IT was a special day for Brocklesby and the Schilg family yesterday.
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The locals celebrated the centenary of the town’s School of Arts Hall in conjunction with the Greater Hume Council’s Australia Day celebrations.
And a memorial display of an Avro Anson plane engine was opened by Mayor Denise Osborne as part of the activities which were attended by the council’s biggest Australia day crowd in recent years.
Two RAAF Avro Anson planes were involved in a unique training accident in September, 1940, about 8km southwest of the Brocklesby township.
The planes locked, one atop the other, in mid-air and the pilot in the top plane successfully landed them.
Len Schilg, on whose property the planes landed, has been a driving force in organising the memorial.
Mr Schilg was pleased that the display finally opened, but was more proud of his wife, Joan, who was named the council’s citizen of the year.
She has lived in the community all her life and been involved with almost every organisation, including 62 years with the Lutheran Church, 58 years with the CWA and Red Cross and since the 1950s with the Brocklesby Hall Auxiliary.
Mrs Schilg has had a keen interest with the netball, football and tennis clubs, the town’s primary school, focus group and historical committee.
For the past 15 years she had been involved in West Hume Landcare and editor of a local news circular.
“I have enjoyed the friendship with everybody,” she said when accepting the award.
“I would like to thank my husband for his support and patience.”
She said the Brocklesby community was getting smaller and it was pleasing to see younger people taking over the running of various organisations.
The announcement of her success provides a unique situation for the family.
Her husband was the first winner of the Hume Shire’s citizen of the year award in 1985.
The council’s Young Citizen of the Year award went to Holbrook’s Katherine Bowler and the sportsperson award to Peter Waite, from Holbrook.
The community event of the year was the Walbundrie Show and citizenship awards were presented to students from schools within the council’s boundaries.
The guest speaker and Australia Day ambassador was Dr Jonathan King, an author, historian and Gallipoli tour leader.