Last week I had a coffee date with Doreen and Keith Smith; perhaps a ‘chat date’ would be more accurate — the coffee, though great, was somewhat irrelevant.
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Keith had a story to tell me and he had, very kindly, made extensive notes. It is likely that his experience with me, in the past, had taught him that I am not the world’s best note-taker. I have a tendency to get too involved in the conversation and forget to write things down. In addition, I suspect that Keith’s story is one of his favourite memories. If you have a good look at the photo, you’ll understand my thinking. When I remarked on the very attractive stewardess, Doreen said, “No wonder he came home tired!”
Boeing 747 City of Shepparton
In 1980, Bruce Lloyd, at that time leader of the National Party in the Federal Government, was instrumental in having the Boeing aircraft named after his home city.
In October of that year, a group of Sheppartonians travelled to Seattle, USA, to see the delivery of the aircraft. The group consisted of Mayor Ritchie Trevaskis and his wife, Gwyneth; Don McPherson representing the News; Ken Austin and photographer Gary Goff representing GMV6; and Keith representing 3SR.
The Shepparton delegation was flown to Canada and then travelled by luxury coach to Seattle. Here the Boeing executives took over the hosting and they were shown all the area’s highlights — including, of course, the enormous Boeing factory at Everett.
The aircraft had rolled off the assembly line on September 9, 1980, and was tested until it was handed over to Qantas on October 15. The plane was a combi, which meant it carried a combination of passengers plus seven pallets of freight. It was scheduled to land in Los Angeles to pick up freight, but as it was not registered in Australia, could not take on paying passengers.
In addition to the Shepparton people on board, there were some engineers plus a full cabin crew. They were to fly from Paine Airfield (Everett) to Sydney — via Los Angeles and Honolulu.
In May of that year, Mount St Helens had erupted, killing 57 people. In October, it was still emitting smoke, and the pilot deviated from his course to take them as close as possible to the volcano.
When they returned to Shepparton, Don and Betty McPherson arranged a get-together, at their home. Don made St Helens cocktails to mark the occasion.
What happened to the aircraft?
From its original combi, it was converted to full passenger configuration. It was leased to Air Pacific, but retained Qantas livery. It was withdrawn from use in August 2002 and was prepared for long-term storage in the USA. It is now scrapped at Pinal Airpark in Marana, Arizona.
But, for 22 years, it carried our name.
Mt St Helens erupts
At 8.32 am on May 18, 1980, Mt St Helens exploded with a force estimated to be 2500 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The blast scorched the land, with temperatures of up to 500ºC – as far as 24km away. Volcanic ash blanketed countryside over 1100km, covering three states. The picture contains a sample of the ash collected in Spokane, Washington.
About Doreen and Keith
Keith began his radio career early in life. At the age of 14, he was employed as control room operator at 3BA Ballarat. Two years later he became senior operator. He did national service at the RAAF School of Radio and so spent most of his time at the School of Radio in Ballarat. It was at this time that he met Doreen Wyley, who was at teacher training college.
In 1956 he accepted a position as technician at 3UL Warragul and completed his broadcast operators’ certificate of proficiency. At this point, Doreen came back into his life. They were engaged in 1962 and married in 1965.
Their daughter, Alison, was born in Warragul and in 1968 they moved to Shepparton. Their son, Bradley, was born here. Keith was network engineer, looking after 3SR and three other stations in 1970, and became manager in 1975 until retirement in 1989.
Keith was a member of Sherbourne Apex (life member) and then joined Shepparton Rotary, becoming a Paul Harris Fellow in 1987.
In 1991, Doreen became a member of the Australian College of Speech Therapists.
It was a good chat, with two intelligent people who have opinions, and a sense of humour. But I felt Keith was getting a bit tired. Not so! I think he was simply keen to get to their ‘happy hour’. Thanks guys! I enjoyed it immensely.
The old fire station?
This week I also had an email from one of our readers.
Hello Marnie,
Yes I am still here! I thought you might have included my little story about the Shepp Hotel fire hydrant in Town Talk.
