Around Traps
Landcare Honorary Membership awarded
Kyabram Urban Landcare Group has awarded its first Honorary Membership to foundation member Don Anderson.
Don’s outstanding contribution to land care began well before the Landcare movement formally began in 1989.
According to Landcare president Doug Small, Don’s lifelong commitment to planting trees, protecting native vegetation and controlling weeds is legendary.
After its meeting last week Doug said: ‘‘Our group wanted to confer a Honorary Membership to Don in recognition to this outstanding contribution to Landcare in Kyabram.’’
Landcare secretary Neville Hunter added: ‘‘It is a tribute to his unfailing commitment to improving and repairing the district’s neglected natural environment.’’
Emily Jane’s Wyuna origins
The first Emily Jane paddle steamer designed specifically to service trade on the Goulburn River from Echuca to Seymour in the late 19th century was built at Wyuna.
Thomas Buzza, in partnership with Charles Wordsworth and William Rose, built the paddle steamer at his saw mill and boat-building yard to the design of a Mr T. Price of Echuca.
She was launched at Wyuna by Simon Fraser M.L.A., who christened her Emily Jane after Thomas Buzza’s daughter.
Emily Jane 1 was the first paddle steamer to make the trip from Echuca to Shepparton and then on to Seymour in 1875.
The second and larger Emily Jane 2 was also built for the Buzza family and was constructed at Alexander Arbuthnot Timber Mill at the Koondrook Timber Slipway in Koondrook, on the Murray River, in 1881. The mill still operates today.
Emily Jane 2 travelled the Murray and Darling rivers and was sold in 1888 to a Mr W. Bowring and provided service until she was burnt to the water line in 1899 at Wentworth.
One of several paddle steamers on the Goulburn River run, SWPS Melbourne, bound for Seymour from Mooroopna in 1878, arrived at Murchison but was unable initially to get under the bridge because of a high river.
After the removal of her deck housing and steam funnel she proceeded to eventually reach Seymour.
Later that year on another trip, SWPS Melbourne ran aground about four miles below Seymour and it took three bullock teams to pull her into shallow water.
By 1880 the SWPS Melbourne had cleared all snags and obstacles for 40km towards Nagambie from Seymour.
But the river traffic declined in the 1880s, as railways became the popular mode of travel and transporting goods.
The last paddle steamer to reach Seymour was the PN Agnus, which left Echuca in 1888 under Captain Randell. She had to negotiate the incomplete construction of the Goulburn Weir near Nagambie on her last journey.
PN Agnus later operated as a picnic charter boat on the Goulburn River and Lake Nagambie. She was converted to a barge about 1917 and later sunk in Lake Nagambie.
Angus Rd, Emily Jane Rd and Murrumbidgee Rd, which run off the Murray Valley Hwy to the Goulburn River near Wyuna, are three of several roads that have been named after paddle steamers that plied the Goulburn River in those long-ago days.
Surrender your gel blaster
If you have a gel blaster — a gun that looks like a real gun — you had better surrender it.
New laws introduced in Victoria make them illegal, and hefty fines and even jail time await those who have one and are reluctant to part with it.
Since the start of October, charges could be laid against anyone possessing or using an imitation firearm.
Anyone found with a gel blaster, and who is prohibited from having one, can face 10 years in jail or a $218,000 fine.
Keep your parcels safe
Parcel thefts have increased with online shopping — and with the Christmas period approaching shoppers are warned to be on guard.
But there are ways to thwart thieves:
• Have packages delivered when someone is home.
• Regularly check the front door when expecting a parcel.
• Ask a family member, neighbour or friend to visit your home if a parcel is arriving and you can’t be there.
• Install security cameras as a deterrent and place a lock on you letterbox if possible.
• If you see anything suspicious contact local police, Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Police Assistance Line on 131 444.
Rain on the way
Kyabram received 5mm of rain overnight last Thursday to take the October total to 38.4mm, just a little more than the 37.9mm monthly average.
The rain came soon after the warmest day since autumn, on October 27, when the temperature peaked at 28.5°C.
More rain is predicted today and tomorrow.
O’keeffe still COGS Mayor
City of Greater Shepparton will have Kim O’keeffe as mayor for another term.
Cr O’keeffe got the nod in a virtual ballot with Cr Seema Abdullah last week.
Defying Father Time
There’s no stopping lawn bowls legend Edna Harling.
Last Thursday Greater Shepparton’s oldest resident celebrated her 107th birthday, claiming she never thought she wouldn’t reach the magical milestone.
The much loved Edna has had to contend with both the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 in her lifetime, but as she did to most her bowling rivals she has seen them off as well.
Driver on the outer
Ryan James Clarke, a 36-year-old Shepparton man, with a $500-a-day drug habit, pleaded guilty to a raft of charges, including driving without a licence six times in the past year.
He was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, which includes 126 hours of community work.
New owners at Billy Burgers
One of Nagambie’s favourite takeaway food outlets, Billy Burgers, has new owners.
The Rose family, which owns the Nagambie Bakery, has taken on the business conducted for the past 17 years by Jose Jong and Yung Lang Mu, who are retiring due to ill health.
The former owners will stay on for a while to help the new owners learn the ropes of the thriving six-days-a-week business.
Bikie prosecuted
A Shepparton drug dealer and member of the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has been busted by undercover police officers.
Pancrazio Mazza, 30, has been jailed for three months on two counts of trafficking cocaine, being a prohibited person possessing a firearm, being a person possessing an imitation firearm, possessing a prohibited weapon and two counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail.