A community spirit shaped by long time families
Small communities are made of many components but they are often largely shaped by the families that live in them. A number of families have been prominent in Poowong’s history with some having ties to the area since the town’s establishment in 1874.
One family synonymous with the town is the Motton family who has had an unbroken link to Poowong since that time.
Alice and Louisa Motton first “selected” farm land in Poowong in 1875 and the family began farming in the area around this time. Their father, George Robert Motton was the patriarch of the family and he was the first of four generations of farmers in Poowong. The original homestead that Alice and Louisa lived in was known as “Marminta.” George and his wife Emma Waterman had 10 children in all including George Felix Motton who was born in 1864.
George Felix was next off the rank in farming land in Poowong before his own son Felix Clarence Motton took over operations. Felix was born in 1911 and died in 1978. Felix’s son Russell who was born in 1948 is the fourth generation to farm in the area and continues today with his wife Glenys, who grew up in Woodleigh.
Russell’s earliest memories involve going to Poowong State School which in the 1950s and 60s took students onto form two. He finished his schooling at Drouin High School before beginning work on the family farm with his father Felix.
Russell and Glenys met at a dance in Poowong, however soon after Russell was shipped off to Vietnam for a 12-month stint as part of the war effort. After his return in June 1970, he and Glenys married in February 1971. Not long after he began working as a stock agent as well as overseeing the farm.
In 2000, Russell and Glenys started their own livestock business - Motton Livestock which they continue to own and operate.
Russel and Glenys have three children, Michelle, Darren and Dean as well as five grandchildren. Russell is somewhat of a local identity having been present in the community for most of his life. As a result, he has been asked to MC the special celebration in the public hall on Saturday night.
Russell says his biggest memories of life in Poowong centre around the strong community spirit that has always been in abundance. Involvement in the football club, the swimming pool and other community associations are some of his biggest memories of the town. He also was coach of both Korumburra and Nyora football teams in earlier years.
Russell says while Poowong has looked fairly similar over the years, a big blow to the town was when the Unigate factory closed down in the mid 1980s. This resulted in 70 people losing their jobs at the factory almost overnight.
Many of the workers were offered jobs at the Bonlac factory in Drouin and the resulting drain in people certainly took its toll on the town. “I don’t think any other businesses actually closed during this time, but it certainly made life hard for a lot of them,” he said. “It also had an effect on the football and netball clubs,” he remembers.
The community spirit in Poowong has endured though, with a number of vibrant community organisations.
Two of the biggest examples of community spirit Russell can remember in his time involved local sporting clubs. He remembers the campaign to build the local swimming pool in the late 1950s and 1960s. “A young man from the town drowned at Inverloch and there was a meeting where it was decided that a pool was needed to help teach local kids to swim.” Due to an overwhelming community response the town was able to build the pool.
Russell also remembers the football ground being renovated first in 1987 but again in 1996. The latter maintenance of the ground saw many people in the community volunteer time and effort to totally renovate the surface and install drainage. “There were over 200 volunteers who worked to install the drains and deliver 22 truck loads of sand,” he recalls. “Such was the level of volunteering and donations it saved somewhere in the area of $200,000.”
The other big change has been the reduction in the number of dairy farms. Russell remembers there being 16 dairy farms on their road alone when he was a boy - now there are only two.
Despite the blow of the factory closing, Russell says the town is continuing to evolve. “There have been a number of new residential developments going in and that has seen the town grow again,” he says.
People wishing to hear more from Russell will be able to see him as MC at the formal celebration for Poowong’s 150th anniversary on Saturday at the Poowong Public Hall. All members of the community are welcome to attend.