He was one of 358 from 151 countries to take on the district governor role for the 1976-77 year and was now responsible to co-ordinate 55 clubs in the district.
A Rotarian since 1963 he was accompanied by his wife Edith on the trip.
Apprentice of the year: Thompson Motors apprentice Graeme Johnstone with his Echuca Technical School mechanical teacher and Don Thompson.
• Graeme Johnstone was named the Echuca Technical School’s top mechanic at the annual awards ceremony.
He accepted the award from the school’s senior mechanics teacher and with his employer, Don Thompson.
• Seventeen dairy farmers who had registered as unemployed were offered work with the Rocehster Shire for a 10-week period under employment finance made available to municipalities through the state government.
The dairy farmers were due to receive $111 a week under the new scheme, the shire receiving $44 for each of them to cover administration costs.
Rochester Shire was among several involved in the scheme, with 10 men from Deakin Shire, 11 from Rodney and three from Kyabram also identified as eligible for the scheme.
• Ern Lawrence was installed as the eighth president of Rochester Lions Club, taking over the role from Jack Anderson.
Lion Keith Oberin welcomed guests to the shire hall for the evening, with other senior roles filled by Graeme Gledhill, Bob Hodgens, Bruce Major, Ken Langdon, Ray Powles and Gilbert McDonald.
Mr Anderson said the club had assisted Tehan House, Licola Village, Rochester A&P Society, Nanneella sports ground committee, Advance Rochester, Rochester Hospital and the schools in the last 12 months.
Star of the evening: Margaret Ingwerson, mother of a debutante at the St Joseph’s ball, was named the Campaspe News Star of the Evening.
• Rochester Shire councillor Fraser Caddy claimed the expenses of running a municipality had reached such a level that they must start looking at the possibility of municipal charges.
He made the claim after attending the annual municipal conference, but was shouted down by fellow councillors.
Country week: Rochester’s under-16 Country Week squad from 1986 is named in full in today’s Reflections column.
1986
Ten years after the initial discussions of council mergers, the Shire of Rochester was part of a Local Government Commission proposal for a change of boundaries.
The suggestion was for the Rochester-based council to include parts of the Shire of Deakin and Shire of Waranga.
Elmore, and an area along the Northern Highway to Myola, would also be included if the new municipality went ahead.
• Two netball teams from Rochester competed in the Country Week competition in Melbourne.
The under-18 team was Donna Hansen, Tracey Hansen, Nancy Smeaton, Michelle O’Neill, Joy Blackman (coach), Tracey Joyce, Susan Dupuy, Narelle Bracknell, Helen Chugg and Tracey Major.
The under-16 team was Annalea McCurry, Jodie Luscombe, Michelle Love, Susan Joyce, Merle Sterling, Anne Geddis (coach), Nicole Turner, Michaele Chambers, Mandy White and Mel Campbell.
• Rochester was sitting on the bottom rung of the Goulburn Valley League ladder after eight games, the only winless team.
It had just been beaten by 51 points by second-bottom team Tongala, with Rob Aitken’s four-goal best-afield effort one of the few highights.
Milner, Alderton, Gemmill, Howell and McDonald were other players to perform, while Shaw kicked three goals.
• Rochester’s St Joseph’s Parish conducted its debutante ball, with participants being Tony Smith, David Nelson, Ronnie Windridge, Tim Leahy, David Hodgens, Malcolm Ritchie and Brian Rushton, along with Bradley Clark (page boy), Patty Palmer, Patricia Lawford, Loretta Welsh, Judith Pentreath, Karen McCarty, Marlene Ingwersen, Angela Foran and Maree Anlezark (flower girl).
The trainers were Mr Welch and Mrs Henderson. The photo was taken by Tony Cole from Underwood Studios in Kyabram.
Margaret Ingwerson, a mother of a debutante, was chosen as the Star of the Evening.
1996
Star in the making: Paul McMahon after being selected to make his senior representative football debut after just one game for Lockington-Bamawm.
Lockington-Bamawm footballer Paul McMahon became the youngest player to wear the league colours after being selected in the representative team despite having played just one senior game for his club, when he kicked eight goals and was best-on-ground.
The 17-year-old Bendigo Pioneers player was almost three years younger than any other player in the match against the Alberton league at Wonthaggi.
• Rochester was sitting second-bottom on the Goulburn Valley League ladder with two wins and a draw from nine matches, only the winless Seymour below it in the standings.
• Elmore police station had just been equipped with the latest in breath testing equipment.
Thirteen new units were delivered to regional police stations to significantly boost the number of random breath tests conducted in country Victioria.
The equipment provided a fully computerised alcohol reading for evidential purposes, which the preliminary breath test could not provide.
• Rochester and District Citizens Advisory Group was insulted by the Campaspe Shire Council’s name choice of central ward for the area covering Rochester.
The group expressed its feelings in a letter to the chief commissioner, Doug Crow.
With a suggestion that Kyabram and Echuca names would be used in ward names, the group said that Rochester — once the largest shires in the state — would be lost amid the anonymity of the central ward.
The suggestion for central was made by the Colbinabbin Advisory Group, but the Rochester group insisted the original title be kept on historic, geographic and social grounds.
Graham Clark was president of the Rochester Advisory Group at the time, with Hank Efting recently resigning, while Graeme Watson, Jean Woods and Fred Ind were re-elected to office bearer roles.
• Plans to develop an Opperman Museum received overwleming support at a meeting on May 29, the birthday of Sir Hubert, in Rochester.
The meeting was, however, divided on whether to build a museum, develop the existing museum at the railway station or look into alternate Rochester buildings.
Keith Gell was chair of the Rochester and Lockington Development Incorporated committee considering the future museum.
At the meeting, Rochester’s Peter Anderson suggested a sporting hall of fame be developed for district sporting identities, as an extension to the museum.