(From Maureen Donnellon, Birchip Probus Secretary.)
Brian Lea, Birchip Probus president was guest speaker on the role played by Birchip Apex Club, from 1975, without whom, the Tchum Lake we know and love, may never have been created. 

Brian was the original treasurer of Apex at that time and has had an interest ever since in the story of the development of the lake. It is a long and involved story, still being written, so I will give a brief history of its early days on the opposite side of the road and then the Apex story as told by Brian. 

In a second “episode” I will add some more years covering the dry lake years, the Waranga channel water system being changed to the Wimmera Mallee pipeline and an update to what is the “hope for future”. There are so many sites to google with information for campers, photos and history, but none feature the huge amount of continual planning, financial and time commitment that has continued for well over 60 years to keep a very precious asset available for all of us and so many visitors to enjoy.

In The Beginning! 1880s To 1970s
The Tchum Lake’s area has been there for thousands of years and the North Lake side was the local swimming, picnic, recreation area for school and church picnics and summer gatherings from the late 1880s, as well as an area well known for the bird habitats, but always dependant on water from the rain in good seasons. The whole area was prone to flooding and the Wycheproof Road had to be cut every few years, at least six times. Some things haven’t changed! 

After WW2 in 1939, a public meeting was held and plans to deepen the lake for swimming while the lake was dry and to build a bank across a narrow portion, were put into motion. The summer of 1940 saw the North Lake full and swimming with full use and a Tchum Lake Aquatic Carnival held on Boxing Day. Nearby schools of Birchip, Narraport, Carapugna and Whirily held picnics, and churches held special days there. There were novelty events such as catching the goose and greasy pig and running races, greasy pole fights. A dressing shed, shelters and a small diving platform were built as well as picnic areas, but it was always too small, just as Lake Karyrie and Lake Marlbed had been previously, and always water was a problem. Green Lake became popular in later years but was also too far.

In 1956 the new local swimming pool was built in Birchip and the Lake was less used. Floods in 1956 also damaged a lot of the area and killed trees that had stood in water for too long. Both sides of the road were damaged and again in 1973, the Country Roads Board had to pay $40,000 to cut and restore the Wycheproof Road again. Many more trees died.               

Apex to the Rescue
A committee of locals formed, most of them Apex members, with some plans to ask for funds for excavating the south side of the road, remove trees and build banks from the excavated sand and clay to lower the level of the water. Water was still going to be a problem, but it was decided to try to proceed so all would be ready if and when it rained. Cr A.D. Hillgrove was one of the keenest and had earthmoving equipment, some men and enthusiasm for such a project. 

Apex, Lions and Council were approached and Apex, which was looking for a project as it did in every year, decided to put up its hands and take on the building of Tchum Lake North as a new, if longer term project, hopeful of it being ready for the Apex Golden Jubilee. A Committee with Peter O’Connor as president, John Chandler as secretary and Brian Lea as treasurer began negotiations and further committee members were added and actually became the forerunner of the Tchum Lake Committee, which still runs the Lake and has members who are descendants of the first committee members from the 1970s. Red tape abounded and local politicians were called in to help negotiate. 

Every few years a better deeper lake had been mentioned, but a new area was needed. The area across the road where the present lake is now, was looked at as well as channel water from the Waranga channel, but that was vetoed several times from S.R. and W.S.C. which was the Water Resources organisation of the time. Apex did not give up and took on other small projects, but always with a lake in mind.

The engineer for Birchip Shire, Fred Brockleband, Cr A.D. Hillgrove and the local service club worked well together, whether or not all permits were in place. They cleared, by many working bees, all the dead trees and rubbish and excavated with 5 graders and just about every truck and owner in Birchip to form an 80 acre proposed lake area. Plans were made to lower the channel by two feet, so the lake could be a more suitable depth. Cr Hillgrove worked night and day to see the lake appear. Although the work could be done, money was needed, so an official lake committee was required to obtain more government grants. 

In 1978 a public meeting was called and the committee finally elected, with 6 of the nine being Apex members from the original group of members who had taken on the project. Sixty people attended. The 9 elected to the Tchum Lake Aquatic Committee of management were Peter O’Connor, Jon Chandler, Ken Watson, Ian Ryan, Harold Gould, Brian Lea, Barry Rickard, Roger Lehmann and Graeme Cunnington. The committee met and then suggested a further 6 people be elected to work with the committee of management as a development committee. So Michael Ryan, David Lee, John Murphy, Murray Malcolm, Trevor Gould and Jim Rickard were added. The committee elected Peter O’Connor as president, John Chandler as secretary and Brian Lea as treasurer. Engineer Fred Brocklebank worked hard to see that no further charges were to be added for surplus channel water for the lake.

The Death of Councillor A.D. Hillgrove
The sudden death on 30th June, 1979, of Councillor Hillgrove was a huge blow to the committee and his family. The whole district mourned the loss of such a great man, leader and practical solver of solutions with no need of outside consultants, lengthy red tape deliberations and expensive time wasting of any kind. The Apex Club worked harder and was ably assisted by Lions and other organisations.

