bonnie Doon’s defenders close in on Tayla Allen as she lines up the shot. PHOTO: Nathan de Vries

CLEAN KICK: Guy Cambell was prominent up forward for Bright, finishing with a four-goal haul.

PHOTO: Kurt Hickling

DOMINANT: Joe Gray was a pillar for Bright’s midfield in their 27 point win over Moyhu in their elimination final. PHOTO: Charlotte Kilner

Season over for Saints footballers

By NATHAN DE VRIES

MYRTLEFORD’S senior footballers ran out their last match of season 2023 at home on Saturday, failing to convert on chances to go down 6.12 (48) to 10.5 (65) against Wodonga Raiders.

The Saints were in the box seat through the first half with 12 scoring shots to Raiders’ five, but only held a two goal lead at half-time.

Momentum shifted away from the Saints when co-captain Ryley Sharp came down with a knee injury in the third quarter, later confirmed to be an ACL.

Raiders bounced on the rattled Saints and booted six goals to one through the last half of the season, running out winners by 17 points.

Simon Curtis led the way with three goals for the Saints, while Mitch Dalbosco, Josh Muraca and Will McKerral turned in great games to end their season.

Senior coach Craig Millar said it was an unfortunate way to round out a disappointing year.

“It’s a really disappointing way to end the season,” he said.

“We thought we controlled the game in the first half pretty well, I think we had 12 shots to five at half-time.

“Unfortunately we weren’t able to put them away, we kept them in the contest, and in the third quarter they kicked four goals to none and it got a bit of momentum back their way.

“We found it difficult once Ryley (Sharp) went down in the third quarter to get any momentum and to be able to threaten on the scoreboard.

“He had a really good year, it was just a really sour way to finish the season off, it was gut-wrenching for everybody.”

Despite the result meaning Myrtleford will take the wooden spoon for 2023 in the seniors, Millar said the morale from his troops never wavered.

Finals ready

■ From back page

“It was really fitting that she played her 150th against Raiders because she’s played over 100 of those games for Raiders,” Sinclair said.

“She’s a great mentor for me, a wonderful coach and player – the fact that she’s able to put out a really strong performance each week is a credit to her.

“We definitely feel like we can take it to any team we come up against in finals.

“As much as we want to take the game as it comes, we know that if we were to win, we’d like to think we could go deep into the final series.

“It’s a really exciting time for the club, and it helps that not only A grade will be there, but also B grade, C grade and under 15s on the same day – it just creates a really great atmosphere, I’m really excited about it.”

In other matches from the weekend, the C grade side took a win 58-26, while the under 15s (22-43), under 17s (17-92), and B grade (34-43) squads all suffered losses.

Finals schedule - Sunday, September 3, @ Wangaratta Showgrounds

15 and under: Myrtleford v North Albury, 9.15am.

C grade: Myrtleford v Lavington, 10.45am.

B grade: Myrtleford v Wangaratta, 1.45pm.

A grade: Myrtleford v Wodonga Raiders, 12.15pm.

“There’s no doubt that while our win/loss ratio hasn’t been what we would’ve liked, there’s been a huge upside in the development of a lot of young players, and that will pay us back over time,” he said.

“I was really proud of our effort, our training numbers have been anywhere between 30 and 45 most sessions, so morale, enthusiasm and positivity has all been there despite the outcome of games.

“We’re training them really hard, and the positive is the majority of the list has resigned for next year.

“I know from my experience in sport it can turn around really quickly if you’re prepared to roll your sleeves up and get to work.”

Myrtleford’s reserves came agonisingly close to a win in their match, downed 8.7 (55) to 8.10 (58) to finish the year at eighth on the ladder, while the thirds finished seventh after their loss 5.4 (34) to 17.11 (113).

Calvene signs with Saints

By NATHAN DE VRIES

FORMER Whorouly senior coach Riley Calvene will play out at McNamara Reserve in season 2024.

Calvene played 59 games across four seasons with the Lions, and will bring leadership and strong midfield capabilities to the Myrtleford list. Senior coach Craig Millar said Calvene is a perfect fit for the developing side.

“He’s done a great job out at Whorouly for a young coach, he’s a really mature person,” Millar said.

“We’ve been watching him for the last couple of years, and we know that he’s had a crack at Ovens and Murray before (50 matches with Wangaratta Rovers, six senior).

“The conversation’s evolved, he wanted to get back to a higher level, and our ears pricked up.

“We look forward to getting a big preseason into him and seeing what he can bring to the table for us next year, but we’ve very confident he’ll play an important role for us.”

Calvene said he was eager to play Ovens and Murray footy once again.

“I’ve been talking to them on and off for about a year or so, I’m keen to get stuck into it,” he said.

