2024 has flown past in the blink of an eye. As always, it’s the people who made our communities strong this year. Here are 16 stories showcasing the highs, the lows, the histories and the human stories of our region. Number one is so cool.
16. Rusconi’s masterpiece a monument to his belief our marble was equal to that of Europe
by Edwina Mason
The sculptor Frank Rusconi with a model of the Dog on the Tuckerbox sculpture, Gundagai, circa 1950. Photo: Jeff Carter/National Library of Australia Catalogue.
We all know the Australian cultural treasure that is “The Dog on the Tuckerbox”, but did you know just down the road, in Gundagai, sits another masterpiece by the same stonemason with a splashy vibe?
While the better-known dog statue was inspired by the bullock drover’s poem, Bullocky Bill, celebrating the life of a mythical drover’s dog that loyally guarded the man’s tuckerbox until death, a marble table at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum is said to have inspired Frank Rusconi’s greatest project.
15. True crime podcast on missing teen Niamh Maye hits 1.75 million downloads
by Oliver Jacques
The Missing Niamh podcast is full of surprising twists and turns. Photo: Supplied.
A podcast by an anonymous host about a teenager who went missing from the Riverina 22 years ago has hit 1.75 million downloads.
The team at Casefile delved into the true story of then 18-year-old Niamh Maye, who disappeared after moving to Batlow to work as a fruit picker.
She was last seen in the town of Jingellic, near the Victorian border, on Saturday 30 March 2002.
14. Leeton nursing student motivated by making patients smile named apprentice of the year
by Oliver Jacques
Libby Olrick wants to be a registered nurse in Leeton. Photo: Supplied.
A Leeton High nursing student who says she loves making patients smile has been named the School-based Apprentice of the Year, a NSW Government award that recognises excellence in vocational education.
Libby Olrick, 18, has been working at Leeton District Hospital one day a week for the past two years as part of her apprenticeship as she works towards achieving a Cert III in Health Services Assistance.
13. Doing something write: Riverina’s largest bookshop passes 100,000-title milestone
by Oliver Jacques
Carla von Brockhusen reads a book a day. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Two sisters originally from Wagga have built up a bookshop in the small town of Berrigan that now has more than 100,000 titles on its shelves. This is the story of one of Australia’s biggest independent bookstores, Berrigan Bookshop.
12. Pioneering airline captain on making Wagga dream a reality
by Oliver Jacques
Michelle Huntington proved a lot of people wrong when she became a pilot. Photo: Supplied.
Michelle Huntington wanted to be a pilot from the age of four, when her dad joined the RAAF and moved the family to Wagga in the 1970s.
“I remember seeing all these pilots who were revered like demigods. They were all men, but I thought ‘I can do that’; it looked easy for someone who never looked into it,” she said.
Her family encouraged her, but she faced multiple obstacles. Her career advisor told her women couldn’t be pilots, as did a bank, who refused to lend her money so she could learn.
by Chris Roe
Kyle North-Flanagan with the frame for Wagga’s Big Murray Cod that has been restored and is ready for a new ‘skin’ and a paint job. Photo: Chris Roe.
Progress on the restoration of Wagga’s historic Big Murray Cod sign is continuing with the almost 50-year-old icon’s ‘bones’ back on site and awaiting a fresh skin before returning to its perch overlooking the Sturt Highway.
Local builder Kyle North-Flanagan purchased the property that was once home to the popular fauna park alongside the hatcheries and hauled the faded cod away in June to begin the process of bringing it back to its former glory.
10. Collier & Miller stalwarts celebrate combined 90 years at Griffith farm equipment supplier
by Oliver Jacques
Willy DeValentin and Robyn Meehan say they’ve stayed so long because they’re treated so well. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The longest serving male and female employees at Griffith farm equipment supplier Collier & Miller have each marked milestones this year, as they celebrate a combined 90 years at the company.
Willy DeValentin, 71, who started as a fitter/machinist in 1969, has completed 55 years, while office administrator Robyn Meehan, 60, has racked up 35 years.
9. Win for community journalism as Region’s Oliver Jacques named finalist for 2024 Walkley Awards
by Chris Roe
‘Cheers’ to Region’s lone Griffith reporter Oliver Jacques who’s in the running for a Walkley. Photo: Supplied.
Region Riverina’s Griffith-based reporter, Oliver Jacques, has been selected as a finalist for the 2024 Walkley Awards: Australia’s most prestigious prize for excellence in journalism.
