2nd May 2026
Compiled from the Daily Advertiser by the Wagga Wagga & District Historical Society.
25 Years Ago
- The Wagga Netball Association Courts opened at the Equex Centre on Kooringal Road.
- CSU Foundation vice-chancellor, Professor Cliff Blake, who is due to retire in June, was presented with the Doctor of the University award, the university’s highest honour.
- Twenty Wagga City Councillors and senior staff are preparing to spend two days at the luxury Rydges Capital Hill hotel in Canberra, at a time when many residents are struggling to pay their rates.
- The Wagga Ratepayers and Citizens’ Association has backed the Council meeting in Canberra, saying that the strategic planning meeting, if productive, would be of great value to Wagga.
- In its latest art union raffle, The Haven Nursing Home in Wagga is offering the chance to win a three-bedroom unit, less than a minute’s walk to the beach at Batehaven.
- Wagga Mayor, Kevin Wales, officially opened the $1.1 million upgrade of Mundowey Road, west of Wagga.
- Thousands of people descended on Tumut for the Annual Festival of the Falling Leaf, which included the Tumut Rodeo, street parade, a fireworks display and open gardens.
- Rodents eating through electrical wiring are suspected to have caused a house fire, which devastated a young Ashmont family.
- Wagga businessman, Bill Van Wel, has sold the Pine Centre building and will be closing the business he has operated for the past 18 years.
- Wagga men Simon Smith and Grant Luhrs are two of four directors in a newly formed company, Rig Radio Australia, which produced its first five-hour program this week aimed specifically at the trucking industry.
- The Farmers Home Hotel is celebrating the Wagga Gold Cup with special breakfasts on Thursday and Friday from 9 am to 11 am.
- The Victoria Welsh Male Choir is performing this week at the Civic Theatre.
- Wagga’s building industry lost more than $45 million in a dramatic drop in new building approvals in the mid to late 1990s.
- Wagga is mourning the death of businessman Charles Albert “Chick” Kelly, who in 1946 founded Chick Kelly Sand and Gravel, and died at his home in Beckwith Street, aged 82.
- Wagga City Council has extended its survey of views on possible railway level crossing upgrades by two weeks to encourage more community input.
- Wagga’s Ambulance coordination centre is closing this week, with all future emergency calls to be directed to a centre near Wollongong.
50 Years Ago
- The C. S. Oliver Memorial Hall, named in memory of the former school principal, Mr Col Oliver, was officially opened yesterday by the Minister for Education, Mr Neil Pickard.
- The Member for Wagga, Mr J J Schipp, won all but one of the 30 Wagga electorate subdivisions at the State Government elections last Saturday.
- Bankcard, Executive Chairman, Mr Geoffrey L. Whittaker, announced that the Bankcard scheme will soon be extended to the Wagga area.
- Stephen Henderson, a member of the Boys’ Brigade who rescued a young girl in swimming difficulties earlier this year, was rewarded with a Certificate of Commendation from Wagga Mayor, Dick Gorman.
- Nineteen-year-old Karenne Rumble was announced as the regional winner of the Miss Personality Quest organised by the Save Sight Foundation and Lions Clubs of N.S.W.
- R B Duffy and R J Millman, electrical contractors at 14 Dobney Avenue, are advertising free quotes and immediate installations, with no job too big or too small.
- Retravision, The Clef, in Baylis Street, is offering big savings on G.E. appliances for Mother’s Day gifts.
- Wagga population is growing at 3.3% per annum, with Lake Albert-Eastlakes growing at 24 % per annum, Kooringal and Tolland growing at 18 % per annum, and Ashmont at about 11% per annum.
- Kendell Airlines has increased the number of flights to Melbourne and Canberra and added two new stopping points: Merimbula and Narrandera.
- Three police consorting officers have been brought to Wagga to assist local police during the first two days of the Wagga Gold Cup. They will be keeping a sharp eye out for pickpocketing and other petty theft.
- The Director of State Emergency Services for Wagga, Air Vice-Marshall W E Townsend, has convened a conference in Wagga to inaugurate a Flood Warning System for the Murrumbidgee River.
- Bourkelands Stud of Wagga received a total of $75,000 for 16 mares, which they sold at the annual auction of brood mares in Sydney last week.
- Wagga City Council reversed an earlier decision and voted to spend $6,300 as its share of the restoration costs for the Cricket Ground cycle track.
- Wagga City Council will purchase additional cash register equipment to alleviate delays in Council offices during rate payment days.
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
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