The Vale Podcast

THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED ON TUESDAY 6TH DECEMBER - BEFORE FURTHER ROAD CLOSURES OCCURRED ON WEDNESDAY. A further update will occur in the coming days.

It's been a while between podcasts, but given there's potentially a flood emergency on our hands and this is a community service, it seemed like a good idea to get Senior Sarge Longy in for a chat about floods and common sense.

Just a quick debrief and catch up with Mildura Rural City Council Mayor Liam Wood. These chat's are always pretty relaxed and casual which I think is important so we can inform people on Council processes, opportunities and issues without the obstacle of formal language. I know being approachable is as important to Mayor Wood as it is to me and these chats are exactly that. Easy, approachable real time conversations.

It's all about the Jesse's and the sport this week... still. Jesse Medina was a main event fight at the Demolition event a few weeks ago and things didn't go his way but in this episode we really get into the sports psychology and figure out why. He's also looking for another fight before the end of the year before he goes looking for a rematch so watch this space. The other Jesse this week is Jesse Zaffina who has my full admiration. This young man is becoming an Ambulance Community Officer so we chat about that and why he didn't end up in the Army like he'd planned after year 12. Then we get to Seamus who has escaped the first round of delisting's before trade period despite only playing less than half the season. We're hoping for the best for your Seamo.

With the SFNL Grand Final tomorrow we thought it only proper to have Donny in to talk about Under 16's and Tina Zappia in to talk about the under 13's. Jane & Pete Aikman called in to talk about B grade netball, tennis and the crops.

It's grand final week and Robinvale Euston Football Netball Club have three teams in the big dance. Under 13's div 2 netball - Under 16's football - and with an average age of 37 years, 1 month and 4 days, our B grade netball team. During the week Sarah McMonnies who is arguably the best shooter in the league was runner up in the league B & F, whilst Jane Aikman came third and Carmen McMonnies also fell in the top ten, so with a team that has polled so highly through the mid-court, we should be in a much better position than the last time we met Irymple in the regular season. We dissect the game with Coach Steve Bowden and Team Manager Sarah Lamattina and get Phil in because of course he needs to be involved in these conversations. We shall have another edition on Friday with Tina Zappia who is coach of the under 13's.

Two weeks in a row, not only to have a weekly episode for the first time in months, but to have the same team back in the studio! What a treat and it allowed us to discuss everything that's happened this week including the footy and Ethan Gill getting off his charge at the tribunal, B Grade netball of course, the Mallee Almond Blossom Festival and all manner of other topics. We also send our condolences to the Chirchiglia and Albanese families on the passing of Betty and our thoughts are with The Vale's own Charlie Albanese at this time.

We all have a dream. You have a dream, I have a dream. Where would we be if we didn't have dreams and ambitions. Some of us realise those dreams, some go unrequited. Louie Bulzomi has never given up on his dreams. He's thought about it, but he's persisted and persisted and a few weeks ago, he got to realise part of that dream and call an AFL match between Collingwood & Essendon. We talk to him about it all and about a few other things, Connie Chirchiglia is on to talk about the Almond Blossom Festival that is happening Sunday 21st August too. She tells us about the stalls, the entertainment, the childrens entertainment and more.

This is a community podcast so it's open for anyone who wishes to utilise it. We like facts, don't like rumour and innuendo and like to get things out in the open. We're adults here. Granted, at times, someone's truth, is slightly different to someone else's truth and that's ok we're human. My point is, we're a community podcast available for the entire community so when Phil or Sgt. Long or anyone contacts me asking to come on, the doors are open and mic is open and we're ready to go. So here we go with Phil this week, whom we haven't spoken to on the pod for a long time. Certainly not since his last race in Darwin where the championship slipped away from his grasp, so we talk about that, we talk about Sarah's calf injury from last week's match again Sth Mildura, we talk about Ross's race in Alice last weekend and what exactly is going on with the bench at the footy club.

TRIGGER WARNING This episode deals with some heavy issues such as domestic and family violence. If any of this is triggering for you or you need help, please hit the White Ribbon website for a list of resources, or call 1800RESPECT This woman is a force. She's an incredible advocate, she's a survivor. She is Kim O'Reilly and she's spreading the message that's it's never ok! Domestic and family violence is never ok. In 2019 Kim O’Reilly’s life was changed forever when she was violently assaulted by her then partner. In the years since, she’s taken the first steps to recovery and despite her trauma, Kim empathetically rejects the label ‘victim’. She is a survivor. This is her story…. If any of this is triggering for you, please contact 1800respect 1800 737 732 Or services such as lifeline on 13 11 14.

It's been awhile! Apologies for the lengthy hiatus, but we're all busy. Especially Charlie. But we all managed to get into the newly fitted out Network House Community Studio thanks to FRRR and talk about Donny's footy come back.

This year we've got four riders hitting the red centre for the Tatts Finke Desert Race and I, for one, and gutted I can't be there to witness it. Nathan Falvo, Phil & Broden Connell, Nicholas Boyd are all being supported by their mechanic Joey Heeps in their quest to finish the unforgiving two day race through all sorts of challenging terrain from Alice Spring to Apatula (Finke). Nathan has done the race multiple times on a quad, but has never done it on two wheels and in fact, didn't even own his KTM 350 at the time of entry. He leaves for Alice on Monday and has even promised to take the Big Brass Mug for me and get Toby to sign it!! AMAZING! I can't even tell you how excited that makes me! Before we get to all this though, Donny and Jimmy come in to have a yarn about all sorts of things; mainly footy.

