Funeral director and philanthropist Clive Coventry died after a life spent supporting his adopted community in both an emotional and financial capacity. Two major industries, one a long-time part of the region and another brand new, celebrated milestones of their own when the Tongala Greenham’s plant opened a new section and, at Girgarre, the first sod was turned on a new solar farm. The Kyabram Agricultural Show returned after three years of COVID-19 and flood-related cancellations; champion Kyabram footballer Kayne Pettifer held court at the club’s presentation night when he announced his retirement; and a new development at Merrigum was the focus of the angling community as Goulburn Valley Water partnered with an Indigenous fishing club to open Dunyak Moira.
Clive Coventry honoured
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Long-time Kyabram businessman and philanthropist Clive Coventry was honoured by the community he served for so long after his death.
In a salute to the long-time funeral director, it was revealed just how deep his love for the township of Kyabram ran.
His parents, Grace and Fred, believed that childhood asthma sufferer Clive would thrive in the country air and took up residence on a farm near Wyuna.
He trained as an electrician, drove trucks and taxis and in the 1960s, started in the funeral industry.
With the help of his late wife, Margaret, Clive grew the business considerably, expanding across the Goulburn Valley.
He was renowned for never charging a client for a small child’s funeral.
His successes also enabled him to reinvest in his beloved community, always evaluating his investment decisions based on the likely community benefit that may accrue.
His loyalty and support for local institutions — Morrison and Sawers, Parkland Golf Club, the Kyabram Cemetery Trust and others — was unwavering.
Clive practised “guerrilla goodness” not for praise and accolades but because he genuinely believed that it was the right way to live.
Fittingly, at his send-off, many jokes were told, including one of his all-time favourites: It’s not the cough that carries you off, it’s the coffin they carry you off in.
Solar farm at Girgarre
Construction on a new 93-megawatt solar farm started at Girgarre.
Campaspe Shire Mayor Rob Amos hosted Enel Green Power as the first sod was turned over for a project involving an overall investment of more than $140 million.
Once complete in early 2025, the solar farm will consist of about 169,500 photovoltaic modules and the related civil and electrical infrastructure.
Construction and installation will take about 18 months, with an estimated operational life of roughly 35 years and the capacity to supply sustainable energy to 43,000 Victorian households.
Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the Girgarre Solar Farm would be an important part of Victoria’s transition to 95 per cent renewable energy generation by 2035.
“It will deliver affordable and reliable renewable energy to our grid once complete and create local jobs and opportunities during construction,” Mrs D’Ambrosio said.
Preacher Jessie in US spotlight
A former Kyabram boy has cropped up in a national Australian news article about the impact of the conservative religious movement on US politics.
Jesse Newman, now Pastor Newman, leads Eternity Church in the conservative US state of Iowa.
The evangelical church hosted a visit by Florida governor and potential US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, causing the media to seek him out for interviews.
He knocked back most requests but apparently gave in to a former Australian journalist and US religious writer, Elle Hardy, because of her Aussie connections.
Her article was picked up by the Australian publication The Saturday Paper recently.
The journalist noted it was not surprising that Mr DeSantis chose a conservative Pentecostal church to visit, but “More of a revelation, however, was the man selected to lead the rally in an opening prayer: Jesse Newman, an Australian pastor with an accent as broad as the Nullarbor.”
Through friends, Pastor Newman said the article overstated his influence on politics, and although it was true he had met former president Donald Trump, it was for a fleeting moment.
Pastor Newman grew up in Kyabram and was, for a time, the youth leader at Shepparton’s Encounter Church. He and his wife, Lauren, and their two children moved to the city of Clive in the US in 2012, where they joined a church of just 30 people.
Tongala abattoir development
Tongala welcomed a new Greenham meat processing plant, capable of holding 350 to 400 cattle at any one time and using the herringbone system to create a low-stress operation for both cattle and staff.
Construction on the plant began in October 2021 and two years on, opening day finally arrived.
Greenham managing director Peter Greenham said it felt personally fulfilling to open a plant in the same place as his dad.
“Today has been a fantastic day. It’s taken a while to get here, but after two-and-a-half years, it’s finally here, and we’re really happy to be opening it,” he said.
“Thirty years ago, my father (Peter Snr) opened the first facility here, which is behind us, and then four years later he built another one.”
Mr Greenham said the company was looking forward to being a job provider in the area and said the plant was looking for people to work there.
“Since the opening we’re looking for people to work, and I think that will also bring people to this area and they’ll be using the town and using the facilities here and adding value to the economy,” he said.
“Today is a great day for us.”
After a three-year wait, the Kyabram Agricultural Show finally made its return.
Kyabram Agricultural Horticultural and Pastoral Society president Graeme Joiner and secretary Janelle McDonald said there was real excitement from the community to get involved.
The event included two dog show events, on Saturday as well as on Sunday, after the official show closed.
Aside from the main agricultural section, there were family-friendly attractions for everyone to enjoy, including stilt-walking and a monster truck.
Pettifer calls it a day
Fairytale football finishes are a much sought-after but rarely achieved commodity in September.
Kayne Pettifer was no different. Some weeks before the Bombers’ 2023 Goulburn Valley league finals campaign started, he had set his sights on adding a fourth premiership to his list of achievements in his last season of top-level senior football.
No-one would have argued Pettifer did not deserve the dream finish, but what he got was vastly different.
His last game was in the first round of Kyabram’s four-week finals series, reported and suspended for five weeks — effectively ending his glittering AFL and country football playing days.
In typical Pettifer fashion, he went down fighting, appealing the suspension and taking the matter to the highest level in a last-ditch effort to be involved in the club’s grand final with Echuca.
And while it was no fairytale ending for Pettifer, he had a typically positive outlook on the outcome when he stood in front of the Kyabram Football Netball Club playing and supporter stocks at the club’s Wilf Cox Community Centre presentation night.
Footballers talking about themselves in the third person is not new; in fact, at one Melbourne-based sports radio station, there is an award for the ‘’best third-person congratulator’’.
Rarely, however, have I experienced anyone doing it as gracefully and with as much humour as the retiring Kyabram champion, who often refers to himself as the “Train’’ — a self-adopted moniker from his AFL playing days with Richmond.
Dunyak Moira opens at Merrigum
Two decommissioned Goulburn Valley Water dams became the site of the Dunyak Moira Fishing Lagoons at Merrigum, offering a catch-and-release opportunity for anglers to fish for a range of giant cod and yellowbelly.
A joint project between Goulburn Valley Water and the Burnanga Indigenous Fishing Club, the two lagoons — which sat dormant for more than two decades — are now teeming with fish and birdlife.
They are even signposted for the more discerning angler, explaining how the 12.5-megalitre dam is home to the golden perch variety (known as yellowbelly) and the other is the domain of the prestigious Murray cod — including a 1.2m “monster” who has unofficially been given royal status within the 50Ml lagoon ecosystem (Burnanga Moira, Yorta Yorta for Cod Lake).
From dawn until dusk on Friday, Saturday and Sunday — along with every day of the school holidays — the lagoons are open to the public to fish as they wish, on a catch-and-release basis.
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