115 November 2022 Merrijig community Newsletter

1
“There was
movement at the
station, for the word
had passed around
That the colt from
Old Regret had got
away,
And had joined the
wild bush horses -
he was worth a
thousand pound,
So all the cracks had
gathered to the fray.”
………….
…………..
Well at least those
remaining gathered
on the stage, at the
Mountain
Cattlemen’s get
together albeit 40
years older but still
they gathered minus
their mounts.
Contents
Quote of the month ................................................................................................................................................................. 2
November Calendar ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
New president for Merrijig Hall committee .............................................................................................................................. 4
4WD to Craigs Hut ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Flicking the switch in Merrijig .................................................................................................................................................. 6
No access to Wonnangatta yet. .............................................................................................................................................. 6
‘Snowy’ history comes to Merrijig ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Mountain Cattlemen’s Get Together. ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Mt Buller Mt Stirling Resort Management ................................................................................................................................... 9
Alex’s Dad Jokes. … ............................................................................................................................................................. 10
Life memberships awarded to valued volunteers.................................................................................................................. 10
Are you a former student? ..................................................................................................................................................... 12
Our Merrijig School News. .................................................................................................................................................... 13
Road trip report ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14
New Play group in Merrijig .................................................................................................................................................... 16
Merrijig CFA Brigade report November 2022 ........................................................................................................................ 17
What’s coming up in November? .......................................................................................................................................... 18
Merrijig Barrel Racing Club ................................................................................................................................................... 18
2022 Mansfield Show Saturday November 19 ...................................................................................................................... 19
Follow the link for all the information needed with closing dates for those entries needing to be in before the show date . 19
Final laugh. ............................................................................................................................................................................ 19
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Quote of the month
Back issues of the newsletters can be viewed on the web at in e-magazine form at
https://www.yumpu.com/... See Facebook Merrijig Newsletter for monthly link
Some articles in this newsletter may be picked up by the Mansfield Courier so consider this if you are
submitting stories you could be sensitive about sharing with the community wider than Merrijig.
If you’re looking for a Justice of the Peace,
Laurie Jacob, Buttercup Rd 0439 280 333
Catherine McNish, Sawmill Settlement 0429 482 309
Merrijig Defibrillators are located at Merrijig Motor Inn
4 Stirling St & McCormack Park
The procedure in case of an emergency where a person is possibly having a heart
attack is to dial Triple Zero. The call takers at Triple Zero have the location of the
Merrijig AED registered and will advise the caller of its location if that is the closest
unit to your location. McCormack Park unit is located in the machinery shed of the
Motorbike Track. Merrijig Hall Alpha St. Merrijig Motor Inn should be contacted by
phone. The Motor Inn phone number is 5777 5702.
For UPPER MERRIJIG at 4 Stirling St.
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November Calendar
◄ October November 2022 December ►
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
4 5
1 10am Muscle Mob @
Hall
2 Bin Night Rubbish
& Recycling
3 Craft group 11am @
Hall
6 7 8 10am Muscle Mob @
Hall
9 Rubbish Bin Night 10 Craft group 11am
@ Hall
11 12
13 14 15 10am Muscle Mob
@ Hall
16 Bin Night 17 Craft group 11am
Rubbish & Recycling @ Hall
18 19 Mansfield
Agricultural Show
20 21 22 10am Muscle Mob
@ Hall
23 Rubbish Bin
Night
24 Craft group 11am
@ Hall
25 26
27 28 29 10am Muscle Mob
@ Hall
30 Bin Night
Rubbish & Recycling
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New president for Merrijig Hall committee
Mr Adrian Lawrence of Merrijig has been elected to the position of president of the committee.
Adrian was vice president last year and happily accepted the nomination to president with the
retirement of Des Dunn who held the position for three years.
Pictured after the meeting in front of the beautiful community quilt at the Merrijig Hall are some of
the committee: from left Eliza Foster, Adrian Lawrence, Barb Jones, Peter Howarth, Mary Dunn, Noel Willaton, Robert
Reeve, Laurie Jacob, Des Dunn and Louise Jacob.
Absent from the photo: Georgie Deyell, Kerrie Purcell, Myra Knox, Kaye Dyson.
New secretary elected, is Kaye Dyson, who replaces retiring secretary of 15 years, Louise Jacob,
plus new general committee members, Eliza Foster and Myra Knox.
