1959 : What did the future hold? After completing my TPTC at Bendigo Teachers' College and spending the Christmas vacation working as a sales assistant at Chandler's Hardware store in my hometown of Echuca I was filled with trepidation. A couple of weeks before the school year began, a letter from the Education Department had informed me that I was to report to State School 208 Echuca as an excess teacher. An uneventful two weeks passed where I was little more than an office boy running messages for a class teacher who was a friend of the family. In those days individual attention to children's needs and group work were not the norm and life was pretty boring- but at least I was being paid. Then one Friday morning the Head Teacher, Mr Norm Miller, one of nature's gentlemen, appeared at the classroom door waving a telegram in one hand bearing the message "Report to Glenloth East State School on the following Monday morning as temporary Head Teacher Class 4."
Where on earth was Glenloth East? A hasty visit to a local garage to purchase a road map of Victoria revealed Glenloth as a tiny mark on the map outside of Charlton on the edge of the Mallee. Somehow the people at the Post Office were able to locate the President of the School Committee and he advised me to catch a train to Bendigo and then another to Wycheproof where he would meet me on the Saturday afternoon. All new territory to me. On arrival at Wycheproof- where the train ran up the middle of the main street - I was met by the president and his family. One of his first questions on seeing my size was " Do you play football?" After taking me to dinner at a local cafe I was dispatched to the local cinema with his teenage daughter and son while they went elsewhere. Later they collected us and I was taken to a Wycheproof Football Club party. At about 1.00am on the Sunday morning we headed for Glenloth East which was situated on the crossroads between Wycheproof, Boort, Charlton and Quambatook. I was told that the school families had arranged for me to board with each family for a month before moving on to the next family.
The first family I was billeted to were friends of the president and his wife and as the host family were all in bed when we got there they took me in and showed me my room. It was a strange experience when next morning I had to get up and introduce myself to these strangers-Mr and Mrs Jim Howard and their sons Laurie and Terry. I soon found them very friendly and accommodating and I got on really well with them. They were a sport mad family, as I was, and it was soon established that I was welcome to remain living with them for the duration of my stay at the school.
I suspect that Jim was not the best farmer in the district nor were they very well off but they had hearts of gold. The house was quite old with the toilet- a typical old outhouse-situated some 50 metres from the house and was often used as the backstop for a game of cricket. Toilet paper consisted of torn up magazines like the "Women's Weekly". Under a large peppercorn tree stood a coolgardie safe in which the meat was stored. I can recall having a lovely meal of roast lamb one evening when I came upon a stray peppercorn which had found its way into the meat, and was it hot! The land around Glenloth East was absolutely flat and in February was parched and hard. I cannot remember how I got my bike up there but I used to ride about two miles to school everyday accompanied by Terry, the younger son, a grade 6 student. I soon found that Jim, the father, had some quaint ways. A favourite expression of his was "immediately if not before". The family didn't drink at home but when they went shopping in nearby Charlton they certainly made up for it.
On my first day at my new school Jim turned up at about 4-00 pm after the children had gone home. He had been to Charlton for a part for his plough and had got caught up in one of the local pubs. He was drunk as a lord. He wanted me to tell his wife that he had been up at the school all afternoon. What a predicament! I had only met her the previous morning. However my fears were unfounded. A couple of weeks into my stay up there the Howards took me over to Boort- my one and only visit to this small country town. On the way home with his wife driving the car Jim suddenly shouted " Stop the car!"and jumped out, opened the boot and out came a shotgun. He had spotted a couple of wood ducks swimming on a dam just inside a fence. After creeping closer on his stomach he let fly and managed to get one of the unsuspecting ducks. The following evening when I sat down for my evening meal there was the whole wood duck waiting for me on my plate and it was delicious.
Glenloth East was a district consisting of only the very small school, quite a modern public hall and wheat farms. Once, on remarking what a nice hall it was, Jim informed me that it replaced a rickety old hall that accidentally burnt down. On querying the term "accidentally" he had informed me that he had accidentally lit the match.
A neighbour of the school was a chap, Bill Miller, who played in the centre for Wycheproof Football team. He used to take me to training with him. At first the ground was in beautiful condition for training and the first practice match. Afterwards water restrictions were imposed and the ground became rock hard. I made my debut with the Wycheproof senior team for the first match at home against StArnaud. However after a heavy fall late in the game I suffered a broken wrist so my career with Wycheproof was a short one game. However it was the only one of many clubs that I later played for that wore the colours of the Melbourne Football Club, which I have supported since I was child.
After being at the school only a few days
a car pulled up outside and a distinguished looking gentleman came in and
introduced himself as
Mr Fred Turner, District Inspector from Swan Hill. In the next few hours I don't think I had ever been so
nervous in all my life. During the
morning I had a small group of junior students sitting around on the floor and
I recall asking them " How many rabbits on twelve legs" instead of
" How many legs on three rabbits". Old Fred sitting at the table burst out laughing, I realized
what I had said, the tension was broken, and I actually enjoyed the rest of his
stay. After that the visit of the
various District Inspectors held no fears for me.
When Laurie, Mrs Howard's older son turned twenty-one I was invited to his twenty-first party to be held in the Glenloth East Hall. However before the party many of the guests assembled at the family home. As was typical in the bush in those days the women gathered in the kitchen while the men stood around outside for a few quiet beers. Old Jim had already had a few and was having a shower in the bathroom situated at the end of the veranda near where the men were celebrating. Suddenly all those outside heard the call "Woman, where the hell are my bloody underpants?" Over the noise in the kitchen his wife didn't hear a thing and the next minute here was this skinny middle age old man, completely starkers prowling up the veranda and into the crowded kitchen again shouting" Woman,where's my bloody underpants?" With one big sweep of her arm Mrs Howard bundled him into their adjoining bedroom to the amusement of all the onlookers.
As I didn't have a car and didn't have a licence (in fact I didn't know how to drive) the Howards were good enough to drive me to church in Wycheproof of a Sunday and when they went to Charlton, their favoured shopping centre, I usually accompanied them. In those days I would only have couple of beers myself but the rest of the family usually made quite a day of it. When time came to go home, Terry, the young son- my grade six student -would drive us home. Normally Terry and myself would ride our bikes to school which was about two miles away and often through thick frosts. However if it should be raining Terry would drive us to school in the family car.
I can recall telling the thirteen pupils that there was to be no swearing in the playground. One day after morning recess one little boy in grade two put up his hand and said "Mr Finnegan, Betty swore and proceeded to spell out the offending word “S…”
Mid way through the term I had a heavy cold and returned to Bendigo one weekend for the Teachers' College Ball and stopped with some family friends. The lady of the house seeing that I was ill insisted I have a hot lemon and honey drink. I sweated all night and woke frozen in damp bedclothes and so returned to Glenloth East feeling worse than when I left. I only missed one day of school but when the term and my stay at the school was over a couple of weeks later I returned home to Echuca for the holidays. My mother took one look at me and bundled me off to the doctor who diagnosed that I was recovering from a bout of pneumonia.
During the term the Head Teacher position at the school was advertised and someone else was appointed to the position. During the last week of term I received a transfer to Samaria State School in North Eastern Victoria. My time with the Howards was an enjoyable and valuable experience as one learns a lot when actually living with families in isolated communities.
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