Throughout the Easter break, motorists drive the length and breadth of Victoria, and across the borders to or from other states.
Few countries worldwide have such lengths of road, or greater need for drivers to stay alert for every moment of their time behind the wheel.
That is one reason why the Victorian State Emergency Service (VICSES) volunteers, together with Lions Clubs, Rotary and RSL, operate more than 45 Driver Reviver sites around the state on holiday weekends, and peak traffic days, offering motorists a safe place to stop and refresh.
Driver Reviver Australia Ltd. has been operating nationally since 1989. Among those to volunteer their own time to provide road safety and help reduce the road toll have been members of Lions Club of Donald, who, with other volunteers, manned Easter’s Driver Reviver site at the Old Police Camp alongside the Sunraysia Highway, and opposite the newly upgraded Richardson River bridge, at the northern approach to the Town’s business centre.
When the “Times” visited the Camp on Easter Saturday morning, those taking a break included kinder teacher Josephine Elmer, from Moorabbin, and retired nurse Jillian Slorach, from Townsville, Queensland. These two ladies had booked in at the Donald Caravan Park, and were strolling the streets when they spotted the Reviver Signs.
Also breaking their journey were teacher Lynden Fielding and her mother, 92-year-old retired teacher, Gwenneth Fielding, making their way home to Blackburn after visiting Brim.
Making sure they did not miss out on a free coffee and biscuits were two of Donald’s busy community members, Mary Archbold and Lesley Pendlebury, and Lions Club member, Norm Hollis. Lion Norm is the force behind the remarkable upgrading of the Old Police Camp site.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 14 April 2023.
