Key Stanthorpe events, 1953:
January 20
• Town Band To Be Reformed
February 3
• Water Supply – Cost Now estimated at over a quarter of a million, up from £195,000
February 20
• Estimated Cost of Civic Centre £82,000: “Cost of Maryland Street Scheme and land acquisition £124,597. Proposed site: Present Council site taking in police house, Railway Street site.“
February 24
• Landholders Against Resumption of Maryland-Matthews Street For Civic Centre
February 27
• Stanthorpe’s New Maternity Hospital
March 10
• Mr Hilton’s Record Majority – Thousand Votes Change to Labour
March 23
• Stanthorpe Post Office – Modern £7700 line depot
April 7
• Fire at Wallangarra – Railway Porter on Arson Charge: “A fire that almost gutted the School of Arts Hall at Wallangarra had a sequel in the Stanthorpe Police Court on Monday morning when Hubert Porter Nelson (26) a railway porter, Wallangarra was charged with arson. The Wallangarra School of Arts, a large wooden building, was almost completely destroyed by fire on Saturday night. The same hall was partly destroyed by fire in December and only recently had been repaired.“
April 14
• Mrs Menzie’s Visit: “The visit of Mrs R.G. Menzies, wife of the Prime Minister in Stanthorpe was an outstanding success. The reception was arranged by QCWA; Civic Reception at Shire Hall; Dinner at Country Club Hotel; Supper at CWA Rest Room; Visit to Stanthorpe Hospital; Attended Inglewood Races.“
April 24
• History of Stanthorpe: A.E. Bateman for the last 40 years has been collecting as many historical records as he could possibly avail himself of, covers the history of the district from Allan Cunningham; the passing of the district of the first settlers to the Darling Downs; the squatting licenses granted to Glenlyon, Pikedale, Pike’s Creek, Terrica; Waroo; Ballandean; Nundubbermere; Maryland and Folkestone runs and subsequent owners. He has an old history of Quart Pot and events leading to the discovery of tin and subsequent rush etc. “If the data collected by Mr Bateman should by any chance be lost, the district would be the sufferers, as it would now be impossible to again collect the material the information he has obtained owing to the decease of nearly all his informants.“
May 12
• Jailed for Arson – Fire At Wallangarra: “Hubert Peter Nelson, 26 pleaded guilty to two charges of arson at Wallangarra where he set alight the School of Arts Hall on both occasions. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment, two years with hard labour. Detective Trost asked Nelson why he burned down the hall. He said they did not hold enough dances in it so he decided to burn it down. The court was told that when “on a bender“ Nelson got obsessions.“
May 22
• Tree Planting Plan: “Stanthorpe and District Development League has planted 370 trees of which 291 are alive.“
May 26
• Council finances – Serious Drift Disclosed: “Shire Clerk (J. Davies) warned if the average rate of spending continued til the end of June the financial year could show a debit balance of £7,500. Council resolved to keep works done out of revenue to a minimum and keep employees engaged on Commonwealth aid and loan work.“
June 5
• Coronation Day – Stanthorpe’s Great Celebration, Record Procession and Crowd: “Stanthorpe in its observance of the day when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in Westminster Abbey, London, made it a red letter occasion in the history of the town and district. The day began with church services which had congregations that packed the buildings to their fullest capacity. The procession was the largest and finest ever seen in Stanthorpe and the ceremonies at the Showground were attended by fully 5000 people. The people of Stanthorpe and the district have every reason to be proud of the day and the outstanding
success it was. No matter what angle it is viewed. It displayed an unmistakable manner of how deep the loyalty and affection felt here for the Queen is.“
• The Procession: “The Procession proved to be a highlight of the day and was a surprise to people who lived in Stanthorpe all their lives. It was over a mile long and included 40 floats besides many decorated cars and vehicles. Stanthorpe Town Band, Stanthorpe and District Pipe Band and Wallangarra Thistle Band.“
• At the Showgrounds: “The scenes at the showground will live in the memory of those who participated all their days. Pledge of Loyalty by Cr. Rogers. 5th Central Ordnance Depot Wallangarra, in ceremonial dress, gave a salute with guns. On the third volley, the troops removed their headgear and gave three hurrahs for her Majesty; 1300 bags of sweets were distributed to the children.“
June 9
• Coronation Day Flights: “RAAF-6 Mustang Bombers Flew over town at the request of the Coronation Celebrations Committee; Returning from Official Celebrations in Canberra.“
June 12
• Letter to the Queen, Stanthorpe Shire Council Expresses Loyalty
June 23
• Jack Mulholland Congratulated by Council: Fellowship Award for Engineering at Harvard University.
• Fire Brigade Move at Wallangarra
August 21
• 100,000th Holden on Display in Stanthorpe (Central Motors)
• Wallangarra School of Arts Hall to Be Rebuilt
August 28
• Border Post price increases to 2d
September 1
• Tennis Court Plan
September 14
• Charter Night – Rotary Club of Stanthorpe
September 8
• Glen Aplin Hall erected as District War Memorial: “Ball held for official opening; Ceremony performed by Mr Hilton. 800 people attended – cost £4,500. A square dance is to be held there every month.“
September 11
• Queen Elizabeth Gardens – Park Beautification Plan. The proposal received with enthusiasm and is to be forward to Stanthorpe Shire Council.
