It’s a long time since I lived in the Alpine Shire, but I continue to receive emails from people who possibly think I’m still the local newspaper editor.

Often they’re seeking publicity for events, but occasionally I receive opinions on various subjects.

This one arrived today, and I let the author know to send it elsewhere, but I’ve decided to publish the message here because it’s interesting:

Trees removed at Bright Caravan Park

Are the residents of Bright aware of the removal of some of the beautiful trees in Cherry Lane at Bright Caravan Park?

The trees were removed to accommodate the installation of digital power meters. I was told that the council had approved the trees’ removal because they were diseased!

How is it the surrounding trees are not suffering from the same malady? Not only were the trees removed for the meters, but eight more camping sites became available after their demise.

The park has recently been leased to a Queensland group, ATPM, whose sole purpose seems to be no more, no less than their sights set on the mighty dollar.

It would behove the local residents to take a stroll through the park and observe the unsightly mess, which is the result of the trees’ demise.

I am a regular visitor to the town of Bright and feel great sadness at the total disregard by this company for the beautiful environment. Residents be vigilant!

This was a weekly newspaper that Juliet and I produced from our home in Porepunkah for six months from July 2002 to January 2003.

It circulated in the Bright area and reached a peak of 2400 copies when we also distributed free in Myrtleford.

The newspaper was financially a sideline to my public relations business, but took up most of time. It was like the adage that 20 percent of your customers generate 80 percent of your income.

That was certainly true for me with the Alpine News, which took up 80 percent of my 70-hour working week to produce maybe 20 percent of my revenue.

It was good fun though and I look back with pride on the work we produced. Newspapers are historical records and the electronic copies I still have are probably the only complete collection of this one-time local journal.

I’ve uploaded six front pages to my Scribd account and they can be viewed here. Sample below. If there is any interest I will upload more pages and editions.

It was to do with my non-selection to run with the Queen’s Baton in the Commonwealth Games relay.

The article quoted me correctly, but missed my main point, which was that Porepunkah has been snubbed by the relay organisers.

I’m sure that Her Majesty has no idea of the details, so I’m not critical of the Queen as some republicans have tried to be, but it’s an insult for my town that the baton is being driven past us on its way from Myrtleford to Bright.

The Olympic Torch Relay ran through Porepunkah; why not the Queen’s Baton? The baton is running through smaller towns like Everton and Tawonga. This is an insult for Porepunkah.

That was the tone of my comment to the Herald-Sun. I didn’t want to imply that I was personally upset at missing out. I think the quoted comments found some middle ground and I’m glad that some attention has been brought to the issue.

One of our favorites is the Riverdeck Cafe in Bright. Sometimes we ride the bikes there. Sometimes we go further afield to Beechworth or Milawa.

Today we revisted the Big Shed Cafe at Smoko for the first time since March.

I cycled the 18km out there, while Juliet took Kathleen, James and Margaret in the car. Snow on Hotham and Feathertop gave a magnificent backdrop.

It’s the first time I’d ridden in that direction, so it was interesting to see Freeburgh from the saddle. It’s always a different perspective compared with driving.

I had potato croquettes for lunch with green salad and sweet chilli sauce, washed down with a “zinger” (apple, carrot and tomato juice with ginger). Juliet had deep-fried camembert.

It was very good.

Playing the game at Lavington is a slap in the face for the people of Myrtleford and district.

We now face a long drive to the opposition’s home ground, when we should be making a short trip down a better road to an equally suitable neutral venue in Wangaratta.

I estimate the extra travel will add between $10 and $20 to the fuel cost for most people from Myrtleford and Bright.

I presume the logic of playing at Lavington is to benefit a majority of spectators, but that clearly isn’t the case in this instance, where Myrtleford fans are being penalised.

I’d travel to Arabia to watch the Saints win a premiership on a camel paddock, but that’s not the point. The issue here is a lack of fairness and respect.

The result was strong winds, heavy rain and heavy snow down to about 800 metres. The coldness is the aspect which makes it unusual. I can’t recall a winter storm of this severity in our nine years here.

