Murrumburrah came alive last Saturday as the sun shone down on one of the greatest festivals ever staged in the town to celebrate Murrumburrah’s 150 year anniversary.
The streets were packed all the way from the Courthouse to the bridge and beyond with around 1500 spectators in attendance, on a weekend that saw over 200 people in town for the MIHS school reunion.
Council outdoor staff had been busy all week ensuring Murrumburrah was looking good for its big birthday bash.
The TG Barnes building was open and hosted one of the most successful springtime flower shows the local Garden Club has ever hosted. Geraldine Dwyer’s open garden proved to be a wonderful attraction and the perfect venue for the Hospital Auxiliary’s Devonshire teas. Hardens House of Honey at the Post Office, although still undergoing construction was also open as was all of Murrumburrah’s businesses houses.
There was plenty of entertainment with local musicians, the Goulburn Soldiers Club Pipes and Drums and members of the Cherry Capital Country Music Club singing up a storm. Students from Christine Wishart’s Dance studio also put on a wonderful display of their talents.
The MC for the day, Mr Brian Dunn did a magnificent job of keeping everyone informed of the many happenings going on in Murrumburrah. Brian also gave a fantastic tour of the TG Barnes building on the previous Thursday during a tour of the wonderful renovations being carried out on the building by owners Stephen and Wendy Byrne.
Mayor Chris Manchester, Member for Burrinjuck Katrina Hodgkinson and Federal Member for Hume Alby Shultz took part in the official opening ceremony and spoke on the resiliance of Murrumburrah and the bright future it has as a destination for tourists.
The street parade was nearly a non event due to a hiccup with the traffic management plan. After 10 months of preparation, traffic plans had still not been finalised by the council with the RTA and Police. A traffic management committee meeting was called as late as last Thursday and on Saturday morning organisers were told that it still hadn’t been approved to have the parade go over the bridge.
But the parade still soldiered on with council outdoor staff halting the traffic whilst the parade was on.
The parade then ran without a hitch with the Goulburn Soldiers Club Pipes and Drums leading the way followed by Andrew and Lucy Hee and Peter and Ping Hee descendants of Jackie Hee a well known local market gardener, representing the Chinese community. They were followed by, Irish, Scottish and English groups representing the early settlers.
Two Speers Sulkies which were both built in Murrumburrah sight and the Reid Family’s Sulman Singer race car made a welcome return to the streets of Murrumburrah.
The McKay family took part in the parade, representing one of the first family’s to settle in the Murrumburrah area, the Roberts family from Currawong.
Unfortunately due to a hold up caused by the XPT the train ride back from Kingsvale was delayed and passengers ended up missing the parade.
Chief organiser for the event, Lorraine Brown said it was great to see all the hard work paying off with the numbers that attended. Lorraine said she would like to thank all the people who got involved, because without them there wouldn’t be a parade and thanks go to the staff at the Harden Shire Council both indoor and outdoor, everyone who worked and supported the big event, and to everyone who turned up on the day to make it one of the greatest events Murrumburrah has ever seen.
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