100 YEARS AGO: 1925
BEES: Action is being taken by the Mildura Shire against certain beekeepers in Irymple for having, it is alleged, kept beehives uncovered in contravening the by-law which makes it necessary for them to be covered during the months of March and April. Some of the growers of Gordos, which are now being picked or are on the racks, are suffering considerable inconvenience by the visits of bees.
CARS: Mr W Bayliss, son of Mr J H Bayliss Pty Ltd, arrived back in Mildura yesterday evening in charge of a fleet of 10 new Chevrolet cars. The consignment is to fulfil orders received by the firm during the last few weeks and is the third collective delivery of Chevrolet. Mr Bayliss says there is an active interest for this make of car and that delivery can be without delay.
LIGHTS: The new lights of Merbein are a never-failing source of annoyance to the residents of the district. After being in darkness for a period of six months, arrangements were made to give competent supervision to the lights, but the results leave much to be desired, forcing the conclusion that the lights rather than the attention is at fault. The question arises whether it is now time that the costly inefficient streetlights of Merbein be scrapped. Some time ago inquiries were made with a view to the formation of a local company for the generation and supply of electricity and power to be extended in bulk to Merbein.
75 YEARS AGO: 1950
PAGEANT: With ideal weather conditions indicated, a large crowd was expected to attend Mildura’s first aerial pageant. Nearly 9000 people attended. Gate takings were 630 pounds with profits allocated to the Mildura Base Hospital Nurse’s Home and the proposed aged people’s home. Admission was 2 pounds for adults and one shilling for children. There was a flypast by 22 aero-club planes from Broken Hill, Nhill and Melbourne followed by contests for the Sunraysia Daily Trophy for aerobatics involving diving, looping, take-offs and landings. Parking was provided for 1000 private cars which parked at the airfield. Buses travelled via Deakin Avenue and Fifteenth Street having access through the gate of the former university. A publican’s booth and afternoon tea stalls catered for the crowd.
MAIL: Mildura Post Office will establish a letter delivery service Irymple to on May 1, said the Officer-in-Charge Mr I Broad. The delivery zone will be the area bounded by Fifteenth Street and Sixteenth Street from Koorlong Avenue to Irymple Avenue and along Koorlong Avenue to Fourteenth Street. Delivery will not be made unless residents erect letterboxes on the street allotments. Delivery will be daily after the sorting of the mail.
MIGRANTS: Nearly 500 new Australians, 236 women and the remainder children arrived in Mildura from Bonegilla by special train, another 500 are expected tomorrow. As Mildura slept, the new Australians – the first lot to be accommodated at the Commonwealth Immigration Centre – were all cleared from the railway station in 30 minutes in a fleet of 16 buses. Although essential structural work at the centre may have to be completed, it is hoped that an additional 1000 migrants will be here in a month. There will be 2000 migrants at the former university branch site, which will be served by its own modern hospital, schools and other facilities. A wartime spy who worked with the British Secret Service agents in Europe before he was captured and threatened with death by the Soviet Police is among the new settlers – his name will not be released.
50 YEARS AGO: 1975
BRIDGE: Work will begin today on demolition of the Mildura railway station bridge, one of only two of its kind in north-west Victoria. Mr Bailey said the space now occupied by the bridge would be used partly for beautification and partly for platform extension. The bridge was built in 1905 when Mildura railway station started operations. The only remaining railway bridge in Sunraysia after this week will be the one on Ridge Road, Merbein.
BALLOON: The Balloon Launching Station at Mildura, operated by the Department of Science will continue activities. In April 1974, money was provided to enable the station to run for one year after an agreement with the United States Atomic Energy Commission expired on May 9. The station had previously operated under another agreement.
ROOMS: The old Mildura supper rooms, part of the original Mildura Town Hall, are being demolished. The rooms are at the rear of the Mildura Carnegie Library. Bricks and other materials from the rooms will be salvaged and used in the building of the Old Mildura Homestead. Traffic in the lane behind the Mildura Civic Buildings was held up for a short period when the roof of the supper rooms was removed. When the rooms are fully demolished the area will become a car park.
25 YEARS AGO: 2000
STUDENTS: Students from Nicholls Point Primary School are all heart. They have won the Heart Foundation’s Jump Rope for Heart 1999 highest fundraiser award in the Loddon Campaspe Mallee Region. After weeks of practising their skipping skills, under the direction of the school’s coordinator, Nikki Baldock, the school raised an amazing $2906 which is an excellent achievement by 105 students. The school will be presented with a certificate at a school assembly to acknowledge this wonderful result.
CENTENARY: Residents of Robinvale and district have a big opportunity to join the rest of the Swan Hill Rural City Council in showcasing their culture, interests or heritage with the Centenary of Federation celebrations next year. They can enter the Our Nation On Parade procession, billed as the grandest street parade ever staged in Victoria.
RIDE: Koorlong Primary students will learn what it’s like to go without a shower for three days and ride 8000 kilometres on horseback over 120 days when the Spring Valley Heritage Horse Ride begins in Broome in April. Mildura’s Shaz Goodridge, the only Sunraysia entrant in the history-making horse trial will keep Koorlong Primary students constantly informed of her progress through a series of postcards. Shaz outlined the route, and the students met her horse “Alby” at the school today. Two groups of 20 riders will set out from opposite directions to ride around Australia meeting in Sydney in August. The 16,000-kilometre ride will go down in the record books as the longest ever relay ride and the furthest the Australian flag has ever been carried on horseback.