In presenting his annual report to the meeting of about 25 people, outgoing president Des Dunn, said
that despite the issues around COVID protocols we had still been able to successfully complete the
following events:
Trivia night in February; assisting the Merrijig Rodeo in March resulting in a welcome cheque for
$5000 from the association; the high Country Halls Music Festival in April which was highly
successful event; also a Trash 2 Treasure in April, followed by the ANZAC Day service in April; a preelection
meeting for candidate, Helen Haines, in May, and another Trivia night in July.
“All these events assisted in raising the funds that allow the hall to continue, as bank balances were
depleted over the previous two years due to COVID restrictions.
“Thanks to those who assisted at the working bees at the hall over the last year: including working
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towards connecting the solar battery, setting up for the music festival, re-fencing of the boundary
fence between the hall and the adjoining site and the need to work around this, a great working bee
at the power substation site at the corner of School Lane, clearing the site and removing fencing. This
was a great community effort. Also the other works - repairing the front doors, guttering clearance,
tree lopping etc. Needless to say the weather hasn’t been conducive to allowing much work to be
done outside.
In conclusion he thanked the maintenance brigade - Laurie Jacob, the hall bookings arranged by
Kerrie Purcell, the grants program overseen by Georgie Deyell, the secretarial and publicity duties
ably provided by Louise Jacob, treasurer’s duties by Mary Dunn with social secretary duties by Barb
Jones, plus the ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day services co-ordinator at the five Pines Memorial
Site, Peter Howarth. He also thanked the other members of the committee, Kaye Dyson, Robert
Reeve, Adrian Lawrence and Noel Willaton.
“You all ‘do what you have to do’ on a purely voluntary basis to assist the Merrijig and wider
communities. Thank you for your support. And thank you for making my role as president over the
last few years an enjoyable one.”
Hall treasurer, Mary Dunn, reported that the hall had been able to accumulate some funds again
through the fundraising activities throughout the year. And the grants account has been active since
the grants officer, Georgie Deyell, was successful in obtaining three grants, for a solar battery, a
defibrillator and volunteer training grants meaning some volunteers have updated their 1st Aid and
Responsible Serving of Alcohol qualifications as a result. The memorial account is very healthy with
donations from a very successful ANZAC Day service, she concluded.
The whole committee now comprises:
President, Adrian Lawrence, Secretary, Kaye Dyson, Treasurer, Mary Dunn, Booking officer, Kerrie
Purcell, Grants Officer, Georgie Deyell. General committee: Louise Jacob, Eliza Foster, Robert
Reeve, Myra Knox, Barb Jones, and Noel Willaton. The Merrijig War and Service subcommittee is
led by Peter Howarth, and assisted by Des Dunn, Laurie Jacob, and also includes Georgie Deyell,
and Noel Willaton. The social subcommittee is led by Barb Jones and assisted by Eliza Foster.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1B4WD to Craigs Hut
A little update for this upcoming long weekend, there are plans to
open up the circuit road at 4pm on Thursday afternoon (27/10).
Advise includes, that just in case of freshly fallen trees or
branches, take your chainsaw and drive very carefully, the road
and track will be extremely slippery advice includes there have been some land slips up there.
The up road to Craig’s Hut will not be open until early December, so pop on your walking shoes and
take the walking track.
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2BFlicking the switch in Merrijig
The Merrijig Public Hall was one of the successful recipients of the Powering Communities Program, and I was
so pleased to be able to drop in on Thursday and see the results of the funding.
The Merrijig Public Hall Committee has installed new LED lighting, which
uses less energy, as well as a new battery to store energy collected by the
hall's solar panels. These changes allow the committee to reduce costs of
running the hall, which benefits the
members of the community who use
the hall.
It was great to be there and see the
lights in action for the Merrijig stitchers
group, with so many wonderful
projects on the go.
The Merrijig Hall is an asset to the community and it was a pleasure to
see the facility and enjoy tea and a scone after a busy week in Canberra!
IMAGES: Speaking to the Merrijig Stitchers Group
Checking out the battery at Merrijig Public Hall with Laurie Jacob and Robert Reeve.
ˁ(⦿ᴥ⦿)ˀ
3BNo access to Wonnangatta yet.
Four Wheel Drive Victoria has been advised by Parks Victoria that Wonnangatta Four Wheel Drive Track is
closed between Wonnangatta River and Riley’s Creek Track due to a landslip making the road impassable.
