PRESENTED by Mildura & District Historical Society and compiled by Mildura Rural City Council Libraries.
100 YEARS AGO: 1925
EVENING: This evening at the Mildura town hall a novelty night will be held. Among the prizes to be given are: For the most graceful couple, fox trot, one step, waltz, Great Bombardo, Mystery Dance, first past the post, and prize shell dance. Higgie’s music has been engaged, and an enjoyable evening is assured.
SPOILSPORT: A game of football with the street as a playing ground is not an infrequent sight in Mildura. The Town Council, however, is determined to put a stop to the practice. Last week town electric light mains were brought down, and serious accidents narrowly averted. In future all person found playing football in a street will be prosecuted by the council, which is asking all parents to co-operate and warn children of the dangers of electrocution from fallen live wires.
REFUSAL: Inspector J. Potter reported to the Mildura Shire Council yesterday, that while collecting dog fees among returned soldiers, he could not get paid for one third of the dogs. The complaint was that they had no money with which to pay for registration. “If they cannot pay, they should not have the dog,” said councillor J. Henshilwood. The council decided to prosecute persons that refused to pay for their dogs.
75 YEARS AGO: 1950
INCIDENTS: So far this year, there have been 45 accidents in Mildura in the area bounded by Seventh and Tenth Streets, and Orange and Lime Avenues. Police say that in 1949, there were 116 accidents in Mildura which involved vehicles. All but 33 happened in the city area. The causes were various, according to police. The majority of them, however, were caused, apart from carelessness on the part of the driver, by lack of vision of the roadway by the drivers who were backing out after parking at an angle. Other causes were cars turning through parked cars in Langtree Avenue and being unable to see traffic approaching. Police say that fortunately fatalities are rare, but it is always possible that a fatality will be caused by an accident.
SCHOOL: A permanent dancing school will be opened at the Casa Loma, Mildura, next month by Gladys Bridgewater, a well-known Sydney dancing teacher. Mrs Bridgewater was associated with her brother, Mr Bill Lascotte, of the Lascotte School of Dancing, for many years. She has a dancing school in Broken Hill. She intends to teach modern ballroom, Latin-American and Victorian and Edwardian dancing. Mrs Bridgewater has had experience in training, competition couples and medallists.
CRAYFISH: A man not dressed in clean, washable overalls who smoked as he wrapped crayfish for sale in newspaper contravened three clauses of the Cleanliness (Food) Regulations, Mildura Court decided yesterday. Pat Saunders, Mildura City health inspector said on May 17 he saw Hayden selling crayfish from an open truck in front of Working Man’s Club. He told Hayden he could not sell in the street without the approval of council. He saw Hayden again at the rear of the Settlers’ Club making a sale of crayfish. He was smoking a cigarette at the time. He was not wearing overalls and was wrapping the crayfish in newspaper. The newspaper was reasonably clean.
50 YEARS AGO: 1975
GIVEAWAY: Mildura Technical School’s mechanical, panel beating and spray-painting departments had quite a surprise earlier this week. Honda presented a 1971 model four-cylinder car valued at more than $3000 to the school. The car is a 1300cc with a four-speed fully synchronised mesh gearbox and an air-cooled engine. It has done about 60,000 miles, is a four-door with front bucket seats, but still in first class mechanical order. This is the first time Honda has given away such a car – and it’s even more surprising that it was donated to a country school. Sunraysia’s isolation was one of the reasons behind the gift. The car is to be fitted with dual controls and will be used in a program of driving instruction for students.
DELAY: Work on replacement piles and decking at Mildura Wharf has been slowed up because the wharf is collapsing under the weight of equipment being used by workmen. Rotten piles are collapsing and decking supports have split. Temporary piles have been chained to the rotten piles to act as splints and temporary decking has been installed to support the piledriver on top of the wharf. The work is being carried out by a gang from the Public Works Department’s ports and harbors branch, Melbourne.
QUEST: Sunraysia has been able to produce young men who have won state apprenticeship awards – but never a young woman with the beauty and charm to take off a Miss Victoria title. Organisers of the Miss Australia Quest hope to remedy this. Regional organiser of the quest Helen Connors has been in Mildura interviewing prospective entrants. The result is two definitive entrants and the possibility of a third. For the past 22 years the quest has been conducted to raise funds for the care and training of spastic children. This is the main task. It is not a beauty contest, at least not in the accepted sense. Youth, charm and dedication to a cause that needs and deserves constant support are the principal attributes required. Quest organisers believe there should be a number of eligible young women in the Mildura area who could enter the quest.
25 YEARS AGO: 2000
AWARD: Forty-four years of extensive involvement in the tourism industry by a Mildura man has been rewarded at the recent Victorian Tourism Awards. Alby Pointon, former river boat captain, received an award for outstanding contribution by an individual tourist industry employee. Mr Pointon’s daughter Lyn McKenzie, who nominated him for the award, accepted it on his behalf as he was unable to attend. Mr Pointon and his wife Freda became involved in the tourism industry in 1955 when they purchased a small boating business operating cruises along the Murray River in a small vessel called the “Donald Duck.” During the 1956 floods Mr Pointon assisted many local residents by transporting them to their properties by boat and continued to operate cruises when he could. His next project was the restoration of an old paddle-steam called the “Mayflower” which was complete and able to carry 60 passengers in 1958. When the Mayflower became too small to keep up with demand, he purchased the paddle-steamer “Melbourne” and the re-building began again. The Melbourne was restored to carry 300 passengers, and the maiden Mildura voyage was on January 1, 1966. In 1968 the wreck of the paddle-steamer “Rothbury” was purchased and the eight-year restoration started. Alby and Freda officially retired in 1991 but are still directors of the company and are involved in an advisory capacity.
CRACKDOWN: Mildura tobacco retailers will be among those targeted in a new statewide crackdown on the sale of cigarettes and tobacco to minors. A “crack squad of enforcers” would be appointed as part of a $2.2 million package to help police Victoria’s new tobacco laws. Specialist teams – which would include adolescents for “sting”-type operations – would be established. These squads would work throughout both regional Victoria and Melbourne and check on compliance of at least a third of all retailers annually.
FESTIVAL: Artists performing at the third Red Cliffs Folk Festival attributed its growing success to the organisers of the event. Crowd numbers at the 2000 Folk Festival were described as “just as good, if not better” than previous years. However, many visiting artists said the size of the event was a positive aspect of the festival. Phil Benson, of Linton, said the festival provided a “homely feeling”. He said the event held a comfortable, relaxed and familiar atmosphere for “free”. However, publicity officer and committee member Mary Chandler yesterday hinted at the possibility of an admission charge for people wishing to attend next year’s festival. “As the festival grows, so will the cost to run the event,” she said. The festival played host to 70 artists who performed a huge variety of music, ranging from grunge to traditional.
