You only turn 50 once so there was no doubt the Coleambally community would go to great lengths to ensure the town’s magic silver milestone was marked appropriately.

Envisaged as a “town in the forest” and a centre for a burgeoning irrigation area, Coleambally prides itself on being a self-sufficient community and that again came to the fore.

Fiftieth birthday committee member Lynne Stuckings said the weekend and the work that went into creating it almost defied belief.

“No words can really describe it,” Mrs Stuckings said. “It’s just been amazing. Everything we planned just rolled on so well. 

“They’ve been planning it for around 18 months. We’ve pulled together all the busy people in town to get the job done.

“We’ve gotten a lot comments saying how great the fireworks were. We were told it was the best they’d seen, city or country.”

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The weekend kicked off with an opening function on Friday night that included a fashion parade of dresses from the past 50 years, as well as a birthday cake and birthday toast.

Saturday’s schedule featured a day of football and netball courtesy of the Blues, displays of machinery, quilting and photos, school open days, a tour of the demo farm, hosting of the Coly Gift and a bush dance with community food stalls culminating in a bonfire and fireworks.

The displays and exhibitions continued on Sunday as the events got bigger and better.

There was a poet’s breakfast and poetry competition, public ecumenical church service, a street parade, billycart races, the opening of the 40^th anniversary time capsule, guided tours of Colembally Central School and the firing up of the Bucyrus earthmover that holds pride of place in Lions’ Park at the entrance to the town.

Despite a wet lead up to the long weekend there was no chance the celebrations would be compromised. Plans were put in place for outdoor events just in case, but they were not needed.

“The weather was kind for us as well,” Mrs Stuckings said. “We had a shower on Friday, one on Tuesday and nothing in between.

“We’d like to thank the committee, but also the whole town for pulling together. Coleambally knows how to throw a party, we can say that for sure.”

On Monday the Bucyrus again featured and there was a chance for a catch-up before those who needed to travel could hit the road.

Coleambally Central School principal Tim Allen echoed the sentiments of many, praising all those who contributed to the anniversary celebrations.

“The community pulled together really well,” he said.

“The committee has done a really good job of co-ordinating a whole host of fantastic events. All the volunteers deserve a big thank you for pulling all of this together.” 

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