This section of track was scheduled to re-open in line with other seasonal closures later in the week.
Southern Alps Area Chief Ranger Mike Dower said ‘attempts are being made to access the site and undertake
repairs this week with a D6 dozer, but current weather conditions have hampered our attempts. A machine is
on route to the location, and it is anticipated the track will be open at some stage in coming weeks, weather
permitting. Parks Victoria will inform the public as soon as the works have been completed’.
‘Alternative access to Wonnangatta Valley should be considered noting that very wet conditions can rapidly
make all approaches impassable. Emerging soaks on tracks, unstable batters causing slips, and river heights
rising rapidly must all be considered when planning and undertaking dynamic risk assessments in the High
Country’.
A map of the closure can also be found on Four Wheel drive Victoria's website.
www.fwdvictoria.org.au
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‘Snowy’ history comes to Merrijig
An enthusiastic gathering of locals were fascinated by a question and answer session provided by
producer of the Man From Snowy River movies, Geoff Burrowes at the annual general meeting of the
Merrijig Public Hall committee. Celebrating 40 years since the first movie was released Geoff candidly
answered all the questions.
Of particular interest was a question from Maz Dowling who referred to casting when asking if Kirk
Douglas was sought out or did potential cast members just front up.
Geoff explained that when the movie was first mooted he was considered but was a polarising figure
with 50/50 in favour. As we were struggling to raise finance we worked out the style of picture that
was being made which could be marketed overseas. Hopefully so it could be seen as an American
style new type of western. “The bridge to this was Kirk. He was not just an actor. He was a producer,
a director and a monumental influence in the film industry. He worked for every president since
Eisenhower. He worked on cultural exchange things, which was a big deal.”
“We didn’t realise what we were getting into.” Geoff went on, “It was hard to work with him - he made
us work much harder, he demanded everything we had.
Harrison and Spur
being brothers was his idea. Drama between siblings is stronger than drama between mates. He was
difficult but Snowy wouldn’t have been as good without him” Geoff admitted.
Eliza Foster asked, what was the most rewarding part of doing the filming? Geoff: explained that Jack
Lovick was ‘all over me’ that I had to respect the families - particularly the older people, Buck Hearn,
Jack and Tom Purcell who rode in it. Jack Lovick was providing the horses and training - he was very
supportive.. The local people’s support was great. I live here now. The movies were grounded in
Merrijig and made out of Merrijig. The pub was head office, Bonnie, Carmel, Christy, from the pub
and others were distributing the call sheets, that’s how involved they were.. That’s how good they
were at what they did. The pub was the hub for us.”
Outgoing hall president, Des Dunn pictured left with Geoff Burrowes, and in-coming
president of the hall committee, Adrian Lawrence.
“If I was doing it again I would have included the original stewards of
this country. It was well looked after then. Now it has been done
horrifically wrong. It’s so thick out there.
It can’t be fixed because the decisions are made in Melbourne.”
Geoff continued that “this area has every single type of feature all in one place and available. Mt
Stirling has so many aspects to it; half of the time in the bush was spent on Stirling - not identifiably
but on Stirling. It was difficult not to get good shots,” he said.
There were many more questions which had the gathering totally engaged. As did the comprehensive
display of photos, posters and other memorabilia brought along by Geoff.
\_(ツ)
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) )Z
/ \
Mountain Cattlemen’s Get Together.
Photographic credit to BlowFlyHill Photography and Min McComack photography
It’s been three years since the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association of Victoria (MCAV) have held their annual
Get Together, and what a return the event has made.
More than 3000 people gathered at Merrijig over the weekend, the muddy ground apparently no deterrent.
Part of the celebration was a focus on the 40th anniversary of the
Man From Snowy River movie, with Tom Burlinson – aka the
Man himself - spending the weekend hanging out with fans,
signing autographs and taking a trip down memory lane.
Tom was joined by number of the original crack riders who also
participated in the film, including local stunt man Gerald Egan,
movie producer Geoff Burrowes and Master Horseman Charlie
Lovick.
