Newly-crowned Tongala Citizen of the Year Jenny Reid will celebrate a pair of 50-year anniversaries in April — one being the marriage to her husband Daryl and the other a half-century commitment to the town.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
She came to Tongala eight weeks before her April 27 marriage to her equally well-known and admired husband, working initially at the Commonwealth Bank at Kyabram.
The administration and financial skills that she built in the early days of her professional career have served her well in the community roles she has filled in the town.
During the years she has held a variety of secretary and treasurer roles with sporting and community organisations — while also remaining an active participant in several of those sporting clubs.
She and Daryl are parents of Lisa and Andrew, grandparents of three and great grandparents to four children.
The announcement that she was Tongala’s 2023 Citizen of the Year was a complete shock, her daughter Lisa explaining that it had been kept a secret.
Jenny was at the Australia Day event in her capacity as a member of Tongala Lions Club, wearing a black apron and behind the serving table of the Lions club’s free barbecue.
As details of the nomination were read out she became emotional in the realisation that master of ceremonies Robert Morton was referring to her as he read from the citation.
She wasn’t the first Reid to be recognised at such a ceremony, her daughter Lisa was the Tongala Sportstar of the Year in 2013 after breaking the netball games record.
Her nephew Mark, and father of this year’s Young Citizen of the Year Harley Reid, was also recognised 10 years ago after playing his 400th game for the club.
Harley Reid was not able to attend the event, but his family was there and sister Hollie accepted the award on his behalf.
The Reid name is renowned in sporting circles, Daryl a two-time premiership player with the Blues and captain of the 1983 premiership team.
Jenny arrived at Tongala after spending her formative years in the city, then the next 14 in the Gippsland town of Maffra.
“My father worked for the Department of Agriculture and was transferred to head office in the city,’’ she said.
“I spent six years in Melbourne before coming to Tongala.’’
Her now Busselton, WA-based brother introduced her to Dookie College classmate Daryl Reid and they were later married.
Not too long after arriving at Tongala she joined the tennis club and then its committee, of which she has been a member for 43 years.
She was involved with the football club for 39 years and remains treasurer of the tennis club.
She became secretary of the RSL, “because they needed one”, years ago and is a recent convert to the Lions organisation.
Jenny’s 97-year-old mother, Rosalie, still lives in her own home at Tongala and the new Citizen of the Year also contributes wholeheartedly to the development of her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
She received her award from 2022 recipient Anne Church and in front of an adoring crowd, along with a group of officials that included Campaspe Shire councillors Colleen Gates, John Zobec, Mayor Rob Amos and Daniel Mackrell, along with Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh.
Tongala’s status as one of Australia’s most recognised war memorial towns is in no small part due to the work of Michael Thompson and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Vietnam) Association.
The tireless worker accepted acknowledgement of his group as the Tongala Community Group of the Year.
The 3rd Cavalry Regiment had a squadron serving in South Vietnam for nearly six years.
Mr Thompson said his group was lucky to receive a lot of support from the residents of Tongala, along with Campaspe Shire.
“The community bank puts in a lot of effort and money to support, us. The results are here for everyone to see and the Avenue of Honour work will hopefully soon be complete,” he said.
Mr Thompson said about half-a-million dollars had been spent on the memorials.
“From our end it is all voluntary work and brings a lot of tourism to Tongala,’’ he said.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the two schools, which we involve in all our work.
“It was almost 13 years ago that we unveiled the national cavalry memorial and we have never had any problems with damage.
“I believe the involvement of the children and the community has resulted in a strong mutual respect.”
Mr Thompson said once the “avenue” was finished it would include tributes to those who had served in Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and East Timor — making the Tongala memorial the only tribute covering the entire 120 years of conflicts in which the nation has been involved.
Personable and generous were the words used to describe 2023 Tongala Young Citizen of the Year Harley Reid, in the citation that earned this year’s AFL number one draft pick another honour.
If the painted hay bales, murals and dairy farming history of the town hadn’t already put it on the map, Reid’s selection as the number one pick in November certainly did.
