IT has taken decades for Lake Boga Lions Club Treasurer Robyn Howarth to appreciate where she grew up.

For years, she would dread driving through the Calder Highway, especially when passing the school near her childhood home situated in the small farming locality of Faraday near Castlemaine.

"Every time I've driven past the school, I'd just shudder," Ms Howarth said.

"But I went back a few mont...