Town puts on a show to mark milestone
GEORGETOWN celebrated 151 years in style with a weekend full of events with the town’s population doubling in size.
A weekend of extravaganza kicked off on Friday, August 20, with a street parade inspired by Georgetown’s rich history.
Etheridge Shire Mayor Barry Hughes said it was great to see the town full of people.
“The Friday night street parade was a success. The local schools had made floats and live bands played through the night,” he said.
Nothing was going to stop the residents of Georgetown celebrating the 150-year milestone this year, even if it meant they had to celebrate an extra year.
“We’ve just rolled into the following year 151 (years) it deepened the enthusiasm and it didn’t hinder the attendance numbers at all, Cr Hughes said.
More than 300 people drove out to Georgetown, which is 440km south-west of Cairns, and not a room or camping site was spare.
“Somewhere between 300-400 people came to help us celebrate, which lifted the spirit of the town” he said.
The unveiling of the George and Doreen Dickenson Memorial Pool took place on Saturday followed by a lunch at Greens Memorial Park.
George and Doreen Dickenson moved to Georgetown and bought the Australian Hotel in 1956.
It burned down in 1960, and they rebuilt the “Wenaru Pub”. The pub got the name because everyone would ask Mr Dickenson: “When are you going to rebuild the pub?”
The Dickensons left in
1976, but their legacy lived on.
They were instrumental in building the swimming pool, a huge project implemented by a group of volunteers of which they were key members.
The highlight for the community was the debutante ball that brought together new and past debutantes.
“On Saturday night we had the debutante ball that was brilliant and a part of that celebrations we had the debutantes from 50 years ago
and their partners came along as well,” Cr Hughes said.
Cairns resident Robin Piccolo drove five hours with friends for the celebrations.
“I was lucky to get a room at the caravan park. Someone cancelled so I got one,” she said.
The highlight for Ms Piccolo was meeting residents of the town and the debutante ball on Saturday night.
“They did the grade six graduation at the ball as well,” she said.
“It was great to see the kids and interesting to see that they all go off to boarding school because there is no high school in the town.”
“The people were just so nice and welcoming and everyone was happy to chat and share stories,” she said.