00:02For Jo Marsh, the past year has been impossible to forget.
00:06From her vineyard high above Pawpunker, the winemaker watched the police operation unfold
00:12below.
00:13There's just police everywhere and as you can probably see we've got a fairly good
00:17viewpoint from our property here so we were really exposed to a lot of what was going
00:21on.
00:22The hunt for Desi Freeman would continue for months as police searched from the ground
00:27and air for the man who killed two police officers.
00:31It was hovering low, just like not that far within 15 metres of us as we're sitting there
00:35eating our breakfast, a guy hanging out with a machine gun, it was just a bit weird really.
00:40A year on, Jo hopes the incident no longer shapes how people see the region.
00:46Hopefully the reputation of the region as a beautiful region to come and visit is stronger
00:51than the negative memories.
00:53It's a view shared by adventure guide David Chitty, who knows the high country better
00:59than most.
01:00I was actually at the top of Mount Buffalo with a ski lesson and we got locked up there
01:06not really knowing what was going on.
01:08Buffalo was closed during the search, cutting off one of the region's key tourism draw cards.
01:14And with Freeman still on the run, some visitors were wary of returning.
01:20But David says that view is fading.
01:23I think they've gone back to what it always was.
01:25Bright's an amazing place to visit, lots of things to do and it gives you access to the
01:30Alps, to Mount Buffalo, to the rivers.
01:33And for the businesses that weathered the shock, the closure and the uncertainty, there's also
01:38a chance to look forward.
01:40I think from an overall business performance, we've almost what you'd say is fully recovered.
01:46This week these communities will stop to remember Detective Leading Senior Constable Neil Thompson
01:52and Senior Constable Vadim Devart Hottan with the unveiling of Memorial Gardens here at
01:58the Wangaratta Police Station and at Bright.
02:01It's obviously important for those people involved and those people that lost their lives and that
02:07needs to be remembered.
02:08.
02:10.
02:10.
02:10.
02:10.
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