General News
21 May, 2026
A well-informed volunteer to celebrate
A NOTABLE individual in Dimboola to highlight for this year’s National Volunteer Week is Jan John, with her strong involvement in community organisations and her running the visitor information service from her shopfront in Lloyd St, making her an important part of the town's fabric.
Living in the town since 1988, she said it all started with the running of the hardware store at the location, with the hours of other businesses on the main street prompting a ‘complementary’ timetable.
“I learned all various screws and things, and then we decided that we'd open on a Sunday,” Jan said.
“Almost got lynched for that,” she laughed, “because, well, being open on a Saturday afternoon was bad enough.
“This is the town that, when we arrived, had siestas … because there was only one chemist, and he had to go and have lunch, (and) he'd close his shop – which meant that all the other shops decided they'd close too.”
Unfortunately, this created a problem with local tourism.
“You'd get about six buses arrive in that hour, all wanting to wander down the street or something, and all the shops were shut,” Jan said.
“We didn't have siesta time because we were living here, which meant all I had to do was walk out the back to get some lunch – that was no great problem – so we were open, we got lots of customers coming in to chat and to buy things – and of a weekend, that's when all the people were home to do hardware stuff.
“Once the rest of the town started seeing that there were people coming in, it was worth being open for a few extra hours on a Saturday or opening on a Sunday.”
Jan admitted her fondness for a chat meant she often ended up giving advice on places to go around the area.
“I'm the one that can talk a lot and send people,” she said.
“Because I've been here for a while, I know where all sorts of interesting things are.
“So if you come in here and say, ‘I'm really interested in cemeteries because I'm doing my family history’ (then I'll say) ‘So, have you been down to the Historical Society and checked what records they've got?’
“And then you've got this cemetery, or that cemetery...”
Jan said there was a period where she had “a bit of time off when I went and worked – had a proper job and the shop was closed,” but then eventually returned and reopened.
“We've opened up as the information centre, and whatever else I fancy at the time, hence the (name, Jan’s) Wimmera Whimseys – it depends on what my whimsey thinks of,” she said.
“I just like talking to people, and I like this area. This area has got so many fabulous things, if you're mad on your orchids, there's all the native orchids around, there's good fishing, there's great walking tracks. We've got the new one that goes up to Jeparit, where you can ride, or you can walk, and there's camping spots along the way.
“It's a place that is great for people to be at.”
Her work extends to the Lions Club, where she’s been secretary for over 10 years, and she has also involved herself in the RSL, as a kind of succession honouring of her father’s lifelong musical tradition of honouring those fallen in wars of the past with his bugle.
“He played The Last Post from when he was seven until he died,” Jan said.
“It didn't matter whether he was in Collins Street, Melbourne, (or) out the middle of some farm block – 11 o'clock on the 11th (November), he would play his bugle.
“He started playing it down here when he came up. He arrived after me, and so he played the bugle for the RSL for the years that he was alive here.”
She is also currently working hard to update the local phone book she helps print, relying on input from other community members who pop in to her shop.
“It was last done in 2017,” Jan said.
“It was doing my head in, (but) we’re getting there – the residents are great.”
She said her motivation to give of her time was just a normal attitude.
“I grew up in a family who volunteered, it was just a way of life,” Jan said.
“My mum was in varying groups, my dad was in varying groups, (and my) grandmothers were, so it was just natural that you come in and you volunteer.”