The first instalment of Judy’s two-part interview was published in the Mail on Friday, June 12.
When her youngest child turned five and started school at Winters Flat, Judy got a job with the Metcalfe Shire Council, delivering hot meals in eskies to people in Chewton and Harcourt in a private car.
“Later, a purpose-built trailer was used for the five-day deliveries,” she said.
“Sometime later, a commuter bus was arranged to enable us to pick up clients for Creative Living each Monday, shopping on Tuesday for Harcourt and Taradale on Wednesdays.
“I loved that bus trip, that bus thing, because we could do that around the meals. All the travellers considered this a wonderful service for doctors’ appointments and haircuts.
And when we finished our Meals on Wheels run, we’d go back to the market and pick them up, and they’d have done all their shopping.”
Judy also did home help for many years and kitchen duties when the senior citizens held their monthly lunch meetings at the Chewton Senior Citizens.
In the late 90s, Metcalfe, Newstead, and Maldon shires amalgamated with the Mount Alexander Shire Council.
“As a group, we were interviewed and were able to keep our jobs in community services,” Judy said.
“They asked if I wanted to do something different, and I said yes, I’ll do a town run. I found that interesting because I got to meet new people.”
In 2000, Judy took over the Muckleford, Newstead, and Maldon run, which she has been doing ever since.
“I look at the clients, and I think, ‘This is amazing that I get to take a hundred-year-old lady shopping.’
“I’m 76, which they say is past retirement age, but what is retirement age? And let’s face it, you never retire from home duties.”
Judy and Les have done a lot of overseas travel over the years, visiting 26 countries.
“We’ve had many wonderful holidays, including the three months with teenage children, where we went to Disneyland and to meet my pen pal for the first time in Ontario, Canada.
“People would say to me, ‘Oh, you’re driving around thinking about where your next holiday’s gonna be. And I’d say, oh no, we’ve got to think about what’s for dinner first!”
Amongst their travels, the family has visited Scandinavian countries, as well as Israel, Egypt, Turkey and the USA.
“We went into the trenches at Gallipoli. I stood in front of the grave of a 15-year-old kid from Murchison, and I kept crying because I thought his mother wouldn’t know where he was buried,” Judy said.
And the all-important questions:
What trip are you planning at the moment? We’re going to Cape York for 13 days. Our days of overseas travel are over, but we still love travelling around Australia and especially Norfolk Island.
Who would be your three dream dinner guests? Billy Graham – he was an evangelist. Paul McCartney – I’ve been to a live concert in Melbourne with my daughter to see him. And my dear pen friend, Carol Gemmell, who lives in Ontario, Canada. We have been pen friends for 64 years. We’re like sisters. We’ve visited her several times, and she’s been out here twice.
What are your philosophies in life? Just to be kind to people. I think I got that from my father. He was a community-minded person. He would go to a school committee meeting at 7 o’clock, and at 8 o’clock, he’d go to a swimming pool meeting, even though he never swam a stroke in his life; he made sure he got that filtration plant working for those kids. And he was a councillor for Metcalfe for 28 years.
Finally, what do you love most about the place you call home? Well, there’s been a lot of change in the last 10 years. We used to have a little country town vibe. We were country kids in a country place. Now it feels like we’ve really taken on that city vibe. It’s quieter here where we are, only the sound of the steam train going through every once in a while, which is nice.
I’m very grateful for all the support I receive from my colleagues at the Mount Alexander Shire Council.