16th December 2023
Compiled from the Daily Advertiser by the Wagga Wagga & District Historical Society.
25 Years Ago
• NSW Governor, Gordon Samuels, unveiled the main Street Walk of Honour and officially opened the Rosebank Retirement Village during a visit to Wagga.
• Jim Booth, former regional manager of ABC Radio Riverina, defeated local businessman Ashley Briggs in a National Party pre-selection ballot for the State electorate of Wagga Wagga.
• Colleagues and friends gathered at the Leagues Club to farewell Sue Middleton, out-going principal of Sacred Heart Primary School.
• A light plane was ripped from its moorings by wind speeds of up to 106 kilometres per hour at Wagga Airport.
• Coles officially opened its refurbished supermarket as part of a $15 million upgrade of the Sturt Mall shopping centre.
• Member for Riverina, Kay Hull took to the region’s roads on the weekend in a Finemore’s “big rig” as part of a National Drive for Safety Campaign.
• Three people were seriously injured when two trucks collided and overturned on the Sturt Highway at Alfredtown.
• Wagga chartered accountant, Rodney Parsons was awarded a Meritorious Service Award by the Institute of Charted Accountants, only the fifth ever given out in Australia and the first in NSW.
• Darren Coggan was among the star performers at the Kapooka Army Band’s annual Carols by Candlelight at the Wagga Botanic Gardens Soundshell.
• Col Kohlhagen, John Yates, John Wright, Bill Thompson, Jenny King, Owen Dunlop, Brian Andrews, John Heine, and Alan Hayes have been appointed to a new advisory board to assist with the development of Australian football in the Riverina.
• Local Jazz legend, John Ansell, passed away at the age of 76.
• Leagues Club president Brian Lawrence and general manager, Bruce Piercy are pictured in the Daily Advertiser preparing a special Christmas lunch for the people at Micah House.
• Bill and Joan Cutting celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the Jasmin Village with family and friends.
• Mount Austin High School student, James Evans, was named as the school’s Sportsman of the Year.
• Estella residents welcomed a decision by Wagga City Council to refuse an application to allow smaller than average housing blocks to be developed in the suburb.
• Several homes were threatened by bushfire on the Mount Pleasant estate just outside of Wagga.
• Wagga based financial planner Joe Savenije was one of four finalists in Money Management magazine’s 1998 Financial Planner of the Year Award.
• Wagga Netball Incorporated secured a $200,000 State Government grant for the development of their new site, however a question mark remains over its final location.
50 Years Ago
• Ray Wall’s, Gurwood Street house is again “dressed” in a dazzling array of Christmas decorations and will collect donations from visitors to assist the Loretto Home of Compassion and The Haven.
• The Public Transport Commission has begun design on the Edward Street rail underpass which is now expected to open by the end of 1974.
• Apex members have cut down 450 Christmas trees which will be sold at Legacy House this week for $1 each.
• More than 1500 people attended “Carols by Candlelight” in the Wagga Memorial Gardens raising an estimated $1000.
• Bob Brunskill is pictured in the Daily Advertiser cooking at the Wagga Rotary Club’s Christmas Barbeque held at the Wagga Agricultural College.
• Miss Shirley Willis and Mrs Robyn Willis were among 138 women admitted as members of the Wagga RSL Club at a special introductory ceremony held in the clubs Pacific Lounge.
• Retiring president of Wagga Rugby League, Mr A E Dixon, announced that a nation-wide cigarette company had guaranteed sponsorship of $3000 towards next years pre-season competition between teams from Wagga, Canberra, and Queanbeyan.
• Duncan Marshall has taken up his appointment this week as Wagga City Librarian.
• Jack Mitchell who worked for the Daily Advertiser as a linotype operator for more than 50 years before retiring last year has died.
• Louise Blackett is directing a Christmas play called “Through the Stained-Glass Window” for the Children’s Theatre Workshop to be presented in the Civic Gardens.
• Wagga City Council voted to remove and not replace the men’s underground toilet block in Forsyth Street.
• Wagga City Council rejected its 1974 draft estimates returning them to Town Clerk, Mr Bill Ellis for a review to reduce the increasing burden on the ratepayer.
• Ken Buntain was re-elected unopposed as president of the Wagga branch of the Sportsmen’s Association of Australia.
• Bert Schmidt was re-elected as Riverina Football Club President with Mr H D Mohr as senior-vice president, Mr P M Sydenham as junior vice-president, Mr R E Harrison as secretary and Mr K M Howell as treasurer.
• Due to a grave shortage of newsprint The Daily Advertiser will not be printed on three days over the Christmas-New Year holiday period.
• Hoyts Theatres Limited advised Wagga City Council that it intended to convert its Wagga Plaza Theatre into a multi-purpose theatre.
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
