The pair began courting 75 years ago. They both grew up in Port Melbourne and attended the same school.
Bill was 19, and Valda was 16, and after years of dating Valda eventually pointed the finger at Bill and told him that if he didn’t marry her before she turned 21, he could “nick off”.
He said he was up to the challenge, and one week before that fateful birthday, he proposed.
Bill and Valda spent 30 years living in Yarrawonga before moving to Lifestyle Communities Shepparton in 2023.
Liz collects Australia Day honour
Echuca resident Liz Spicer was formally presented with her Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) by Governor Margaret Gardner at Government House in Melbourne on April 19.
Ms Spicer was named in the 2024 Australia Day Honours List.
She has been a chaplain of Kyabram P-12 College and fixture of the community there for 23 years, dispensing advice, prayers, support, food, cash, clothes and compassion.
Ms Spicer is, among other things, a social worker, former national coordinator and current member of the drought relief committee, Justice of the Peace, supporter and trauma counsellor during the Black Saturday bushfires, 2022 flood chaplain, Victoria Police chaplain and emergency services chaplain.
Big Strawberry makeover for a good cause
Australia loves its ‘big things.’
From the Big Banana to the Big Pineapple, these unique sculptures continue to draw local and international crowds from all walks of life to regional locations across the country.
But another ‘big thing’ that is barely spoken about is the nation’s food waste problem, with 2.4 billion kilograms of ‘ugly’ fruit and vegetables going to landfill in Australia each year.
To draw attention to this issue, healthy soft drinks brand DASH Water joined forces with local farmers Darren and Tarn Hayes to hijack and ‘wonkify’ Koonoomoo’s Big Strawberry.
The new look was intended to spread the word that wonky fruits and vegetables are just as beautiful and delicious as any other.
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