The birthday party that drew 10,000 guests
There may have been bigger parties on Bondi Beach, but Charing Cross had never seen anything like it.
Waverley’s municipality was 150 years old and its historic birthplace, Charing Cross, was packed out. Bronte Road, from the six ways intersection to MacPherson Street, was given over to stallholders and an estimated 10,000 residents packing the shopping strip, full of bonhomie towards their council, traditional grumbles put aside.
The stalls were a mix of local community and public organisations; even the Waverley Court House was giving out handy information to keep us all out of gaol. Many of the strip’s shopkeepers had a stall, some making good sales, others simply dispensing information and joining in the spirit of the day. The food stalls were especially popular and those who turned up to celebrate enjoyed the range of delights.
Local performers livened up the crowd on a stage near the Commonwealth Bank with the familiar voice of the ABC’s 702 Simon Marnie spruiking the acts as MC.
The Waverley/Bondi Beach Band, all gifted volunteers, set the tone with great entertainment, the plastic seats quickly filling up with music lovers. In fact, the band was celebrating its own jubilee this year: initially formed by keen high school players of wind instruments, it’s a sure bet some of the original members may have been playing at the birthday fair, marking 50 years of great music at every public occasion.
Local school choirs and instrumental ensembles kept every foot tapping until it was time for the official main event.
Among the official guests were familiar faces from the past: former Waverley mayors Ernie Page, John Morrison, Barbara Armitage, Ingrid Strewe, George Newhouse and Paul Pearce. There was just one ring-in, Randwick Mayor Bruce Notley-Smith, from the neighbouring council with which Waverley has enjoyed a friendly rivalry for the past 150 years.
Finally Mayor Sally Betts, in full mayoral regalia, came on stage with all the current councillors.
The mayor provided a quick slice of history, and welcomed the invited descendents of Waverley’s founding fathers: John Birrell, chairman of the first Waverley Council, and David Fletcher, the first to be accorded the traditional English title of mayor a few years later. Vaucluse MP Peter Debnam, Coogee MP Paul Pearce and Lucy Turnbull, representing her husband, Wentworth MP Malcolm Turnbull, presented gifts before the cutting of the giant birthday cake.
In her speech, Mayor Betts also paid tribute to the council staff who had worked so hard to make the day such a success. Deservedly, they basked in the glow of it all.
The celebrations attracted a huge crowd: everyone seemed to flock to Charing Cross, with traffic diverted for the day. It was a great reunion with lots of families attending with their children and grandparents; there were many familiar faces and some not seen in the area for years as former residents journeyed back for the occasion.
Staff at the Waverley Council stall included resident historian, Local Studies Librarian Kimberley O’Sullivan-Steward, who regularly exhumes archives for the history writers of The Bondi View. A council kit in an environmental calico bag contained goodies that included a copy of last month’s edition of The Bondi View, featuring front page coverage of the people who shared Council’s birthday and a full page of historical stories inside.
When it was all over General Manager Tony Reid found he had a new problem: people are already asking him what he has organised for the Bicentennial.
– By Peter McCallum