While he was unable to attend the Australia Day event, due to commitments with his new club West Coast Eagles, his parents and sister, along with his grandparents were on the lawns of the Mangan St parkland to honour the young star.
His sister Hollie, a sports star in her own right with Kyabram Football Netball Club, spoke on his behalf.
The citation explained Harley regularly attended school events and his sister said she knew how much this award would mean to her little brother.
“He would love to be up here in front of his community,” she said.
His father, Mark, won an Australia Day award 10 years ago, on the same day, having played his 400th game for Tongala the previous year.
Mark Osmond and Lou Walsh formed a musical union 12 months ago, Canadian born Osmond and Tongala resident Walsh the lead acts at the Tongala soundshell for the Australia Day event on Friday.
Fittingly called Maple and Murray, reference to their international coalition, Lou is originally from Kyvalley and now lives at Tongala.
She recalled having appeared at the same location 40 years earlier when she performed at the request of event organiser Murray Ross during the Hoo Roo Tonny Loo event.
Mark married a girl from Kyvalley and recently became a permanent Australian citizen.
The pair delivered several Australiana favourites, including John Williamson’s Give me a Home Among the Gum Trees and a Slim Dusty classic.
“We’ve spent the last few weeks preparing for this event,” Lou said.
Former police inspector and Echuca tourism business operator Neil Thomas pulled no punches in his keynote speech at the event.
As Australian as they come, he described himself as a proud Australian and an unabashed fan of the Tongala township.
“Tonny — what a great little town,” he said.
“I was pretty chuffed that Harley Reid got picked as number one, but a little disappointed he didn’t come to the Doggies,” Mr Thomas said.
He cited long time relationships with Regan’s Catering, war memorial developer Michael Thompson, the town’s aged care facility and the local petrol station in the initial stages of his address.
“Dad died at 91, but regularly came to Tongala for respite, which is where he passed away,’’ he said.
“We’d go to the newsagency and pay the bill and when I came here as a police inspector 20 years ago I always used to make a point of filling up the car in town.”
One of the former policeman’s first jobs in the region was the search for a small boy who drowned near Tongala.
“Before I knew it there were 100 volunteers involved in the search,” he said.
He said that was typical of how people in Australia did things, one in all in.
He described the simple things in life, like bangers and mash and a few peas, as some of the things he enjoyed most about growing up in Australia.
His business The Great Aussie Beer Shed and Heritage Farm Museum at Echuca, is testament to that pride in his country.
“We are genuinely a lucky country. Everything from our First Nations heritage to people who were born here and those who have chosen to come here to make a home.
“When I was based at Dandenong there were 60 odd nationalities in the immediate area. In Australia we embrace all people as Australians,” he said.
He did, however, share his concerns for the nation.
“As a retired policeman I am concerned with the current crime wave, but like everything I believe the 95-5 rule applies to Australian kids — 95 per cent good and five per cent needing improvement,” he said.
His distain for speeding drivers and those who drink alcohol while driving was obvious.
“One thing parents need to do is to teach their kids not to get in the car with a drink driver and always ask the driver to slow down,” he said.
“My last job before retiring was a young girl killed in a motor accident head on into a truck. We found she had been texting for 15 minutes before the crash.
“A lot of times these horrible things can be avoided.”
Neil said that for every sad story there was a good one.
“My son-in-law lost his wallet. It was found by a 14-year-old girl and taken to the police station,’’ he said.
“The support Rochester people received from the region and the fact VCE kids preferred to help in the recovery rather than head off to schoolies is evidence of the Australian way of doing things.”
He explained that he felt the true Aussie spirit was alive and well and it was no better proven than in the ranks of the emergency services and through the volunteer community.
“There are 60 pages of volunteer organisations in Campaspe Shire. Volunteering is in my blood and I think it is something everyone should do, as well as reach out to others in the community,” he said.
He left the stage offering a challenge to those in attendance.
“Try to meet at least one new person each year who has come from another country and chosen Australia to be their home,’’ he said.
“And you could do worse than adopting this motto — a smile, please and thank you cost you nothing, so use them.”
Contributor