General News
14 October, 2025
Marking 100 years and a lasting legacy
From sneaking out to Lake Buloke as a child, to enjoying bowls well into her 90s, Madge Scown has always lived life on her terms. Now she is celebrating a century of it.
Born in Donald, Victoria on October 13, 1925, her daughter, Valerie Maffescioni said Ms Scown was born in a time where families were woken by the milkman and baker doing their rounds by horse and cart.
“Back then the milkman and the baker would come around. He came and was supposed to deliver the bread, but my aunty Bessy who was seven years older than mum, thought she would give her to the baker, she already had a little sister, she didn’t want another one,” Valerie said.
“She went to primary school in Donald and she was a bit of a tomboy, there was a lake called Lake Buloke, you weren’t allowed to go near it but she and her friends used to sneak out and go there and would climb trees.”
Ms Scown’s granddaughter, Nicky Maffescioni, recalls similar stories.
“When they turned 10, all the girls in the family would get a bracelet. A gold bangle. So the mother sent the father out to get the bracelet, but on his way, he found a puppy. So instead of a bracelet, she got the puppy. She didn’t even want the bracelet, which is strange because she loves jewellery,” Nicky said.
“When Nan was a teenager, she would go out with her best friend, supervised by her sister, and get on a bus to go to dances. But as soon as the bus driver tried to close the doors, they would jump back off and go with whatever boys, waving goodbye to her sister, she really was a rebel.”
Leaving Donald, her family came to Maryborough as her father searched for work during WWII.
“Their father, my grandfather, he was a barber in Donald, and as the war years were coming up, there was no money in barbering, so he got a job in a Melbourne factory, then came back to Maryborough off Majorca road, as there was a family home there,” Valerie said.
“Mum got a job in a shop called O’Gilpin, which is no more. She transferred to different stores from St Arnaud to Nhill, during that time, she met her first husband.”
She later moved to Nhill with her first husband, where Valerie was born.
Shortly after, the small family settled back in Maryborough where they still live generations after.
Seven years later, she married her second husband and had two sons, Donald and Andrew.
In the years after, she worked at the knitting mill.
“She loved a party, she wouldn’t hurt a flea, she loves her cats, dogs and birds. She is also very clever with craft like embroidery, crocheting, sewing and patchwork. She even took up patchwork in her 80s,” Nicky said.
Ms Scown is adamant she couldn’t be 100 yet, and continuously remarks she doesn’t feel it.
“She still bowls, but she does wheelchair bowls now. She has had two stints, and doctors said the first time she would never walk again. Then she was out playing golf in no time,” Nicky said.
“She didn’t have a wheelie walker until she was in her mid 90s. She’s in a wheelchair now, can still walk but very weakly.”
Regardless, five generations of Ms Scown family marked her 100th birthday last Sunday.
As for her secret for longevity, she embarked on life “her way”.
“She lives her life to her fullest, she lives her life her way. She drank her beer and her wine and smoked up until she was 97. She loves butter, whipped cream and salt. Everything they say don’t do, she does to the fullest,” Nicky said.