​Having worked in the same industry all my life it is easy to highlight ‘The Year that Made Me’. 
1977 was the year I was awarded an Anzac Fellowship to study the New Zealand system of Agricultural Education.

Australia had no formal structure for educating Farmers, Pastoralists and Farm Workers in the manual skills of farming until 1975.

Victoria had a Shearer training scheme as did New South Wales and South Australia.  These three states also had a very good Wool Classer tuition scheme.  There were other localized training systems including ‘Keeping Farm Accounts’, ‘Dairying Practices’, ‘Pig Raising’ and ‘Bee Keeping’.  Industries such as Merck, Sharp and Dohne occasionally sponsored tuition afternoons and the Australian Wool Board/Australian Wool Corporation held discussion days.  These were all very good educationally but were not endorsed by Education Department Technical School syllabus committees. 

Benalla, being a rural town, had developed a course that incorporated all of the above activities and drawn upon curriculum from the Wangaratta Technical School.

Agricultural Colleges such as Dookie, Longrenong and Marcus Oldham in Victoria; Hawkesbury in New South Wales and Roseworthy in South Australia had served their states well.  Tertiary Institutions around Australia were also making a huge contribution to Agricultural Education such as at Melbourne, Latrobe and Pastoral Industries in New South Wales.

Working at the time for Benalla Technical School/Dookie Agricultural College as a Sheep and Woolclassing Teacher, I was asked by the Principal of Benalla Technical School if I would act as Coordinator of the newly developed Farm Apprenticeship scheme recently introduced there. 
My family and I had recently moved to Benalla to be near my wife’s parents who were farmers in the district.  I negotiated with Carole’s parents for the Technical School to graze some sheep on their property at a nominal rate – and so the Bentec Dorset Sheep Stud was born.

Having been offered the job of Farm Apprenticeship Coordinator I subscribed to a periodical called ‘The New Zealand Farmer’ and any other magazines to see what the rest of the world was doing in this field.

One day, while searching through these publications, I found an application form for an Anzac Fellowship.

Anzac Fellowships are rather rare – they are awarded each year to persons who show exceptional prowess in their field of study.  Mine was of course Post Secondary Agricultural Education.
I put the proposal to the Anzac Fellowship selection panel that what Australia needed in regards to Agricultural Education was to visit similar education providers New Zealand to obtain an overall picture of the New Zealand scene and implement accordingly.   I asked for four months to tour New Zealand with my wife Carole and two adorable children, Luke and Marion. 

Sir Thomas Ramsay, who awarded the Fellowship on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Governments, wrote back to say he would authorize a six month visit. I later submitted a Report to Sir Thomas on my findings.

Three years later a job was created funded by the Federal Government called the Manpower Development Officer, Victorian Wool Industry Training Committee (VWPITC). 

I held that position for a few years during which the VWPITC Committee and I developed the Regional Shearer Training Scheme; rewrote the Woolclassing Syllabus; assisted in the introduction of Self Paced Learning and assisted with Shed Hand Trainer Schemes.

So – 1977 is now ‘on the record’ as the year that made me, the year that acted as a catalyst for my ever increasing contribution to the Sheep and Woolclassing industry in Victoria, an industry I have thoroughly enjoyed being involved with. 

(‘Off the record’… my wife has said she has heard this story so many times she is sick of it!  …Such is life!)

 
“Godfrey”, said my wife Carol, “Do you remember we were talking about the Australian Electoral Commission changing the electoral boundaries in North Eastern Victoria, including Benalla and many smaller towns near here.    Apparently there has been total confusion at Post Offices up and down the Hume Highway.”  

“I must say I’m a bit worried about Santa’s Pixies”, I replied. “Apparently the boundaries are still in doubt and the Pixies are totally confused.  Usually a fortnight before Christmas they begin checking the names and addresses of children so their presents are delivered to the correct address. I’ve heard they’ve had to start early and double check them this year.”  
 
We were sitting around the kitchen table with our grandchildren and with this story my little grandson’s eyes opened even wider than usual.  

‘Grandpa, do you really believe in Pixies?  Do you really believe in Santa Claus’?  

My little grandson looked rather troubled.  His mother told me he’d been hearing things from the bigger boys at school.
 
“That’s a good question!  It is all a bit confusing.   

When I was little, Pixies and Fairies were regarded as ‘fictitious beings’, which means that they may exist or may not.  As I grew up I began to notice they were often held responsible for all sorts of coincidences and acts of goodwill.  

