By KATRINA BRANDON
CLASSED as the local “super farmer”, Budgeree local Edgar Owen received recognition for his years of voluntary work during National Volunteer Week.
He was formally acknowledged at Budgeree Hall, where the hall’s committee held a morning tea to help celebrate the achievement.
Mr Owen was presented a certificate from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA Public Land services team and Latrobe City Budgeree Ward Councillor Leanne Potter.
Volunteers like Mr Owen have run the hall for close to 120 years.
He said he was chuffed but equally surprised to receive the honour.
His family moved to Budgeree in 1955. Only five days in, his mother became secretary at Budgeree State School when Mr Owen was only 15-years-of-age.
On arrival to the district, Mr Owen said the hall was neglected and no one really looked after it until Christmas.
“When it was Christmas time, and we would come and clean it up,” he told the Express.
“As time went on, I used to do things around the hall and the school, even though we had no kids there anymore until my kids started in the ’70’s.”
While keeping the grass cut around both facilities and making repairs where he could, Mr Owen also ran a dance class that drew about 40 people. For four to five years, the classes continued, with all profits going toward repairs and props for the hall.
Over the years, volunteers continued to run the hall, ensuring it remained a pillar in the community.
Starting his farming career, Mr Owen began with 200 acres, with only about 40 acres cleared of bushland, which was cleared in the 1970’s by another local farmer who also worked at a mill.
Mr Owen’s farm grew over time as farmers around him sold off their properties, and he saw opportunities in the land. The movement saw farms in the area go from 16 to only a handful.
On the farm, he had cattle but would spend the night driving a livestock truck to Melbourne. Mr Owen said that he had and still has a great passion for trucks.
Mr Owen’s son enjoyed the farm life and reassured his father that he could run the farm while the old man was driving trucks across the state and occasionally interstate.
Back home in Budgeree, when things need to be done at the hall, Mr Owen ensures work has been tendered to.
The hall has seen many changes, including roof panels following an interesting incident with a possum during a community event, the removal of the stage, which has been transformed into tables for the hall, the installation of a toilet block, and an old-style playground.
Most of the wooden boards in the hall have been there since the beginning, with repairs and restorations keeping them in their current condition.
Mr Owen said that the Aboriginal word for Budgeree is “a good place,” which he said was fitting for the place he calls home.
