This is the second instalment of the Ensign’s three part autobiographical ‘Benalla Story’ featuring former local butcher Rob Roach.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
As a young boy, we would always come to Benalla to visit relatives, so I certainly was well aware of it.
The property we found in Molyullah was 100 acres with a big rambling old homestead, a caretaker’s cottage, a shearing shed, shearers’ hut and a beautiful English-styled garden with magnificent established trees, all of which had been neglected over quite a few years.
So up we came and took over the property in June 1980.
Coming from Melbourne, living on 100 acres was like owning half the world, but as one of our neighbours told us on numerous occasions, it is not really a farm, it is only a house block.
We asked my parents if they would like to come up and live there as well, as we already had the cottage.
They took up our offer, but only if we pulled down the cottage and replaced it with a more modern house.
So along came a kit home from Shepparton.
The children went to the Molyullah school and when it was closed down Chris went to Tatong Primary and Cassandra went to FCJ College.
Trying to establish the indoor plant business was very hard, so most of the first 12 months I would work in Melbourne all week and come home at the weekend.
Thank goodness my mother and father lived on the property, as they gave great support to Maxine in my absence.
After 12 months I was able to establish a good client base and branched out into artificial plants as well. I opened an indoor plant shop in Albury.
We soon became involved in all aspects of country living, including local tennis, football and cricket clubs, CWA, neighbourhood watch, CFA, Scouts, pony club and of course, all school activities.
My parents became members of Benalla Golf Club and this was an integral part of their lives for many years.
Our business was expanding rapidly and would encompass a large part of southern NSW, including a dozen or so of the RSL and leagues clubs, which were all expanding rapidly.
But the downfall was that I was travelling further away, which became very tiring.
At the beginning of 1990 my life took another direction and this year will forever be with me.
Cassandra had now left home and was working in the Baillieu Library at Melbourne University, and Chris was starting Year 11 at FCJ College.
In 1989, we had applied to host an exchange student and early in 1990 along came Victoria Alvarez Savvedra from Argentina.
This 16-year-old young lady came as a complete breath of fresh air into our lives, our family and everyone who came to know her.
She blended into FCJ life easily and made many lifelong friends.
Also on January 1, 1990 I decided to go back into butchering and took over the butcher shop at the top end of Carrier St from Jack Firth.
I had not butchered for 10 years, so I worked for a couple of weeks prior to starting again in Wangaratta to get the feel of those knives.
Within a couple of years we had built up this little business to employ five people plus myself and Maxine.
We worked that shop for 14 years, and for a couple of those had an extension to it with a butcher shop and delicatessen in the Denny Arcade where Benalla Travel is now.
In 1999, I entered into an Australian lamb promotion looking for the best recipe using lamb.
We won the competition with a recipe using a leg of lamb, assorted herbs and mushrooms, then encasing the whole product with pastry.
The prize was a trip to Sydney, where we were presented with a cheque at a function at the Star Casino.
Another award that was promoted by the Australian Meat Industry was for the most innovative butcher in southern Australia (Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia).
So we entered our displays of smoked lamb rump and shared this award with a butcher in Yarraville.
We both received a cheque for $5000.
In the meantime we had started another butcher shop in Black Rock, Melbourne and that was getting really busy.
So we shut the doors of the Carrier St shop.
The only hiccup in that shop was the 1993 floods in which we lost everything, as we had no flood insurance.
Who would have guessed being flooded so far from the river.
Still living out at Molyullah, my parents had moved into Cooinda independent living and our two children were now in Melbourne forging their lives.
So Maxine and I decided to move into Benalla, as we were now finding that our spare time was maintaining our lovely garden, but it was becoming a chore and our love for travel was starting to take hold.
On moving into Benalla we were able to give a bit more time back to the community and I became a board member of Cooinda, which was very rewarding.
After the passing of my father, I also became involved with Legacy, which looks after the welfare of widows of returned servicemen.
It was at this stage I knew that in working and assisting older people I had found a great pleasure in my life.
In 1997, on our second trip overseas, we headed to Argentina to catch up with Vicky, and her family, and we were embraced by her mother and father and her four siblings.
It certainly was an unforgettable experience, with many tears at the airport on departure.
In 1999, we followed up with the same experience but added a venture into Peru and beyond.
You can access part one of this ‘Benalla Story’ via benallaensign.com.au
Keep an eye out in next week’s Ensign for part three.