May Noonan Centre by Lyndoch Living resident Bob was born in Trundle, a small town in central west New South Wales, in 1929. He fondly remembers growing up on farms and using horse-drawn power instead of tractors.
Working on a 1000 acre+ farm owned by Mr Taylor, who also had racehorses and greyhounds. Bob recalls riding a special mare when Mr Taylor said, “when I give her a whistle, be prepared to hang on.” So down the track, the gates were open, Mr Taylor rode up beside Bob and gave a little whistle. The mare took off! “It was the liveliest ride of my life – and I did stay on,” he said.
Moving to Griffith, where his two sisters lived, Bob managed a farm for the Jones brothers earning three-pound 12 and six a week. Half a mile down the road was another farm that grew naval oranges, lemons and vegetables. The owner approached Bob offering him work concreting a reservoir. It was here that Bob formed a long-lasting friendship with a gentleman named Mario.
Bob worked with his dad on the land in Beaufort and sang in the church choir. There was a young nurse named Nola who attended the same church. Gaining the courage to ask her out, Bob arranged to meet Nola at a specific location. He was waiting outside the hospital, and Nola was waiting inside. Thinking Nola wasn’t coming, Bob went off to the movies on his own. Ten minutes later, Nola walked into the cinema and sat down beside Bob. They married and had two boys and two girls together.
Moving to a farm between Penshurst and Caramut, Bob worked as a station hand. Eventually, Bob and Nola settled in Timboon, where Bob drove a bus before working at the Cobden Dairy Company. Bob’s love of learning and sense of adventure shines through when he speaks, saying he’d still love to travel.