Girgarre is a small town in the Goulburn Valley

Goulburn Valley

The Goulburn Valley is a region of Victoria, Australia. The region consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams, and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. The Goulburn Valley is bordered on the south by the Great Dividing Range and to the north by the...

, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Shire of Campaspe Local Government Area. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Girgarre and surrounding area had a population of 633.

History

The Post Office opened on 21 May 1917 as Stanhope North and was renamed Girgarre in 1920.

Today

The main industry in Girgarre is dairying, mainly on family owned farms.

Girgarre has a primary school, kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

, milk bar and a V/Line

V/Line

V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...

 bus stop. It is 10 minutes drive from the larger town of Kyabram.

Girgarre has been home to a large Heinz

H. J. Heinz Company

The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...

 factory, a significant regional employer. Waste water from the factory is made available for farmers for irrigation and stock use.

On 27 May 2011 Heinz announced it would close the Girgarre factory with a loss of 146 jobs. Heinz also announced job losses for its factories in Northgate

Northgate, Queensland

Northgate is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia located 9 km north of the Brisbane CBD. The land area comprises industrial and residential areas...

 (Brisbane), and Wagga Wagga. Heinz said it expected to complete the lay offs within 12 months.

Sport plays a vital role in providing an excerise outlet for the town with many locals members of the local football, cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 and netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

 clubs. Girgarre Football Club (the "Kangaroos") is the local football team.

One of the most popular additions to the town in the past three years as been a local farmers market that is held on the second Sunday of every month. Hundreds of people come from near and far to shop at the market which features local produce, crafts and even a live poultry auction. The market is held in the park at the rear of the Town Hall.