In this past month we lost one of the last 5 remaining footballers. Greg Anderson, who was a Best and Fairest winner with the Pleasant Hills Football Club. It was only 12 months ago that we celebrated the 5 remaining players and Greg was interviewed for the podcast giving us a few really good stories about those days at Pleasant Hills. Greg generously donated his best and fairest award, a gold plated cigarette case, to be displayed at the Hotel. Keep your eye out for the new memorabilia appearing at the Hotel over the next few months.
Greg’s mother, Vera Anderson, had the Urangeline East Store, on the corner near the Urangeline East silos. The original store was a galvanised tin shed, which over time became the shed to house the fire truck for the area South of Pleasant Hills. When George Beckett became captain the shed was moved to the front gate at Allambee, on Forcks Lane. Where the shed still stands today, a slice of history hidden away, if only it could tell some of those tales.
New Infrastructure at the Oval
The council has just installed a dump point at the back of the upgraded toilet block at the recreation reserve. To my surprise they have also installed a gravel track all the way around the football oval. This is to allow access to the dump point from a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
My original idea is that this will attract free-campers and self-contained campers to stay on the oval. The oval hasn’t been used regularly for years. The use of the oval and dump point will then attract outside money to be spent in the town when the travellers decide to stay. They will spend money in the Post Office and if they stay for the weekend then the pub will benefit from the traveller’s buying a meal and having some drinks, before walking back to their own self-contained accommodation.
Fiona Beckett