Beautiful inside and out

•••

I’m so lucky to know both Val and Len Tasker well, having spent time with them in the past.

The minute I entered Val’s room at Orana, she had that beautiful smile and a slight grin that told me I was going to be in for quite the ride with this story.

Valerie Sutton was born on July 23, 1940, to parents Olive and Robert Sutton.

She was one of 11 children, seven girls and four boys. Val was number eight in line from eldest to youngest.

Sadly, of the 11, Val is the only one who is alive today.

“Yep, I’m the last one,” she said.

Although there was a brave tone to her voice, there was also a deep sadness and you could tell she missed them all dearly.

Val described the early family days as “really tough, no money, no nothing, really hard going”.

“We had absolutely nothing but we were born into a home of love,” she said with the most tender, grateful voice.

“My kids still don’t believe me but this was honestly true.

“Weevils were so bad, they were rife, you would buy stuff at the supermarket and the weevils would already be in it.

“Mum would put the porridge in the pot, fill it with water and leave it overnight.

“By the morning they (the weevils) had all risen to the top. She would scoop them off and boil up the porridge and we would have it for breakfast.

“The older ones left home once they were old enough to move out and get a job.

“They mainly worked in hotels, that way they could also board there.”

Val had three younger brothers, and they all got on really well, and an older brother Wally.

She describes Wally as “a wonderful, kind man”.

He would play a pivotal role for her later in the story, one that almost ended in utter calamity.

Val said that even though her older siblings moved out to work, she was absolute in saying “they always came home’ - further evidence that she came from a loving family home.

“We had no money, no power, no water (except if it rained in the rainwater tank), and no refrigeration.

“We did it tough, tough.

“But you know what, my mother never complained once and we didn’t know any different, we were happy kids.

“A home is what you make of it.

“Mum had all the babies at home. We lived in Jerilderie, then we moved to Deni.

“Dad was a roustabout and shearer and then he worked for Mr Rhook at the butchery, which these days is known as Mokangers.”

Val started her schooling days at Mundiwa School, then the George Street school in Deniliquin before going to the Catholic school at St Michael’s.

Margie Gibbs played the organ at the time Val was at the school, as she did when I also went to St Michael’s.

“I’ll tell you something funny about Margie Gibbs,” Val said with this gleam in her bright, blue eyes.

“I used to clean at the church for nearly 30 years, I used to love it,” she said in between giggles at what was about to come out.

“Everyone knows how fussy I am.

“I was on my own for a while and then others volunteered to help.

“We would have a roster and Margie was rostered on with me one day.

“We were working around the church and Margie said, ‘what will I do now?’.

“I made her sweep the gutters out the front. She was mortified with me.

“She’d say, ‘if you ever clean the church don’t clean it with Val Tasker, she’s horrible’.

“She didn’t like it at first but then we started to joke about it.

“I was born to be at the church, I just loved it, I couldn’t get enough of it.”

Val wanted to become a nun and she was very serious about it, but it just didn’t end up being her calling.

“I used to ride my bike six miles in on a Sunday morning to mass and six miles back.

“I didn’t mind it at all.”

When Val was just shy of 14 her dad passed away.

“Mum had the boys below me to look after, so I left school and looked for a job to help.

“We lived not far from Chippenham Park. Dad used to do odd jobs there, and I don’t know for sure but I think he told them how much I loved to cook at home.

“Once he passed they came over to offer me a job cooking for them.

“As we needed the money I cooked for them every morning; rain, hail or shine. Off I’d go on my bike.

“I didn’t like it. The lady, she was a witch, so I didn’t last too long before I left.”

Val then went to Richards’ fruit and vegetable shop in Cressy Street, before moving on to Coles that was then located near the Town Hall on the same side of the street.

After that she went to Barry Smith’s service station in north Deni.

It was not long before Len Tasker and Val crossed paths.

“Pam Jarrett played matchmaker,” Val said.

“Len was very shy, but we parked at the Waring Gardens down the street where Pam introduced us,” she said all starry eyed at the memory.

“Next time we saw each other Len asked if I would like to go to the movies.

“I said yes, but he wouldn’t buy the tickets. He was too shy again, so he made Pam go and get them,” she said giggling.

Val cannot remember the name of the movie but she knows it was “a really, really good one”.

“We became close, then the next thing you know we got married and had babies,” she said, as if life just took her by surprise.

Although they almost didn’t get married.

They were to be married in the Catholic Church - and you can just picture a shy Len all the way down the long aisle, waiting, waiting, waiting for Val who was yet to arrive.

“My eldest brother Wal was coming to get me, as he was giving me away.

“He was coming from Shepp to pick me up and we were way out bush with no phones or anything.”

By this stage I had picked up on the cutest feature to Val’s storytelling.

She starts with a normal tone and when it gets to the exciting bit she gets quite a high pitch squeak in her voice, it fits her stories perfectly.

“We almost had a complete disaster, but anyway we got through it.

“Wal had broken down between me and Shepp, and I had no idea.

“When he finally turned up I was late, really late, but we both giggled and off we went.

“Poor Len. “When I got to him I said ‘were you worried?’.

“He said, ‘bloody worried alright, I thought you let me down’.

“I asked him what he was going to do.

“He said, ‘I was checking out the fastest exit out of the church, I was just about on my way out’.”

Val was quietly giggling at this point, almost lost in the memory, unaware I was still hanging off every word.

They had a pleasant afternoon tea to celebrate the marriage, and a few days away in Bendigo and Melbourne before returning home.

Val was pregnant, so the family was already in the making.

Val and Len had three children - Mark, Vicky and Sheridan - and are proud grandparents.

“We have a beautiful family,” she said proudly.

The best part of Val’s working life was yet to come.

Daughter Vicki and her husband Peter purchased Bronte’s Cafe.

Peter was overwhelmed with taking on such a busy job, so Val came on board to steady the ship.

“I think I was there with them for nine to 10 years, then I stayed on with Glenn Nethercote too when he owned it after Peter,” she said.

They would often sell out of everything and Val particularly loved baking, making a big variety of her famous cakes, slices and biscuits.

“I was working at Orana, which I loved, but I went to Bronte’s to help out and stayed,” she said.

“I also made the pies. The pumpkin and cauliflower pies were big hits.”

I have a specific relationship with Val’s cauliflower pies.

Whenever my husband Tony would see me eating one, or I asked him to bring one home, it was usually an indication that I was pregnant.

It became my staple food the whole way through.

Val described working at Bronte’s as being “in her element”.

“I loved it, it was go, go, go and I loved the people,” she said.

Val said that even now people ask her ‘when are you going to go back to work, we want some vanilla slice’.

Once Val finished at Bronte’s she started baking from home and doing some catering as well.

“It was just by word of mouth, I didn’t need to advertise,” she said.

Val’s parting advice is simple and straight down the line.

“Build yourself up slowly through life and be satisfied and grateful for the small things. Home is what you make of it.”