Moulamein Notes
THE Celebrate Moulamein Festival was at the weekend and celebrate we did.
The movie night was a bit of a fizzer unfortunately because of the heat. But those that did brave it enjoyed themselves.
A quick yoga class at 7am the next day was followed by a walk around the lake to a hearty breakfast cooked by our Moulamein Town Fire Brigade. I hope the bacon was OK.
The colour run was very popular and after the kids had finished it was great to see that all they wanted to do was hug their parents or grandparents.
Then it was up to our Heritage Village for a very well attended day with plenty to do and see.
I am sure quite a few of the old stable hands from the Werie Stables that was turned into a bar were looking down and saying, “Where were you a hundred years ago?”
Cold beer out of the horse troughs would have been a luxury that they could only imagine.
After all this, it was out to our race club grounds to make use of their new pavilion that they have not been able to use for the last two years after it was built. Hopefully next year we will have the races again.
It seemed like a good idea to get the bus out there and back. We forgot that it is last on, last off. We got home after 2am. Too much party for this old feller.
Well done to all those that organised this great weekend as well as our Murray River Council for putting the money up to get this started as well as all the other sponsors, too numerous to mention, that put in a heap more money to keep most of the day free or a lot cheaper than it should have been.
Division 4 in the grand final
OUR Division 4 bowls mob kept up their winning streak this week to gain a spot in the grand final in a fortnight.
I could not get over there to support them because of the do in town but we were all there in spirit.
We got the score back at smoko and we were about 14 shots up. Once again, the cups of coffee didn’t do our team any good and Lake Boga came back at them.
Our Division 4 mob like to keep the crowd on their toes as the day came down to the last bowls of the day.
Cool hand Harro came in to make it one rink up, one rink down. Up by one overall.
Unless something really bad happens, I will be over there to support our mighty Division 4 mob in a fortnight.
I think I managed to be the volunteer bus driver for the day. Beer at a grand final is overrated anyway.
Come over and support our Division 4 mob if you get a chance. There will be a bus running. Bowlers get first chance then it will be first in, best dressed.
Skin checks
THANK you to our Moulamein Public School principal Jennie and her husband Bret for hosting the skin checks that were part of our Moulamein Festival.
Due to the generosity of Swan Hill Toyota, the Commonwealth Bank and our Moulamein 200 Club, we managed to cover the $100 fee for about 40 locals got checked for free. Unfortunately, 10 per cent, or four of those checked need urgent attention.
Of the rest of the mob that spend most of their life out in the sun, about 30 per cent of them need follow up visits.
They were fully booked out for the day but they do come to Swan Hill every three months. After these results, it would pay for most of you to book in somewhere. Get onto it before it is too late. Skin cancer kills.
I met the toy fairies
WE all know the story about the lady who has a husband who has been coming up to Moulamein forever.
He bought his new bride up here 50 years ago and it was over 40 in the water bag. She has not been back since.
Heather and David Theodoulou do not want recognition. But I think they deserve it.
Heather saw the trouble our district was in and decided that every kid needs an extra present for Christmas. And that is what they did.
Unfortunately, they came up Friday when it was over 40 in the water bag again. Not good for Heather as she cannot handle the heat but a good move by David as he will get another 50 years of coming up to Moulamein with the boys.
I was talking to them for a while before I found out who they were. Heather got a big cuddle which is special for those that know me as I do not cuddle many people. David is a mad keen rabbit shooter.
So, if you have a few rabbits and you would like to pay a favour back to someone that was so good to our town and district, give me a ring and we can arrange something.
Heather and David are not big in stature, but they make up for that with a heart the size of Phar Lap to do what they did for our town.
I think it was 175 toys they delivered wrapped for Christmas for every kid in our Moulamein district. Well done Heather and David.
Dead ducks
IT does not worry me, but I am getting a few reports back about dead ducks as well as dead ibis around the district. Botulism is being blamed.
It would be good to be able to bottle a bit of botulism for next years’ rice sowing if we could.
That is always what happens when ducks breed to much. They die in pain because there are too many of them.
Let’s hope my mate Dan across the border reads this so they have a duck season down there to thin the numbers out before they die anyway.
Unfortunately, I have not heard of any turbo chooks or baldy coots dying yet. We can only hope.
Fish for our rivers
OUR Moulamein Men’s Shed have put about 14,000 more cod in our local rivers.
River Sutto got his willing band of helpers to get them into the local rivers and creeks as quick as possible, as he was a bit late getting back from his long drive to pick them up.
Start putting your stuffed batteries aside fellers. That is how our Men’s Shed finances their work. They cannot turn lead into gold yet but they can turn lead into fish. Well done, great effort.
Most of these cod were dropped as close to town as we could. We had to find a place that can protect these little fellas as even carp would eat our cod, as there are that many carp around at the moment. They would eat anything.
The good news is for next year’s release we may be able to get funding and permission to start to put catfish back in our rivers. For some stupid bureaucratic reason. Catfish are so rare that we cannot even stock our rivers with them. Let alone get dollars for grants to do it.
My professor mates are working hard on it and we may be able to stock catfish back in our rivers next year.
Free sand
WE ended up with a heap of sandbags on pallets stacked at our Moulamein Fire Shed after the flood event this year.
They just keep shifting the sandbags downstream to fight the floods. But after truckloads of sandbags filled by willing volunteers made it to Moulamein they were not needed downstream.
Come and grab as many as you want to fill in those holes in your road. Get in touch with me. I can load them on your trailer or ute by the pallet load. If you ask me nicely I can drop a pallet or three of them at your house in town.
They all must go. Take what you need. We just want the pallets back as they belong to someone.
Speaking of missing things, we are still short of one wheelbarrow that our Moulamein Fire Brigade borrowed during the floods. If you have a spare wheelbarrow in your yard, could you please bring it back. We also have a few spare shovels at our shed, as well as some cake tins with no names on them. If you are missing any of these, get in touch with us and we will get them back to you.
