JANUARY
– Bookworms and bargain hunters flocked to St Paul’s Giant Book Fair.
The fundraiser, which began on January 4 and ran until January 24, saw over 12,000 books, DVDs and CDs available for purchase.
Event coordinator Christine Morris OAM said 2022’s Fair was the biggest yet, in terms of both the quantity and quality of books being sold.
– Longford Cricket Club stunned virtually everybody with their second victory of the 2022/23 Sale-Maffra Cricket Association’s First Grade season, and just their third in three seasons.
The club triumphed over top-ranked Stratford by two wickets in Round 10 of the competition, with Lizards Andrew Tyson and Jake Wynd being key to the victory.
– A Stratford teenager became the toast of her hometown after being crowned 2023’s “Miss Priscilla”.
Nickyra Burley won the coveted titled at the Parkes Elvis Festival, in what was her first time entering the pageant and only her second time attending the event.
“It was the biggest shock, but it was absolutely amazing … just a beautiful moment,” Ms Burley said of her win.
FEBRUARY
– Traralgon & District won the Gippsland Cricket League grand final after thumping Sale-Maffra on their home turf.
The match took place on Sunday, February 5 at Sale Oval, and saw Traralgon winning by five wickets after bowling the Sharks out for 116.
Fortunately, Sale-Maffra were successful in the two other GCL finals, emerging victorious in the women’s and Under 18 finals.
– Westpac was lambasted and accused of “robbing” the community over its decision to close its Sale branch.
The banking giant publicly announced the closure on Monday, February 6, drawing the condemnation of politicians, business leaders and the community at large.
This decision led to the establishment of a Federal Senate inquiry into Bank Closures in Regional Australia.
– Meanwhile, the National Australia Bank (NAB) announced it was permanently closing its Maffra Agency.
The announcement came following a series of “intermittent closures” since mid-2020.
Coincidentally, NAB’s Maffra revelations came the same day as Westpac’s regarding its Sale branch.
– Supporters and opponents of recreational duck hunting criticised the state government’s decision to hold a shortened hunting season.
It was announced on February 24 that the 2023 duck hunting season would run for 34 days, shorter than the previous year’s season of 89 days.
Those who support the practice condemned the shortened length and bag limits, while those opposed to hunting had been seeking an outright ban.
– Stratford won the Fischer Cup following a nail-biting encounter against Collegians.
College Oval hosted the one-day game – which determines the Sale-Maffra Cricket Association’s best team in the 40-over format – on Sunday, February 26.
The Redbacks won the match by just two runs, with captain Jack Rietschel taking the tenth and final wicket on the second-to-last ball of the day.
– Collegians were crowned the first-ever premiers of the Sale-Maffra Cricket Association Women’s Twenty20 competition on February 28.
Playing against Bundalaguah, College won the grand final by 12 runs on a dim, grey Tuesday evening at College Oval.
Bundy’s Megen Wrigglesworth was awarded Player of the Match for her 25 runs with the bat and four wickets as bowler.
MARCH
– The Senate inquiry into Bank Closures in Regional Australia held its first public hearing in the Port of Sale’s Wellington Room on March 2.
Six federal politicians grilled representatives from Westpac and NAB regarding their decisions to close their Sale and Maffra branches, respectively.
Testimonies were then heard from local government, the banking union and business leaders regarding their reaction to the closures.
– A call was made to address the issue of speeding motorists on Gibney Street in Maffra.
Local resident Christos Iliopoulos noted that vehicles, including large trucks, are driving along the municipal road well above the posted speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour, much to his alarm.
He believed that better signage and speed-indication equipment could serve as deterrents for drivers.
– Gippsland Grammar officially opened its new Art & Design Centre.
The building, located on the school’s Garnsey Campus in Sale, was unveiled on Thursday, March 16 in windy conditions.
Senator Raff Ciccone had the honour of opening the Centre, just a fortnight after appearing at the Port of Sale for the Senate inquiry on regional bank branch closures.