In officially opening the event, president of the MCAV, Bruce
McCormack – also a Merrijig local who starred in the Snowy River
movies – called on those present to support practical management of the High Country at the coming State
Election. “Support better High Country land management by voting for those candidates who will do something
to improve the situation we now find ourselves in,” he said. “Over the years the Governments have announced
ever increasing areas of National Parks,
but there was no on-going funding to manage those parks.” He continued “The Governments gave in to the
Greens and reduced burning programs and now we find ourselves with a High Country choked with feral
weeds, feral deer and native scrub that needs burning.”
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“This situation and build up – and what a build-up there will be after this winter and spring - means that when
the next bushfire comes, and come it will, it will burn hotter, brighter and out of control.” Bruce asked those
gathered to think about the situation being faced by the High Country, describing a landscape choked with
blackberries where once there was open parkland.
“What I am describing,” he said, “is a total failure of public land management – management is obviously failing
when the land we love is suffering.”
The overall
winner of the
Driza-Bone
Junior Challenge
was Billy
Phegan, with
recently married couple Chloe Trompf and Dave Mitchell taking out
the Ladies and the Open.
“It was a great weekend for the whole family,” Mr McCormack said.
“The weather conditions were against us in the lead-up with mud axledeep
and rain forecast, but in the end the sun came out and it was a
fantastic weekend.” “We are already looking forward to making our
2023 Get Together bigger and better,” he concluded.
On the arena there was a host of new events for the
horse riders as the Cattlemen made a focus for 2022 on
encouraging younger riders. There were junior packhorse
races, gymkhana novelties, obstacle courses, walking
races, cattle work and much more.
The next MCAV Get Together will be held in Gippsland. You can stay up to date with what’s going on by
heading to the web site - Home | MCAV
Report by Rhyll McCormack Secretary of MCAV
Mt Buller Mt Stirling Resort Management
·
RESORT UPDATE - SPRING SNOW
The forecast spring snow has started to fall and is looking like it will continue into next week. Those visiting the resort
across the long weekend are encouraged to prepare accordingly, and consider:
• Checking the weather forecast to understand the predicted conditions before you travel.
• Checking the VicTraffic website for updates on current road conditions. We encourage visitors to carry and be
prepared to fit chains in the case of heavy snowfall on the roads.
• In the shoulder periods (May and October) or when there are unseasonal snowfalls and cold temperatures such as
this, Alpine Diesel/Diesel Additive is recommended for diesel vehicles to avoid frozen diesel and car troubles.
• If you are considering hiking or biking in the Mt Buller or Mt Stirling area, please be adequately prepared for
these potentially hazardous and unpredictable conditions. In case of emergency, call 000.
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ˁ(⦿ᴥ⦿)ˀ
Alex’s Dad Jokes. …
A scientist weighed a rainbow
And found it was pretty light
How does a man on the moon cut his hair?
Eclipse it.
“Dad, did you pick your nose when you were little?”
"No sweetie, I was born with it."
to quit being vegan?
Cold turkey.
What is the most effective way
WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU EAT ONIONS WITH BEANS?
Teargas
Unfortunately, my obese parrot just died.
It is, however, a huge weight off my shoulders
The only thing flat-earthers fear
is sphere itself
ᨁᨁᨁᨁ
Life memberships awarded to
valued volunteers
Three life memberships were presented at the annual general
meeting of the Merrijig Public Hall last Sunday. The presentations
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were the first made to volunteers who work for the hall since Peter McCormack’s plaque was erected
many years ago. The first was to the hall’s former treasurer, Ms Sen Weir. Sen’s involvement with the
started when she was about 14 years old attending functions and events. In presenting the award,
outgoing hall president, Des Dunn said she continued her connection with the hall when she was
older and first appears on the executive of the committee for the first time as treasurer in 2002. “Apart
from her tasks as treasurer her role morphed into being the booking officer, making sure the hall was
prepared for people to hire it, meeting those hiring the hall and checking everything was in order
when they left. She did this with no fuss or fanfare. She just did it. “As the treasurer she transitioned
from presenting a simple typed statement of accounts on a single page to a complicated spread sheet
with columns and categories. "She was also a tireless member of the Rodeo committee and was a
liaison between the two committees for a long time. “This certificate is in recognition of her faithful
service to the community through her involvement on the hall committee,”
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Mr Dunn then called forward former president of the hall committee,
Peter Howarth.
Peter first appears as an office bearer on the hall committee as
president on 2002. He was one of the original latter day trustees as
chairman in 2003 with Poppe Davis, Sen Weir, Julie Syme, Chris
Deutscher, Peter McCormack, Ted Lovick, Chris Dunlop and Celia
Brandl.