“They’ve got some great young players and they’re definitely working toward something.

“They probably didn’t have the season they wanted to, but they’re definitely on the up.”

UNFORTUNATE END: Co-captain Ryley Sharp suffered an ACL injury in the Saints final match of the year on Saturday.

PHOTO: Janet Watt

LEGEND: Myrtleford co-coach Tina Way notched up her 150th A grade match ahead of her sides finals berth this Sunday. PHOTOS: Janet Watt

Congratulations to our 2023 Footy Tipping Winner, Jimmy Thomas from Ovens Valley Physio & Pilates. Jimmy wins - 2 nights’ accommodation for 2 people at a 4 star hotel in Melbourne plus a $800 advertising package with the Myrtleford Times/Alpine Observer.

2nd place is Kyle Arter from Clyde Street Butchery, Kyle wins a $300 travel voucher from Travel & Cruise plus a $800 advertising package with the Myrtleford Times/Alpine Observer.

3rd place is Alanna McLees from Halliday Solicitors, Alanna wins a $200 dining voucher plus a $400 advertising package with the Myrtleford Times/Alpine Observer.

Savoy the the giant killers killers

under under 14s exit finals

Wor ldloppet Worldloppet silver lining silver

Tallangatta league finals underway

By DANIEL SAVILLE

SANDY Creek Recreation Reserve was filled with sunshine, spectators and played host to some eye-raising results over the first weekend of TDFL and TDNA finals action.

IN THE SIGHTS

12.19 (91) to 10.4 (64).

 Story page 25.

Finals ready

A, B, C, and U15 Myrtleford netballers prepare for O&M finals this weekend

By NATHAN DE VRIES

MYRTLEFORD’S A grade netball squad will take intel from Saturday’s reconnaissance match against Wodonga Raiders ahead of the highstakes rematch in finals this weekend.

An understaffed Saints squad with a guaranteed spot in finals went down to Raiders 41-61 in the last round of the home and away season despite a heartening fight back through the middle quarters.

With Myrtleford missing key play-

ers Sophie Hanrahan, Georgia Ryan and Bec Piazza this week, Raiders took advantage of the new-look line-up to lead by 13 at quarter time.

The Saints clicked into gear, preventing the margin from extending through the second half and even managing to bring it back through the third, down but not out 34-45 at three quarter time.

Although the Raiders managed to pull away in the final term, co-coach Olivia La Spina said the information gained from the match was priceless ahead of their first finals match

against Raiders this Sunday.

“What I took away from the game was ‘let’s look at Raiders and see what they’re doing rather than look at what we’re doing’,” she said.

“We went in with a few things to look at for them, things we could try to do to counteract their attack end because their attack end is really strong - now that we’ve had a really good look at that, we’ll focus on that at training this week.

“It’s not the ideal preparation going into finals, but we’re happy with the fight the girls showed in

that game with some challenges.

“We know the team that will play this week against Raiders will be whole different look.”

The match also saw co-coach Tina Way notch up her 150th O&M A grade match, fittingly against the club where she made her A grade debut in 1996.

Way will be an important figure in the Saints’ push through the finals series, which gets underway for Myrtleford this Sunday at Wangaratta Showgrounds.

■ Continued page 26

Only a week after it pushed minor premier Kiewa-Sandy Creek to the limit in the final home and away game of the season, Beechworth has been humbled by Yackandandah in a bruising 67-point qualifyingfinal loss last Saturday, with the scoreboard reading 17.9 (111) to 6.8 (44) in favour of Yackandandah.

The second-placed Kangaroos skipped away to a five-goal quarter-time lead as the game tightened right up in the second and third quarter, with only five goals shared between both teams either side of half-time, before the floodgates opened in the final term as the Bushrangers conceded seven final-quarter goals.

Chiltern’s quest for back-toback senior footy flags is well and truly alive after a 52-point win in what was a dominant display against Barnawartha in Sunday’s elimination final –12.12 (84) to 4.8 (32).

The Tigers managed to take a four-point lead into the first break after a low-scoring first quarter but could only kick two majors for the rest of the game against a strong defensive effort by the Swans.

Two genuine toss-of-thecoin matches will be held this weekend as Kiewa-Sandy Creek and Yackandandah square off on Saturday for a place in the premiership decider, whilst the deserving winner of Sunday’s do-or-die semi-final clash between Beechworth and Chiltern will progress through to a preliminary final.

■ Continued page 22

BRIGHT’S Dylan Bursill bears down on Moyhu’s Josh Coonan in the Mountain Men’s elimination final win. Bright were dominant early despite a third quarter fade to run out winners

PHOTO: Kurt Hickling