On Monday she repeated the trip in the same car as part of the town’s 150^th anniversary street parade.

Residents and visitors lined the length of Commercial Street, five or six deep in places, to clap through about 130 horse-drawn carriages, floats, vintage cars, bicycles and groups of walkers representing Walla’s history.

German-style wagons pulled by Clydesdales harked back to the German Lutheran settlers who travelled from South Australia in 1869.

But the parade also marked all the changes since then, with sporting clubs modelling past and present uniforms, businesses displaying older vehicles and farm tractors up to 100 years old mingling with modern machinery.

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“The old bell!” one onlooker called out in delight as the St Paul’s College float passed by, ringing its school bell regularly.

Parade participants and spectators greeted each other with waves and cheers, boys urged the drivers to rev their ageing motors and a helping hand was readily available when a funny bike invented by Herb Simpfendorfer needed a bit of a push.

Mrs Wiesner sat in the car her late husband Colin bought off a farm and rebuilt in the late 1960s.

“Years ago farmers used to cut them off and make them into utes, these old T-Fords,” she said.

“Took him about a whole year, he stripped it all right down to the frame and put it all together.

“And at that time we were pretty poor so we couldn’t put a windscreen, upholstery or top on it, but we had a lot of fun with it.”

Monday’s driver was her son Chris, who remembers being one of four children dressed up and sitting in the back seat 50 years ago.

“(The anniversary) was a big deal back then and it’s a pretty big deal now,” he said.

Mrs Wiesner appreciated Monday’s cooler weather but had enjoyed the whole weekend.

“Look, Walla, when they put something on, they turn it on, they really do,” she said.

Anniversary committee chairman Trevor Schroeter said the events, which included displays, tours and Saturday’s German festival, had been “stunning”.

“Today is just the culmination of a spectacular weekend of celebration and festivity,” he said after the parade.

“We were banking on about a thousand, but I’m guessing two, three thousand here at least.

“They’re treating it like a Back to Walla, a good opportunity to catch up with family, friends and just have a great time.”

One visitor Bambi Cunningham, of Griffith, said the parade, like all the program, ran “like German clockwork”.

“It’s beautifully organised, not a thing wrong,” she said.

One of her highlights was the community church service on Sunday morning.

“A clap of thunder at the most appropriate time and then he sent down rain, it was beautiful,” she said.