Edition No. 46 May 6th, 2015

- Connecting Cobden - A Progressing Cobden Twenty20 Vision Project. Registered email: kelvin@swllen.net.au

Monday 11th May 7.30pm Lake Cobden Action Group meeting, Heytesbury Room.Monday 18th May 7.30pm CopRice Cobden Spring Festival meeting, Heytesbury Room.Friday 29th May 8pm Old Time Dance at Cobrico Hall.Senior Citizens’ Hall: Bowls 1pm Mondays. Cards 1pm Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays. Hoy 1.30pm first Saturday of the month.

COBDEN CALENDAR

Owners: Ian and Rosli Reid.Management: The Cobden site is managed by Trevor Gardner who reports to company CEO Mr Rob Jenkins.Product/service: The business manufactures mash feed for dairy, beef, sheep stock and delivers to farms and produce stores in south west Victoria.Business background: Reid Stockfeeds began in 1982 at Colbinabbin (Central Victoria) where Ian and Rosli Reid owned a cropping farm. In that year, Victoria was hit by a drought that placed a lot of pressure on the Reids. To keep afloat, they sold 40 tonnes of rolled grains and grain mixes to local farmers.By 1990 they were supplying customers in Gippsland, as well as the Goulburn and Murray Valleys. To support this, they purchased a feed business in Trafalgar from V Jean and Sons. By 2002 they had 48 staff and ten delivery vehicles supplying 2000-plus tonnes of feed per week.In 2007 Reids came to western Victoria in a joint venture with Langdon Produce - to move this along, they built the new feedmill in Cobden and, in 2010, they purchased the remaining 50% from Langdons to now have a full presence in all three major dairying regions of Victoria.More recently, an upgrading of the Colbinabbin plant enabled it to supply feed to the poultry and pork Industries. The business now employs more than 70 people, has 16 delivery vehicles and supplies in excess of 200,000 tonnes of feed to the animal industry.

TEN THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT REID STOCKFEEDS (COBDEN) PTY LTD

1. The business is family-owned.2. All feed is guaranteed to meet stringent quality assurance

programs of FeedSafe and ISO certification.3. All incoming commodities used to manufacture feed are

sampled, tested and, if not to specification, are rejected.4. At Cobden, four qualified nutritional staff assist farmers with

their herd health and production.5. Every customer has an individual feed ration to meet their

production and herd health goals. 6. Dairy, beef, sheep, pigs and poultry feed is sold.7. Truckloads up to 40 tonnes and bulker bags (25 and 20kg)

are delivered to farms and through produce stores8. In a mash feed you get what you see - higher grade wheat,

barley etc must be used. Low quality ingredients cannot be used as a full grain mix is manufactured and sold - not a pelleted feed.

9. Reids were the first feed manufacturer to gain accreditation in FeedSafe in Australia

10. Cobden employs 26 staff, has eight delivery trucks and moves more than 100,000 tonnes per annum.Business contact: Trevor Gardner, Ph 03 5595 2111: Mob 0407 303 960: Email tgardner@reidstock.com.au

Reid staff: Trevor Gardner (left), Chloe Warden-Flood, Jarrod van Duynhoven, Lin Martin, Trevor Cotton, Tim Ladhams, Ken Fox, Wayne Robb, Lisa Dickinson, Murray Williamson, Jake Taylor, Bess Lamont and Peter van Duynhoven.

EL PRESIDENTEGarry Finlayson

Garry remembers being at the Red Hill tennis courts playing with other kids when his parents, Margaret and Jack, were playing tennis. “I don’t know when I started playing but I know we had tennis racquets in our hands at an early age. Mum and Dad played tennis so us kids had to tag along. We had no choice but to play tennis,” he said.Did he play any other sports? “Apart from a short stint at mixed netball, I played football for South Purrumbete and Simpson football clubs. We also played in a table tennis competition at the Red Hill Hall for about ten years.”Asked about his tennis history, Garry conceded it was nearly too long ago to recall but he started playing junior tennis at Red Hill before progressing to seniors. Then, a lack of numbers caused a merger with Jancourt. “We were then known as Redcourt,” he said. “In 1989, tennis moved from courts around the district into Cobden Recreation Reserve courts where we still play tennis today.” Garry has seen many good players during his career but nominated Donald Vickers from Glenfyne as the best. “He stood out from everyone else over the years, by far the best number one that I’ve seen,” he said. Without administrators, sports simply would not exist and Garry has been happy to take on responsibility. “Apart from being president at Redcourt, I have been president at Cobden and District Tennis Association on a couple of occasions, with my latest stint starting in 1999 and I’m still here, 16 years later.To his credit, he has also assisted with the development of juniors. “When Sharyn was doing the junior coordinator’s job, she roped me in to help coach the beginners,” he said. “After seven years in the job, I handed that role over to Craig Dwyer and the past two years have seen me running a program called ‘Hot Shots’ which is basically teaching skills to kids as young as preps who aren’t ready for the big court yet. That has been a lot of fun.”Humour is an important part of tennis both on and off the court. Garry was involved in an incident last season that can be laughed at now - but it may have been quite serious!He tells the story: “What wasn’t funny at the time but has been since laughed about at my expense is when I collapsed from dehydration. I was ‘out to’ it for a short time and woke to hear the defibrillator and Milton Parlour ready to jump start me. Milton saying, ‘Bugger, he’s awake!’ were the first words I heard.”Garry is humble when it comes to listing achievements. “While I’ve won a few premierships scattered over the years, my proudest achievement would be coaching and mentoring the juniors. Also helping to keep the association going since it moved into Cobden,” he said.His strongest tennis attribute? “Whilst I may not look like I do a lot of running on the court, I actually do. I hate to let a ball go without chasing it down first, I don’t always get it back but I give it a good go.”And Garry’s final words on his enjoyment of the game? “Tennis, I believe, is fun and rewarding. I especially enjoy the social side after tennis where we get to sit down and recount what happened during the afternoon. I’m lucky to still be able to play and hope I still have a few more years left in me.”