He’s always been active in the community including his role in the
management of Mt Buller.
In more recent years he has been the mainstay of the development
of the Merrijig War and Service Memorial, persevering with very
challenging negotiations with the landowner, VicRoads, to use the land for the purpose.
He oversaw the building of the Gunfire Shelter, enlisting wonderful community donations and
contribution in kind. He then continued with expanding the existing ANZAC Day service on the site to
broaden its accessibility so more people learnt of the war and other service Australians were involved
in.
He is generous with his time and life experience and his wisdom is valued by a wide section of the
community.
Again this certificate is a small way of recognising his valuable
contribution to the existence of the hall and the community.
The third presentation was to Mr Noel Willaton. “Noel’s early
memories of the hall were through his maternal grandfather,
Pop (William/Bill) Purcell. Pop was his mother, Amy Purcell’s
father, who was integral in the establishment of the hall, being
the first president of the inaugural committee established in
1928.
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“Working behind the scenes in the early 2000s, Noel became president in 2007 lurching himself into
the refurbishment of the old hall. He was effectively the site manager during the construction of the
hall, spending numerous hours on site and liaising with the shire to ensure it was completed in the
best way possible.
“His other community involvement includes on the Merrijig Rodeo and Sports Association, the CFA,
Mansfield Race Club, past board member of the Bendigo Bank, and current board member of Beolite
Village and on Australia Day 2020 receiving Senior Citizen of the Year.
“Noel’s knowledge of the hall and how it works is invaluable and he is always obliging when asked to
solve problems no matter how obscure.
“This certificate is a gesture of appreciation for all your various voluntary contributions to the
community,” Des concluded.
彡 )( 彡 彡 )( 彡 彡 )( 彡
Are you a former student?
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As Merrijig attracts people from everywhere, our proof reader
Liz Seaton, who was a past music teacher at Merrijig Primary
School, and who is helping with organizing a reunion of 100
years of her old Ringwood State School, thought there just
could be some former students comfortably residing in
Merrijig.
If you are one, or you have friends or relations who would
have gone to Ringwood state school please pass on this
information.
Mansfield school just had a 150 year celebration and the
organizers were astounded at the numbers attending. Adele
attended as her children and grandchildren were students,
and she ran into a ‘boy’ she had not seen in 60 years. He had
been a student at Mansfield prior to moving to Noble Park
where he attended school with her.
Nothing makes organizers happier than people showing up to
help celebrate an historic milestone.
Even if you or your friends or relations only attended for a
short time you just never know who you might run into if you go along.
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Our Merrijig School News.
BALLARAT CAMP 2022
We leave the Mansfield Buslines at 9:00am. We get to the Eureka
Museum at 1:30pm. As we walk in, we walked past the Welcome Stranger
gold nugget which was a replica of the original. We were there for an
hour and half. In the last 10 minutes we went into a bunker to see the
original Eureka Stockade flag. It was very dark, the flag was missing heaps
of little bits. The flag only flew for five days of its life. The truth about the
history of the flag is horrible and sad. As we
left, we got told we would be doing laser tag.
As we arrived at laser tag we found out that we had three rounds booked.
Round one was solo (PvP), round two was teams and round three colour
shooting. It was so much fun. We left for the log cabins after that.
For night one we had chicken curry with rice and salad with pavlova, ice cream and berry sauce for dessert.
Day 2 for breakfast we had toast and cereal, then we travelled to Ballarat Art Gallery. We worked with Deanne and
we did aboriginal painting, afterwards we went to the botanical gardens. We had lunch
at the adventure park, then we did swimming and gymnastics. We did an obstacle course and Rockwall climbing.
For dinner we had pasta and meatballs, salad and bread. For dessert we had
chocolate cake and ice cream. After dinner and dessert we went to Ballarat light
show it was awesome.
Day 3 we ate toast and cereal. We travelled to Ballarat costume school, where
we dressed up and went into the classroom. We were there from 9 to 3. We had
lunch at 1. After lunch we went to bowling. We went back into the classroom and
finished school. We got changed, then went gold panning.
Back to the cabin where we had dinner and dessert.
Day 4 we went to the costume school, got changed and were there from 9 to 3.
We had lunch at 1.
