1983
Seniors’ 17th birthday
Kyabram’s Senior Citizens celebrated the 17th birthday of the club, where special guest Kyabram Mayor Richard Isaac and his wife Diane were guests of honour.
Town clerk Don McKenzie and several members of other district seniors clubs were also at the event, with seniors club president Les Wilson leading the celebrations.
Ettie Bain and 93-year-old Bessie McGill were at the head table for the cake cutting, Ettie having served on the committee for 12 continuous years, including seven as vice president.
Reg Poole and Margaret Trickey provided the musical entertainment, alongside pianist Ruth Tennant and some of the competition winners were Olive McKenzie, Marj Gibson and Pearl Cameron.
Council wants 10 per cent
Kyabram Town Council was making demands of a 10 per cent cut if poker machines ever made it to Kyabram.
A letter to the state government requesting 10 per cent of taxable income came after the council was made aware of a report detailing how councils alongside the Murray shire could offset the negative impact of gambling.
It said the disadvantages on communities were outweighed by the development of social clubs, motel and flat construction — which in turn generated improved municipal services.
Councillors Ian Hilton and Mac Carling supported the suggestion of the profit sharing model if poker machines ever made it into the town.
Plaza theatre re-opens
Seven months of almost constant work eventually realised the re-opening of the Plaza Theatre and the two movies that led the charge on “opening night’’ were Banana Joe and Tootsie.
For those that don’t remember, Tootsie starred Dustin Hoffman as an out of work actor who dressed as a female to get a television role and becomes a national sensation.
Kyabram Youth Club president David Jones led the restoration works with a team of volunteers, bringing the theatre back into working order after it first showed movies in 1928 and continued right up until 1968.
The 644-seat theatre features a dress circle of 200 red velvet covered seats upstairs. The three projects were secured from the Eildon theatre as the project used fittings from other closed down theatres to keep the cost of reviving the Plaza to a minimum.
Not long after the re-opening it was announced that Australia’s latest box office hit, Phar Lap was going to be shown at the Plaza in November.
It was estimated 600 people had attended the showing of Tootsie on re-opening night and the Australian movie would create even more interest.
Non-voting fines
Kyabram people who did not have a legitimate reason for not voting at the Kyabram Town Council election could expect a $10 fine to arrive in the mail as a result of a non-appearance at the polling booth.
Town clerk Don McKenzie was concerned the number of people who fail to vote at the election could be enhanced by the fact a legislation change meant people who were not ratepayers were still required to vote.
That meant the number of voters in the town had jumped from 3100 to 4000. The council was allowed to hit non-voters with a $20 fine, but Mr McKenzie said they had settled on $10.
New faces on council
Two new councillors, former Kyabram Hospital matron Pat Hayes and businessman Cam Thomson, were voted onto council at the 1983 election.
Miss Hayes scored about half the primary vote, while Cr Maurie Wood was second in the poll and Thomson third.
A fourth candidate, Dawn Thomson (a councillor for the past year) was dropped from the race with only 201 votes.
A total of 3054 people voted, leaving about 1000 who failed to cast a vote. They were all expected to receive please explain letters.
Miss Hayes, charge nurse at the Echuca Day Hospital, polled a thumping 1452 first preference votes, with Cr Wood (812) and Cam Thomson (589) in her wake.
1993
$4 million hospital development
Sixty years of tireless work for the Kyabram Hospital was recognised at the annual meeting of the organisation.
Long standing board member Tom Tehan presented a life governorship to the hospital’s ladies auxiliary, the organisation responsible for raising thousands of dollars in support of the hospital.
The award was accepted by president of the auxiliary Viv Anderson at a special ceremony attended by Member for Rodney Noel Maughan.
The meeting also included the announcement of a $4 million redevelopment project, due to start in the next 12 months.
Hospital board president Peter Kelliher said the project would be finished by 1996 and community donations would continue to be sought with the launch of an appeal to be held in 1995.
There were 122 people at the annual meeting, one of the largest attendances in hospital history.
The redevelopment included expanding on a modernised theatre facility, along with new day procedure and birthing units.
Please be patient
A Wyuna farmer who has helped to co-ordinator the milking of cows for a flood stricken dairyfarmer has asked motorists on John Allen Road to be patient.
Col Carver said there had been a lot of inconvenience for motorists in the area because of dairy cattle being moved along roads.
Twice a day for the last four weeks Col has mustered dairy cows belonging to Geoff and Lyn Hallett from neighbouring farms affected by flooding to be milked at Tom and Heather Montgomery’s John Allen Road milking shed.
The recent floods washed out the Halletts and several other farmers.
There 120 dairy cows were moved off the McCoy’s Bridge property and Wyuna farmers rallied to help them continue milking the cows.
The Halletts could not even return to their home for two weeks after the floods.
Ian and Lyn Park, Eddie and Lois Kempinski and Col Stone also provided support to the Halletts.
Eileen and Ron James provided feed for the cows and Tatura Milk had also gone out of its way to help the family.
2003
Another feather in cap
A range of eye surgery services were about to become available at Kyabram Hospital, news of the addition coming after the Goulburn Valley Base Hospital decided to scale down its own services.
Kyabram Hospital CEO Alwin Gallina said the hospital had purchased a modern, fully equipped operating microscope to perform cataract surgery.
The new service and the associated technology would mean a patient’s time in hospital would be reduced to less than 24 hours as the surgery is performed under local anaesthetic.
Director of nursing Jan Boyle and her skilled team was leading the way, while Ron Murley, a former Kyabram resident who now lives in Shepparton, was among the first to book in for the surgery.
Banners fly high
Kyabram Secondary College art teacher Sheena Stone was showing off the work of her students — in the form of 10 hand painted vinyl banners being used to promote Kyabram Development Committee on poles in Allan Street.
The three metre long banners were part of the Christmas promotion and were expected to have a three year life span, with another 20 banners scheduled for delivery in the next two years.
2013
Adam’s win a first
Adam Gill was the first male contestant to win the Kyabram Show Junior Ambassador award, the St Augustine’s College co-captain a leader in his community.
A sports captain and student representative on council, he also worked at the BP service station and was involved in the Kyabram Youth Club, the Kyabram Wombats Under 16 football team and as a junior basketball coach.
All entrants in the ambassador competition were asked to submit resumes and underwent an interview with a judging panel before they gave a prepared three minute speech on the subject of Future Employment in Regional Australia.
Seniors club turns 37
About 140 people attended Kyabram Senior Citizens’ birthday celebration, which was only a portion of the club’s huge membership of 350.
Ros Kellet from Campaspe shire and 20 members from 10 other clubs were guests.