When Marty Weaver’s father Vernon died in a car crash in 1989, he was unable to appreciate the impact his dad had had on the communities of Diggers Rest and Melton.
“I relied heavily on my mum and family telling me [about my dad]. Beyond that I didn’t care about what he had done as I was a 10-year-old kid,” he says.
“I want to know as much as possible now.”
Having looked through old newspaper articles, trying to piece together his father’s life, Marty now realises how much his dad and mother Christine gave to Diggers Rest.
Cr Weaver, a former Melton shire president, died on September 8, 1989, while returning from a conference in Western Australia with president Jim McElroy and deputy shire president Leonie Patterson.
The car in which they were travelling ran off the side of the road before rolling several times, killing Cr Weaver, 42, who was asleep in the back of the vehicle.
“He was the first president of the Diggers Rest Cricket Club; he was involved in the Diggers Rest football and bowling clubs and he started the Diggers Rest Tennis Club,” Marty says proudly.
“He was a part of the push for Diggers Rest becoming a town with a full sewerage system and turning a lot of the roads from gravel to sealed.
“He also helped move the kindergarten from the hall to its current location.” Mrs Weaver, who died in January last year, was also a keen member of the tennis and football clubs and helped start a Diggers Rest youth group.
Marty’s desire to find out more about his parents and the town he grew up in has led to involvement with a Diggers Rest history project. Run by resident David O’Connor, the project is aimed at providing an opportunity for people to tell their stories to be recorded as part of a publication.
“Diggers Rest is my home town. I was born and bred here and spent 20-odd years of my life here,” Marty says. “The Diggers Rest I know is a great and friendly community.
“It’s starting to change with new developments and I don’t think the history is known properly. “I don’t want the existing community to be forgotten about in the history.’’
As part of the project, a series of weekly “chat groups” will be held at Diggers Rest General Store from next month.
Bookings are essential.
» More details: 9740 1060