After lunch we went back into the classroom and finished our day. We got changed and went gold panning for 10
minutes and then we went into a mine. As we walked downstairs it gets dark, there's a ladder, we all go up the ladder.
The lights turn off, then come back on, and we continue through there's a projector that shows us a clip. After watching
the clip, we continue through, there's a safe - it opens it's the welcome stranger nugget which is a replica. We go back
up to the surface and go back to the cabins.
We have dinner, we have a walk around the property and then go back like some flies and cook Billy
tea and damper. We go back to the cabin, go to sleep and the rain comes. We wake up and we hop on the bus and go
home. It was a 2 hour detour because the roads were flooded and then we get to Mansfield and go home.
Written by Darby McCormack Merrijig Primary School
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Road trip report
Oh boy is the whole of NSW and Vic GREEN. So many shades of green too. And water, so much water.
The first part of my trip with my 16 year old granddaughter was in sunshine, warm days and comfortable
nights. The second week we experienced the considerate rain falling only at night giving us lovely blue
skyed days to enjoy our adventures.
Did we have some adventures! I planned to spend the first night in Yass,
where I had stayed several times and was aware that there were hundreds of
motels so didn’t bother to book only to find something must have been on in
town as all places had no vacancies. We found a motel to stay at in
Murrumbateman about 18 km away. It was a new motel and a grand way to
begin our trip.
Next stop Sydney. The hotel chosen from the internet searching was average, and had not set up the
room with two separate beds so we had to wait for it to be changed. While doing so searching for
bookings into things we wanted to see the next day got me angry as everything was saying closed. How
can tourist attractions in Sydney be closed on a Tuesday one has to ask????
While I was struggling with this aspect, Ailish found a different web page where it offered booking for more
than one at a time had availability on Tuesday so we booked for the wax works and the undersea centre
at Darling harbour. On Monday night we ventured out using Uber drivers and had a lovely genuine Italian
pizza created by a fella who has inspired me to write another radio play about Margo and Beryl taking a
road trip. Such a funny lot of misunderstandings it cannot go by unrecorded. One uber trip was to the ferry
terminal as we wanted to take a trip on a ferry just because.
I told the man in the ticket office we were visiting and wanted
to ride a ferry and he said hop on that one. No ticket
necessary it seemed. So we had a lovely ride around
beginning in daylight ending in the dark with lights on in the
office buildings and Luna Park looking amazing under the
lights.
Because I walk slowly we were the last people exiting and found that if you don’t have a
ticket you can’t open the gate to get through, so we were stuck there because the man in the
kiosk was gone. Eventually he returned and let us out still not wanting to be paid for our ride.
The next day, a rainy one, we spent at Darling harbour indoors at Madame
Tussauds, which was most enjoyable.
Next door in the undersea world - was something I had often
wished I could do, walk
through a dry tunnel while all
manner of sea creatures
swim happily around you.
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Two days in a big city was enough for me and we headed for my cousins lovely home on the Central
Coast. They had organized for us to eat at their favourite seafood restaurant overlooking Shelly Beach, a
boat ride on Cowan Creek – some creek it’s much bigger than our Delatite
River, 17mtrs deep in parts, a tributary of the Hawkesbury River. Where
the creek meets the Hawkesbury the bridge has a set of rejected
foundations. The original bridge began to sink as the foundations were not
deep enough set on solid rock so they remain while a deeper set of
foundations were laid for the bridge.
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of a teenager.
That week on the central coast we also took in a musical night where yet
another cousin was performing with a band, had a couple of movie days
when the rain did set in, a day’s shopping in a big Mall much to the delight
Onto highly recommended Dubbo Western Plains Zoo, not being a fan of zoos I was not all that keen I
was delighted to find I could drive my car all through,
Ailish got in and out
taking photos of the
interesting critters.
Then onto Parks and the Satellite Dish - that night we watched ‘The Dish’ on
Netflix in our very comfortable motel room.
From Parks we headed homeward even driving
through the remainder (only 20cm) of the flood waters
which had closed the Newell Hwy only a few days
earlier. There is much flood damage to the roads, potholes like you wouldn’t
believe across the entire road, some quite deep and with low profile tyres it was
a bit of a concern having previously had a 4WD and no worries. Still we made it
home safely after visiting some friends in Temora and the chocolate liquorice
factory in Junee to finish off our adventure.
I was very pleased to find that my recliner still had its magic power, as I fell
asleep almost as soon as I sat down.
