Historical society

Meetings of the Warragul and District Historical Society have been cancelled due to the coronavirus. The meeting was to be held next Monday night.

Guest speaker at the February meeting was Jindivick’s George Ronalds, who spoke about his early school days, the development of his world class family company, Jindi Cheese, and the horrific 2009 Black Saturday fire.

George began school at Jindivick primary in 1943. “Today, we hear a lot about bullying, but in our day, boys settled things out on the school yard. It was part of growing up. No one cared much about it,” he said.

Primary school was followed by three years at Warragul High School. “After Form 3, it was time to go home and milk the cows,” he said.

George developed a reputation for earth moving, doing a lot of shire and road work, but in 1984, aged 48, he was looking for another opportunity. He and Laurie Jensen formed a partnership and with $35,000 to built a cheese factory, learning from scratch.

The first cheese was produced in 1986. “It was not successful. There was a lot of trial and error. We sold the first cheese, but we did not know what it was meant to taste like. We didn’t realise the conditions the cheese was meant to be made in.”

Further reading and knowledge gained from an overseas study tour, which showed the need for air-conditioning, began to bring results. The business began to turn around about 1987-88, but turnover was still low. A crucial step was hiring Craig Sceney, a cheesemaker. “We learnt how to make this cheese. We set about making it, but through trial and error, we got on top of it,” said George.

In 1996, George’s son Andrew joined the business. By 1996, Jindi Cheese had 70 employees, and began to conquer the world. The company had already won several competitions at the Royal Melbourne Show, but in 1996, Jindi won first prize for the world’s best soft mould cheese in Wisconsin. “That was pretty big. I didn’t believe it,” said George.

Further world wins came in 2002, then in 2004, Jindi won the world’s best soft cheese. The business was growing, milk was coming in by the tanker load. Menora Foods was taking 75 per cent of the product and in 2005 bought the business. Jindi had 75 employees and undertaken 14 extensions.

George described the impact of the Black Saturday January 2009 Bunyip State fire.

“We watched it come across, to my brother’s place 500 metres away. The silage and hayshed were not just burnt but exploded instantly. The share farmhouse was in between. Within seconds, the flames were 30 metres high,” he said.

At the house, they wet everything they could. “I said to others, ‘Let’s get inside’, just as the fire came up the hill. The roar was like a jet plane. There was no power. I looked outside. There were flames all around us.

“Brother Dave said, “We have done a lot together, clearing the land ... it looks like we are going to die together’. Those were his words. Another rang a girl friend to say goodbye, ‘We won’t be coming home’. Time seemed to stand still. All of a sudden there was light, you could see outside.” They were saved.