8th February 2025
Compiled from the Daily Advertiser by the Wagga Wagga & District Historical Society.
25 Years Ago
- A Civic reception marked the official launch Australia’s first rural clinical school by the University of NSW which it is hoped will help to ease the chronic shortage of doctors in the bush.
- Links between Wagga’s Presentation Sisters and their sisters in Ireland were to the fore when two Presentation Sisters from Kildare where honoured at a Civic Reception which also marked the 125th anniversary of the arrival of the first five Presentation Sisters in Wagga.
- Kerry “Pop” Power. A 60-year-old painting contractor will swim the stretch of river between Gundagai and Wagga to raise money for the Riverina Radiotherapy Cancer Centre Appeal.
- 1999 Trinity High School dux, Afton Fife, who was placed first in six HSC subjects last year and scored a University Admissions Index (UAI) of 99.15 has been accepted into the University of NSW where she will study life sciences in genetics and neuroscience.
- Popular Wagga businessman and former Riverine Club president, Peter Morrow died suddenly at Thredbo.
- Wagga’s horse racing and lawn bowls fraternities are also mourning the death of William (Bill) Blake who was the last of the Blake brothers who conducted the stock and station agency R H Blake and Co. for many years.
- Wagga Mayoress, Gwen Wales has thrown her support behind the radiotherapy appeal with plans for a huge ball at the RAAF base next month.
- Wagga’s sprint sensation, Patrick Dwyer, plans to break the 45 second barrier for his favoured 400 metre event as be continues his build up towards the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
- Fire Control Officer Superintendent, Joe Knox announced that Wagga Rural Fire Service has taken delivery of a bulk water carrier to help with the refilling of fire fighting vehicles.
- The population of both Wagga and Albury dropped in the 1998-99 period by 190 and 550 people respectively while the population of Griffith grew by 550 people and Wodonga by 610.
- Wagga Marketplace and the Daily Advertiser launched the 2000 “Thanks a Thousand Community Award” supported by deputy mayor, Michael Georgiou.
- Michael Maher has been re-elected unopposed as chairman of Tourism Wagga. Julie Hoy was elected deputy chairman while Jason Lucas, Larry Beute and Ian Farlow also joined Margaret O’Dwyer, Scott Levi and Malcolm Edgar on the board.
50 Years Ago
- Murrumbidgee Turf Club officials, Colin Lamont, Harry Robertson and Stephen Watson, met with Member for Wagga Wal Fife to put the case against a new state tax imposed on racing clubs.
- Elaine Williams, Sandra Schultz, Pat Stephenson, Helen Roddy, Anne McNeice and Jenny Rodd from Wagga Hospital made up one of the many teams competing in the South Wagga Apex Club’s Business Houses swimming carnival.
- Warren Smith is advertising a repair service for sporting goods including tennis, squash, cricket and football gear.
- Dennis Blackett, Rae Lindner, Jenny Scanlon and David Goddard are among members of the Wagga School of Arts rehearsing for the Tennessee Williams drama “Streetcar Named Desire” which will open at the Civic Theatre in March.
- Eight young Wagga people, Christine Stuckey, Henry Nixon, Raymond Siebels, Beverley Smith, Michael Hodgson, Ronald Glasscott, Shirley Peadon and Paul Samuelson have been chosen by Wagga Rotary Clubs to attend a weeklong youth leadership training course in Canberra.
- McMullen and Love Menswear are having a summer clearance sale which includes cotton T Shirts from $1, shorts from $2 and sports shirts for $8.
- White paper suitable for Butchers, Fish and Greengrocers shops is available from the Daily Advertiser for 5 cents a lb.
- Peter Rousch, Dean of the School of Teacher Education at the Riverina College of Advanced Education will travel to Indonesia and New Zealand to speak on reading and language skills.
- Wagga City Council has begun preliminary investigation into Arab petro-chemical dollars which might be used by Wagga Building Societies to provide cheaper home loans in Wagga.
- The Southern Riverina County reported a record water consumption of 13,245,000 last Friday.
- The annual meeting of the Wagga Branch of the Australian Labor Party elected Mr Pat Brassil as its president for another 12 months.
- A carnival run by South Wagga Rotary Club will be held on the lawn of Wagga Base Hospital with proceeds to aid the Wagga District Home Nursing Service.
- A record number of 40 teams, 31 women and 17 men are taking part in the Wagga Amateur Basketball Association competition.
- The Wagga branch of the P.O.W. Association will hold its annual commemorative service, which commemorates the 33rd anniversary of the fall of Singapore at the Wagga Cenotaph, this week.
- The cost of registering a dog in Wagga has risen from $2 to $3 with a 40% concession for pensioners compared to the former 25% concession.
- The Wagga branch of the Business and Professional Women’s Club is holding its International Night at the C.W.A. rooms in Johnston Street.
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
