Sportsmanship has always been an important factor for the captains and crew of riverboats, and the captains of the steamers contesting the “Cock o’ the River”, and the William Randell Trophy are no exceptions. Captain of PS Enterprise, Captain Bog Reed (left), and the Captain of PS Etona, Captain Phil Symons, wished each other luck after viewing for the first time the magnificent William Randell Trophy.
Photo by
Riverine Herald
50 years ago October 1974
‘’The festival organisation is progressing terrifically with all the organisations taking part looking forward to and planning for the most successful events,’’ Rich River Festival director, Mr Ian Blyth, said today.
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‘’The problems of the high river has been overcome by moving Sunday’s river program downstream to the Five Mile Reserve on the Perricoota Rd, where there will be no flood damage from waves caused by the participating boats.
‘’We have received a great deal of careful cooperation from the NSW authorities to run the river pageant from NSW and it should prove to be much better for al concerned than to have it at Echuca.
‘’The new place offers a much better view of the river for spectators and the course will be better for the skippers as far as speed is concerned,’’ Mr Blyth said.
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Most charges for admission to the Echuca War Memorial Olympic swimming pool have been increased for the 1974-75 season by Echuca City Council.
The only charge for individuals not increased was for children attending the pool outside school hours.
They will still pay 5c but the charge for children attending the pool in school groups has been raised from 2c to 5c.
Adults are to pay 20c admission compared to 10c last season and increases have also been made in the charges for season tokens for families and adults.
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Representatives for the Echuca City and Rochester Shire councils have reached general agreement on the severance of approximately two square miles of land from the shire and its annexation to the city.
The agreement was reached a a recent conference at the Echuca city offices.
The land proposed for severance from the shire and annexation extended west from the city’s existing southern boundary with the shire to Sandy Camp Rd and then north along the road to the Murray Valley Hwy.
It continued further north along the promulgation of the same alignment to meeting the east-west roadways separating the properties of Messrs Latham and Millar and then east to the Murray River.
25 years ago October 1999
Echuca’s Uniting Church minister Reverend Bruce Gallacher conducted the annual blessing of the paddlesteamer fleet at the Port of Echuca wharf, climaxing the weekend’s Heritage Steal Festival.
Rev. Gallacher and the captains of the 11 boats being blessed all threw a cross into the water to finalise the ceremony.
Echuca’s Uniting Church minister Reverend Bruce Gallacher blesses the paddlesteamer fleet.
Photo by
Riverine Herald
Port Authority manager Bruce Whelan said the blessing of the fleet was a serious part of the weekend.
‘’It marks the start of the summer season.’’
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The best winter crops in the district were put under the microscope last week as growers opened up for a little constructive criticism to better their farming practices.
The field crop competition, held by the Echuca-Moama Show Society, showcased eight canola, barley and wheat crops from Moama, Womboota, Bunnaloo and Mitiamo.
Organiser of the event, Patrick Flanagan, said the competition enabled farmers to look at different farming practices and share crop management ideas.
Farmers from across the region inspect Patrick and Paul Flanagan’s wheat crop at Womboota.
Photo by
Riverine Herald
The winner was Rankin Brothers from Mitiamo with their wheat crop scoring 86.61 points out of 100.
Second place went to Douglas and Sons from Caldwell with 86.5 points (wheat) and third-placed was Patrick and Paul Flanagan from Womboota with 84.75 points (wheat).
10 years ago October 2014
Echuca Foodbank volunteers are being aggressively confronted by drug addicts demanding food.
And the situation was deteriorating as the program battles to keep up with rising demand.
Bendigo FoodShare volunteer Ross Beaman unloads the delivery at Echuca.
Photo by
Rhiannon Horrell
St Luke’s Echuca manager Francis Lias said poverty and homelessness were becoming increasingly evident in Echuca-Moama.
He said they were also working with more people with complex needs, including drug and alcohol abuse and mental health challenges.
Echuca Foodbank and FareShare co-ordinators Pauline and Jim Aitkin have called on help from a local volunteer (and former security guard) to ensure confrontation did not escalate.
Mrs Aitken said those requesting help range from the unemployed and recently released from jail to the tragedy of domestic violence, family break-ups and the drug and alcohol affected.
‘‘Bendigo FoodShare (which supplies Echuca) said its shelves have never been as empty.’’
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Drought in Brazil, the world’s major coffee bean producer, is starting to drive prices up.
In the short term, Echuca-Moama’s coffee crowd should be safe, as any rises were looked at from a whole business perspective, Office 3564 Cafe owner Greg Byrne said.
‘‘We’ll try and wear it up to a point, because you’re looking at staff, milk and electricity costs as well,’’ he said.
Traders believe if the drought continues prices could rise 30 per cent in the next year.
Mr Byrne said he did not expect it to affect him for at least six months.
Regardless of the cost, Mr Byrne expected demand for coffee to remain strong, especially for such a comparatively small town.
