50 years ago, February 1976
Echuca has bought a ferry — now it's a race against time to bring it from near Renmark in South Australia to its new home.
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A motion approving purchase of the ferry for $2500 was accepted at Monday night's meeting of Echuca City Council.
City engineering staff are now faced with the problem of getting the ferry to Euston Lock, which is officially closed, as soon as possible.
Plans call for the ferry to be set up and used to improve the Port of Echuca project.
It will play the part of Hopwood's Punt, one of the focal points in Echuca's early history.
Council bought the ferry from the South Australian Department of Water Engineering and Supply in conjunction with the Echuca Port Authority.
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News of the proposed introduction of Bankcard to this area early next month has been met with mixed feelings.
Some Echuca people are keen on Bankcard, others are not, and many have adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
While most business houses in the city have ‘’bought in’’ to the scheme, some have refused the system.
Most shop owners who have accepted the Bankcard credit scheme feel it will increase their turnover and provide customers, especially tourists, with a valuable service.
Those who object to the scheme do so for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of service charges made to retailers, which range from 1.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent of transactions.
Private people who have been offered acceptance into the scheme also have a variety of opinions.
25 years ago, February 2001
This year's Club Marine Southern 80 Super Class was taken out by NSW boat The Sting.
The boat, driven by Ken Broughton, with skiers Stephen Robertson and Tim Galvin, and Heath Broughton as observer, clocked a time of 31 minutes 57 seconds.
Second was last year's winner, Top Shot, while third was Showdown.
The Sting was the third boat to race, and the crew members were pleased with the win.
‘’We hoped by the time we got to the end we would get a good time,’’ Galvin said.
He said The Sting, being a leg boat rather than a V drive, was not as suited to the course as the other boats, with turning more of a problem.
The boat has proved itself twice though, taking out this year’s event and coming third last year.
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Gannawarra Shire ratepayers will take to the streets tomorrow in protest at an ‘’unfair’’ rating and valuation system.
The rural community's growing dissatisfaction with the shire’s new system was evident at a protest meeting held last Friday.
Another 300 rural residents have joined the 650 ratepayers who went to the September/October meetings in a vote to unanimously withhold their rates until the shire addresses the problems with the new differential rates and municipal charges.
Ratepayers will voice their anger tomorrow in front of the Gannawarra Shire offices in Kerang.
A farmer drive-by and a symbolic non-payment of the shire’s rates will occur outside.
Four members of the Gannawarra Ratepayers Action Group will then deliver four petitions signed by people against the rating system.
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A new law designed to cut public drunkenness during the Club Marine Southern 80 Ski Race weekend appears to have achieved its aim.
A combined community effort to upgrade security and make the weekend safer and more family-friendly resulted in a generally all-round feeling of satisfaction and relief.
Organisers, service providers, participants and spectators agreed the weekend was a major success. Echuca-Moama was at its busiest, with an influx of an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 visitors.
Large crowds, long lines of traffic and some hard, hot work were features of the weekend.
However, drunks behaving anti-socially were notably absent, and those who did put their own or others’ welfare in jeopardy soon came under police attention.
10 years ago, February 2016
After hanging in a Torrumbarry shed for 30 years, an original SS trenchcoat has become a piece of war history.
Wolfgang and Irmgard Fisch have had the 80-year-old uniform in their possession since 1980 and took it with them when they moved to Torrumbarry six years later.
The leather coat was acquired by Wolfgang’s father Harald Fisch during World War II.
Harald was seconded by the German army to be a motor mechanic in his home town of Lobau in Prussia.
He was then moved to Halle in East Germany near Hanover after the Russians invaded Lobau and worked there for some time before being moved to West Germany just before the end of the war.
‘‘It was in his possession when he came to Australia in 1974,’’ Irmgard said.
She and Wolfgang were given the coat after Harald died in 1980.
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Horse trainers predominantly deal in hope.
Each season a new owner buys into the hope their investment could be the next Black Caviar, or maybe Makybe Diva.
The harsh reality, however, of the sport of kings is for many, probably most, that hope is always going to be an elusive dream.
Echuca trainers Mick Cornish and Donna Gaskin are also in the business of hope.
Both have tasted the dizzying heights of the racing world before moving to Echuca and setting up their training partnership about 10 years ago.
Mick was a renowned horse breaker and pre-trainer who had worked with leading industry figures including Mick Price and Peter Moody.
Donna was foreman for Macedon Lodge, which produced champion sprinter Bel Esprit, who just happened to then go on to sire Black Caviar.
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Murray Shire Council has been suspended by the NSW Government — and mayor John Pocklington is relieved the organisation can now ‘‘get on with the job’’.
NSW Local Government Minister Paul Toole made the announcement on Wednesday, having declared his intention to suspend councillors last week.
He said dysfunctional relationships between councillors and the general manager had affected council’s ability to function.
‘‘And the ability of staff members to undertake their roles,’’ he said.
It comes weeks after the NSW Government launched a public investigation into the embattled shire.