Graham Wall.
The ideal postman servicing Pooncarie and the surrounds would need to enjoy a chat, Grahams the man!
Graham Wall, born in 1952, has observed many changes in his beloved Curlwaa community and surrounding areas.
In 1953, his parents Ken & Shirley Wall purchased a citrus property in Curlwaa (along with the work horse and plough) and moved from Melbourne with their two young sons before welcoming a third son in 1960. Graham loved the freedom of growing up along Tucker’s Creek – riding bikes, swimming with the leeches in the creek or the homemade tank swimming pool, having numerous pets including a fox, turtles, and a hawk. Graham and his brothers rode their bikes to the local Curlwaa Public School which was a hub of the community. Sadly closing in 1974 Graham has experienced two major flood events. Soon after the family’s arrival the 1956 flood devastated the family property with the rising water table drowning the citrus trees. Graham and his brother were among many local children sent away to stay with relatives, while his father on his ‘little grey Fergie tractor’ maintained levee banks and his mother helped the local women feed the tireless workers. The 2016 flood, covering some lower river country in Curlwaa was only a precursor to the 2023 flood event which surrounded the Curlwaa levee banks once again. This time it was Graham’s sons with excavators who helped maintain the levee banks.
As a youngster Graham loved his tennis and cricket, Cubs and Scouts, and the associated camps and activities. Graham was a stalwart of the Wentworth Cricket Club, spending many years playing, captaining sides, coaching juniors and as club treasurer.
Graham worked alongside his father on the family’s farms in Curlwaa and Coomealla seeing many changes in the horticultural industry, as well as working at the Department of Agriculture in Victoria, trucking citrus to Curlwaa’s Delta Packing Shed from around the district and working as a Fruit Fly Monitoring Officer around Sunraysia. Since the early 2000’s Graham has been an outback mailman, travelling up the west bank of the Darling River to Pooncarie twice a week on a 500km mail run.
Graham met Jenny when she travelled out west from Newcastle to work as an Outback Mobile teacher in 1982 for Country Areas Program. Based in Wentworth, Jenny travelled to properties from the South Australian border to Broken Hill and east past Pooncarie visiting children who were completing their schooling by correspondence. Jenny continues her teaching, travelling to Pooncarie, Palinyewah, Pomona, Wentworth and Euston schools where she loves working with the students and teachers, clocking up in excess of 500kms a week.
Similarly, Jenny supported the community sport by supporting cricket, softball, baseball, tennis, swimming, through scoring, coaching, and holding many committee roles.
Family is the greatest love for Graham and Jenny, with the Wall name set to continue in Curlwaa for many years. While their daughter has moved away with her family, their three sons, foster son, and their families all live within three kilometres of the family home. Sunday night roasts are a noisy affair, but they wouldn’t change it.