YESTERDAY marked International Rural Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the sheer determination, capability and resilience of women who live and work on the land.
In honour of the International Rural Women’s Day, The Guardian caught up with Thelma Watson of Nyah West. HOSPITAL, school, CWA, golf and bowls, there are not many associations in the Nyah district that Thelma Watson hasn’t been involved in.
Born and bred farm girl, Mrs Watson has lived in Nyah West her entire life and knows a thing or two about hard work.
In her early years she worked as a secretary at a Nyah West packing shed where stayed for about six years.
In her late teens she met Ian, a farm boy from down the road who would later become her husband.
“We were the same age but we never crossed paths because I went to school in Nyah West and Ian went to Yarraby,” Mrs Watson said.
“It’s pretty unbelievable that we didn’t know each other until we were about 18 but in those days you didn’t travel much like you do now.”
The pair met at the New Year’s Day sports day in Nyah which was once a “very big event” for the town.
“People would come from hundreds of miles away to come the sports day,” Mr Watson said.
“They had trotting races, foot races, athletics, sheep tossing and motorbike riding.
“It would attract about 4000 to 5000 people, it was a very big event.”
Following their first encounter, the pair stayed together and married a few years later.
“When you got married, you were supposed to leave your job in those days,” Mrs Watson told The Guardian.
“So that is when I moved here to the farm.”
Despite being female, Mrs Watson has always been involved in their livestock and cropping property, doing both book keeping and labour.
“I turn my hand to most things,” she said.
“I’ve worked the sheep a lot and could probably do anything that was needed.
“I would handle the cattle when we used to have them and when we had horses, I would get up on the stack and toss the chaff down onto the cutter.”
As well as turning her hand to help on the farm, Mrs Watson also spends time working in her expansive garden.
“I really love the outdoor life,” she said.
“I’ll go out to empty the tea pot and three hours later I would come outside from the garden.”
Alongside farm work, household and garden duties, Mrs Watson raised three children and became involved in different aspects of the local school.
“When the kids were little we took a deputation to Melbourne to get a school bus for the town,” she recalled.
“We visited the Minister of Education and we got the bus that used to pick up 10 to 12 children.”
She was also part of the school mothers club and raised money to establish the infant centre in Nyah West that has since closed down.
“Nyah West was a very vibrant town in our younger days,” Mrs Watson said.
“Once upon a time there was three banks, three grocers, three cafes, a butcher, hairdresser and baker shop.
“You didn’t have to go to Swan Hill, you could get it all in the town so it’s disappointing to see that it’s gone so backward.”
Albeit the decline in population, both Mr and Mrs Watson said there is nowhere else they would have rather grown up.
“When I was growing up, you knew everybody and it was a friendly town,” Mrs Watson said.
“You could go anywhere safely.”
Over the years, Mrs Watson has become a committee member of several associations including Jacaranda Lodge where she has been the treasurer since 1980.
“This is my 40th year as treasurer, I keep them in credit that’s why they keep me going,” she said.
She has also supplied and attended the plants in the foyer at Jacaranda Lodge since it was established.
Becoming involved in sport has also played a significant role in Mrs Watson’s life.
She played tennis in her younger years before turning to golf and bowls.
She became the treasurer of the Northern District Women’s Golf Association (ladies) for a number of years and was president for two years in the mid 1980’s.
She is the current treasurer of the Nyah West Golf Club in which she has been for about 20 years.
At the age of 87 she still remains actively involved.
“I still walk 18 holes of golf, people are amazed that I don’t use the cart,” she said.
“But you’ve got to move to keep going.
“You’ve got to be interested and do things otherwise you vegetate.”
Mrs Watson has also been a committee member at the Nyah District Bowls Club for several years and was awarded club champion in 1994.
She said sporting clubs play an important role in keeping small towns alive.
“It’s something for the town and it’s something for future generations to come,” Mrs Watson said.
“If they lose it they wonder why, but it’s once it’s gone you’ll never get it back.”
While spending so much time helping the local community, Mrs Watson never asks for anything in return, instead highlighting that a lot of rural women do the same.
“I think rural women really hold the country together,” she said.
“Men have to have support. They’ve got to be fed, they’ve got to have a bed made to sleep in every night.
“They also need somebody to talk things over with sometimes.
“I don’t know whether they take notice of what you say but they can get it out of their system what’s worrying them.
“A problem shared is a problem halved.”
Now both in their late 80’s Mr and Mrs Watson continue to live on their Nyah West farm and remain active in the community.
“We’ve lived a very full life and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” said Mr Watson.