It really is a full dance card this week! It had to be with so many things happening. First is obviously Phil Lamattina after a win at Heathcote last weekend putting him just 10 points shy of the top of the table in the Top Fuel Championships, it would be remise of us not to have him in. We also chat to Rebecca Wells from Mallee Regional Innovation Centre about the $150million in partnership funding from the One Basin CRC and the work MRIC are currently doing. Dr Anne Webster joins us on the phone quickly to chat about her run for Deputy Leader of the National Party and finally Joe Colombo, a MICA paramedic (much higher up than Charlie). joins us for a chat about the Ambulance Service and becoming a first aider.

It's been a while, but things have been hectic so we do episodes when we can get them out these days. There were some important topics to discuss with Senior Sergeant Dale Long of Robinvale Police regarding the local spate of farm burglaries and some arrests that have been made. We also discuss the new Neighbourhood Policing Model that he's pushing out. Link to the VicPol survey: https://engage.vic.gov.au/annual-vicpol-community-sentiment-survey-2022 We also chat with Jessie and Justin from Elders Insurance Mildura on insurance and on MMA!

There's a bit of moisture around so Donny was able to make it into the studio this week to have a chat about the Don Falvo B & F medal which was an honour bestowed upon him last week. Charlie is still too cool to come in but hopefully next week at some point, after he's come back to earth following Cochella.

There's so much going on over Easter we thought we needed an extra episode to cover it all. Dale Long who is our senior sergeant at Robinvale Police is in for a chat about all sorts of things including the Manangatang homicide and other things keeping the unit busy. Al and Vicki are in to talk about the Easter tournament which now has a total pool of $3,500 in cash prizes to be won! Al and Vicki normally play together but there was a little incident at country week and the dream team became a nightmare so they've broken up and established new teams, We talk about it during the episode so you'll just have to listen. Lt. Emma Wright is also in to talk about becoming a volunteer for the CFA. Robinvale CFA is 100% volunteer based, so no volunteers, no one to fight your fires! We talk to Emma about how that all happens and what happens when the volunteer base gets low like it is at the moment. There are only a few families who are volunteers, fewer still who are able to leave work, family etc to go fight fires at all hours of the day and night. Emma is really looking for new people to join and you can find out everything you need to know here: https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/volunteers-careers/volunteer-with-cfa

Trav Bussell, long time friend of the show, is now working at MVAC as the Men's Time Out Services Co-ordinator. What exactly does this mean? Well, essentially it means he gets to keep making a difference where he wants to and he's also working with Calvin Henry who is now a regular on the show. We also talk footy and basketball too because why wouldn't we? Sharon Peart was a long time Mildura Rural City Councillor and is now the chair of Lower Murray Water and a board member of Mallee CMA. She's also dedicated her life to women's breast health and well-being in her own business, All About Me - for lifestyle, wellbeing and fun. We talk about it all. We also catch up with Anne Webster and it was before the election date was confirmed and before Minister Littleproud had made his announcements but it's always a chat worth having with Dr Webster.

It's a bit of a random one this week. We'v had a lot going on and with a long list of people waiting to make an appearance on this podcast, we're falling behind a couple of weeks in terms of appearances. RDHS has a new mental health clinician which is terrific and the walk in clinic is still running every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am til 1pm. No referral or appointment needed, no medicare required either, you can just walk in and be see by one of the mental health team at Robinvale District Health Services! Bec is back too with a new listing in Robinvale and more of her story to tell which is awesome and we love hearing that. If you'd like to help keep this podcast going, please consider becoming a VIP (Very Important Patron). via our Patreon page: patreon.com/thevalepodcast

The March Long Weekend in this part of the world has always been a big one. We welcome a LOT of people to the area for the Robinvale Euston 80 Ski Race! This week, Mitch came in to have a chat about pulling the event together after a two year hiatus because of covid, and you may not hear it in his voice, but he's clearly a bit excited about it. We've also got a community basketball match between the Mildura Heat V Robinvale Basketball Association Men from 2pm on Saturday. Coach Calvin came in for a chat about that and about his role at MVAC heading up the men's and youth services which is awesome and it means he'll be a lot more involved now within our community. Phil is obviously in to talk about the Top Fuel Championship round at Mildura's Sunset Strip this weekend and to be reminded that he's been beaten by Jade TWICE on that very track. Jack also checks the Dong for the first time in a while and fills us in on the market this weekend and some future events coming up! Read more on our website and sign up to become a VIP here.

We have two very special guests this week, one of which we've been trying to get on the pod for a long time, and that is Triple M Junior Player Of The Week, Ignatius Jukes. The kid is the oldest 10 year old I've ever met and is swiftly becoming my junior Council as far as planning for the future for young people. We also have Bec Marciano in who plenty of you would know, but how much to do you actually know? Did you know she ran away and joined the navy at 16 years old or that she thought Robinvale was going to be like Wolf Creek? We're going to chat to Bec more regularly now and hope to give other women in positions of leadership a voice. Get extra episodes and even our regular episodes early by becoming a VIP. Sign up for a one off donation or regular monthly donations here: patreon.com/thevalepodcast