– Collegians won the Sale-Maffra Cricket Association’s first-grade final, comprehensively beating crosstown rivals Sale by 177 runs.
Batting first, College saw out an entire day’s play to reach 8/264 on Saturday, March 18, then proceeded to bowl the Swans out on Sunday for just 87.
Tom Morrison was Player of the Match, scoring a career-best 129 as opening batsman and taking a wicket with the ball.
– Beloved Maffra identity, world-renowned veterinarian and dairy farmer Jakob Malmo passed away on March 17 at the age of 83.
His many accolades include, but are not limited to, an Officer of the Order of Australia medal, received in 1994; the highest honour from the Australian Veterinarian Association, the Gilruth Prize; and an appointment as councillor of the World Veterinary Association in 2009.
“I doubt there was anybody who had a bigger influence on the dairy industry, at least in Gippsland,” long-time friend Robert Noble said.
APRIL
– Local business owner and proprietor of El-Sombrero, Judith Treasure spoke to the Gippsland Times about her Mexican restaurant, a fixture of Raymond Street for the last three decades.
Ms Treasure discussed her upbringing in Peru, meeting her Australian husband, moving to Victoria, and the changing tastes of her regular patrons – such as their increasing appetite for beans.
– Sale Cinema gutted its largest theatre, Cinema 3, on April 23 in preparation for a refurbishment, and offered its existing seats to the public free of charge.
“We just want them to be able to be recycled, repurposed into something else,” Cinema owner Val Hodges said.
“Whether someone’s got two chairs on the back verandah or four chairs on the back verandah or whatever, it’s fantastic that they’ve been used.”
– In other Cinema-related news, The Super Mario Bros. Movie proved immensely popular among local audiences during the Easter school holidays, and beyond.
“We knew it was going to be very popular; perhaps not quite as popular as it is,” Ms Hodges said
She noted that some attendees had seen multiple screenings, with “several hundred” having returned to see the film.
– One of the biggest crowds ever turned out for Maffra’s mid-morning Anzac Day service.
“The dawn service … I reckon we had about 300 people there, and there would have been more than that at the 11 o’clock service,” Maffra RSL Sub-Branch president Kevin Christensen said.
“That’s probably as good a crowd as I’ve seen at our daytime services, so it was just magnificent.”
– The Times further acknowledged Anzac Day by recounting the history of the Sale Cenotaph.
A trawl through our archives revealed that the cenotaph was “erected at a cost of over £900” – the equivalent of $83,000 when adjusted for inflation.
2024 marks the structure’s 100th anniversary, and plans are already underway for a stirring celebration.
MAY
– In a major win for the Wellington Shire, Westpac reversed its decision to close its Sale branch, confirming it would remain open indefinitely.
The announcement came one week prior to the branch’s initial closure date of May 17.
– Students at Sale College curated an exhibition of Alison Lester’s works for the Gippsland Art Gallery.
23 budding artists from the school’s VCE Art Making and Exhibiting class participated in the project as part of Unit 3, Outcome 3 in their curriculum.
The exhibition consisted of sketches and photographs pertaining to the author’s award-winning picture book Are We There Yet? which tells of a family’s year-long journey around Australia.
– Ramahyuck District Aboriginal Corporation acknowledged National Sorry Day on May 26 with a service of remembrance and morning tea.
Students of Maffra Secondary College presented a hibiscus mural to Ramahyuck staff – the native hibiscus flower is the official symbol of Sorry Day, denoting survival, compassion and spiritual healing.
Ramahyuck chairperson Aunty Sandra Nielson said the gesture was “very generous” and “very much appreciated”.
– Heyfield was out in-force on May 31, hoping to bring national attention to the native timber industry’s shutdown.
A crowd of over 200 people gathered in Apex Park after hearing word that the Nine Network’s Today program would be filming in the area.
The gathering was hastily organised via social media, with most attendees – including Gippsland MP Darren Chester and Wellington Shire Mayor Ian Bye – learning of it less than 24 hours before it occurred.
