Communities have been busy with their various Christmas functions and parties.

It’s been a time for many to catch up with old friends.

The harvest is in full swing, even though down and tangled crops make slow going.

The bunkers seem to be filling quickly, and the yields are excellent, but prices are very disappointing.

One of my representative positions is to the Wimmera Library Corporation.

This year the corporation was rated number one in Victoria for customer service.

I congratulate all the staff for this achievement.

If you need a book not available in your library, the staff will help you order that book through the Swift system, which allows you to borrow from other libraries across most of Victoria.

West Wimmera Shire has been busy assessing flood damage on many of our roads.

We now have a list of interested contractors for repair works.

It is expected that these works will take 12 months to complete.

The majority of which will be in the southern part of the shire, but spread across the entire shire.

The total cost runs into millions of dollars, greater than the rates collected in a year.

Government assistance will cover most of the cost.

The first of the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the aboriginal cricket tour to England will commence on Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was here that an aboriginal side played this historic game, with the intention of travelling abroad at a later time.

Coached by Wills, the team travelled on to Sydney, but never left the country and returned home.

A new team was recruited, coached and captained by Lawrence, which did eventually play a number of games in England.

The origins of the tour began at Bringalbert, and preparations centred on Edenhope.

These celebrations will acknowledge the activities and various games held in western Victoria preceding this historic match at the MCG.

Merry Christmas everybody and a happy new year.