MADAME CEOSharyn Finlayson

Sharyn first played competition tennis when she was 9 years-old. “I remember not winning a single set during my first season but I loved every minute of it. I would be up early every Saturday morning ready and dressed hours before I needed to,” she said.She followed her siblings into tennis - but not at the same club. A new club needed players so Sharyn’s mother volunteered her name.“I grew up on a dairy farm 20 minutes from Colac so we could only play sport on weekends. I played tennis in summer and netball in winter. That’s just how it was back then.”Sharyn began as a junior at South Dreeite (in the middle of nowhere). “I progressed to playing seniors until the club folded. I then played A grade with Beeac where I won my first premiership. Later I also played with Kawarren winning maybe one or two premierships before getting married and moving to Cobden.”

Reflecting on better players, Sharyn nominated doubles partner Janet Boyd (nee Richardson) who she played with at Beeac and Kawarren. “She was a left-hander and our styles complemented each other. We won numerous club championships together,” she said. And locally? “I would say Maureen Clements has been the hardest to play at Cobden because of how she hits the ball. I like a hard flat ball and Maureen spins and cuts the ball too much for my liking.”Sharyn didn’t become involved in tennis committees until her move to Cobden. “We married in May 1993 and I became Cobden tennis treasurer in 1994. I then added the secretary’s role in 2004 and still hold both jobs today.” With a banking and office administration background, she is well-qualified to carry out these tasks with aplomb.Enjoying the tennis involvement has become a way of life for Sharyn. “When my daughter Megan started juniors at the age of 9, I thought I’d take my turn as junior co-ordinator for a couple of years but I have just completed my eleventh year. My youngest daughter Emma is moving up to senior tennis so my time has come to an end and I’m looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday mornings during summer!”During her time as junior co-ordinator, Sharyn has seen many juniors come through. “I’ve really never taken the time to count how many . . . some have continued on as seniors which is pleasing while others have moved to other sports or work commitments have got in the way. “It’s nice to see past juniors like my daughter Megan, Hamish and Angus McConachy, Sarsha and Jia Anderson, Will Benallack and Luke Jeffery still playing. Having young legs on the court helps us older players out!Well-known tennis identity John Fleming’s name was fondly recalled when we asked Sharyn for a funny story. “It gets brought up every year. When John played all those years ago at Cobden, he wore sunglasses. One day he stepped up to serve and didn’t realise he was serving from the yellow netball line which was well behind the normal white tennis baseline. Needless to say, it was a long way back and he only realised it when he couldn’t get the ball over the net.”Although Sharyn did achieve grand final and championship success around Colac, she has not won a premiership at Cobden. “That’s not a worry. We are a very social group and have a lot of fun. No-one plays for sheep stations,” she said.She laughed about her relative tennis skills. “In my prime I had a deadly forehand that won me a lot of points. These days I’m just happy to get the ball back over the net and be competitive. Tennis is a challenging game but, at all levels, it remains very rewarding.”

Indisputably, Cobden’s current “Mr and Mrs Tennis” are Garry and Sharyn Finlayson. Garry has been president of the local association for a total of 22 years while Sharyn has kept up-to-date minute books (13 years) and financial records (21 years). But it doesn’t seem to stop there! Here, we reflect on their tennis involvement over the years.

“Bugger, he’s awake!” A badly dehydrated tennis president Garry is nursed by his secretary-treasurer-wife Sharyn while team-mate Milton Parlour fires up the defibrillator and opponent Andrew McConachy (inset) rings 000 for assistance.

Sharyn and Garry Finlayson