Imagine if you will, being in the fires in 2020 not just in Mallacoota which got all the publicity, but a place called Cann River also part of the parish of Croajingolong. You may well know the town as its common petrol, toilet and food stop on the coastal road in Victoria if you’re coming from Melbourne or Sydney. 

In 2020 the residents of Cann River had fires to the North and fires to the south and also couldn’t leave but fortunately the fires did not take houses in the town. Move on to 2024 and early this year after Easter, in this small, isolated town, woke to the sound of the fire trucks again. They soon discovered that that the largest employer in town, Squire’s Café, had burnt down completely. For a town of 330 including adults and children, this was devastating.

Squire’s Café, besides providing food for the passing traffic, provided Meals on Wheels in the area, as well as food for the volunteer fire brigades when training and so on. Truck drivers stopped there at the rest stop where two highways meet. One of the locals told me it was the place to go on a Friday night where you get a pizza, or a roast or even Thai. A motel next door was also badly damaged. A handful of the staff were able to continue in a small shop opposite but only part-time. As the shop is small, it is not very noticeable to passing traffic and only offers a fraction of the options that were there before and is not doing as well. 

The Bush Nurses (the name from the past when BCA had nurses there) took on some cooks part-time for Meals on Wheels. Some workers left town, a few got work in neighboring towns.  The closest towns: Mallacoota, Orbust and Eden are about one hour away.

But in Gods mercy BCA was able to help with food vouchers from Mallacoota IGA (there is no grocery shop in Cann River), given by the churches of Mallacoota and Cann River. The vouchers were gratefully received, and I was told came at just the right time.

Please pray that the shop is rebuilt and reopens for the sake of the people of Cann River and that God would provide in the meantime for those who have lost work, or don’t have enough work. Also pray that this helps positively in passing on the good news of Jesus. 

Katherine Hilton was locum in Croajingolong while Jude & Andy Benton were on long service leave March-June 2024
Photos: Courtesy of Mallacoota CFA