Compiled from the Daily Advertiser by the Wagga Wagga & District Historical Society
25 Years Ago
- An estimated 8,000 volunteers swung into action for Clean Up Australia Day organised by Wagga’s Tidy Towns Committee with council support and staff backup.
- Personal insults were traded, and code of conduct flouted as emotional Wagga City Councillors struggled to approve Wagga’s first legal brothel by 11 votes to 4.
- Wagga’s deputy Mayor, Kay Hull is to seek National Party pre-selection for the seat of Riverina with the aim of succeeding Noel Hicks at the next election.
- The Cantilena singers left Wagga to take part in the 1100th-anniversary celebrations of Wagga’s German sister city, Nordlingen.
- Shane Wilcox, joint director of Wagga firm Teasco, said that Teasco had secured a lucrative contract to supply skylights for the second stage of the Hong Kong International airport.
- District Court Judge, Robert Bellear, described Wagga’s drug rehabilitation services as a disgrace.
- Wagga Mayor, John Harding, welcomed to Wagga, the new Officer Commanding RAAF Base Wagga, Wing Commander Gary Pianegonda, and the new 1RTB Commandant Colonel John Platt during a special function held at the Wagga Art Gallery.
- Visibility was reduced to a minimum as the temperature peaked at 38 degrees and north-westerly wind gusts engulfed the region in huge clouds of dust.
- Wagga Golf Club Limited has announced a significantly improved higher profit of $52,151 for 1997.
- About 30 women attended a meeting at the Wagga Education Centre to form a Wagga Branch of the Older Women’s Network (OWN) which will promote issues facing older women and encourage change.
- Students in years 7 and 8 at Mount Austin High School were among the first of almost 100,000 students to sit for the first New South Wales Statewide literacy test.
- Di Dawson, Helen Webb, Cathy Barnes, Brenda Petersen, Jo Carroll, and Jo Andrews were among those attending a white wine appreciation evening to celebrate Wagga Winery’s first harvest of the year.
- A police officer posed as a university student as part of a successful undercover drug operation which has resulted in two Wagga men being jailed for six months.
- Olive and Colin Davis reaffirmed their wedding vows to celebrate their diamond anniversary.
- Wagga and District Cricket Association clubs have called for their executive to show some direction over their plans to improve facilities in the city.
50 Years Ago
- Ratepayer and former city alderman, Cyril Silverstone, called for the disposal of the Wagga Abattoir to private enterprise.
- Dr Ken Rew, Mr Peter Macneil, and Sister Marjorie Turner are pictured in the Daily Advertiser with some of the medical supplies to be sent by Wagga Rotary Club to a Voluntary Aid Program in surgical training at Padang in Indonesia.
- More than 500 people attended the compulsory chest X-ray unit, set up near the Court House yesterday.
- Official in Charge of the Wagga Fire Station, Laurie Gallagher said that a shortage of volunteer firemen was fast becoming a “grim affair”.
- Joan Gardiner in Gurwood Street, opposite Coles Supermarket, announced the first showing of their new Autumn and Winter collection.
- Vicki Cotton and Henry Gissing are pictured in the Daily Advertiser leading a group of Ashmont Public School pupils rehearsing for a Folk Dancing Festival.
- Wagga singer and amateur actor, Mr Rod Lander has been elected president of the Wagga branch of the Arts Council of Australia with retiring president Dr Nick Brandt not seeking re-election.
- Wagga Country Club president, Mr Lionel Love, announced that Mr Wal Kell was the successful candidate after a committee interviewed five applicants for the position of club secretary manager.
- Vintage car enthusiast, Mr Joe Knight is pictured in the Daily Advertiser with his recently restored 1926 Victory Six Dodge.
- Superintendent of Nurses at Wagga Base Hospital, Miss J Potter, has been appointed director of a Vietnamese nursing home for orphans.
- A championship Angus bull bred by Blake Brothers at Forest Hill was sold for $4000.
- Bill Hugler Snr, Garry Callaway, Ron Menzies, and Bill Hugler Jnr are pictured in the Daily Advertiser with a 60-pound cod landed near Borambola.
- More than 100 people visited a display of gemstones held at the Riverina Lapidary Club premises in Small Street.
- A 21-year-old Wagga labourer was jailed for four months and had a driver’s licence disqualification increased to five years in Wagga Court of Petty Sessions after driving a motorcycle with a higher than prescribed concentration of alcohol in the blood and being a disqualified driver.
- Edmondson’s is selling Pal meat for dogs in the 1½ lb economy size for 27 cents a tin, Fountain Tomato sauce 10 oz for 21 cents and ice cream, in a half-gallon container for 55 cents.
Membership of the Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society is open to anyone with an interest in the local and regional history of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. For more information about us and information on how to join our Society visit our website at https://www.wwdhs.org.au/about-us/members
