Ranges
Trader
Walk for Change
5 Tuesday, 16 January, 2018
Covering the Dandenongs in the Yarra Ranges & Cardinia Shires
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End of taxi era By Derek Schlennstedt
Ranges requiring a lift home - each voice she remembered. “Being a small community you got to know everyone ... I remember them all to when they ring up; if they haven’t been here for twenty years I still remember their voice, which is nice,” Ms Hood said. Annette though didn’t just answer the phone, and up until her retirement she was driving into the late hours of the morning. “She drove up till now ... she was always out and about,” daughter Mandy brown said.
With 2 daughters, 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren, Annette said she was saddened to leave the community she had grown to love but said she looks forward to spending time with her family and sleeping in. She also joked that after 35 years of working and living in Emerald it was about time to get a coffee in town. “I’ve never had a coffee in emerald, so I’m going to do that” she joked. As the saying goes ‘Change is the only constant’, and though the taxi industry is un-
dergoing change in the face of technology it is important to remember those enduring members of the community Like Barry and Annette who not only provided a service but would offer a personal and distinctive experience, which in an age of efficiency and speed is slowly vanishing. “Annette and Barry were two of the kindest hearted people I’ve ever met and the taxi service won’t be the same without them ... there will always be taxis for people but it won’t be quite as personal,” Geoff Cook said.
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Daughters Mandy Brown and Marianne Hood reminisced with Annette Hood about when they first moved to Emerald over 30 years ago.
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In a poignant evening at Rose Cottage on 9 January, taxi drivers, residents, friends and family gathered to celebrate Annette Hoods’ 35 year tenure as owner and ambassador for Emerald Taxi Service. For many Annette’s retirement is an indication of change within the industry - where technology and speed is valued more than the journey itself. For many Annette and her late husband Barry Hood provided the Dandenong ranges with not just a transport service, but a distinctive personal experience which offered residents a service home when they were at their most vulnerable - often without the stress of payment. As Geoff Cook, a driver at Emerald Taxi Service so eloquently and nostalgically said, “Annette’s retirement signifies the end of an era”. “I’ve worked with other depots before but they were much tougher and more business and money oriented,” he said. “Annette and Barry had this lovely family business ... they cared about their passengers and Annette still cares about each and every passenger - she knows their voices, their situations and that’s why I said tonight that it’s an end of an era.” An end of an era indeed, with many retelling stories of Annette and Barry’s kind hearted nature - the duo often giving free trips to young and old residents alike, with nothing more than just a written promise to pay them back when they could. Those IOU cards eventually making-up several boxes at the family home in Emerald Main Street which also doubled as the office. “They had a pile of cards from people, who were given free rides and were told we’ll pay you later, but they never got around to it” Mr cook said. After a lifetime of being both the operator and a driver, at 75-years of age, Annette has decided the time is right. For 35 years, patrons were greeted by the welcoming voice of Annette who would answer the calls of individuals in the Dandenong