Pixies were often blamed for the breaking of incidental items around the house such as a misplaced screw or a blown light bulb.  Sometimes they were congratulated when a cup of tea just happened to appear when needed or a kettle boiled just before a visitor arrived.  At other times Pixies worked together to do extra good deeds. 
 
Fairies were responsible for acts of goodwill, such as when the Tooth Fairy left a $2 coin in the special glass left out when I lost a tooth.

Pixies and Santa Claus?  Pixies are particularly well known for assisting Santa Claus at Christmas time. They toil for weeks before Christmas to make it a success.
 
I remember some Pixies telling me once that the most difficult item to place on the roof is the special hay for Santa’s reindeer.  The reindeer were very excited at the thought of clamboring up the side trellises to get to the hay when they arrived at our house.
 
I could never fathom out how Santa could pull up the reindeer and tether them to our front fence without them ripping palings off the bearers to get to the roof to get the hay.  I became particularly worried one year after my father told me the reindeers had wrecked the front fence trying to get to the hay.  Christmas was coming and he had not bolted the fence back together again!  How would they manage?

Another activity Santa's Pixies take part in at Christmas time is supplying refreshments for Santa and his reindeer.  Santa is of course always very thirsty after travelling all night to deliver presents to children who often live on farms a long way from one another.  It was traditional at our house to supply quite copious amounts of beer to slake his thirst.    Come the morning in the cold light of dawn – even in summer – there was always a sizeable mess to clean up.  Santa and his helpers had obviously had a good time!  (Apparently the Pixies were somewhat to blame as it seems they had sat up most of the night telling stories to the reindeer!)”

I could see my grandson looking at me really thoughtfully, still looking rather uncertain…

“I guess I like to think it’s all a bit of a mystery… and a bit of fun.   Believing in Santa and his helpers helps to create a happy atmosphere for families at Christmas time.  I know it did at my house”.
 
“And mine”, said Carol. 

“Don’t worry”, I comforted him… “I’m sure the Pixies will manage to sort out the confusion caused by the changing electoral boundaries and that all the children in Indi will receive their Christmas presents on time—including you!”  
​
“Long live the Pixies!  Long live Santa Claus!”

When I was asked to write a piece using the words 'For Better For Worse' it brought back memories of my time spent as a choir boy at St John's, Toorak.

I found myself looking up the vows section of the Anglican marriage service on the internet. I quote:

“In the presence of God I take thee Name to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live…”

These vows would be well known to the Anglicans in our community and many others.  I found them in 'The Marriage Ceremony: A Step By Step Guide' written by The Venerable Dr. Bradley Billings, current vicar of St John’s Anglican Church in Toorak.

I was a choir boy at St John’s for four years from 1952 to 1955 and was the Head Choirboy in 1954/55. During these years I was paid to sing.  This money was granted on the understanding that it went towards my school fees.  I attended Christ Church Grammar, the Anglican Church, situated an the west end of Toorak Road. 

It was quite a commitment for a young boy to sing as a paid choirboy as it involved attending choir practice on Thursday evenings; attending two church services each Sunday (11 am & then Evensong at 7 pm) and on Saturdays a wedding or two. Scholarship holders also had to sing a solo occasionally to prove that we were worth our money. 

The Choir Master, Mr. Welsford Smithers*, was at that time the Chair of Music and Melbourne University.  To my young ears he could almost make the organ talk.  Throughout the year he would undertake to perform a piece to reinforce the season of the church calendar – at Christmas this might be Handel’s Messiah, at Easter ‘Stainer’s Crucifixion’.  All great stuff!

Then on Saturdays the choir would often be called on to sing at a wedding, or perhaps two.  Choir boys were paid six shillings per wedding, in cash, in addition to the Scholarship money. 

During the signing of the Register by the Bride and Groom we would sing a hymn; a Mozart piece; Handel's 'Entrance of the Queen of Sheba', or a piece by Purcell. 

Little did I know in those days how important the wedding vows are and how binding they can be.

Although the Choir took up quite a bit of my time each week, it was enjoyable and the music was just fantastic.  However after four years, my voice broke and I was no longer required in the front row of the Choir stalls.  My father was not happy.

I have other memories of my time as a choir boy at St John’s.  One which stands out is of St John’s most notable parishioner, Mr G J Coles, the Head of Vestry, driving his Rolls Royce to church on Sundays and parking it on the church grounds.
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I also played cricket for St. John’s in the South Suburban Churches Cricket Association. We had made the finals and were on top of the world.  My mother unfortunately died that week. I don’t think my father wanted me to play in respect to her death, but I managed to seek his approval and to hit the winning runs – a four off a square cut!

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*An article from the Examiner (Launceston, 21 November 1936, concerning Welsford Smithers...