September 22
. Citizens Decided to Rebuild Wallangarra School of Arts
September 18
• Obituary for Mr W.E. Whitehead, brickmaker: “Bricks he made were used in the construction of Stanthorpe Post Office, Jason Building in Maryland Street (Woolworths); Ambulance Residence, Border Post Building; Furnaces for Mines at Silverspur, Waroo, Beehive. 17 years a Stanthorpe Shire Councillor.“
October 2
• Gardens for Stanthorpe – Honour Queen Elizabeth: “A proposal by the Stanthorpe Development League to call the park in Marsh Street Queens Elizabeth Gardens and to obtain the services of a landscape gardener to improve the present plan received a favourable reception at a meeting of Stanthorpe Shire Council last Thursday.“
October 6
• Aerodrome to Be Built – Council Diverts Loan Money, McGregor Bridge Postponed
October 9
• Inglewood Investigates Olive Tree Propagation
October 13
• Rocket v Hailstorms – Granite Belt Experiments: “The Stanthorpe and District Hail Prevention Committee has imported 300 rockets from France to carry out experiments in the Granite Belt. The firing of rockets to break up hail-bearing clouds has been tried in Frances and other countries, but the tests to be made in the Granite Belt will be the first in Australia and have created widespread interest.“
October 13
• Killed by A Tree – Tragedy at Severnlea: “Sebastiano Marino, 28, killed by a falling tree limb.“
October 16
• Rural Fires Act – Bushfires at Severnlea and Thulimbah
October 20
• Hail Rocket Firing – Experiments at Applethorpe; Arrangements Made to Combat Hailstorms: “The rockets imported by the Stanthorpe District Hail Prevention Committee arrived last Thursday in Stanthorpe and on Sunday morning at Applethorpe four of them were fired off for the purpose of instructing the rocket firing squads how to sue them. The venue was kept a
close secret as it was not desired to have large crowds present and there was an attendance of about 30 people. The day was fine and clear and the rockets could be seen going right up into the air for a distance of at least 5000 feet and then exploded. The explosions could be heard in Stanthorpe. Everything is now in readiness for the use of rockets should any part of the district be threatened by a hailstorm. It is an experiment that is being watched all over Australia and if it succeeds in nothing else, it is certainly advertising the Granite Belt as a fruit district. There are 300 rockets including a number of silver iodide rockets. Silver iodide rocket causes the moisture in a cloud to gather and these collect with other drops and ultimately form raindrops and come down as “seeded rain“. Mr Tom Archer of Severnlea, who is in charge of firing the rockets, addressed those who were to form the rocket firing parties. Three out of four storms were intercepted.
• Development League: “Between 60-70 willow trees were planted in the creek zone
October 27
• Motor Cycling Championships to be Filmed: “20th Century Fox Films announced they will have a cameraman in attendance at the coming Queensland Motor Cycle Grass Track Championships in Stanthorpe next month. To be released through Movietone News throughout Australia.“
• Severnlea Recreation Ground Opened.
November 3
• The Aerodrome – Tender Accepted: “Thiess Bros tender of £13,912/17/8 accepted for levelling draining and laying down the landing strip.“
November 6
• Beautifying Town – Plan to Develop Stanthorpe Park, Flowering Fruit Trees for Streets: “At a special meeting of Stanthorpe Shire Council held on Monday, Mr J. Worland, Superintendent of Parks and Gardens for the Toowoomba City Council outlined a plan whereby the park in March Street could be developed over a period of years. This included the resumption of land at the rear of the present area and the shifting of the children’s playground to the resumed area. Mr Worland also
suggested that in street tree planning the council should concentrate on flowering fruit trees and he saw no reason why Stanthorpe should not be as noted for these trees as Grafton for its jacarandas and Orange for its cherry trees.“
November 17
• Visit of Queen – Teachers to Look After Children
November 27
• Wallangarra Hall: “At a special meeting of the Stanthorpe Shire Council held last Thursday, it was decided to borrow £1350 to build a shire hall at Wallangarra to replace the School of Arts which was burned down some months ago.“
December 1
• On Our Selection – Written in Stanthorpe, Mr Norman K. Harney, Treasurer to the Queensland Authors & Artist Association in a letter to the Border Post: ““Had you already known that most of “On Our Selection“ had been written on the spot where your office now stands? It must be correct as Mrs Gittens says she had been told by Arthur Hoey Davis himself. Her words are: “My outstanding memory of Steele Rudd is his telling me that most of ’On Our Selection’ was written at Stanthorpe just where the newspaper office stands, the place having been occupied, in his day, but his father’s blacksmith forge.“
December 4
. Stanthorpe & District Pipe Band has been invited to play in Brisbane on the occasion of the Queen’s visit (Eight Selected in the State) under Pipe Major Peter Mathison.
• The Racecourse Purchased by Mr N. Crisp: “£650-proposed to retain it for Stanthorpe Motor Cycle Club.“
