We take a look at how the schools have looked between 2002 and 2018.

DNPS

Below is DNPS from 2002, it has two basketball courts, the building known as ‘The Cage’, Library, two demountables, shelter for assembly, shelter before the oval and the bus stop shelter.

DNPS in 2018 is different as there are two new buildings in place, one less basketball court, no Cage and no library building.

Solar panels have also been added to one of the original buildings.

DHS

Below is Deniliquin High School in 2002, there’s a tree in front of the MFR and the Basketball courts are not in great condition.

By 2018, the tree in front of the MFR is gone, there’s shelter in the main quad and in the other quads too, some trees have been removed from the Year 11 section (bottom left).

The Basketball courts are also in better shape as they are easily identifiable compared to 2002.

Deniliquin Christian School

DCS in 2005 was a very small school but it has had a lot of expansion between then and 2018.

DCS has added several new additions from buildings to shelters between 2005 and 2018.

South School

South School had minimal changes between 2005 and 2018

By 2018, South School had a water tank and a gardening area, an improved quad and additional buildings in place.

The school cricket pitches remain in their positions.

St Michael’s

Not a whole lot of changes have happened between 2005 and 2018 at St Michael’s

St Michael’s is the only school in town that has property on the other side of a street.

Like all the other schools, additional buildings and shelters have been put in place otherwise the school will be as familiar to people as it was in 2005.

Edward

There has been a couple of changes to Edward between 2005 and 2018

Additional buildings are now in place which is in line with the expansion of all the local schools.

The 21st Century has been good to local students with the array of new buildings or improvements to old ones.

February 5 2019

The new school year is underway and Deniliquin High students would of noticed one big change to the school and that is the new fence that marks the perimeter of the sixty-six year old school.

Gone is that low fence that generations of students could easily sit on and in its place is a big, black coloured fence that you would need a pole vault to get over and you wouldn’t want to stop at the top either.

This fence is similar to the ones you see in places like Queensland and while it doesn’t look that pretty, it would help protect the school from those who would want to wreck it during after school hours.

January 26 2019

Today is Australia Day and there is mixed thoughts on the day, some love it and some don’t because of past history and actions that go on to this day.

Perhaps the day should be moved but would people be satisfied with the new date? would the same protests erupt every year?

Perhaps we should scrap Australia Day and make a new non race related holiday in say February so the holiday balance is still intact.

Perhaps January 26 should be a short First Contact day, marking the anniversary of the first official meeting between races, a day to lament that things that may of started promising went so wrong between the two and a pledge to improve ourselves every year.

One thing is certain, we are all members of the human race, colour should be irrelevant unless describing somebody who we have to meet or is missing or has done a crime etc and we should only be judged by our actions and the content of our character.

Everyone should get the chance to have the same level of education, the same chance to get jobs, the same chance to get the right health care, the same chance to be free of discrimination or being at risk of bad treatment by those who uphold the laws.

All of those are a basic human rights and should be given to all human beings on this planet regardless of their colour or creed.

Our education also has to be changed to expand on the history of the continent as Australia did not exist before 1901 and the continent was made up of many Aboriginal nations and each has its own story, there is room to learn about them.

Regardless of what date Australia Day sits on, please help your fellow human beings, don’t judge them or degrade them by their skin colour, let’s do better without prodding.

January 1 2020

Several years ago, a school photo was put up on eBay for auction and it was purchased as it was part of Deniliquin history.

For several years the photo sat around in a tin box, it was a photo of a class 3A from 1955 and there were 43 members of the class.

Eventually it was found out that the class was from George Street, a school that existed in Deniliquin until 1972 and the main building survives today as the Peppin Heritage Centre.

The Deniliquin & District Historical Society has a copy of the class photo online (see below) but that photo is darker and is labelled.

As you’ll see in the comments on the D&DHS photo, comments were left identifying many of the members of the class including the teacher who is not pictured.

It looks like everyone fitted in nicely in the picture except for the far right of the row second from the bottom as it looks a little crowded.

Any member of 3A can have this picture to keep by saving themselves a copy and may it be enjoyed by them and their families.

Another year ended at midnight last night and it is only fitting to write a report on the year that has gone by.

Mother Nature had been a little bit more kinder to us rain wise in 2019 compared to 2018 but she could of given us more rain as totals were still below the yearly average.

Still the town isn’t doing too badly on the water issue as there are no water restrictions unlike places that have run out or are on water restrictions in other areas of NSW and states like QLD.

It is a different story out on the farms as they are still not getting their fair share of water to keep the farms going and they are vital to the nation and its population, several residents joined the convoy to Canberra in December to protest the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

2019 was the year we said goodbye to the Riverview Motel and the North Tennis Courts as they joined the list of buildings or playing fields that are now gone from the landscape.

We’ve also said goodbye to the Island Sanctuary Footbridge on Cressy Street, this move is controversial as many visitors like to take that entrance instead of any of the other access points.

A portion of Napier Street got revamped and that included both road and footpaths and the rebuild divided locals as some love it and some wish the money was spent somewhere else instead of just a small section of a street.

The long covered up Helsby building window work was uncovered again when NAB departed the building revealing its beauty once more.

Red Rose Diner reopened next door to its old location and Cressy Pizza moved down the street after being in its former location for many years.

The Exchange Hotel and the Coach House both got new owners during the year as both businesses have now continued their long existence for another decade.

The Federal Hotel also got a new owner as the former hotel continued to receive damage from vandals who disrespect empty property and making restoration harder to complete.

It was a good year of sport for Deniliquin as the Rovers had a busy finals campaign, the Rams overall had a good season, the Drovers and Wanderers made Grand Finals in Rugby Union and Soccer and the Rhinos had a good 2019 on the cricket field as they strive for 2020 glory.

Trains have stopped coming regularly into town for several decades now but the Historical Society dusted off recovered parts of the long demolished station to give visitors a partial but informative look at how the station used to be.

2019 saw the town have its hottest December day since December 31st 2005 when it 46.5 degrees on December 20, the previous record was 44.8 degrees.

The town was served every second year of the year by the Naponda Farmers Market and the Lions Market at Waring Gardens with both having large attendances with Naponda on the second and the Lions Market on the fourth week of the month.

The Ute Muster came and went and it was a dry Ute Muster as no rain came down to make it a Woodstock like event though the crowds did not mind as there was plenty of fun and music for all.

Halloween was celebrated at Waring Gardens as well as participating shops and it also brought awareness to mental health as well, a win-win for everybody and it looks like this event will continue for some time to come.

Purtills sold their bus company to Dysons and went out with a bang, not with an explosion of buses but instead fireworks lit up Hardinge Street Oval.

Christmas was celebrated at Waring Gardens with the Christmas Party followed up by Carols by Candlelight, this event is getting popular by the year.

So that’s a small sample of the year that was 2019, what will 2020 bring? stay tuned.