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.

December 17 2019

Tennis is on its way out in Deniliquin as the North Tennis Courts and the Tennis Courts at the RSL Club are on the chopping block.

The ERC have plans for the North site which will serve the tourists to the town well but it is sad that they will be gone.

The North courts unlike the ones at the RSL Club or Charlotte Street were not grass courts and gave tennis players choice of surface.

It was easy for North School students to go there to do sport in winter or spring, no bus required as they just needed to walk 430m from the bus stop and they would be at the building.

The RSL Club has six courts as well bringing the total from the two locations to twelve courts.

The word is that a car park will be built in the space, it could potentially double the availability of space that the the club and those around it would have available.

So in the future, it will be down to the courts on Charlotte Street to keep people who want to do their forehands, backhands, smashes and serves playing around the clock.

November 2 2019

Australians who tuned into 60 Minutes last Sunday night got a good look at what was happening concerning the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

They saw areas of the Murray full, they saw forests flooded with water and then they saw farms with not enough water to keep crops alive and without enough water there is no income and no jobs and whole towns face devastation as various industries are impacted by departing farmers etc.

Everyone knows that we need forests to be at their best as they need to provide oxygen for this planet of ours as well as other resources and everyone knows that the world needs food and that includes both humans and animals around the world.

There has got to be some form of compromise where the environment can be looked after, the rivers be at a sustainable height and the farmers get their fair share of water in their canals, dams and crops.

Country areas have never trusted the Australian Labor Party, it has always been the Liberals and Nationals but now that is beginning to change.

Recent years have seen the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party winning seats in places that the Nationals had an almost impenetrable grip on for example Orange and Murray in NSW.

Country seats decided the 1999 Victorian Election and they also decided the 2010 Federal Election when Independent MPs both sided with the ALP over the Coalition.

The LNP have had chances over the last decade to make a few small changes to balance everything out as the drought goes on but the longer the inaction goes for and the longer the drought goes on for, the smaller the chances of the Liberals and Nationals winning or retaining seats remains.

It is political suicide to continue to ignore the situation, lives are at stake and we’re not talking about livelihoods but real human lives because the drought is killing people as despair overwhelms even the nicest and the toughest of farmers and their families.

4.6mm of rain has fallen today (November 2 2019) on Deniliquin as of 6:45pm but it is not enough, more is needed but the forecast models don’t give much hope of it coming this coming Summer.

As said before, a few small changes can balance everything out and get people going but the Government needs to have the courage to make those changes and right now it doesn’t look like that they’ve got it.

October 29 2019

Deniliquin’s Pokemon Go players are still finding great Pokemon around town including the well sort after range of Shiny Pokemon.

An Omanyte with a CP (combat points) total of 447 was found across the road from the Sushi shop in Cressy Street.

A Polliwag with a CP of 355 was also caught around Deniliquin and this one was rare with perfect ratings for Attack, Defence and HP.

So if you’re looking for Pokemon in Deniliquin or feel like getting back into the game then rest assured that you will find good ones all around town.

Meanwhile there is two and a half weeks before Pokemon Sword and Shield is released, there is great anticipation for this game after the success of Pokemon Let’s Go.

The size of the game is expected to be more than 10GB which is massive compared to the size of Pokemon Lets Go.

That is all for this edition of Deni Pokemon Wrap.

October 25 2019

News came through last night on social media that Purtills was purchased by Dysons (Dysons Group of Companies) who will be commencing runs around December 1 2019.

Dysons are the company that take people to Melbourne on their nice buses though the ride can be pretty long and they have been doing that since 1987 since taking over the run from Ansett Pioneer.

Thousands of locals over the decades have ridden on the Purtills buses with many families seeing the evolution of transport from the small buses to the large ones with all the bells and whistles on them.

We can remember personally during the 1990’s the joy when a bus you were going to or from school was a Coach and the groans when the bus was one with the leather seats, metal bars and no seatbelts.

Those old buses were no fun in the summer especially if your skin touched the metal bars.

A Hussey’s bus was always first (Town bus) but the main event for some was an unofficial race to see which of the main group of buses would arrive first.

Would it be the Tuppal or Moonee Swamp bus that would arrive or would it be a different bus first ensuring that everyone on that particular bus gets home a couple of minutes early than the day before or at least before everyone else waiting for a bus.

There was an advantage of being at North School, kids would get to play longer than the rest until somebody looking to the left would see a bus appear from behind the service station and about to use the roundabout, students would scramble to get to their bus line and those at the front looked to the right to see what bus would pop out from Hyde Street.

Everyone waited until the bus parked (as they do now) before walking over to the bus and then waited for those who were getting off to disembark before getting on the bus, no back rows for the Primary/Public School kids, they had to wait their turn.

For those wondering what is next for Purtills, they’ve got the Fuel Distribution business, their Service Stations, Wired Entertainment plus their Vehicle Hire and Car Wash to run and in 2020 they’ll have The Depot Historic Collection to run too.

Times change and businesses come and go by collapse, purchase or merger and sometimes it is a shame but as mentioned earlier memories will remain thanks to the Depot Historic Collection and countless photographs, articles and more of the buses.