The Financial Help for the Tchum Lake Work Ahead
The Apex and Lions Clubs set the pattern for the A.D. Hillgrove Tchum Lake Appeal by donating $1500 each. Members of the Birchip High School Students Representative Council donated $200 from their funds and Apex organised with other service clubs for a town and community door knock. Wheat donations from 16 farmers raised another $3000 and the amount  for fuel, labour and plant was donated by J.J. O’Connor. It seemed that every business in town and every resident donated as much as they could. 

On a previous occasion, the Premier Mr Hamer was so impressed with the work done and the sight of 16 boats assembled at the edge of the planned water bank and the incredible work done by Mr A.D. Hillgrove, Apex, Lions and other organisations  that he pledged $30,000 in a dollar-for-dollar grant so the door knocks, raffles etc needed to raise at least $30,000. The local member of government Mr Alan Wood was also in favour and a great help.

Working bees continued all through 1979 and 1980 so that when water was agreed to, all would be in readiness and all sorts of grants were sought for all other amenities needed, such as ramps for boats, barbeques, seating, shelters, toilets, car parking, camping facilities. All was slowly achieved with local Council help and local members of parliament, as well as local engineer Fred Brocklebank and then came long and lengthy negotiation with the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission through the work of Mr K. Mills. 

Good News About Water
In August Mr Mills announced that flood water from the Richardson River could be received by Tchum Lake. A massive working bee was announced immediately. No consultants, no experts, no feasibility studies, no other time consuming expensive waste of personnel and finance. By 5.15 p.m. the lake had been cut at the north west side and water began flowing. Mr Don Cozens of the local S.R and W.S.C. cut the channel bank to let the water out and his son Robert, driving one of A.D. Hillgrove earthmoving machines, cut the lake bank to let the water in. Lions Club had spent many hours constructing the boat ramp, Apex cleaned up all sorts of other wood, rubbish and helped everywhere else as well, also with other Tchum Lake Committee members. It was a most exciting and memorable day and one at which the late A.D. Hillgrove was missed and remembered.

The Lake Begins
After needing water for so long, it finally began to rain heavily and made access tracks and work on shelters very tricky, but it also meant swans and water birds and the lawn and trees began to grow, so complaints were few. The money was all spent and the Birchip Council agreed to provide bridging funds to a maximum of $5000. The Premier was let know that his funds were well used and that Council had also helped as much as they were able and to look favourably on all future grant applications.

The Opening of Tchum Lake
In September, 1980, a crowd attended the local Public Hall to elect a Tchum Lake Boating Club and to choose an opening date on 9th November, 1980, 5 years after the Apex Club had taken on creating a suitable swimming and boating lake as its project. The official Tchum Lake Aquatic Club had its inaugural meeting as a boating club. Those elected were president Jim Rickard, secretary Mrs Lorraine Cunnington, treasurer Ted Stannard. Other committee members were Andrew Hewitt, David English, Barry Rickard, Roger Lehmann, Roy Kelly, Alec Walder, Allan Litt, John O’Connor. Memberships were set at $10 a family, $5 single and $2 student. 

The proceeds from the sale of the old Carapugna Hall of $1550 were donated to the Tchum Lake Aquatic Club in November 1980 by Wycheproof and very gladly accepted.

On September 12, 1980, the lake was full with 80 acres of water and an average of 9 feet of water, which could be up to 20 feet in places where clay had been removed. A constant stream of cars, bikes and picnickers visited the lake. Apex planted 100 trees around the edge for future shade including willows, poplars, claret and golden Ash, white cedar and eucalypts.

It was decided to accept the offer of the Warracknabeal and Watchem Ski Clubs, to give demonstrations with their power boats and skiers on the opening date in November. The Tchum Lake Development Committee, which  was in charge of the actual building committee, was also consulted about their plans for the opening function.

Between 1500 and 2000 people assembled with approximately 30 boats and one yacht, dozens of skiers and enthusiastic water lovers.

Mr Colin Russell, Shire President, and one of many lake working bee attendees, welcomed all present and asked Mr Wood MLA to officially open the lake. Both mentioned that the absence of Mr AD Hillgrove was the one sad aspect of the day, as when the very important meeting between Mr Borthwick, Mr Jock Granter and the Premier Mr Harmer, the late Councillor had spoken so eloquently about the lake and its need, that no objections were left.

Fifty years have passed since that 1975 Apex pledge and more years will be covered in part 2, because Tchum Lake has many stories to tell of its life so far. Without the Apex Club, which sadly no longer exists and whose members have moved on or been absorbed into other clubs and activities, Tchum Lake South could still be a large area of dead trees, flood plain and grazing ground.

It was a very timely talk by Brian on the practical project suggested by Apex just 50 years ago and the story needs to be told, so that all who enjoy its facilities these days can appreciate the facility better and hopefully will volunteer their time and funds to help out, as expenses are so much more and our population less, but our lake bigger and better than  ever, with different problems to face.

• Episode 2 to follow soon.