Many trees were blown down and the electricity was off from about 3am to 6pm. That’s the longest it’s ever been disconnected in my life! We had candles flickering this morning and this afternoon. Fortunately it came back on before we had to consider a family evening without power.

I see that snow fell at Mt Macedon near Melbourne, and I thought we’d get some close to here, but it wasn’t to be. I went to Mt Beauty today, where it was much colder. The car’s reliable thermometer told me it was five degrees when I left and it was two degrees at Tawonga Gap (900m).

Down the other side of the hill in Bright it was sunny and 10 degrees!

So it looks like we’ll finish winter with just one snowfall below 1300 metres. If so, that’s the first time it’s been so mild in the nine winters we’ve experienced here.

I attribute this to my three years as editor of the Myrtleford Times. It was hard to escape the all-pervading influence of football in that town, unless you’re a soccer person! I also think it’s great for the Alpine Shire that we have a team in the Ovens and Murray League, arguably the premier country competition in Australia.

I served two years on the Myrtleford board. My duties were writing match reports, writing the weekly Critic column and recording stats on game day. I enjoyed the hype leading up to our grand final appearance in 2002.

I retired from the board after that year and didn’t see many games in 2003-04 when the club struggled. Today was the third game I’ve seen this year.

It’s good to go along and not have any official responsibility. You see things in a different light.

There was a fair crowd considering that North Albury doesn’t have many travelling supporters. In the first quarter I sat with a group of thirds players and their girlfriends. Funny to hear the talk of sex and booze from the younger generation!

With Myrtleford well on top I moved towards their scoring end in the second quarter. I was able to observe the handful of despairing Hopper fans. It makes one feel warm inside to see a formerly strong rival on its knees!

Back to the town end in the third quarter I sat beside a group of older men. I swear they hardly saw a kick or handball. They were more intent on drinking beer and nattering in Italian. Fantastic. Where else in Australia can you experience that? Juliet said later they were probably there to escape their wives!

I also noticed a group on the hill burning a fire in a metal drum to keep warm!

The ground hasn’t changed much and still looks a bit shabby. At least the surface is better than it was in 2002.

I’m going to give council a bit of praise here. The road around the ground and the carpark have been sealed. I wrote an application for this four years ago. Good to see it happen.

I sense that council now recognises the need to maintain and improve recreational assets and facilities. The investment in sporting grounds at Bright and Mt Beauty, in addition to Myrtleford, is evidence of this.

Some additional comments not in the campaign blog: Myrtleford was very impressive. I think we can go all the way this year if injuries don’t cripple key players.

I liked the emphasis on voice. Coach Hodgson stressed the need for on-ground communications and the players responded. The skill level is high.

The ruck division is very strong. We also have a wealth of 6ft utility type players who can hold any position.

I think we lack a yard of pace, but this won’t be an issue if the ball is in our possession. Go Saints!

The dampest June ever recorded in Bright was 270mm.

Maximum temperatures this year were exactly in line with the long-term average at 12.9 degrees. The warmest was 17.8 on June 8 and the coolest was 9 on June 19.

Minimum temperatures were above the average at 3.3 (normally 1.8). The coldest was -3.6 on June 3 and the mildest was 12.4 with rain on June 11.

Nine sub-zero temperatures were recorded compared with an average of 11 and two last year.

Starting at home in Porepunkah I cycled along the rail trail to the edge of Bright. I then went bush up Stackey Gully Road and followed forest tracks to Tower Hill.

It’s a steady climb and not too steep, but I confess that I walked part of the way out of tiredness.

It’s a magnificent view from the top, looking across Bright towards the snowcapped peaks of Feathertop and Hotham. It would be one of the best views in Australia if it wasn’t for the confounded power line.

It’s steeper going down the other side, which I negotiated slowly, and then rode home via the Great Alpine Road.

The forest tracks were in surprisingly good condition, apart from some erosion on the downward section.