Community
30 November, 2025
McIntyre family thanks to village for raising eight kids
THEY say it takes a village to raise a family. And for the McIntyre family and their eight children, it took all of that and more.
THEY say it takes a village to raise a family.
And for the McIntyre family and their eight children, it took all of that and more.
As their last child - who is no longer a child - finishes Year 12 at St Arnaud Secondary School, the family sees a wrap on 35 years of education in town.
Mum Amelia McIntyre was speechless when that thought crossed her mind a few weeks ago.
“It makes me quite emotional actually,” she said.
“We have this wonderful town who, at one point or another, has been a major part in the lives of all our children.”
Her children have been to a number of educational facilities over the years including the kindergarten, St Patrick’s Primary School and the secondary school.
“Thank you to all that helped our children grow, thrive and become the adults they are today,” Mrs McIntyre said.
She said there probably wasn’t an organisation their kids hadn’t touched.
“They tried every sport available in town and spent so many hours at training or at games,” she said.
“And when you have that many kids going in all different directions, sometimes you forget where they all are.
“But there was never any judgement if we forgot to go pick someone up from training. There was always someone who would give them a ride home.
“We’re so grateful for that.”
Mrs McIntyre said there weren’t many businesses in town that didn’t employ their kids either.
“I think just about every child did the paper round with Shane at one point,” she said.
“I remember as we went down the line, the younger sibling would be begging and asking when it was their turn to take over.”
There was also their love for the St Arnaud Show.
“Everyone had a turn working there,” Mrs McIntyre said.
“There was always an entry being made somewhere in the house.
“The kids were always involved in judging and always willing to help set up for the day and pack up when it was all over.”
Mrs McIntyre said while her and husband Shane hoped to teach their children to remain open minded in life, there was a lot of people in town who helped with that.
“There was always someone who instilled ideas and mentored them,” she said.
“We always wanted to make sure they had a well-rounded and understanding out in the world, but it was always good to have someone different to them show them another view of the world. We appreciate everyone and what they taught our children. We really couldn’t do it alone.”
And while Dusty-Raiyn has been out and about in town, which you can read about in the last edition of the NCN Herald, she wasn’t the first sibling to do so.
“There’s always someone who stops me in the street to ask how each of the kids is going,” she said. “They’re all doing something amazing and we’re so proud of how far everyone has come.”
Mrs McIntyre ran through an update on each of her kids:
Laura-Anne is now a mum living in Ballarat
Broderick is a shearing contractor locally
Sylvia works in internal sales in Sydney
Eleanor works in the court system in Brisbane
Ambrose is a civil engineer for Vic Rail
Thaddeus works in cyber security in Brisbane
Annabella is studying history and humanities at university in Sydney
Dusty-Raiyn has just finished Year 12 and may take a year off before deciding her career.
Read More: St Arnaud