You had two subjects in your story. Fire stations and the homeless. I have been trying to push for the old fire station at Maude St to be developed as social housing. My emails to Danny Pearson, the Minister for Housing, have only got a response to say he is looking into this question.
The Maude St fire station is a bigger block than the car park idea, has no residential neighbours and is close to the lake for green space. Shops and public transport on hand make it the ultimate spot. Only issue is the CFA chief thinks it is CFA property to sell. The government built a new station for them so the government should be able to do what it wants with the old site.
Regards, Roger.
It was good to hear from Roger again. The story he wanted me to tell was this:
A friend of Roger’s watched the firefighting at the Shepp Hotel (2007) and was a little bewildered. The fire engine was going to a fire plug near the police station, to fill up — then returning to the hotel. Roger’s mate caught the attention of one of the firemen, in an attempt to tell him there was a fire plug in front of the hotel. But the fireman was too busy to stop and listen. Our informant tried several times. They continued to fill up around the corner.
As the brigade checks fire plugs on a regular basis, it seemed unlikely that they were unaware of the closest plug. However, it eventuated that this particular fire engine had come from Bendigo to help fight the fire on the top floor. Nevertheless, time was wasted unnecessarily.
I also welcome Roger’s passionate interest in accommodating the homeless, in our city. To me, all ideas are good ideas, and an indication of the need for action.
Revitalised business
It is always good to see a struggling business come back with a vengeance, and that has certainly happened with the Foodworks supermarket in Colliver Rd.
The new owners have brought with them a wealth of experience and it was great to see the shelves full of well-selected stock and the prices fair. At the checkout, I noticed bunches of pink lilies, in bud, and didn’t even try to resist them. Particularly when I saw the prices were among the cheapest in town.
Already, they are showing indications of understanding what ‘community’ means — staying open for as long as possible during the flood, with a local staff member wading to work. And, on one of my visits, I noticed this sign:
Hi customers. Thanks everyone for kindly donating to Tyson’s grandfather’s operation but the lowlife in the picture stole the jar. If anyone recognises her, please call the police to catch her.
There was a photo of a young woman wearing a black mask. I doubt she’ll return to the store in the near future.
I notice that, more recently, they are taking photos of people they catch shop-lifting — and fair enough!
I wish them well.
Family and stuff
In November, we don’t have any birthdays among our lot. But we are having a birthday gathering this next Sunday — three October birthday people missed out due to the flood.
I am particularly interested in having a word or two with First Grandson, who has taken on a great deal of extra work. We had previously discussed his October/November workload; he said “I’ll be fine in November, Marn — when I can smell Christmas”, but on the phone, his voice is flat and tired. He has been asked to speak at four conferences, three of them international events, with one still to come. And the Department of Education has him on a committee to evaluate the philosophy curriculum.
I used to think teachers had it easy, but not anymore. He works a 68-hour week and is completing his second masters degree. The research he has done is the reason for two of the conference appearances. And I’m worried about him now — I don’t think he’s smelling Christmas.
P.S. He called me late Sunday night to tell me their rent had gone up by $300 per month. Laughed at my concerns about his mental and physical health. Big hugs coming up on Sunday.
To the people still seeking crumbed pork fillet
I read Geoff Allemand’s column ‘Pics from the Past’ with interest. There are people who have been going without crumbed pork fillet since the Taiwan Restaurant left us.
My suggestion: cook some! Here’s how.
With a good knife, slice the pork fillet — thinly, lengthwise. Dip the pieces in plain flour, then beaten egg (with a little milk) and finally breadcrumbs. Don’t skip the flour — the crumbs will fall off. Fry in a small amount of oil, on medium heat. Serve with gravy if you like soggy breadcrumbs or a dipping sauce if you don’t.
Then clean up the mess you’ve made. It is easier to clean up if you spread baking paper first. Then just roll it all up.
By the way, the dish has been available at two of our restaurants, probably more. If you can’t be bothered cooking, try it at Peking City or Sing Li.
Talk soon, everybody. May it be easy, my friends.
Marnie
Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au
Letter: Town Talk. Shepparton News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton 3631.
Phone: Send a text on 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back, if you wish.)
Town Talk