JUNE
-Sale & District Specialist School hosted its inaugural Community & Pathways Expo on June 1.The event was organised to promote the various disability support services in Gippsland to students and their families.
Multiple agencies and non-profit groups were present at the event, many of which were being supported by the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or NDIS.
– Councils affected by the shutdown of native timber harvesting took their fight to Canberra.
Representatives from Wellington Shire, Latrobe City and East Gippsland Shire Councils visited Parliament House to meet with federal politicians and advocate for the local timber industry.
Wellington Shire Mayor Ian Bye said that he valued the opportunity to meet with representatives from all sides of Federal Parliament.
– State parliamentarians descended on Sale to gauge local insights into duck hunting.
Members of Legislative Council visited the region on June 26 as part of an inquiry into Victoria’s recreational native bird hunting arrangements, with supporters and opponents of the activity having their say.
The committee began the day with a visit to the Heart Morass wetlands, then travelled to the Port of Sale building, where public hearings took place in the Wellington Room.
JULY
– NAIDOC Week was heralded with a feature on the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust.
Gunaikurnai elder and former resident Uncle John Gorrie PSM was our guide, who used the opportunity to reflect on his childhood.
Founded as an Anglican Mission, the site became self-governing community in 1971.
– A flag-raising ceremony was hosted by Ramahyuck on July 3, which saw over 120 attendees – one of the biggest crowds ever for a local NAIDOC Week event.
Arrernte and Luritja man Uncle Gerry Laughton said he was “quite surprised” by the size of the crowd, estimating it to be twice as large as 2022’s ceremony.
– Memories were made and shared as the Country Women’s Association (CWA) celebrated its 90-year presence in North Gippsland.
Over 40 members of the North Gippsland Group gathered at the Bundalaguah-Myrtlebank Hall on July 12 for lunch, games, music and cake to mark the occasion.
Cobains branch member and former Group President Lois Neumann acted as chaperone for the Times on the day, guiding its male journalist through the ins and outs of the organisation.
– The state government shocked everybody in withdrawing Regional Victoria’s hosting rights for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Premier Daniel Andrews indicated that cost was a deciding factor in the event’s cancellation, with its budget potentially being in excess of $6 billion.
Five events were scheduled to take place in Gippsland, those being Badminton, Rugby Sevens, Cricket, Road Cycling and Shooting.
– A Maffra family was honoured for their decades-long contribution to water safety education.
Siblings Tim and Kathie Kemp, alongside their mother Jean, received the Most Significant Contribution accolade at the 2023 Austswim Awards of Excellence.
Jean Kemp first ran Austswim classes in 1979 in Orbost; Kathie has been an Austswim trainer for 27 years, and Mr Kemp for 25 years.
– Doubts were raised about the viability of planned upgrades – worth $17,800 – to boat ramps in Loch Sport, with one of the ramps becoming landlocked.
Ongoing issues of sand migration saw the Boulevard boat ramp surrounded by a bank of sand 50 centimetres deep and extending approximately 100 metres westward.
– Gippsland, Australia and the world was gripped by Barbenheimer fever!
The feature-length films Barbie and Oppenheimer opened to huge crowds at the Sale Cinema, with the venue encouraging patrons to book their own double-feature.
Even the Times got in on the action, devoting an entire page of entertainment to reviews for both films.
AUGUST
– Gumnuts Early Learning Centre opened their new kindergarten building in Sale.
The childcare and education provider held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at their Raglan St site on August 3, with representatives from Ramahyuck, the Department of Education and Wellington Shire Council – including Mayor Ian Bye – among the attendees, alongside Gumnuts staff and pupils.
This horse took a keen interest in our former journalist at the 2023 Maffra Anzac Day service.
Photo: Tom Parry
Collegians cricketers and brothers, Chris and Tom Morrison holding the 2022/23 premiership trophy.
Photo: Tom Parry
Three-year-old Kindergarten teacher Tegan Laux cuts the ribbon of Gumnuts’ new centre as Brendon Ronan watches on.
Photo: Tom Parry