The former Canberran was one of three finalists in the Coverage of Community and Regional Affairs category for his investigation into the demise of Riverina wine company Sans Pareil Estate.
“If you look at the list of Walkley finalists, it’s dominated by the ABC, Herald, Age, Guardian and all the big media players. The name Region Riverina really stands out,” Oliver said.
8. Tania shares the joy of dancing to keep Wagga on its toes
by Shri Gayathirie Rajen
Tania King has opened her new studio, Dance With Us, for adults. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
Wagga dance virtuoso Tania King choreographed a life of joy among a string of challenges and now shares her message of hope and resilience through her dance school.
After running dance and Zumba classes out of the Lake Albert Community Hall for nearly five years, Tania has opened a new studio for adults in the heart of Wagga called Dance With Us.
7. Riverina Rewind: How did the North Wagga Hotel come to be called the Palm and Pawn?
by Chris Roe
The North Wagga Hotel in 1924, with residence to the left. Photo: ANU Canberra, Tooths Collection, Noel Butlin Archives.
Ever wonder why a North Wagga Pub is called the Palm and Pawn? We found the answer.
6. Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Leo de Kroo remains on the tools keeping guitars in tune across the Riverina
by Chris Roe
Throughout his careers as a musician and as a farmer, Leo de Kroo has continued to build and repair instruments. Photo: Chris Roe.
Coolamon’s Leo de Kroo has been a rock ‘n’ roll star, a radio announcer, a farmer and a luthier. Today, he’s still the man to see about your stringed instruments. Leo sat down with Chris Roe to talk guitars and the early years of Aussie music.
5. Resin the bar: Griffith Year 12 student dazzles with design technology assignment
by Oliver Jacques
Mason Salvestro’s bar was ready for NRL grand final night. Photo: Supplied.
A Marian Catholic College Griffith student is the talk of the town after constructing a 4.5-metre-long bar complete with stools, an in-built fridge, kegerator, beer taps and drawers as an assignment for his design technology class.
4. The accidental historian keeping Narrandera nostalgics immersed in the past
by Vanessa Hayden
The accidental historian Glen Ward with his late mother, Marjorie Darling Ward, at her book launch at the Narrandera Library. Photo: Supplied.
“I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in history,” said Glen Ward, who at 77 years old has nearly 8500 followers on his Lost Narrandera Facebook page.
“I feel like I’m an historian by default.”
3. Gai Waterhouse reflects on her teenage Griffith job, acting in Doctor Who and challenges for racing
by Oliver Jacques
Gai Waterhouse (right) with cousin Christine Del Gigante in Griffith. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Legendary horse trainer Gai Waterhouse visited Griffith on 5 September, where she captivated hundreds of people in a talk she gave at Griffith City Library before dining at local Italian restaurant La Scala.
It was a much-awaited return to the town she spent many summers as a teenager working and living with first cousin Christine Del Gigante, the longtime manager of the town’s library. Region caught up with Ms Waterhouse to reflect on her family’s Riverina roots, how Griffith has changed, her previous career as an actress in TV shows such as Doctor Who and the state of racing in Australia today.
2. Riverina Rewind: When the future King snuck into Wagga for a mini break in the Riverina
by Chris Roe
Deltroit Station near Gundagai and the portrait Fair Dinkum Rex from the 2024 Bald Archys. Photo: Chris Roe.
In 2018 the future King Charles and wife Camilla landed in the Riverina on April Fool’s Day for a few days on a mate’s farm.
Aussie billionaire Sir Michael Hintze (now Lord Hintze) went to school with the young Prince Charles during his six-month stint at the Timbertop campus of the Geelong Grammar School in 1966 and hosted the future King and Queen consort on his Deltroit Station for four days in April.
1. Riverina Rewind: Snow on the streets of Wagga Wagga?
by Chris Roe
Wagga under ‘snow’ in June 1975. Photo: Maureen McPherson via Lost Wagga Wagga.
Yep. It got cold in Wagga. Really cold (before it got REALLY hot). Although perhaps not quite as cold as the day it snowed in Wagga almost 50 years ago.
The fabulous Lost Wagga Wagga page shared the above photo, taking us back to the morning of 28 June, 1975.
The photographer is standing next to the Astor Hotel with the railway station behind them, looking back across the Edward Street intersection and down Baylis Street.
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