Defiance staff reunion day

Staff of the O’Brien era to gather at the Ruthven St site

FORMER employees of Defiance Flour Mills will gather in Toowoomba next month for a staff reunion.

Defiance was one of the city’s biggest employers in its heyday from the early 1900s through to the 1990s when the firm was taken over by a multi-national company.

The reunion will centre on employees of the “O’Brien years”, the family which established the mill and owned the business for more than a century.

Reunion co-organiser Pam Low said the day’s events would begin at the Mill Precinct on the site of the Defiance Mills in Ruthven/Campbell Sts on Saturday, October 21.

“We are inviting all past employees of Defiance Toowoomba in the O’Brien era,” Mrs Low said.

“The reunion commences at 11am at the Mill Precinct

in Campbell Street for an official welcome and meet and greet.

“Cost of attending this function is $10 a head.

“At 3pm we will move out to the Hockey Club (Club Glenvale) in Boundary Street for further reminiscing and socialising.

“There will be dinner that evening at the Hockey Club bistro for everyone wishing to stay on into the night.

“Anyone with Defiance memorabilia is asked to bring it along on the day.”

Mrs Low said organisers were still looking for former staff who have moved on since the company sold and that she would also need to know numbers for the Mill Precinct event and dinner at the Hockey Club, preferably by October 1.

Those looking to attend are asked to contact Mrs Low on 0419 719 590 or Ron Plant on 0419 744 917.

PHOTO: BEV LACEY REUNION SITE: The former Defiance Mill precinct in Ruthven St, Toowoomba, which will be the site of a reunion of former staff next month.

PHOTO: BEV LACEY BACK TO THE FUTURE: Allied Mills (formerly Defiance Mills) staff gather in front of the grain silos when the site closed for repairs after the January 2011 floods.