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New Play group in Merrijig
A wonderful opportunity for youngsters to play together in Merrijig Hall is to be provided by the
Mansfield Shire.
If you are a young mum
or even a Grandma
looking after grandkids
on a play date day, who
find that Wednesday in
Merrijig is not a good
day for you, you are
encouraged to wander
along and attend any of
the other venues.
The children your little
ones will meet are likely
to be those they will go
to Kindergarten and
school with, so making
friends early will make
for a wonderful smooth
transition from being at
home to being in the
education system.
Playgroups are also an
excellent way for young
mums to make social
connections and build
long lasting friendships.
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Merrijig CFA Brigade report November 2022
Are you Fire Ready?? Are your neighbours Fire ready?
It has been 12 years since the last drought period finished and recent La Nina events have brought
high rains and lower summer temperatures, in such favourable conditions it would be easy to become
complacent about Fire preparedness.
These weather conditions have also brought heavy grass, scrub and vegetation growth, which if not
kept under control will inevitable burn and it will burn very hot.
Every spring our community works together to prepare against the threat of Bushfire. Long term
Merrijig residents are old hands at all this and are already preparing their properties.
However the effectiveness of our community fire preparation is only as good as our collective action
therefore it’s important we help and inform our non-resident ratepayers as well as our many new
Merrijig residents, that NOW is the time to prepare for Bushfire season by: slashing and mowing,
clearing gutters, cutting back overhanging vegetation, servicing and testing dam pumps, moving
winter firewood away from the house, and reviewing written fire plans.
When the opportunity arises contact your non-resident neighbours and offer them advice, encourage
them and if necessary provide them with contacts for those who can help them get their property in
good order, help them become aware of and comprehend the risks that bushfire can bring.
A starting point is the CFA website at https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about- us/publications/plan-andprepare-publications;
it is a great resource with plenty of information.
The Merrijig CFA brigade is also great place to get local information and we are more than happy to
assist all community members with advice on how they can make their property Fire Ready
Recruiting drive The Merrijig CFA Brigade is seeking new recruits. A comprehensive CFA training
program and a welcoming local brigade will bring new recruits, both women and men, up to speed on
all facets of fire fighting.
We strongly encourage local women, as well as men, to become active CFA members. We currently
have a number of women members who play an important role within the brigade, in active and nonactive
roles. We would love to see more women join our brigade. A moderate degree of fitness and
an interest in serving your community is all you need.
If you, or someone you know, may be interested in joining us in a fire fighting, or in a non-fire ground
role, you can get more information here https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/volunteers-careers/volunteerwith-cfa
Or by contacting Brigade Captain, Anthony Wakeling 0425877516.
If anyone has any questions about your local brigade, our future plans, training schedules, or
recruitment, Anthony is happy to answer those as well.
Vehicle upgrade
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You will be pleased to know that the Merrijig CFA brigade recently took possession of a new Ultralight
Tanker.
It's a Toyota Landcruiser, which is a excellent upgrade on the previous Holden Colorado we had. The
Ultralight has all the bells and whistles, eg. GVM upgrade, terrain suitable tyres and will serve our
community very well in the years to follow.
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed their time, skill, experience and expertise to the
Merrijig CFA to make this new Ultralight
Tanker possible.
We would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary generosity of our local community for their
support of the Merrijig CFA fund-raising efforts. It wouldn’t be possible without your help. Thank you!
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What’s coming up in November?
Merrijig Barrel Racing Club ready to try again.
Fingers crossed that by mid-November,
Sunday the 13 th to be exact, the rains will have
stopped and the grounds dried out enough to
handle the horse floats and vehicles of the
competitors.
As Mountain Cattlemen had a successful get
together using only the high ground to park
and camp on – barring torrential rain storms,
this is likely to be a fantastic double header
event of round 5 and 6.
Entries are due between 6 th and 9 th at 7pm
and a late fee will apply if there are available
places for late entries.
Check out this poster for more information.
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2022 Mansfield Show Saturday November 19.
Please note judging for some sections takes place prior to show day. Please refer to show schedules
for details.
Schedules are now available as per links below. Hard copies will be available at various outlets and
on request.
https://www.mansfieldaandpsociety.com.au/2022-mansfield-show-information.html
Follow the link for all the information needed with closing dates for those entries needing to be in
before the show date
Final laugh.
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